Prologue

On the bitter bleak winters when the snow would drown the surrounding scenery in white, Castle Redmont stood bold and proud, covered in remnants of the falling snow which long ago stopped. The remaining villagers in the countryside would gaze at the fortifications of the warm solid building enviously before trudging back in the biting cold towards their ramshackle homes. I would watch them from my window with a mixed sense of sympathy and gratitude. Glad that I was protected from the relentless snow threatening to send those outside to oblivion.

Smiling to myself I let the burning fire in the grate surround me in a cloak of warmth and happy memories. Call me heartless but it was the best feeling when wrapped in toasty warmth while watching those outside suffer against the cold I didn't have to face.

"Alyss, I've got our warm milk ready what are you doing? I've been calling you for ages." Will pushed the door of the girl's dormitory ajar covering his eyes with his fingers embarrassed, as if he were trespassing the laws of conduct. I turned around and smiled at his awkward behaviour.

Will. Over the last seven years we have come to know each other I have never failed to smile at his presence. Ever since my mother died of child birth I was sent here to the Ward to be cared for by the surrounding maids, usually female. Apparently as the tale goes, not that I would know I was still a baby, from all the maid's accounts I was a feisty little girl. Never stopped crying and was as stubborn as a mule. Then around two days later, Will arrived at the doorstep in a bundle of cloths with a note attached to his cradle. The servants took him in knowing that they could not turn their backs on an innocent homeless child. From the maid's anecdote, I was crying again, goodness knows what for, when they set Will down next to me and he smiled and gurgled in a way that only babies do. Immediately I stopped howling and looked at him with an expression of interest and curiosity. Ever since then we had been inseparable. Mary loved to tell a good anecdote, usually exaggerating the plot until it came to unrealistic measures. Though this one I could tell wasn't forged up. I knew this because Will still had the same effect on me, whether I was seven or a baby he still managed to calm me down. Though of course as I grew up he didn't really need to, as ever the diplomat I am, I managed to hide my emotions quite well.

"You can come in you know and you don't have to cover your eyes I'm the only girl here." It was true. The only children in the ward were Will and I. Sometimes the fact was a little depressing but generally it didn't matter.

"You might have been changing." Will muttered awkwardly. He shuffled his feet on the stone floor and looked down, his whole face tinted red. I laughed gently.

"Will if I was changing I would have told not to come in wouldn't I?" I restrained myself from laughing again at his solemn little nod and I made my way towards him dragging him down the narrow steps out of my dormitory. He didn't seem to mind. It was always that way between us two. We knew each other so well we never had to doubt one another. Will looked up at me now. I was always extremely tall for a seven year old girl but I never let that bother me. He was always extremely short for a seven year old boy and he never really cared. It was one of the qualities I liked most about him. The mischievous gleam in his eye made me wary. He only had that look when he was thinking of something either incredibly immature or incredibly stupid.

"Race you to the dining table." He zoomed off, reminding me of the tiny gnomes on the border of Picta that were often told of in the Ward lantern shows.

"Will!" I called after him. He laughed, carefree and happy and I had to resist the urge to smile again. Running after him I already knew he would win, mainly due to the fact that he had an enormous head start but even then, he was always a very fast runner. Panting and out of breath I reached the table minutes after he did. He was already settled in a chair with Mary fussing over him about his untidy appearance.

"Oh my look at the state of you! Covered in mud, why are you bleeding? And what happened to your hair? Why is it so messy? I can't even put a comb through it!" She cried. Every mothers nightmare, the tangle of knotted hair and the ever present dirt on his clothes. Will was struggling to push her off him so he could drink his milk. I sat down at the table and joined him, my cup slightly colder than his. He finished drinking within seconds, holding his cup up, proud and confident with a milk moustache above his lip.

"Finished." He cried. Looking at me with a smug look on his chubby face. I burst out laughing at his ridiculous expression as I heard Mary exclaiming in shock.

"Will come here let me wipe that off your face." She retrieved her special napkin, dedicated to Will and his 'food accidents' and began to spit on the cloth and dab his face. Before she could get close enough though he scuttled away from her.

"You are not touching me with that!" He cried looking at the napkin with disgust.

"Why ever not?" Mary stood with her hands on her hips, a stern expression on her face.

"You spat on it!" Will exclaimed, looking at her as if the answer was obvious.

"So?" Will looked at her as if she had lost her senses and I smiled quietly to myself. Unfortunately this was noticed by Will who took my laughter the wrong way.

"It's disgusting and unhygienic why do you always do that to me why don't you ever do it to Alyss." He said dragging me into the conversation. I gave him a short glare and he answered it by sticking out his tongue.

"I don't have to do it to Alyss because she never spills food on herself unlike you." Mary now advanced upon Will who was moaning and squirming trying to wriggle his way free. I watched with amusement and after some extremely high pitched squeals from Will and a lot of scolding from Mary, she managed to clean his face. They both looked at each other with mock disgust and pretended to dislike one another, the way they usually did, however everyone knew they were only pretending. Yes they were special that way.

"Come on off to bed both of you." Mary ushered us out of the kitchen door and called after me as I climbed up the stairs. "Oh Alyss I'll drop in on you to brush your hair before you go to bed." I smiled in assent and continued up. Will snorted.

"What?" I asked jogging him with my elbow.

"Mary has to brush your hair for you." Will taunted laughing at me.

"Well just because you never brush your hair." He scowled at my comment.

"I don't need to brush my hair, I look adorable the way I am now." He stated in a matter of fact manner. I gave him a sidelong glance that told him I wasn't impressed.

"Yes, if you call looking like a drowned cat adorable." I deadpanned my face and he looked offended for a moment before laughing it off.

"Well whatever, you're probably just jealous." He huffed, and with that happy note he stalked off to his bedroom. I shook my head and entered mine.


"Alyss are you ready for bed?" Mary's head popped in, and seeing me in my nightgown she smiled in a motherly fashion.

"Yes." I said showing off my newly grown adult teeth. Only two of my tiny teeth had fallen out but it was still one up than Will.

"Come here then, let me brush your hair." She walked over behind me while I sat on the wooden stool placed in the middle of the room. It was hard being a girl with long hair because there was never anything to tie it up with which resulted in more or less very tangled hair. Mary insisted that she cut it to a boys length but I protested adamantly and therefore we had both come to the conclusion of her brushing my hair every night to ensure no knots. I scowled as she ruthlessly pulled the comb through my hair.

"Do you really have to do it that roughly?" I asked through gritted teeth after the fifth time she nearly pulled my hair out of my roots. She laughed gently which didn't help my current mood.

"Sorry dear you're the one who asked for long hair, besides how are you going to find a groom if your hair looks like a rats nest?" She asked.

"You're describing Will's hair not mine" I answered cheekily while she laughed. I continued "Besides I don't need to find a groom I have Will don't I?"

"You would marry Will?" Mary asked, slightly shocked.

"Of course, if I couldn't find anyone else." I said. She laughed again and muttered something about young love. I frowned in confusion. Young love? I don't love Will do I? Well maybe I do but not in that way with the whole husband and wife thing? I shook my head confused by the entire matter. The decision was set. I mean Will and I already did things a married couple would do. We lived together, we played together, and we ate together. What more did a couple do?

"Well then that's set you're probably going to marry Will." Mary said fondly, shaking her head at my antics. I slid under my covers as she tucked me in and bade me goodnight. Snuggling in deeper to my blanket I pondered about the possibility of Will and I getting married. Surprisingly I didn't seem to mind. Not in the slightest.


Hey guys so if you guys have read my previous stories you will see that one of them has a Will and Evanlyn ship but personally I have always been a Will and Alyss shipper. Any ways just saying if you read this story in the hope of some Will and Evanlyn chemistry you are sadly mistaken. Will and Alyss are just as cute though. Irregular updates will be guaranteed so don't say I didn't warn you.

Oakleaf Girl