About parents and permission.
Halt seemed to think deeply, he frowned. "Or maybe…" He tilted his head and studied the girl.
She was really short, about 1.50 meters, wearing a long brown skirt, a shirt and a cloak. Uncommon for a girl her age, she had short hair instead of long and leather boots instead of small shoes.
"I could train you…" Halt said.
Alexis' heart lifted: "Really?"
"Well…" he stroked his beard, "I have had two Apprentices and a third one would be nice. Maybe…" he was silent for a moment, wondering about this decision.
Alexis tried her brightest smile. "Well, according to the Celts three is the golden number."
"Yes, indeed," Halt mumbled, Alexis' charming little face didn't affect him. "But we're in Araluen, aren't we?" he raised his eyebrow, took another look at her and then said. "Okay, you can be my apprentice. But for three months. After that, we'll see again if you are fit for the Ranger Corps."
He kneeled down by the fireplace and started building a new fire. "But first, you're going home to ask permission from your parents. I think they imagined your life a little more mundane and you can't just do as you please, girl."
Alexis nodded, that sounded reasonable. But how was she ever going to convince her parents?
"How do I find my way home again?" She asked him.
"Go north," said Halt, and with his one free hand he pointed towards a direction that hopefully would be north. "About half an hour walking from here you'll find a road, go left, to castle Redmont, and say the guard that I, Ranger Halt, sent you. Tell him you're my new apprentice, he'll let you in. Go to the stables, ask for a horse and for directions to your inn,"
"It's not my inn." Alexis mumbled.
"Do not interrupt me girl." Halt grumbled.
"Sorry sir." Alexis folded
"The way back is easy, it's practically one road, but they'll tell you at the castle. Go home, ask for permission, return the horse and then you either go back home or come to me. I expect you back either before midnight or at six o'clock tomorrow morning." He lit the fire and got up, handing Alexis a letter. "Show this at the castle. Those are your credentials. Don't leave them there."
Alexis nodded, folded the letter and stuffed it in her pocket. This went easier than expected. She thanked him again, walked toward the direction he pointed in and found the road towards Redmont.
Tell the guard you're Halts next apprentice, get a horse… Get a horse.
Uh-oh.
How was she going to fix this? She would be way faster with a horse, but she didn't know how to ride one.
Even worse, she was afraid of horses. She shook her head, she had to figure something out when she got there.
Redmont was a huge, impressive castle. It was triangular, with an impressive keep. The big, red castle looked like it was glowing in the morning sun.
I don't want to ride a horse, she thought, But what if a Ranger has to ride a horse?
She started to panic, he did have stables next to his house. But they were empty…
Maybe they were for visitors? She hadn't seen him ride a horse before.
She was wondering about this when she heard someone call her name.
"Hey! Lexie! Why are you here?"
She turned to look, it was Freddie, riding a carriage. Freddie provided her father's inn with fresh fruit and vegetables every week.
He stopped next to her: "Do you need a ride?"
"Are you going to the inn?" She asked him.
"Yes sweetie, why else would I offer you a ride?" he smiled.
She shrugged, why not? She could worry about a ride back later.
She climbed next to him into the carriage and he whipped his big horse.
They rode to the inn in silence, Alexis was wondering how on earth she was going to convince her parents and Freddie was focusing on steering his carriage on the bumpy road.
...
"Are you insane?" father crossed his arms, "Never. You are not going to be the apprentice of that lunatic!"
"Ranger Halt is not a lunatic!" Alexis yelled. "And I can do whatever I want!"
"You are my daughter and you are doing what I tell you!"
Mother entered: "What's going on here?"
"Your daughter wants to be a Rangers apprentice!"
Mother raised an eyebrow: "Alexis?"
"Yesterday I followed Ranger Halt home and he offered me a job as a King's Ranger." She decided it would be wise to leave the details and not tell her father it was the other way around.
"He offered you it?" father asked puzzled.
"Sort of." She shrugged.
"You followed him home." Her mother stated.
Alexis looked at her mother.
Mother sighed. "Sit down." She said.
"Now is not the time," protested father.
"Yes sweetheart, now is the time."
Alexis sat down. She was scared.
Mother looks sad. This can never be good.
Mother was never sad.
"Alexis. First you must know that we love you very much. You will forever be my daughter and I will always support and love you." She sighed.
Alexis nodded. "I know, and I love you too, but I don't want to work here anymore. I am not cut out for working in the inn the rest of my life!"
"No Alexis," father stared at the table like a nervous teenager. "It's not about that."
"Then what is it about?" Alexis got up so fast, she tipped her chair over.
"You're adopted." Mother said. She smiled at Alexis like she didn't just drop a huge bombshell.
"Excuse me?" Alexis stood up. "What? And you decide to tell me that now?"
Mother sighed. "We agreed we would tell you when you were going to find your own way. We found you on our doorstep. No note, nothing, so we decided to take you in, as our own child. We named you Alexis, after your grandmother."
"So June the 5th is not my birthday," Alexis said in shock.
"It's the day we found you." Mother hugged her daughter. "Today you decided something on your own, something odd. Today is the day we had to tell you. What if, on your journey, you meet your real parents and they recognize you? We wanted to tell you this ourselves."
Alexis hugged her mother back. "You are my real parents. The people that left me on your doorstep obviously never wanted me and even though I am not your own, you did. They are strangers to me. You are my mother and father."
Father smiled, relieved. "Let's have dinner together. One more time as a family. I'll ask Freddie to wait for you and he'll give you a ride back."
Alexis nodded.
"Why don't you go pack your stuff and I'll cook us a meal?" mother asked it as a question but it was an order.
Alexis knew that tone very well and she felt mother wanted to talk about something with father in private. She left.
There wasn't very much to pack, some clothes, a few books about herbology (She was an expert in collecting different herbs and making soups and medicine from them) and a weirdly coloured stone she found in the Tarbus river.
That was it.
Carrying one bag for her books and the other for her clothes she went downstairs to find her mother setting the table.
She had cooked a duck in its own fat, spiced potatoes and sugared corn.
Alexis helped her setting the table and called her father, who was working in the garden.
They had dinner like they used to, many years ago when Alexis was still a kid and the inn wasn't as popular as it was now.
They talked and laughed and when they were all done eating, mother brewed two strong cups of coffee and a cup of tea for Alexis (she didn't like coffee).
It got dark far too early for Alexis' liking, but she could hear Freddy saddle up his fat old horse.
She got up. It was time to go.
After about an hour of bumpy road Alexis recognized a tree.
"We have to stop here!" she nudged Freddy.
"What? Why?" Freddie asked, pulling the reins.
Alexis got up and grabbed her bags. "Because I have a slightly different destination than you."
She walked around the back of the carriage (avoiding the huge horse) waved Freddie goodbye, thanked him and disappeared into the forest like a ghost.
The way back was slightly harder because of the darkness and she tried following the same, almost invisible trail, but this time, south.
After about half an hour she could smell the smoke from Halts cabin and she saw the stables.
She looked up to the moon.
Almost midnight.
She started running, harder and harder, slipped and fell face forward into the mud.
Really? Why me, why is it always me?
Alexis crawled up and continued her way towards the cabin, slower this time.
She raised her hand but before she could knock, an answer came: "Come in. you're late."
"I had dinner with my parents."
"So they agreed." Halt nodded.
"Yes, Ranger Halt."
Halt got up. This was the first time Alexis saw him without a cloak.
He was small, but muscular, he had short, grey hair and a similar beard. The lack of model in his haircut suggested that he cut his hair himself.
Probably with the knife on his belt.
Ranger Halt pointed towards one of the doors in the back, that was probably leading to a guest room.
"That is your room from now on. I advise you to go to bed, I'll wake you up at six o'clock tomorrow morning with three bangs on your door. If you sleep in you miss breakfast and your first lessons. Goodnight."
Alexis also mumbled a soft: "Goodnight, Ranger Halt."
There was a wardrobe in the left corner with a table next to it.
On the table stood a vase with fresh flowers and in the right corner was a bed.
The mere thought that she was going to sleep in the same bed as Will used to sleep in excited her for some reason. He was a hero and she was going to sleep in his bed! Maybe that would change her into a hero too…
Don't be silly.
She emptied her bag with books and displayed them on a small table.
She dumped her bag with clothes into the wardrobe. She undressed and climbed into the bed.
It was soft and fresh and she fell asleep quickly with all the things that had happened that day running through her mind.
