Okay, so before I begin, thank you to my reviewers, y'all made my day over the last couple weeks! Bio has been stressful, and I've been dealing with some hard things in my life as of late, but I'm really happy I managed to give someone some sort of entertainment with my crappy writing. XD Anyway,
Bob Story Builder: Well... you'll see, in this chapter. :D
Wyatt200gaming: Thank you! I'm happy you like it so far!
And, from chapter one(because I'm a very forgetful person XD sorry guys!),
AreiaCanaid: Thank you, I'm happy my story interests you!
Bob Story Builder: Thanks for the feedback! For clarification, if it's more than, say, a line/sentence or in the middle of a paragraph/single word to give emphasis, yes, italics are flashbacks. Usually, they span at least two or three paragraphs, and that's the absolute minimum length I let them get XD Flashbacks will be pretty common in coming chapters, so this clarification is helpful.
Also, this wasn't relevant the last two chapters, but it becomes so starting in this chapter. Cassandra(Evanlyn) and Horace are now the Queen and King, since this is after The Royal Ranger, and in The Royal Ranger it states that King Duncan is getting worse and worse, and this takes place about eleven or twelve years after the events of The Royal Ranger. I also decided that Maddie would probably decide to stay out of the royal picture, preferring life as a Ranger to that(Which makes sense, re-reading the book), so she is still not a princess.
Anyway, enough of me rambling. On with the story!
(Disclaimer: I have never been to Australia in my life. I'm not John Flanagan. If I was, there would be a lot more girl Rangers.)
3
Evelynn tried and tried to disengage herself from the female Ranger's iron grip, the whole way to the castle. Of course, she failed, since the Ranger's grip was basically iron. She almost got away one time, when she had the bright idea to run her elbow into the Ranger's stomach, but the hesitation had only lasted for a moment, and her grip hadn't loosened enough for Evelynn to free herself from it. So now, Evelynn found herself staring up at the still-forbidding walls of Castle Redmont for the second time in the same number of days.
That was when her opportunity arose. Evelynn remembered her knife, and silently slipped it out and, in the same maneuver she had used on Fenn, whacked the Ranger's knuckles, consequently freeing herself. Evelynn wasted no time in dashing back into town. It was beginning to get busier, and as a result, she managed to blend into the crowds. She looked back briefly, once she was in town, and didn't see the Ranger behind her.
Because she was in front of Evelynn. She ran right into the green-grey clad form of the Ranger, and more importantly, dazed for a moment too long. Her knife skidded from its sheath across the street, and kicked by the Ranger out of Evelynn's reach. Damn it, Evelynn thought, as she looked at it nervously. Then her gaze went back up to the Ranger as she spoke.
"That was quite a risky move there." She commented, no hint of humor or… frankly, anything, in her voice. Evelynn gulped, not saying anything. The Ranger easily picked Evelynn up, and moved to the edge of Wensley, closer to the woods than to Castle Redmont. Evelynn was confused. Where was this strange, female Ranger taking her? Then the Ranger's voice grew obviously serious.
"So." Evelynn gulped slightly at this further change in mood as she was put down, spun around, and grabbed on the shoulders with that iron-tight grip. "What were you doing in the castle last night?"
Evelynn searched her brain for an answer, and maybe hoped silence would give the Ranger the idea that Evelynn hadn't been there. Of course, it didn't work. Looking up into the shadowed face of the mysterious female Ranger, Evelynn felt there would be no pity there.
"I… was carrying out a job," Evelynn answered, truthfully. It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't a detailed explanation of her presence in the castle. By all technicalities, it answered the Ranger's question.
"What type of job?" The Ranger prompted. Evelynn wasn't sure how to respond, without getting badly reprimanded. The last thing she wanted was to have to go back to the castle.
" … I… I was…" Evelynn racked her brain for some less-incriminating, but truthful, way to state the answer.
"You were?"
"Looking for a map," Evelynn eventually said.
"A map?" Evelynn could hear the slight undertone of interest in the Ranger's voice.
"Y-yes, ma'am…"
"Do you still have this map?"
Evelynn shook her head. She had already accepted she was going to get in trouble for this.
"That was my job. I needed to find the map, for this guy…" Evelynn trailed off, wondering if it was a good idea or not to mention Fenn. He had shown that he could be a dangerous adversary if in the right - or, rather, the wrong - circumstances.
"What guy?"
"...His name's Fenn Yuman. I… don't know anything else, though."
She heard the Ranger curse. This surprised Evelynn. What was so important about Fenn for the Ranger to know?
"Do you know where he is?"
"Last I saw him, he was… at the inn," Evelynn said, deciding it would be a better choice to simply be honest after trying to come up with some sort of half-truth. She also noted that her escapades of the previous night were finally catching up with her. Most of it was starting to blur into one massive entry of running around the castle and dealing with Fenn. And the Ranger, of course.
"Damn. He's probably long-gone by now." The Ranger glanced down at the pouch at Evelynn's side. "He give you that?"
"Well, as I said, it was a job… he paid me to find the map." Evelynn decided not to mention that part of that job was to bring it to him, as it seemed fairly clear to the Ranger.. She looked deep in thought. Evelynn decided to take the risk of asking why Fenn was of such interest to her.
"Um… if you don't mind my asking, but…" Evelynn started. The Ranger tilted her head to indicate she was listening. "Why do you want to know about Fenn so badly?"
The Ranger sighed. But didn't answer Evelynn's question, she noted with mild annoyance.
"Well… I need to at least check the inn before sending Will word that Yuman has a map… and I can't leave you be…" The Ranger was saying, mostly to herself, but watching Evelynn. "Wouldn't help matters if you warned him that he was under interest from a Ranger. So… guess you're coming." Evelynn sighed in resignation. She would probably be forced to follow the Ranger around all day, drawing glances - not to mention driving away any business prospects she may have still had in Wensley. Time to move on, after all this blows over.
If it ever did blow over. Somehow, Evelynn doubted that this new Ranger would be letting Evelynn out of her sights for long, if at all. She sighed in resignation. This would be a long day.
"What's your name, by the way?" The Ranger spoke up, shaking Evelynn out of her thoughts.
"Um…" Evelynn weighed the pros and cons of having a Ranger know her name. Or, at least, what Evelynn knew of her name. "Evelynn." That was all she knew. No last name, no parents - nothing. The Ranger covered her surprised look quickly, but it wasn't missed by Evelynn.
"Evelynn, huh? I'm Madelyn, Maddie for short. Come on, then."
They reached the inn, Maddie leading Evelynn with a slightly - only slightly - lighter grip on her arm. Evelynn was still pretty sure it would be bruised by the next morning, however. It was still too tight to pull out of. As Maddie has predicted, however, Fenn was nowhere in sight - clearly, after getting the map into his hands, he had left Wensley in a hurry. It had been barely an hour since Evelynn had seen him last. She was still wondering why the map was so important to the Rangers - Evelynn had told Maddie somewhere along the trip that Fenn had said he just wanted it for sailing safety, for a trading mission. Maddie had stayed silent, once more dodging the question of why she was after Fenn in particular. It seemed that Evelynn would never know that particular piece of information.
After looking all over Wensley for Fenn, they gave up the trial, and Maddie began to make her way back the way they had come. Evelynn could tell just from her manner that she was annoyed. There must be something about Fenn in particular that Maddie was stressed about, and Evelynn was beginning to doubt whether it had been a wise choice to take the job from him. She had, seemingly, landed herself into a much larger mess than she was prepared to take on. She was only fourteen, after all. In a couple of days, that number would change to fifteen. Still too young for most people to have to be dealing with Rangers and their missions. She had been doing it since she was five.
The cool, sharp night air, mixed with the scent of pine needles, usually calmed down five-year-old Evelynn. Usually, that is. But this time, things were different. This time, she had no one to go back to, no way to let her life go back to normal. She had two choices open to her now - go to a ward and live out the rest of her life in that way, with even just small snippets about her past to remind her of her loss, or allow herself the calming solitude of the forest, running from those who had done this to her. Find some way to survive there. Hunt, camp, steal. A more natural life, free from the restraints of social obligations. That sounded more to her tune, anyway.
She heard, faintly, the sounds of grass moving, trees rustling, the occasional pine cone dropping to the ground. She didn't want to go back, where she knew she had no one left for her. Where people would feel unrelenting pity for her, for her loss of family. She preferred solitude. Empty, joyful solitude. Alone with her thoughts, feelings, and wit.
She swung up into a tree and held stock-still, willing the tears to stay back. She watched through teary, blurry eyes as a large, bulky form dashed through the trees, clearly looking for her. How funny it was that people barely ever thought to look up, she thought. They missed the most obvious hiding spots, the most obvious hiders in them. No, looking up was not natural. Down was. Because down, there is solid, unchanging Earth. Up, there's sky, endless and free - and unknown. The unknown scares people. Evelynn felt that she knew that much about human nature.
As she waited for the figure to pass, she found she fell asleep, managing to stay unnoticed in the tree for the remainder of the night.
They came up upon a cabin. Nestled in the quiet of the woods, close enough to the edge to be able to get to Wensley with some speed but not so far in sight that it would be visible unless you were looking for it. It seemed the picture of a happy cabin in the woods, the inhabitants untroubled by anything. Evelynn knew better. She knew that this was a Ranger's home, one located in every fief. She had run across this one multiple times in her runs through the forest. Away from the Ranger who lived there, Evelynn thought with amusement. It seemed counterintuitive to do this, as that may just make it easier for her to be found. The Ranger could simply get his - or, apparently, her - horse and chase after her at a quicker speed.
Leaving Evelynn within easy access, Maddie went around to the stables by the back, and came out on a black and white horse. Maddie leaned over and whispered something into the horse's ear, at which the horse shook their head (Evelynn was done assuming the gender of anything remotely related to Rangers). Maddie pulled Evelynn onto the horse's back.
"This is Bumper." Maddie said. Evelynn just nodded. This was all quite strange for her to be getting herself into.
"Out of curiosity… where are we going?" Evelynn asked, once she realized that they were not going back to Wensley - rather, going in the opposite direction.
"Castle Araluen," Maddie answered simply.
"Why…?"
Maddie didn't answer. This was getting increasingly infuriating. And then she stopped. And turned back around to the cabin. No, this wasn't just infuriating - it was downright confusing.
"What, pray tell, are we doing now?" Evelynn prompted.
"Will and Queen Cassandra aren't leaving for Skandia for another couple of months." Was all Maddie supplied Evelynn with.
"This is relevant… because…?"
"You're going to need time to practice."
"Why…?"
Maddie didn't answer for a few minutes.
"Because you're starting Ranger training. Right now."
Yay! Sorry if Maddie was a bit OOC there at the end. I had a little trouble with that particular scene. Also, until the great reveal of Evelynn's backstory(I've already written it so there can be no changes), I will be willing to give a couple paragraphs of a sneak-peak to the next chapter in a PM to anyone who can guess correctly. At the very least, guess parts of it correctly! I'm really proud of this.
Also, I may be updating more regularly - I'm currently writing chapter 20 and I'm super excited about this story, so Wednesday updates should be something to look out for, though those could possibly be sporadic, depending if writer's block decides to strike me from the abyss. So far, it's left me alone for the most part, but some scenes have been becoming increasingly difficult to write, so I'm a tiny bit worried. However, as I said, I have 19 chapters fully written and I'm working on the 20th, so I think I'm in safe waters in regards to update ammo. Even with regular Wednesday updates, I'll probably be able to make it through the month of February, and I have an hour and a half free period to write at school(lots of it has already been written there), so I might actually finish it before my college course starts on the 5th using weekends and school time XD
Anyway, enough rambling, hope you enjoyed the chapter! Byee!