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Tamora Pierce
Protector of the Small 01
First Test
Keladry (known as Kel) is the first girl to take advantage of the decree that
permits girls to train for the knighthood. The only thing that can stop her is
Lord Wyldon, the training master of pages and squires. He does not think
girls should be knights and puts her on probation for one year. It is a trial
period that no male page has to endure and one that separates the friendly
Kel even more from her fellow trainees. But Kel is not someone to
underestimate...
ISBN
Copyright © by Tamora Pierce.
This e-book is not for sale!!!
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Acknowledgments for this book, and this new series, reach back over years. I owe a debt of gratitude
to Jean Karl and Claire Smith, who oversaw the publication of the first eight books set in Tortall, and
made me think I might have a few more Tortallan stories still in me. My gratitude also goes to Mallory
Loehr and Craig Tenney, who did so much to bring about this latest installment in my burgeoning history
of the Eastern Lands.
I would also like to thank the kids who attended my appearance at the San Ramon Public Library in San
Ramon, California, one nice fall day in 1995, who made me realize that I should stop thinking about Kel's
story and write it; and my online fans, including the loyal members of my AOL fan club, whose eagerness
for Kel's story buoyed me up through a long, exhausting year.
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 For my Spouse-Creature, Tim, our buddy Raquel, and my e-friend Rick, my gratitude for all the
support, encouragement, ideas, and last-minute reads and fixes, without which I might not have what
sanity I yet possess. I would also like to express gratitude to Eyewitness Books for wonderful research
books with pictures, and to the cast and crew ofThe X-Filesand the moviePump Up the Volume,for
providing me with rich sources of ideas.
Lastly and most profoundly, this is for Kelly Riggio. I'm sorry you had to wait so long for it, and I hope it
is worth the wait.
Chapter 1:
DECISIONS
Alanna the Lioness, the King's Champion, could hardly contain her glee. Baron Piers of Mindelan had
written to King Jonathan to say that his daughter wished to be a page. Alanna fought to sit still as she
watched Wyldon of Cavall, the royal training master, read the baron's letter. Seated across his desk from
them, the king watched the training master as sharply as his Champion did. Lord Wyldon was known for
his dislike of female warriors.
It had been ten long years since the proclamation that girls might attempt a page's training. Alanna had
nearly given up hope that such a girl – or the kind of family that would allow her to do so – existed in
Tortall, but at last she had come forward. Keladry of Mindelan would not have to hide her sex for eight
years as Alanna had done. Keladry would prove to the world that girls could be knights. And she would
not be friendless. Alanna had plans to help Keladry through the first few years. It never occurred to the
Champion that anyone might object.
Alanna half turned to see Wyldon better. Surely he'd read the letter at least twice! From this side the
puffy scars from his battle to save the younger princes and princess were starkly visible; Wyldon's right
arm was in a sling yet from that fight. Alanna rubbed fingers that itched with the urge to apply healing
magic. Wyldon had the idea that suffering pain made a warrior stronger. He would not thank her if she
tried to heal him now.
Goddess bless, she thought tiredly. How will I ever get on with him if I'm to help this girl Keladry?
Wyldon was not flexible: he'd proved that to the entire court over and over. If he were any stiffer,
Alanna thought wryly, I'd paint a design on him and use him for a shield. He's got no sense of humor and
he rejects change just because it's change.
Still, she had to admit that his teaching worked. During the Immortals War of the spring and early
summer, when legendary creatures had joined with the realm's human enemies to take the kingdom, the
squires and pages had been forced into battle. They had done well, thanks to their training by Wyldon
and the teachers he had picked.
At last Lord Wyldon returned the letter to King Jonathan, who placed it on his desk. "The baron and the
baroness of Mindelan are faithful servants of the crown," the king remarked. "We would not have this
treaty with theYamaniIslandswere it not for them. You will have read that their daughter received some
warrior training at the Yamani court, so it would appear that Keladry has an aptitude."
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 Lord Wyldon resettled his arm in its sling. "I did not agree to this, Your Majesty."
Alanna was about to say that he didn't have to agree when she saw the king give the tiniest shake of the
head. Clenching her jaws, she kept her remark to herself as King Jonathan raised his eyebrows.
"Your predecessor agreed," he reminded Wyldon. "And you, my lord, implied agreement when you
accepted the post of training master."
"That is a lawyer's reply, sire," Wyldon replied stiffly, a slight flush rising in his clean-shaven cheeks.
"Then here is a king's: we desire this girl to train as a page."
And that is that, Alanna thought, satisfied. She might be the kind of knight who would argue with her
king, at least in private, but Wyldon would never let himself do so.
The training master absently rubbed the arm in its linen sling. At last he bowed in his chair. "May we
compromise, sire?"
Alanna stiffened. She hated that word! "Com – " she began to say.
The king silenced her with a look. "What do you want, my lord?"
"In all honesty," said the training master, thinking aloud, "I had thought that our noble parents loved their
daughters too much to place them in so hard a life."
"Not everyone is afraid to do anything new," Alanna replied sharply.
"Lioness," said the king, his voice dangerously quiet. Alanna clenched her fists. What was going on?
Was Jonathan inclined to give way to the man who'd saved his children?
Wyldon's eyes met hers squarely. "Your bias is known, Lady Alanna." To the king he said, "Surely the
girl's parents cannot be aware of the difficulties she will encounter."
"Baron Piers and Lady Ilane are not fools," replied King Jonathan. "They have given us three good,
worthy knights already."
Lord Wyldon gave a reluctant nod. Anders, Inness, and Conal of Mindelan were credits to their training.
The realm would feel the loss of Anders – whose war wounds could never heal entirely – from the active
duty rolls. It would take years to replace those who were killed or maimed in the Immortals War.
"Sire, please, think this through," Wyldon said. "We need the realm's sons. Girls are fragile, more
emotional, easier to frighten. They are not as strong in their arms and shoulders as men. They tire easily.
This girl would get any warriors who serve with her killed on some dark night."
Alanna started to get up. This time King Jonathan walked out from behind his desk. Standing beside his
Champion, he gripped one of her shoulders, keeping her in her chair.
"But I will be fair," Wyldon continued. His brown eyes were hard. "Let her be on probation for a year.
By the end of the summer field camp, if she has not convinced me of her ability to keep up, she must go
home."
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 "Who judges her fitness?" inquired the king.
Wyldon's lips tightened. "Who but the training master, sire? I have the most experience in evaluating the
young for their roles as future knights."
Alanna turned to stare at the king. "No boy has ever undergone a probationary period!" she cried.
Wyldon raised his good shoulder in a shrug. "Perhaps they should. For now, I will not tender my
resignation over this, provided I judge whether this girl stays or goes in one year's time."
The king weighed the request. Alanna fidgeted. She knew Lord Wyldon meant his threat, and the crown
needed him. Too many great nobles, dismayed by the changes in Tortall since Jonathan's coronation, felt
that Wyldon was their voice at court. If he resigned, the king and queen would find it hard to get support
for their future changes.
At last King Jonathan said, "Though we do not always agree, my lord, you know I respect you because
you are fair and honorable. I would hate to see that fairness, that honor, tainted in any way. Keladry of
Mindelan shall have a year's probation."
Lord Wyldon nodded, then inspected the nails on his good hand. "There is one other matter," he
remarked slowly. He looked at Alanna. "Do you plan to involve yourself in the girl's training? It will not
do."
Alanna bristled. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"You wish to help the girl, understandably." Wyldon spoke as though the mild words made his teeth hurt.
"But you rarely deal with the lads, my lady. If you help the girl, it will be said that you eased her path in
some special way. There are rumors that your successes are due to your magical Gift."
"By the Goddess," snapped Alanna, crimson with fury. If the king had not forbidden her to challenge
men on personal grounds years before, she would have taken Wyldon out to the dueling court and made
him regret his words.
"Alanna, for heaven's sake, you know the gossip," King Jonathan said. "Stop acting as if you'd never
heard it before." He looked at Wyldon. "And you suggest… "
"Lady Alanna must keep from all contact with the girl," Wyldon replied firmly. "Even a moment's
conversation will give rise to suspicion."
"All contact?" cried Alanna. "But she'll be the only girl among over twenty boys! She'll have questions – I
could help – " She realized what she had said and fell silent.
King Jonathan gently patted her shoulder. "Is there no other way?" he asked.
Wyldon shook his head. "I fear not, sire. The Mindelan girl will be the cause of trouble as it is, without
the Lioness hovering over her."
The king thought it over. At last he sighed. "Lord Wyldon has the right of it. You must stay away from
Keladry of Mindelan, Alanna."
"But Jonathan – sire – " she pleaded, not believing he would do this.
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