"Life of a Page, Part 1" by Misha

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I hated Lev in the beginning. Savlii was a demanding bastard who went through pages like shoes - seemed all the fun was in the breaking in phase. I had been hand-picked by the priestess Vay when I was only fourteen and hardly just begun my military training. Life with Savlii was simple, not good, just simple and predictable. The directive of a page is service to his Eyre. Unlike other Houseborne males, pages are forbidden from taking up arms in battle. There was nothing lower in Eltesnian society than a page. Even a convicted murderer, as a proper Eltesnian citizen, far outranked a page. I hated Vay for dooming me to an even lower fate than my birth itself had, but I soon hated Lev even more.

For a couple of years I deemed myself quite the efficient page, following Savlii day and night. I was silent and sturdy, but mainly silent as Savlii was not fond of my voice. In all fairness, he wouldn't have cared very much for what I had to say.

Meanwhile Nalev received a serious injury to his left leg when he was knocked down then trampled by his own horse in battle. His convalescence was painful and slow. The House bestowed upon him the title of Eyre, but at his tender age it only increased further accusations of favoritism from the clergy. Savlii despised him and openly mocked him as a pampered upstart, a puppet of the House. To him it was a great outrage that a priest would be made Erye. Lev was not part of our bastard class but rather brought in as an orphan when he was about ten years of age. His parents and older sister were butchered when fighting resumed as the seventy year peace of the Great Quiet came to an abrupt end.

Like it or not, as Lev's superior officer, Erye Savlii was responsible for getting Nalev back on his feet and into action. We visited him frequently to check on his progress. Months dragged on and Savlii felt that Nalev was fit for duty. As the high priestess and highest authority in the holy war it was Vay, and Vay alone, that was expecting no less than a full and complete recovery, no matter how long it took.

My efficiency and familiarity were my undoing with Savlii and, bored of my companionship, he was eager to trade me in for a newer, prettier face. The bright spot in the transfer from position of page was that he would recommend me for training to become school master at the military academy. The bugger of the whole promotion was that a former page must first become an eunuch. As if that weren't bad enough, it would also preclude me from serving in the army proper. Since I had no say in the entire matter, I made my peace with my fate.

Savlii, and by extension I, paid another visit to Nalev at the hospital. After their typical banter, Lev suggested that they play cards and made him an offer far too tempting to pass up. Lev wagered his title for my transference to him. Knowing Lev as one of the worst card players of all time, Savlii accepted. He expected quick, satisfying victory. Until my dying day I will never forget the look of shock and disbelief when he lost.

"I don't know how you did it, Nalev," Savlii warned, "but you'll get what's coming to you. I swear the boy will be your ruination."

Savlii marched off in a huff, leaving me behind. As a page I rarely had the opportunity to speak, and had certainly never spoken with Nalev in all the visits Savlii and I made to the hospital, for that would have been seen as a major insult to authority.

"Very fortunate that you won, Erye Nalev. Else I suspect there would two more eunuchs at the academy."

"I had no intention of losing, Misha." He said quite pragmatically.


An unbelievably handsome valiant young general had risked his career to acquire me but didn't have a bloody clue what to do with me. Every attempt to comfort or assist him in any capacity was immediately thwarted. He insisted on dressing himself even though he could barely stand on his bad leg. I tried to work with him in his rehabilitation but he coldly informed me that was the job of his doctors. He was very proud and equally frustrated that his recovery should take so long. I kept my distance from him and even found myself almost fondly reminiscent of the hairy beast that smelled of rotten cheese, at least until he would pay his next visit.

My new Eyre accused me of moping about like a dejected child and asked me what I could possibly have to be upset about. It certainly wasn't in keeping with my position to answer at all, let alone let loose the tirade that ensued about how at least I'd have something useful to do with myself if I were back at the academy. He looked at me crossly.

"Can you read?"

"It is forbidden..."

"Answer the damn question, Misha." Nalev snapped.

"Yes," I admitted.

"Who taught you?"

"I'd rather not say."

"You have a problem with following rules." Nalev said bluntly.

"I shall endeavor to follow your command without question."

"I very much doubt that." He said and pointed to a book on the table.

Then he had me read aloud, while he interrupted at the slightest infraction of mispronunciation, tone and diction. I had learned from my foster sister, a mere child that had put herself at great risk by disobeying the law. Serena was my sole friend and only comfort those long seven years when I was raised by her father, a cold-hearted drunkard. Now I was being challenged by a overzealous intellectual task master. Writing proved even more painful and I routinely received a crack over the hand if I appeared to lose interest and concentration.

"Why does it have to be perfect?" I asked.

"Because, Misha, I will not have you handling my correspondences in a shoddy manner. I am in need of a secretary. I find that I have great difficulty reading since the accident."

"I haven't noticed."

"Are you telling me what I see, Misha?" He glared at me with those penetrating blue eyes.

"No, of course not. That would be extremely pretentious, Erye Nalev. However, I think you would be better suited by a proper secretary. I hardly think using your page--"

"It's bad enough I have to share tight quarters with you." Nalev said bluntly.

"Yes, Erye Nalev."

I clearly remember wanting to take that stick away from him and bash him over the head, on occasions too numerous to recollect over those long, grueling months at the hospital.


I was amazed at how quickly those feelings diminished once Lev was finally deemed fit to resume active command on the Western front. His temperament improved with his renewed sense of purpose and within days we were at the encampment. On our first night there he called my name very quietly and I laid down beside him. It was dark but I could feel his eyes watching me as surely as his warm breath on my face. Lev placed his hand gently on my forehead and his fingers slowly passed over my eyelids and nose. I kissed the palm of his hand as it hovered there. Then his fingers traced my lips.

"You are without a doubt the most beautiful creature I have ever seen in my life," he said softly.

I don't think perfectionists are ever very easy to love, but from that moment, he was impossible to hate.

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go to Part I: TRANSGRESSIONS,
Part II: RETRIBUTIONS,
Part III: ALLIANCES,
Getting Started.
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