And heeeere is chapter three! Yay! (crowd cheers*) Thank you! Thank you very much! (In Elvis Presly voice*) (Girl Faints*) Hey hey! No need for that. Please no fighting in the crowd! Haha ^^
Anyway…..
FarmersDaughter: I read your review, and I was hoping if you could PM me those grammatical mistakes (seeing that you are a guest reviewer). That would be awesome like you are for reviewing my story. ^^ Thanks again.
(update: Yikes! that was actually a mistake.. thanks for pointing that out)
Update: To my readers... I'll be writing chapter 4, however, our internet stick(gotta convince dad to get broadband) has failed us and I will not be able to upload the chapter. I'm doing this via internet cafe in the city. So in maybe a few days or weeks (whenever dad decides to get it fixed) I will upload chapter 4 and possibly chapter 5. Hope to see you in my reviews then, ey? Ta-ta!
DISCLAIMER: I disclaim the rights to Ranger Apprentice. I do not own it, though I wish I did. It's too awesome for the likes of me. I only own my characters. Who are: Chris, Kea—Okay you get the point, right? From now on, I shall only be putting up new characters that appear in the chapter. Makes life easier I guess.
NOTICE: If you notice anything worth noticing that you notice should come to my notice. Please do not hesitate to notice me. You'll notice that I'm a nice guy(most of the time). Please note that this notice that you are noticing is intended for me to notice my shortcomings so that I may be a better noticer at noticing noted mistakes.
Happy Reading.
Dinner was somewhat uneventful for Chris. Other than the occasional joke shared by Baron Aldrich, nothing really stood out. All he could think of was how he would be able to scale the tower holding the baron's office and find a place to eavesdrop from. He quivered nervously. To eavesdrop on an official discussion, and not to mention private, would be considered a major offense. It would only pile on top of the list of offenses and he would likely be dealt a greater punishment than the one Keaton and Aldrich would be discussing. He didn't even know, in the first place, why he was going to be punished. The reasons for it seemed odd and unfair. More odd than anything.
On the far end of the table, Baron Aldrich smiled mischievously to himself as he rehearsed the next part of the ploy in his head. Chris' confounded face, twisted and grim, helped to grow his grin so that it was touching the ends of both his ears. Satisfied that his plan would work, he stood up abruptly.
"I am stuffed," he spoke plainly. So plainly, it was obvious that he was acting.
"I will now retire to my quarters and rest there. After I rest for half an hour, I shall go to my office where I will have my very private conversation with Ranger Keaton. Goodbye."
Pleased with his performance, Aldrich chuckled to himself and walked off. Sir Quentin sighed and smacked his forehead. Quentin decided that there couldn't be any actor worse than Aldrich was. He began to feel sorry for his old friend. If he had acted as such, Quentin was sure that he'd be embarrassed. Alyss, who found it hard to maintain the poise and grace Couriers should have, stepped outside the dining hall to relieve herself. The other Craftmasters could only shake their heads solemnly, unwilling to say anything. The soon-to-be apprentices sat silently in their seats. A few of them stared confusedly at the door the baron had left through. They had noticed the obvious acting of Baron Aldrich and were curious as to why he did it. But for the same reason as before, they kept it to themselves.
Chris had also been aware of the obvious acting displayed by the baron. It struck him as odd. However, it did nothing to deter the committed boy of his plan to infiltrate the baron's office and spy on the meeting.
After a few minutes, he excused himself from the dining hall and returned to the sleeping quarters in the ward. From there, he would sneak outside, slip unseen through the courtyard, scale the tower, and then he would take the risk of eavesdropping on the meeting Aldrich was going to have with Keaton.
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Chris sat unmoving beneath the shadows of the stables, going over his plan in his head. He studied the sentries' movement on the catwalk that connected to the central tower. He had memorized the layout of this area before dinner, but decided that it would be too risky to try anything without further planning. The central tower was at the rear of the castle, which could only be accessed through the door on ground level, the door on the catwalk, and from inside. There were of course the windows, but normally people would use the doors. However, Chris knew this was no normal occasion. He was going to have to scale that tower whether he liked it or not. All doors leading into the tower were heavily guarded, and to make things harder, there was little room to sneak about to even think of getting in through there. The ground level door sat in an alley way between the rear wall and the castle, and had two guards on either side. The catwalk door faced outwards to the countryside, had two guards on either side, and two sentries crossing about the catwalk. Strangely though, only the door on the catwalk was illuminated by torches.
Chris shrugged mentally. It didn't make things any easier. He still would have to climb the foreboding tower to the third window, four storeys from ground level. To make matters even worse, the alley way was parallel to the wall, which meant he would have to climb the wall onto the catwalk, walk across it while avoiding the sentries, hang down from the wall, shimmy across the wall to the tower, scale up the tower, and then shimmy across the cylindrical tower to the window. The climbing of the wall and the tower was the easy bit. The large set cement stones of which the wall was built had large gaps between them, which provided him with many foot and handholds. Cracks and holes, which lined the walls of the castle and the tower, simply made things easier.
Chris began to rub his hands nervously. He had never taken on a task as large as this. One wrong move, and he'd either be caught or fall to his death. He shook his head fitfully. Now wasn't the time to be thinking negatively. He needed every bit of resolve he could muster in order to pull this off.
Steeling himself into the moment, he flashed across the open ground from the stables and flattened himself onto the cold stone wall. Luckily for him, there were a few trees that lined the wall which helped to obscure him from the view of the guards by the lower door. He slipped across the alley way instinctively blending in with the movement of the trees' shadows. Years of hunting helped to perfect this movement.
He snuck carefully to a tree close to the section he decided to climb up. He waited a few seconds until the sentry passed over him. He would only have a few minutes to climb up, walk a few feet across, and then hang back down over the edge of the wall.
Hearing the sentry pass, he streaked up the wall. He made it to the top of the five-meter wall in a matter of seconds, and then proceeded to glide stealthily across the catwalk to a section dangerously close to the guards by the catwalk door. Chris froze in his crouched position as one of the guards by the door whipped his head around suddenly. The guard had heard something and suspiciously peered directly in the direction of Chris' unmoving figure. The torch, however, was so bright, that it clouded the guard's view, and made everything look black as night around him.
Chris' heart pounded deafeningly in his chest as the guard squinted fiercely, leaning forward slightly to see better. Satisfied that he had seen nothing out of the ordinary, the guard leaned back into his position and resumed the blank unblinking stare most guards had.
Chris let out a soft sigh of relief. He was sure that he would have been caught. Hearing footsteps behind him, he snapped upright, remembering that the sentry would be turning around soon. If the sentry glanced in his direction, he would no doubt see Chris clearly.
Chris quickly, but softly, slipped back down the wall and hung there. He rapidly streaked across the wall sideways until he reached the tower. He kept moving across until he was hanging directly above the guards of the tower's lower door. He then began to scale slowly and carefully up the tower. Any rapid movement could cause small bits of dust or rubble to fall toward the guards, alerting them to his presence.
Satisfied that he had reached a high enough point, he started to move diagonally up the tower. He nearly shrieked as his left foot slipped while he was leaning to find another foothold. He repositioned his foot and clung to the wall, hugging it fiercely. He looked down to see if he alerted any of the guards. That was a mistake. When he saw how high up he was, he quickly pressed his face to the wall and shut his eyes. The guards had looked like tiny dots moving around in the torchlight and the hard stone slabs of the catwalk seemed strangely inviting. He usually didn't mind heights, but that view sent his head spinning. He shook his head and breathed in deeply. He started to climb again, but this time he did scaled slowly. He made sure that he had a firm grip on the wall before moving to change holds.
A surge of relief passed through him as he his hands clasped onto a ledge wide enough for him to stand on. The ledge was ring of stone that marked the halfway point of the tower and also helped to reinforce the rest of the tower. The Baron's office window was just two metres above the ledge which helped to calm his nerves further.
Reaching the window with ease, he pulled his head over the window sill slowly. The shutters were slightly open, giving him a split view of Baron Aldrich inside. He couldn't see Keaton at all. The lights in the office were a lot dimmer than it should have been. Aldrich was pacing the room awkwardly, as if he was forcefully planting each foot to make a statement.
"Shall I begin,?" Baron Aldrich, "I shouldn't have to ask you. Do I? No, I think not."
Chris frowned at the first statement. Begin? He thought curiously, they should have been well into it by now.
Pulling himself higher, he sat easily on the large stone window sill. Leaning his ear toward the window, his eyebrows furrowed as he tried to listen clearly to what Baron Aldrich would say.
"Ranger Keaton!," Aldrich bellowed obtrusively, as if he were reading from a script, "Let us discuss what PUNISHMENT the boy CHRIS deserves! I rather think that he should be flogged! Or dragged across the ground for—for... what is that word?...Oh—For ten minutes by a horse! Maybe even death for SPYING ON A PRIVATE MEETING!"
Chris eyes widened. They knew he was there. Before he could move, the window flew open and a firm hand gripped him intensely on the shoulder and wrenched him out of his hiding spot onto the cold floor of the office. His heart sank to an all-time low as he opened his eyes and stared into the grim foreboding face of Ranger Keaton. His fears of getting caught had been realized.
"Hello, Chris," Aldrich said in a monotonous voice, "What do you have to say for yourself? Whatever you will say, I must add, will not ease the forthcoming punishment for—for espionagy?"
Aldrich cocked his head confusedly, staring at his hand.
"Espionage, my lord," Keaton corrected.
"Right. I knew that," Aldrich muttered, and then continued in the monotonous voice, "Espionage is a high degree crime, punishable by death. However, we need two extra witnesses to the announcing of the crime. Then tomorrow your case shall be presented to the court!"
As soon as he finished, the door opened to admit Sir Quentin with Alyss following close behind. They both leaned against the wall beside the door and kept their faces serious as they looked at Chris. He bowed his head in despair.
On a closer look, Chris noticed that Quentin looked as if he were about to cry, Alyss had a hand to her mouth suppressing the laughter aching to explode. Though their expressions did little to erase the despondency he was feeling.
"I accept any punishment that you deem me fit for," he managed softly, close to tears, "and I will take it whole-heartedly. No turning back. No regrets."
When he looked up, he caught the nodding approving glance of Sir Quentin. Like all warriors, Quentin respected anyone who took the consequences of their actions like a man, no matter how odd or unfair it may seem. Alyss regarded Chris with a sympathetic smile. Then Baron Aldrich stopped his awkward pacing, and began to squint fiercer at Chris, leaning his face closer and closer until Chris had to lean his own head backward.
Aldrich was about to begin another repertoire of acting, when Keaton held up his hand to stop him.
"I think we had enough bad acting for one day," Keaton said bluntly,
Aldrich gave him a hurt look.
"I thought I was doing rather well," Aldrich pouted, "Oh well. I wasn't the best in drama class anyhow."
"You weren't the worst either," Alyss put in,
"Why thank you, Lady Alyss. Always the diplomat."
"You may not have been the worst, but you were darned close to it," Keaton said softly.
At that, Alyss couldn't help herself any longer. She burst into a fit of laughter. Trying to contain it only served to worsen the situation. Baron Aldrich gave another hurt look, and then crossed his arms and made a grumpy face, his lower lip sticking out.
"So much for the diplomatic approach," Quentin said, a wide smile on his lips, "just get on with it Aldie."
Aldrich flinched at the sudden call of his nickname. No one usually called him that, other than his wife. Chris, however, was stunned by the whole charade. He was completely and utterly confused. It must have been showing on his face, because with one glance at him, Alyss began to laugh hysterically once more.
"Wha—what's going on?" he asked innocently.
Keaton turned to face him, one eyebrow raised.
"What does it look like?" he asked, "were discussing your punishment."
"Huh? How then am I going to be punished? I did say I would accept anything, didn't I"
"That you did. We already came to a decision many weeks ago."
"Wait, what? You only called for my punishment today. How did you come to a decision before today?"
"It was all part of the plan, dear," Alyss put it, finally able to quell her laughter.
"You planned for me to get in trouble? When? Why?"
"It's true," Keaton said distantly, "we really do ask a lot of questions. Yes, I planned for you to get into trouble. When? About two weeks ago."
"You haven't answered the why yet. And what is my punishment anyway?"
"Ah, well the answer to that question, also answers the why."
Chris looked confusedly at Keaton, waiting impatiently for the answer.
"Your punishment, my boy," Keaton said, "is you are going to be my apprentice."
End of Chapter 3! Whew. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Much more to come soon!
Anyway please Read & Review with all your might! I'll be waiting! (I know where you read! Muahahaha)