I stood facing the two people sitting on the thrones in front of me. I was forced to listen to their accusations, though I knew they were false. I had no say in any of the proceedings. They would not even allow me a chance to say something on my own behalf.
"I have made my decision. The punishment for murdering the Crown Prince of Toscana is banishment. Marisa, you are hereby banished from all lands and holdings of the country of Toscana. You are not permitted to return under pain of death. I should have you executed for treason, but I am being benevolent. You have forty-eight hours to leave the borders of Toscana. Leave."
"Father, I-"
"No! You are no longer any daughter of mine! You have committed an act that I cannot forgive. You killed one of my sons, your brother. I can never forgive you for that. Now leave before I change my mind."
I stood defiantly for a moment. "I'm leaving, but not because you told me to. I am leaving because I can see that I am not wanted here. I was never wanted here. I knew it. I just didn't want to believe it. I wish you had just left me in Genovesa. You made me leave my brother alone, the one person in this world I actually cared about, and I abandoned him because of you. All I ever was to you was a tool at your disposal. I'm going but I want you to know one thing: I didn't kill him. Good bye, 'Father'."
I turned and walked out of the throne room, never to return again.
"Marisa, wake up! Breakfast is ready. If you don't get in here in two minutes, I'm going to eat yours!" The sound of my mentor's voice broke through my dreams.
"Wha…?" I glanced out the window and saw how bright it was outside. Oh my god, Halt is going to kill me! I bolted into a sitting position and threw off my blankets. I stood and headed for my closet, hitting my hip on the bedside table. Cursing, I managed to make it over to my closet without any further injury.
Pulling the door open, I quickly grabbed a green tunic and some dark brown trousers, and got dressed.
"Marisa!"
"Coming!" Bending down, I swiftly made my bed, then grabbed my cloak, bow and quiver. I yanked my bedroom door open and raced down the hall.
"I'm up," I said breathlessly as I slid into the kitchen, almost slamming right into Halt.
"About time. I was beginning to wonder if you would ever wake up. Hurry and eat your breakfast. We have to leave soon."
"Where are we going?" I asked curiously as I made my plate. Piling on some eggs, bacon and porridge, I took my plate to the table and sat down. I eyed the coffee pot for a moment before pouring a cup and adding a generous amount of honey.
"We've been summoned to Castle Araluen. The King has to talk to us about something."
"Really? What?"
He shook his head. "I'm honestly not sure," he admitted. "Finish eating, then pack a bag. I don't know how long we'll be gone, so pack as much as you can. Then go and saddle up Onyx."
I nodded. "Okay." I turned my attention to my breakfast and ate as quickly as I could.
When I finished, I set my plate on the counter, then turned around and headed back towards my bedroom. Pushing my door open, I stepped back into the room. Rushing over to the closet, again, I pulled the door open and began rummaging around inside. I pulled out some clothes and tossed them on my bed before reorganizing my closet as best I could. Satisfied, I turned my attention to the clothes that were strewn on top of my neatly made bed. Quickly, I folded them up and placed them inside my bag, followed by other important things, such as my hair brush.
That done, I buckled on my double scabbard, which I had forgotten to do in my earlier haste, and walked out the door, shutting it behind me.
Returning to the kitchen, I set my bag down on the counter, then headed out the back door to the stables.
I tugged hard on the stable door, straining to open the heavy door; the hinges needed to be oiled just a little bit more. Stepping inside, I peered into the stall of my horse, Onyx.
Onyx was a bit different than other Ranger horses. In a way, he was an experiment. He was bred from a battle horse and a Ranger horse, so he had the best qualities from each breed: the swiftness, stamina and intelligence of the Ranger horses paired with the build and muscle of battle horses. He was taller than regular Ranger horses and his black coat was sleek instead of shaggy.
He rolled his eyes toward me as I approached. You should have been awake an hour ago.
I stopped and stared at him. "Not you, too."
He shrugged. I know when to be up. We were expecting you an hour ago. We're hungry.
Abelard shook his head in agreement.
"Sorry, guys. We're going to have to hold off on your breakfast. We need to get to Castle Araluen."
Two sets of eyes glared at me reproachfully. You did that on purpose.
"I did no such thing," I protested.
You did, too.
I sighed and shook my head. I was never going to get the last word with these two.
Never.
"All right, fine. You can eat while I groom you guys." Crossing to the other end of the barn, I measured out their grain and poured it into their buckets before placing them in front of each respective horse. "Here you go."
Both of them rolled their eyes at me again before bending down to eat.
Stepping into Onyx's stall, I grabbed a curry comb and quickly gave him a rub down, then gave him a good brushing with the stiff brush.
Ahhh, that feels really good.
I then grabbed a hoof pick and cleaned out his hooves. Once I was done, I repeated the process with Abelard.
Stepping back, I gave them a once over with a critical eye and nodded in satisfaction. By that time, they had finished eating and I could tack them up without disturbing them.
I adjusted the saddle blanket before swinging the saddle up and over onto Onyx's back. Dropping the stirrup, I reached underneath his belly and grabbed the girth before pulling it tight. I made sure to leave a little bit of slack, as we wouldn't be leaving quite yet, and I saw no reason for him to be uncomfortable. Then I grabbed the bridle and slipped it over his ears, careful not to bend them the wrong way. I pushed the bit, gently, against his lips, he easily accepted it and I tightened the chin strap and led him out of the stable.
"Stay here," I ordered before I turned back to the stable to saddle up Abelard.
I'm not going anywhere.
I rolled my eyes as I entered Abelard's stall. "Hello, Abelard," I greeted him as I approached. I pulled his saddle off of the door of his stall and swung it onto his back. Again, I tightened the girth, not too much, bridled him and led him out of the stall.
Just as I led Abelard out of the stable, Halt appeared from the cabin, carrying several bags.
"Hey, Halt. I saddled Abelard for you," I told him as he approached.
He just grunted. "Here," he said, handing me a couple bags, including the one that I'd left on the counter.
"Thanks." I took the proffered bags and arranged them into my saddlebags. I suddenly remembered that I hadn't grabbed my quiver, bow or sword when I left the house. I headed back toward the cabin.
"Where are you going?" Halt's rough voice sounded behind me.
I turned to face him. "I have to get my bow and sword."
"Hurry up. We need to be leaving soon."
I nodded and scurried into the house. Emerging into the kitchen, I saw my longbow and sword leaning against the wall on the far side. I grabbed my sword, buckled it onto my belt, swung my quiver onto my back, picked up my bow and walked back out the door.
"Are we bringing Echo or Baron?"
"We'll bring Baron. Echo is too young to come."
"What're we going to do with him while we're gone?"
He sighed. "What do you think we're going to do? Let him loose in the woods? 'We'll be gone for who knows how long but we'll come back so make sure you don't get killed.'" He snorted. "We'll leave him at the castle. He'll be well taken care of there. He probably won't even know that we're gone."
Feeling a little foolish, I nodded then put two fingers to my lips and whistled, long, loud, and shrill. I saw Halt jump a little at the sudden sound. He turned to look at me peevishly.
"Warn me next time you're going to do that," he said.
"Sorry."
Two furry bodies appeared from the stable, running low to the ground.
Baron was mainly white with some black patches and padded slowly toward us. Echo was only half grown and still in his puppy stage, with his fluffy black fur and rambunctious attitude. He raced around us in circles, yipping in excitement.
"Echo! Calm down," I said. He stopped and looked up at me. "Sit," I ordered. He complied. "Good boy.' I patted him on the head before returning my attention to Onyx. I tightened the girth, making sure it didn't pinch his skin, then swung into the saddle. Clicking my tongue, I gestured to the saddlebags attached to the pommel and both dogs sprang into each one, settling down comfortably.
Crowley had decided that every Ranger should have a border shepherd after Will Treaty had adopted and trained one that he had found injured. When he left the dog, Shadow, in the care of a friend, he'd accepted a puppy from her litter, Ebony, and had trained her as he had trained her mother. The dog had saved his life on many occasions and had proved to be useful on many of his missions. After many successful missions, both with Shadow and her daughter, Crowley mandated that every Ranger should have one, and the breeding program began.
Trobar, the friend that Will had left Shadow with, was in charge of the breeding and care of the puppies. They had, of course, found other shepherds to breed, because having all those puppies would not have been good for Shadow. There were times when Trobar had several litters by different mothers at the same time. Once the puppies were weaned from their mother's milk, the litter would be sent to Will, who would train them and teach them the same signals that he had taught Shadow, then the puppies would be given to the Rangers who had not yet received one.
Baron was Halt's dog and had been with him for about three years. Originally, Halt hadn't wanted a dog, but Crowley had insisted and Halt had finally gave in.
When I'd become Halt's apprentice, I had been given my own dog, Echo. While he was fully trained, he was only about seven months old and was too young and rowdy to come with us on missions, so he was often left behind at the Castle. Since we would have to go to the castle to tell the Baron that we were leaving, it wouldn't be hard to leave him in the care of the stable hands.
I waited for Halt to mount up on Abelard's back, then we turned toward the castle. We both nudged our horses with our knees and they increased their paces until we were galloping in the direction of the castle.
About ten minutes later, the battlements of Castle Redmont became visible. We raced down the hill, clattering on the cobbled streets of the village, before we reached the gate. The gatekeepers, recognizing us as the King's Rangers for Redmont Fief, opened the gate, allowing us to pass through.
We slid to a halt in the courtyard of Castle Redmont and dismounted.
"I will go bring Echo to the stables. Meet you in the Baron's office?" I asked.
Halt nodded.
"Okay. I'll only be a minute. Come on, Echo." Echo jumped out of the saddle bag that he was in and followed me obediently as I headed for the stables.
After leaving him in the more-than-capable hands of the stable hands, I headed for the Baron's office.
When I reached the door to his office, I knocked.
"Come in," a voice called.
Pushing the door open, I stepped into the room and immediately spotted my mentor.
"Ah, Marisa, there you are," Halt said. "I was just finishing up telling the Baron that we have to leave. Is Echo settled in the stable?"
"Yes, he was quite happy. Didn't even try to follow me when I left." I reported.
He nodded. "Good." He turned to Baron Arald. "Now, my lord, if I have your leave?"
"Yes, Halt, go on and good luck. You too, Marisa."
"Thank you, my lord."
Halt turned and led the way out of the room. We descended the stairs and soon found ourselves back in the courtyard. We mounted up on our horses' backs and wheeled toward the gate.
Once we were out of the castle grounds, we quickly weaved our way through the village until we were on the main road. Halt turned Abelard's head to the northeast, toward Castle Araluen, then kicked him gently. I did the same on Onyx.
Our journey to Castle Araluen, and beyond, had begun.