Damien walked into the infirmary a smile on his bloody face, his left eye was black and blue and almost completely shut, he lip was split in the middle and his nose looked broke. He held his left arm tight to his chest and walked with a limp, but yet the boy smiled.

"Ladies," as an afterthought he continued, "and gentlemen, me and my clumsy self are back."

"Lord Damien, whatever did you insult this time?" one of the female healers said.

He gave his broken smile as he flung himself onto a bed, "apparently one that can't take an insult," he looked off with his one eye as if thinking, "I do believe I won."

"You know I would think that once you became a squire all this would stop," a female said as she passed by with a pitcher of water.

"You would think that wouldn't you?" Damien finished as he leaned back, "Get to me when you can, you look busy, and I can't say its double vision cause... well... " He pointed to his swollen eye, his mouth in a smile, "it's alright ladies just put me towards the end of the list, but above headaches if you please, I'm just here for some sleep and your lovely company." closing his eyes he leaned against a pillow, a broken smile on his face.

Rean slammed in, her hair awhirl around her face, and her cheek marred by a long cut. It almost crisscrossed her other, older scar. It bled freely, and since it was bleeding so profusely, it looked worse than it was. She also had a cut on the front of her left thigh. She growled, before noticing how busy the infirmary was. She sighed, and seeing Damien, she tried to catch the other squire's eye. She grinned, not knowing if he could see her through his swollen eye. She wondered what had happened, a bit worried. She knew he could take care of himself though. She sat herself in a chair.

A busy and harrassed looking orderly walked past her, and stopped, clucking, "What have you done this time, my Lady?"

Rean just grabbed a cloth, and put it to her face. "I got in a fight in the city. I'm fine, just a lot of blood." She recalled the fight. Some men had been harrassing a few city orphans, and she had given them what for. She motioned over at Damien, and quieried, "What exactly happened to him?" She raised an eyebrow, and turned back to the woman, who of course, had already left. "Oh, good. I do enjoy a good chat with myself." She muttered, amused, not at all upset.

Damien opened his one good eye and saw Rean, he gave a smile, causing his lip to start bleeding again, "Hey Rean! If you bring over some cloths, I'll let you sit with me!" He said loudly, trying to wink with his good eye as he patted the chair by his cot, with his boyish grin on his face.

One of the male healers came over to calm him down, "Don't over exhaust yourself Lord Damien," he said as he waved his hands around.

"I'm fine, just greeting a friend, she's right there," he pointed at Rean, the healer looked at Rean then tried to say something to Damien before he was interrupted, "just tell the nice female squire to come join me and take care of the other people PLEASE!" Damien said as leaned back and closed his eyes, completely dismissing the healer, when the healer's back was turned Damien smiled as he got comfy on the cot.

Rean let out a laugh. She grabbed a few cloths, and walked over to him. She sat down in the chair by his cot. She handed him a few, while pressing a fresh one ot her cheek. She grinned, "So what was it this time?" She asked, relaxing against the chair. He put another cloth on her leg, waiting for his response. He looked pretty beat up, worse than her. She thought of where some water much be, to clean away some blood. She didn't take her eyes off Damien to look, though.

Damien opened an eye to accept the cloths and closed them again. He heard her question but remained silent, not that he didn't want to answer it was just the fact the stomach punches had caught up to him. He smirked then finally opened his eyes to look at her.

"I want to say I fell down, but... " He looked at her closely, "you don't look like you'll believe me."

Damien stared at the ceiling for a bit before he continued, "I was walking around downtown and saw some guys... umm... beating up on a couple girls, and my dumb... self... jumps in alone to save them and... well" he looked at her with a smile, as his good hand gestured to his face and the blood, "as you can see I didn't do so well." He gave a grin as he finished, "but I think I won," he leaned forward about three inches from her face whispering, "you should see the other guys!" Damien gave a big grin and lay on his back again.

"So what happened to you Squire Rean?"

Falik walked into the infirmary, his head preoccupied with thoughts of his latest history assignment, but he was brought up short by the the bustling scene that greeted his eyes just inside the door. It was busier than the Corus market inside.

He frowned looking down at the list of field supplies in his had, an errand for a young knight just about to head off on boarder patrol. Ordinarily he would come back at a quieter time, he was not a fan of fuss and bustle, but as a page it was his duty to complete a task for a superior.

He cast his eyes around the room, spotting a couple of squires he recognised but didn't know well. His sponsor when he had been a first year, Corin of Yanholm, was one of the few squires he knew well. His height often got him mistaken for a squire though.

The magic in the room made his skin tingle, a feeling he tried to ignore by staring intently into the middle distance and hoping that someone would notice him eventually, although judging by the injuries he'd have a bit of a wait.

Rean smiled, and relaxed futher into her chair. She remarked calmly, "You're right, I wouldn't have believed that." She changed cloths again, and then sought out a water basin. Dipping a fresh cloth in, she put it to her face. She sighed at the cool feeling against her burning cut, and opened the eye not covered by the cloth to look at Damien. "Well. I was in Corus, and I was walking along the street, when I saw about four men beating up some loner boys. Orphans." She sighed, adn adjusted her seat. "I, being almost as insane as you, jumped to help." She rolled her shoulders. "I'm glad I did. I've been having excess energy." She explained, "The boys ran, and I was," She paused dramatically, "Defeated." She grinned.

Ugh, Livia thought. So many people coming in in one day! She ran past another healer, tripped, caught herself, got up again. From one person to another, she ran.

As she helped to clean up a page's cut on the arm, her mind wandered to the other conversations going on in the room. She could see Rean of Laraes, and Damien of Seajean. Absentmindedly, she began to hum a tune that her Da had taught her when she was young. "Hm, hm, hm," she hummed.

Her reverie was broken by a healer's command of "Heart!" That always meant, "Come over here, I need your help."

Damien smiled, and looked around as he said to her, “you know maybe next time we decide to get involved in a brawl we should maybe get together and make sure we don’t end up in here again. These healers always give me grief for hurting my face.”

Damien saw a page standing by the doors of the infirmary, looking out of place in the crowded infirmary, “Rean, do you know who that page is?”

Rean laughed, "Sounds good." At his mention of the page, she turned to look at him. She frowned, thinking. "I've seen him around, but I don't know him personally." She replied, trying to figure out what he was here for. He wasn't injured, and he didn't look sick. Maybe he was here for supplies. She waved him over. Turning a bit back to Damien, she announced, we should fight together." She grinned and winked, "Not to be conceited for anything," She paused, taking on a mock innocent look, "But, we're both pretty good." She laughed, and put another cloth on her throbbing wound. Her leg was receeding into a painful sting, but her face was sending hot flashes of pain through her body.

Falik thought he had been doing an excellent job of fading out of sight in plain view when the squires over the other side of the room seemed to take an interest in him. They had been talking for a while but now suddenly seemed to notice him. The female squire even waved him over. They both looked like they'd been on the recieving end of something pretty nasty.

Falik dithered for a few seconds but his good manners won through and he walked over to where they sat. Notoriously shy, he was dreading making small-talk with them.

"Um...yes?" He asked the older girl who had waved him over.

Rean peered at him. "I'm Rean of Laraes, and this is Damien of Seajen. What's your name?" She asked him, cracking her thumb knucles. It was an old habit. She turned slightly in her chair, and smiled encouragingly. The page looked shy, very shy. Rean didn't really understand that. She was outgoing and loud by nature. She tilted her head to the side. The page seemed nice, and if he needed something here in this bustle, maybe she and Damien could help him out.

Falik lowered his long eyelashes and looked down. Feeling deeply uncomfortable. He linked his hands behind his back, risking looking up directly at the squires.

"My name's Falik....Falik Al Basiri....it's a...um....pleasure to meet you."

He stood on ceremony for a second and then risked an impertinent question.

"If it's not too rude to ask, um, have you two been in a tumble with a griffin?! My Lord Genlith is going to have something to say about it and I doubt it'll be godess bless."

His mouth managed the tinyest smile but in his head he was kicking himself. "Oh that's right Falik," he thought, "Sound like a teachers pet why don't you."

He tried to change the subject, looking back down at the floor he said:

"I have to get field supplies for someone on boarder patrol...um...so I think I'm going to have a bit of a wait."

Rean laughed, "Well, I got in a fight in Corus, and I don't know where Damien was being rambunctious." She grinned, and motioned for him to grab a chair. Rean was not easily offended, in fact, she was hardly ever offended. She relaxed into her chair, sitting languidly. "I bet it'll be a long wait. Me 'n Damien have been here for about ten minutes already." She smiled in a friendly way. Rean annouced, "You, Falik Al Basiri, can sit with us, if you'd like." She knew he was shy, and a bit uncomfortble, but she didn't really know how to fix that, other than becoming his friend. She hadn't ever really had a problem with shyness. She was pretty loud and boisterous. That pretty much why most of her friends were boys. Except that nice noblewoman Elisbeth. But that was different.

Falik smiled politely and pulled a chair over. He started to relax a little, it was clear these were not the kind of squires that were going to have him running around all over the palace, or express the kind of dispicable views about Bazhir that one or two other pages and squires had.

"Fighting in the city, really?! Of course the official line is that you fell down, am I correct?" He smiled a little at the age old tradition of lying through your teeth about fights. "If I knew life was so joyus as a squire I'd having been wishing this year away even harder than I have been."

Rean laughed, "Oh, yes. It's glorious, being a squire." She said sarcastically. "All we do is sit, and look pretty." She paused, then added, "Or handsome." Winking, she asked him, "What year are you in?" Rean herself was almost a knight. She tilted her head to the side, and got another couple cloths for her cuts. She put them in the water, then onto her wounds. She mused, "I'll just tell Lord Genlith that I slipped on a bucket of water, then fell down the stairs." She grinned wickedly.

"Oh I'm sure he'll buy that excuse and a pound of potatos while he's at it." replied Falik. For a second he'd finally relaxed and felt he could speak freely.

"I'm in the third year, well, nearly finished now anyway. One more glorious year to go, if I can survive fencing lessons for another year!" he sighed. "Of course then I'll have to find someone crazy enough to take me on as a squire."

Damien laughed at the exchanging conversation infront of him, "well I personally came across a bunch of city dogs trying to hurt a couple poor defenseless kittens and the dogs didn't like the fact i tried to save the kittens so they attacked me," he nodded a serious look on his face, "thats my story and I'm sticking to it. Technically its the truth right Rean," he asked.

Looking at Falik he smiled, "don't worry about who's squire your going to be there are plenty out there. You just need to show them that they need and want to pick you cause your the best at what you do. Your going to be a knight, not a maid, and knights are not pushovers. But if you need help with fencing I'm sure I could give you a few pointers. Rean may even help once or twice if we beg her," giving Rean puppy dog eyes and a pouty lip, he started to make a whinning noise in his throat.

Falik laughed outright at Damien's antics. When a smile lit up his face he looked much younger and far less serious.

Flipping a strand of his long hair that had escaped from his hair tie back out of his face, he replied: "I suppose you're right. I'm not the worlds worst swordsman but I'm certainly no ace, it just doesn't come naturally to me like archery does. It doesn't help that I can't use a scimitar."

"It's what we train with amongst the tribes," he added, explaining, "It's curved so it handles differently, but Lord Genlith wont let me train with it." His eyes darkened at this.

Genlith was a fair man to a point but he was a friend of those conservatives who barely approved of the Bazhir even after all these years. He didn't make any concesions to Bazhir weapons.

Rean laughed, and consented, "I'll help." She heard Falik talk about a scimitar, and she started to become a bit edgy. A person who didn't know her very well wouldn't be able to notice the change, but someone who knew her would. She lowered her eyelashes, and let a cascade of her dark hair fall a bit over her face. She kept her smile in place, but she hoped he wouldn't continue about the scimitar, and lead into the Bazhirs. "Well, maybe you'll find a knight master who will let you use it." She said, her voice bright, only a slight tremor giving away her anxiety.

"That would be good." replied Falik wistfully. "I just wish there were more Bazhir training at the moment. It would be nice...you know. Especially when it's time for The Voice..." He trailed off, thinking that the Squires probably wouldn't be interested in hearing about any of this.

"It's just hard. Three years here doesn't really wipe out 13 years of being Bazhir."

Damien smiled crookedly, "You know it would be nice to have some Bazhir training here," Damien looked off to the side as if thinking, "The Bazhir are very interesting people, we can learn a lot about them. I hold them to the highest respect, but I respect anyone who can fight and think like they do, not to mention beable to stand the heat," giving a sigh he leaned back, "I loved the desert, the heat the sand, it was glorious, and the people," giving another sigh, he looked at them, "I know, I sound besotted, but I loved living with the Bazhir!"

Rean had fallen quite silent. She looked up at them, her eys a bit clouded. "I want to see the desert. At least once." She murmured, serious for once. She glanced off into oblivion. She wanted to see the lands of the people she was part of. She thought about this, as Damien and Falik were talking. "So you're good with a scimitar, Falik? Maybe you could teach me sometime."

"The desert is beautiful, to me anyway." Falik grinned.

"I'd be glad to show you some moves with the scimitar Raen," he said ", I'm not brilliant with it, but better than a regular sword at least."

"Damien, which tribe were you with? Did you come to Persopolis?"

Falik stopped for a second.

"Sorry, too many questions." He said, slightly embarassed.

Damien laughed, "there is never such a thing as to many question or to many answers. As for that last question the answer is I was with the Sand Lions, for the winter months," he pulled up his sleeve to show his forearm with a scar on it, "then we moved on to Persopolis, great place"

"As for teaching Rean the scimitar, don't forget me!" Damien said smiling, a healer walked over with some more cloths, "Thank you," he said giving her a smile that looked like it was only for her, she blushed and ran off, dipping some cloths in water he laid them over some of the cuts on his arms, dabbing another over his face trying to clean up the blood.

Falik saw the effect that Damien had on women in the room, he himself was appaling at flirting and would rather hide from most girls especially the ladies of the court.

"The Sand Lions are quite a long way from my tribe but I met one of their shamen at the school at the Bloody Hawk tribes lands, my father took me there once."

Talking about the Bazhir homelands made him a little homsick.

"I'll get my father to bring some practice scimitars with him when he comes to visit me next month, he's visitng court to bring dispatches from the governer at Persopolis."

Rean grinned at the retreating flustered healer. She looked at Damien. "You really shouldn't grin at her like that. She'll be jittery for the next ten minutes." She drawled, thenw inked to show she really thought nothing of it.
Falik and Damien both seemed immune to her quietness when talking about the Bazhir, so she decided, if they didn't ask, she wouldn't act weird. She grinned, and flicked her long, dark hair back. Staring quizically at a fuzz on her shirt, she brushed it off indifferently, lifting up the bottom of her breeches, exposing her cut leg.
The blood flowed freely form her thigh, and she placed another cloth on it, frowing slightly. Why wasn't it stopping?

Falik winced out of sympathy for Rean when she rolled up her breeches to look at the cut on her leg, it was still bleeding quite heavily, considering how long they had been sitting there.

"Should I call one of the healers over Rean, that doesn't look so good." He said. He got up out of his chair and pulled it round so Rean could rest her leg on it.

"Put your foot on there, it will slow the bleeding down."

Rean lifted her leg up, gritting her teeth. "I'm sure it will be fine." She said, a bit unsure. "It doesn't usually bleed this much. It's usually sluggish, or stopped by now. It's been about an hour." She frowned in thought. "Well, I guess we can call over a healer. Wouldn't hurt." She looked for one who wasn't terribly busy.

Falik scanned around the room too. It really did seem like today everyone in the palace had decided to hurt themselves.

He spotted a young healers apprentice that didn't seem to be busy and tapped her politely on the shoulder. He pointed to Rean and explained quickly what the problem was with her.

He thought for a moment and risked asking for the supplies on his list at the same time.

The girl waved at him distractedly and told him to help himself from the stock room.

He went back to Rean.

"She said she'll be over in half a minute." He smiled at both Damien and Rean. "Well I need to get these supplies back to Sir Edward, he'll be thinking I fell down the dungeons! It's been a pleasure to meet you both."

He bowed to the two squires and walked out of the infirmary to head for the supply rooms down the corridor.

Rean gave him a quick salute. Grinning, she turned to the approaching healer. The woman was brisk, and wrapped up Rean's leg quickly, sending her Gift into it. "Well, it looks like there was a lot of dirt on whatever cut you. It was almost infected."

Rean made a face at this. "Ew." The woman turned to Damien, and got a lot less brisk.

"Let me help you, my lord." She said with a smile.

Damien smiled at the healer, "Aww come on, Nellie, take pity my poor soul," the Healer looked at him in a strict loving motherly way.

"Lord Damien, we do not want you to become extremely ill, or we would have you here all the time and its quite distracting."

Damien almost pouted for a second before laughing, "alright fix me up so me and Rean can get some of that lovely food that they have us eating in the mess hall," Damien closed his eyes as the Healer fixed his arm, his eye, his knee, and just about every other scrap and cut on him.

She nodded when she was done, "Alright let me get some more cloths so the two of you can clean up the blood," she walked away in a hurry.

Looking at Rean he smiled, "You know i never knew how important it was to see out of both eye!"

Arty walked through the door.

"Er, Nell?" he asked, "you wouldn't mind if I borrowed some more cleaning agent?"

"'Course, Artemis." She shook her head, and mild amazement. "So, just how long did it take you to get through that last bottle?"

"Uh... A week? Sir Elthin has a lot of ink spills," he added.

Nellie laughed. "I can't deny you. Go ahead, you know where it's kept."

"Thanks Nell. Hello Rean, Damien," he said, acknowledging the other two squires.