*Disclaimer: I do not one RA (wish I did! That would be AWESOME!)
Okay peoplez, another chapter! Yay! Sorry I didn't get it up last week; last week was crazy!
Anywayz, I couldn't remember if Cassandra was King Duncan's only daughter/child, or if his wife died, etc., but if she died, he's remarried, if she didn't, and Cassie's just the only daughter/child they've had, well, they had another kid! Her name is Amaleah! You get to meet her in this chapter, as well as find out some things about Leon's past!
Chapter 6
"You three are up early." The innkeeper commented, he was used to Rangers; his inn was comfortable, with good food, and better coffee, not to pricey, and never as busy as the bigger, more popular inns. It was well known to travelers of all stripe, making it a veritable fountain of information for those who had good ears.
"Have you seen a boy, about fifteen, tall, dark hair, and green-grey eyes? Goes by the name of Leon." The innkeeper shook his head,
"Not since last night when he was with you, Ranger. He missing?" Giving a quick nod in reply, Will, Gilan, and Kayle left the inn.
"Is something wrong?" Halt asked mildly, pausing briefly before continuing to groom Abelard.
"Leon's disappeared. We came here first to see if he had left, but the horses are all here." Will replied. "If there had been a struggle of any sort, it would have woken us, but he might have just wandered off."
"And why would anyone try to take him?" Halt queried, raising an eyebrow.
"I mentioned yesterday that he was tied in with the razed town and the brigands we ran into. With him disappearing, I didn't get a chance to elaborate further; but after finding him, we encountered some above average bandits: they were looking for him. They said, 'only a fool would let that kid get away'. As to what they meant, we have yet to find out; Leon hadn't a clue."
"So you think he may have been spirited away?"
"That seemed most likely, what with him not taking the horses with him-"
"From what I have gathered, this is his first time being around a castle, right?" When Will nodded, Halt continued. "How do you know he didn't go exploring? Or maybe he couldn't sleep and went for a walk. This far into Araluen, it's probably far more likely for him to have wandered off and gotten mobbed by little children or waylaid by somebody's grandmother, than to have been taken hostage."
"You're right. I guess those bandits made a bigger impression on me than I thought." Will said with a sigh.
"Same here; but we shouldn't rule that option out totally. If we can't find him, then something to that affect may have very well happened." Gilan put in.
"Are we splitting up?" Kayle asked impatiently. "We're not going to find him by standing here." Gilan chuckled;
"Impatient now, are we?" Looking at the ground, Kayle mumbled under his breath,
"Just when it looks like I'll have a full night's rest, someone has to disappear..." He continued to mumble as Gilan went on to lay out a plan.
"Kayle and I will search the various back streets and alleyways, starting at the outskirts and working our way in. Will, you could start in the middle and work your way out, checking out everything that might pique a boy's interest; just don't let any shiny objects distract you." He finished, grinning.
"Well then, now that you have a plan, get moving."
* * *
We've been searching for hours with no sign of him, and we still haven't eaten breakfast; haven't had time for even a single cup of coffee! If Leon is going to be Will's apprentice, why can't Will look for him on his own? Why do we have to help? Kayle didn't voice these thoughts aloud; he knew what the answer would be, so, grudgingly, he walked down yet another alley, carefully searching the shadows. I hope this doesn't become an everyday occurrence...
Will was heading toward the middle of the city; Castle Araluen itself, keeping an eye out for Leon as he went. Upon reaching the castle, he began searching the stables, alleys, and inns in the immediate vicinity; No luck; no one's seen him. Will thought, I should check with the castle guards... Striding briskly towards the nearest guard, he eyed the castle walls and surrounding area speculatively, automatically picking out the best routes for gaining access to the castle; The sort of routes a curious boy might take to bypass the guards..
"Looking for something, Ranger?" The guard asked, having spotted him earlier; he was obviously looking for something, or maybe someone.
"Actually, it's someone, not something, I'm looking for. Have you seen a boy; dark haired, slightly taller than average, somewhat lanky?" After a moment of consideration, the guard slowly shook his head;
"Sorry Ranger; haven't seen hardly anyone so far this morning, I just relieved the guard that was on night shift." He looked thoughtful for a minute, "One thing you might be interested in; Charles said he thought he'd heard something earlier, but no one was there, then, when he turned to leave, he caught a flicker of movement in the corner of his eye, but as soon as he looked for it, it was gone." Will nodded, thoughtful.
"And where did he see the movement?"
"That's the funny thing, he said he could of swore it came from a spot about twenty feet up the wall, but nothing was there." Not that he could see. Will thought briefly, I knew the boy had talent.
"Hmm, must have been a bird. Anyway, if you haven't seen him, he must already be inside; he's always early." Will said nonchalantly, as if he headed to a meeting of some sort. "Well then, I mustn't be late."
He glided down the halls, silent as a cat, peering into any room that seemed like it might be interesting: so far he'd explored the kitchen; including the pantry, buttery, and bottlery, as well as the great hall, throne room, minstrels gallery, armory, library, and a lot of rooms the names of which were unknown to him. He'd taken note of the different meeting rooms, for the Couriers, the scribes, though he hadn't seen one for the Rangers; but he hadn't bothered exploring them. He wanted to see how many floors a castle had, and how long it took to get to the top; if he had time, he'd explore more on his way down. That is, if he had time; he estimated that he had an hour left till sunrise, and it was taking forever. This place sure is big; it must have taken forever to build it. He mused, pushing open another door. Whoa...
Once Will got in, he immediately began looking for any sign of Leon; He's probably on one of the upper floors by now, but it won't hurt to check...
Pushing the door the rest of the way open, he gazed in astonishment at the variety of things in the room: instruments of every sort hung on the walls, several desks were on one side, a bookcase lined one wall, the opposite wall had a small assortment of training weapons. There was also a raised platform to one side with several stools and music stands on it. One of the instruments in particular caught his attention, I haven't seen one of those in... way too long. But were did they find one? And do they actually know how to play it? After making sure no one was in the hall, he carefully stepped the rest of the way in and softly closed the door. He crossed the room swiftly, and had just reached out to stroke its smooth, varnished surface when someone spoke up from behind him;
"Do you know how to play it?" He froze, then turned to see a girl about his age, with long, red/gold hair looking curiously at him; Why didn't I hear her? Or see her? Mentally, he cursed himself for not paying better attention.
"I said: do you know how to play?" She talked like she was used to people answering her without delay; very assertive and bold. Might as well humor her.
"Yes." He replied, keeping his answer as brief as possible.
"Well then; would you mind playing it?" She said it like a question, but it was obviously an order; "It's been awhile since I've heard someone play; most people have never even heard of a twelve string guitarra, much less actually know how to play." Carefully, he lifted the instrument off of it's pegs,
"So, you call it a 'guitarra' in this country." He commented, his mind racing: How can I get away?
"I wasn't aware that there was another name to call it. Are you not from Araluen?" She was curious, Too curious... He put the strap across his back, tightening it till it fit just right,
"No, I actually don't know which country I'm originally from; but I came here from Celtica." He strummed experimentally, and winced at the sound it produced. "How long has it been since this has been tuned properly?" He queried, hoping to distract her.
"So, what do you call it?" When her curiosity was piqued, there wasn't much that could distract her from finding out what she wanted to know.
"A quetar." What an interesting accent, where have I heard it before? She wondered; when he said 'quetar', he hardned the qu, so it almost sounded like a k, but not quite, and he put more emphasis on the second syllable, so that it sounded more like keh-tar. But other than that one word, he speaks Araluen flawlessly, with no accent at all. How queer. She thought.
He was several floors up when he ran into King Duncan;
"Will! What are you wandering the castle so early for?"
"Well, your majesty; I think my soon to be apprentice is wandering around here somewhere, but I've had no luck in finding him."
"Ah! So you've found a boy that suits your fancy then? We can look for him together: my youngest daughter is wandering around here too. According to her lady-in-waiting, she couldn't sleep; mayhap we'll find them both if we look together."
They had been looking for several minutes when they heard it; a soft, melodic river of sound.
"Sounds like it's coming from the next floor." Will said, heading for the nearest stair. It didn't take long for them to find the room, the music floated down the hall, clean, pure, and somewhat haunting, from a door that was slightly ajar. The music stopped when they had almost reached the door; there was an awed silence in the room, until a young voice broke it.
"You didn't say you were an expert! When did you learn to play?" Duncan caught Will's eye;
"That would be Amaleah." He said softly, he was about to continue when a voice answered Amaleah's question;
"A long time ago; I was about seven or eight." Will grinned,
"That's Leon; I wonder how long they've been talking?" He whispered,
"There's no telling; Leah often comes here when she's had a restless night." They turned their attention back to the persons in the room.
"That's a long time; do you play much?" Amaleah queried; This boy is quite intriguing; I wonder who taught him to play?
"I haven't played at all for the past several years." Leon replied shortly.
"Why not? You're very good." What's with this girl and her blasted questions? Why, why why: is that the only way she knows to carry on a conversation?! He thought before answering,
"My father forbade it; said it took too much time that might be spent doing 'more important' things, and that it was too much of a distraction."
"That wasn't very nice; what did he think was more important?"
"Perfection." He answered, gritting his teeth; Is there no end to these confounded questions?
"Would you mind explaining what you mean?"
"Perfection; meaning me practicing for hours on end because he wanted me to be perfect, and him being so disappointed when I fell short of what he wanted me to be!" Leon spat,
"Oh," She said, subdued by his outburst; "He won't be happy that I made you play, will he?"
"Probably not."
"What about your mother?" He looked at her, his face showing about as much emotion as a block of wood, his gaze hollow;
"She's dead." His voice was flat and empty.
"Oh." She replied quietly; unsure of what she should say next, she asked another question. "Why did he come to Araluen?"
"So far as I know, he hasn't." He said, absentmindedly picking on the guitarra; "I haven't seen him in years."
"Why?"
"That's your favorite word, isn't it? I haven't seen him, nor do I wish to ever see him again; that's why I ran away."
"Does he know where you are?"
"No; what would be the point of running away if he knew where I was? Then he could find me any time he wanted."
"Oh." The silence stretched uncomfortably between them, the gentle sound of the guitarra in the background only made the silence seem more bleak.
"I know what it feels like, being pushed to be perfect." Amaleah said softly; Leon glanced at her, still keeping a steady rhythm. When she realized he was waiting for her to elaborate, she continued; "Whenever I need help with my lessons, or I'm not very good at something, all I hear is: 'Cassandra this', 'Cassandra that', and 'Why can't you be as good as Cassandra?'! Sometimes it seems like nobody wants me unless I'm like Cassandra." She looked dejectedly at her feet.
"Who's Cassandra?" No longer playing, he looked at her curiously.
"My older sister."
"And what has she done that's so great they want you to be an exact replica?" Leon snorted, "Did she swoop down from heaven on angelic wings and miraculously fix all the problems in the world? Like war, famine, disease, and poverty?" His tone was laced with scorn.
"Not quite: she helped young Will Treaty burn Morgarath's bridge, then she helped Will, Halt, and Horace defeat the Temujai in Skandia and signed the treaty that changed the Skandians from enemies, into allies. Since then she has been on quite a few diplomatic trips that have helped Araluen tremendously." Wait; Will, Halt, and Horace? Haven't I met them? Interesting...
"And how does that make her any better than you?" It's awful when people keep reminding you that you're not good enough for them...
"That's just it! Since I'm not her, everyone's disappointed." Leon could barely hear her,
"But that's nonsense! If Cassandra has already done all that, then you can't do it over because she's already done it. And besides, if it's already been done, it won't impress them anyway. You'll just have to keep being you, and eventually, they'll find out that it's a good thing that you aren't your sister."
"Why?" She didn't even bother looking up.
"Because, you'll do something great, something different, something that only you can do." When he finished, his voice was almost a whisper; stepping forward, he lifted her chin gently, so she was looking him in the eye. "You have greatness in you, and don't you ever forget it." Hearing those words as she looked into his eyes, she felt a chill go down her spine; It sounds like he's prophesying, but that's ridiculous... Feeling awkward, she stepped back;
"What songs can you play on that?" She asked, trying to get back to what they had been talking about before their conversation had gotten so serious. Climbing onto the platform, he pulled a stool over and sat down, putting his right foot on one of the rungs to better balance the guitarra. He strummed once, lightly, and looked at her;
"What would you like me to play?"
For a few moments, their voices had been so low Will hadn't been able to hear what they were saying; he itched to get closer, but knew that he might give himself away.
"I had no idea she felt that way." Duncan whispered softly, brooding.
"Don't go in yet, Duncan; this is the most I've heard him say about his past, I want to find out as much as possible."
"Have you ever heard the song 'Fallen'?" He looked at her sharply,
"Where did you hear that?"
"Oh, I heard it the first time I saw someone play a twelve string; he was very good, and I've never forgotten that song."
"Do you remember his name?"
"No, why?" He looked down,
"Oh, no reason; just curious." She looked at him, somewhat incredulous, "Oh, alright! It's just that I know the person who wrote that song; it was my quetar teacher's favorite, and it was one of the first ones I learned to play."
"Really?! Could you play it for me?"
"I'll play it, but I'm afraid I'm not very good at singing." He smiled grimly,
"No, just play it; we don't want to wake anyone up." He started into the first few chords of the bittersweet melody, when he was half-way through the first verse, he realized that she was humming a slightly different melody, one that was perfectly in harmony. She really does know how this goes. When he reached the bridge, he stopped;
"You're crying!"
"Oh, sorry; it's just..." Her voice trailed off as she wiped her eyes, "It gets to me every time."
"Yeah; it puts those feelings into words perfectly." He paused, "I should probably play something more cheerful; have anything in mind?"
"Not really." She shrugged,
"What about 'Fly Away'?" Without waiting for an answer, he started; getting through the complicated intro flawlessly. The melody was light and fast; she watched him, awed at the speed and skill with which he played. This time when he reached the bridge, she was smiling.
Just outside, Will and Duncan listened; Duncan turned to Will and said;
"Well, looks like you've got an artist on your hands."
When he finished, the last, high note still lingering in the air, he froze;
"Very good Leon; you didn't tell us you could play." Will said nonchalantly, leaning casually on the door jamb
"Amaleah." Duncan said softly, crossing the room to his daughter and pulling her into a tight embrace; "Why didn't you tell me?" She looked at him, confused.
"How long have you been listening?" Leon asked, his voice somewhat strangled.
"Long enough to know you'd make a very successful jongleur." Will commented, grinning; "To be more specific, we found where you were from your music; I think we got here in time to here the end of your first song."
"Fallen?"
"No, the one before that." Amaleah's eye's widened.
"You've been listening that long?!" Duncan quieted her gently.
"Yes; Leon, I think you have some explaining to do."
Okay peoplez; you know the drill! REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also, I just read the 5th book last week!!! Eeeeeeee! It was so good! But the ending! It was SUCH a cliffhanger! Grrrrr! I WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!!!! Anywayz, If you notice anything that doesn't fit with the books and is totally wrong, let me know. Also, I want to know what all of you think of the story so far, so REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!REVIEW!!!!REVIEW!!!!REVIEW!!!! REVIEW!!!!REVIEW!!!!REVIEW!!!!REVIEW!!!!REVIEW!!!!REVIEW!!!!REVIEW!!!!REVIEW!!!!REVIEW!!!!REVIEW!!!!REVIEW!!!!REVIEW!!!!REVIEW!!!!
