A/N I just want to restate that Sean finds out the day AFTER the day after she runs away. I know it wasn't very clear in the last chapter just when he finds out…

Discoveries

When Mychele awoke, rubbing her eyes sleepily, the sun was high overhead; noon. Gaping, she sat up and stretched out her arms. Immediately, Lona rolled in the grass and to her feet, trotting to a gallop around the clearing. Mychele laughed at the gamboling Shetland.

"Lona, you silly goat! Sorry girl, your legs must've fallen asleep," she said. Stooping to pick up the fallen blanket that she'd slept in, Mychele noticed that the ties at the neck of her tunic had come undone. She hastily retied them.

How long were they like that? I hope nobody saw…

Since the opening was only just past her collar bone, Mychele didn't worry about it too much, wincing as she walked the short distance back to the cabin; her already sore limbs had stiffened in the cold. As she stepped onto the veranda, a tall brown horse came galloping to a halt in front of her and a man clad in livery jumped from the saddle. Her brushed past her without a glance and knocked feverishly on the door.

"Urgent message for Ranger Halt!" he yelled. Staring at him strangely, Mychele walked past, opened the door, and entered, shutting the door in his face.

"Halt, there's a messenger for you," she said blankly.

Two pairs of eyes with two raised eyebrows and an amused smile from Alyss greeted this blunt understatement, accompanied by ceaseless knocking. Slowly, Halt stood and walked to the door, opening it with the expression of one who has a distasteful duty to perform.

The messenger held up a sealed letter. "Sir! Urgent Message for-"

SLAM! Halt walked back to the table, indifferently breaking the seal on the purloined letter and unfolding it. After a moment's study, he threw it down and gathered his cloak and bow while Will eagerly snatched it up and read aloud as Halt left, informing then that he was going to the castle.

"…Messenger from King Sean of Clonmel, calling upon Halt's aid, on grounds of the mutual treaty." Read Will.

Inwardly nervous, Mychele forced herself to remain calm and sit at the table as if casually interested.

"From Clonmel? I wonder what King Sean could want. Why Halt specifically though?"

If they weren't a Ranger and a Courier, Will and Alyss would've shared a knowing look.

We can't tell him about Sean and Halt being related.

Alyss answered. "I don't know any more than you do. Perhaps because Halt was so helpful with the Outsiders."

"You're from there," put in Will, "Do you know anything about the royal family?" He wanted to test what the youth knew.

"Well, I know that King Sean is the daughter of Princess Caitlyn, who was late King Ferris's sister. And as far as I know, Ferris never took a queen." She said.

"I didn't think so. He didn't have one when we were there, and then he died," confirmed Will. "What else do you know?"

Mychele's heart drummed against her ribcage. "I know of…rumors that say Ferris had a twin brother, who disappeared in his teen-years. But the rumors didn't tell of the reason," she stated, suddenly feeling very warm.

I wish I could just lie, I wish I could lie, I wish I could lie…Her thoughts ran a merry-go-round of desperation, but her mother had impressed honesty upon her too firmly for possible deceit. Despite her predicament, she maintained an air of ignorance.

"Yes, that's true," mused Will. "Well," he continued, "We won't know anything until Halt comes back and tells us himself. In the meanwhile, You haven't eaten Michael, help yourself." Will pushed a plate of baked potatoes and green beans over to Mychele and left the table, going outside. Alyss also rose and rummaged about for a large pot in the kitchen.

"You haven't had a bath since you came," she said to Mychele. "I'm sure your arms and legs hurt a lot, so a hot bath is just what you need." She set the pot of water on the iron stovetop to heat, and placed a round wooden basin in Mychele's room, constantly pouring in the water as soon as it was hot. Accordingly, after Mychele had finished her meal and scrubbed the dishes at Alyss's request, she went to bathe, somewhat nervously.

Securely locking the door and drawing the curtains, Mychele entered the steaming tub, gasping at the heat, but soon sighing blissfully as the hot water soothed away the ache and stiffness from her body. By the time she stepped out of the tub, leaving behind almost a week's worth of grime and sweat, she felt completely renewed and strengthened. Smiling unconsciously, she pulled clean clothes from her pack to dress in, savoring the luxury of it.

Just as she finished tying her tunic, clad in breeches and woolen stockings, a knock sounded at the door.

"Michael? If you're finished, can I come in?" It was Will's voice.

"Sure, gimmie a second." Toweling her hair, she moved the precautionary chair from the door and opened it. Will stepped through the threshold as Mychele turned to repack her bag. "Is something wrong?" she asked.

"No, no, just checking on you." He glanced at the tub; the water was murky and dark. "Looks like you had a mud bath," he laughed. Mychele joined in. "Haha, doesn't it?"

After a moment, Will leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. "But I do have something to ask you," he said, his face suddenly serious. Mychele finished her chore and looked at him, puzzled.

"Yeah? What is it?" she said, sitting on the side of the bed, facing the Ranger.

He paused, stroking his chin in consideration. "Why," he began, "Are you pretending to be a boy?"

Mychele froze. "What makes you think that?" she laughed. It sounded forced. "I'm not a girl, that's for sure."

"Can you prove that?"

Wisely, she stayed silent. After a bit, she faced him. "How did you know?"

"In the tree, you tunic was undone," he explained apologetically. "You were leaning forward while I adjusted the quiver strap. I saw the cloth underneath it, and guessed the rest."

Sighing in frustration, Mychele buried her face in her hands. "I should've known this would happen. I suppose you want to know everything now?" she said bitterly.

"No."

Her head snapped up. "What do you mean, no? I'm…you just…but…"

"I mean no. I don't want to know, don't need to know. There's only two people in the cabin right now, and as far as I know, those people are a Ranger named Will, and a boy named Michael." He grinned cheekily.

She opened her mouth, then closed it; opened it again, closed it again, and gave up. Shaking her head, she finally said, "You're the weirdest person I've ever met."

Will laughed, feeling like he'd just played the best joke ever. "I've heard that more than once. But, I have one more thing to ask." She looked up expectantly.

"Do you want to be my apprentice?"

Halt came back to the cabin just as they were finishing supper. He came in and helped himself to coffee, tormenting Will by ignoring all questions until Will was ready to explode; then he began to explain: Sean needed him to investigate a series of kidnappings, and a highly confidential matter that Halt hadn't been told of in full detail. It was highly urgent, the messenger from Clonmel had said, who happened to be the head of the castle guard himself. Baron Arald had agreed that Halt should go, and since there had strangely been many unexplained kidnappings in Redmont area as well, Halt was interested enough to go. But, more than that, he wanted to investigate his untold suspicions about Michael.

"But Halt," protested Will. "The gathering is in one week!"

"I know," he said calmly. "Me and you are the task force, aren't we? I think this is important enough to skip the gathering. Crowley trusts my judgment. Besides," he glanced at Michael. "You have someone else to annoy on the way there."

When Will had asked Michael to be his apprentice, he'd jumped up, shouting "What? But I'm a-" Then Will had clamped his hand over the boy's mouth, saying "I don't know what you're talking about. Do you want to or not?" After which, Michael readily agreed. Will had already convinced Alyss before-hand, and against Halt's warnings, decided to force Crowley's agreement by taking the boy straight to the gathering.

Will grinned wolfishly while Halt eyed Michael with an almost pitying look. Glancing from one to the other, Michael had the feeling of a cornered rabbit.

The next few days saw Michael and Will to the gathering, and Halt to Clonmel.

Halt entered Sean's private consulting room, finding himself and Sean to be the only ones there. After greeting his uncle warmly, Sean invited the Ranger to sit, getting right down to business.

"Well Sean, what's this urgent, confidential matter you called me over here for?"

Sean coughed to clear his throat and placed his hands on the spread of papers in front of him.

"These papers and documents led us, well, my wife Meredith specifically, to an astonishing discovery. After your broth- Ferris, after Ferris died, I didn't have the heart to disturb his things from the office. So, after I married Meredith, she took up the task for me. Among the papers, she found correspondence to an unknown person. To make a very complicated story short, Ferris had a wife."

Halt's brows creased fiercely, but he made no comment. Sean paused to assess his reaction, then continued.

"It seems that he'd secretly married a Pictan woman of small social standing. I guess he feared ridicule if he married a relatively poor woman publicly," Sean said with an embarrassed shrug; it was well known that Ferris had been a coward. "She gave up her home and lived near the coast, receiving irregular visits from Ferris, and secretly sending messages to a place where she would anonymously pick them up. One letter had been written by Ferris, but never sent. The date is about when the Outsiders showed up, so perhaps he didn't want to risk it being intercepted.

"Other letters showed that Ferris…had a daughter. She's lived with Meredith and I for three years. She's sixteen years old." He rubbed his neck sheepishly. "But it always seemed to me that she was only fourteen. That made her pretty mad I guess. But, she's gone Halt."

Halt had been listening intently throughout Sean's tale, puzzling over this information in his head. Sean thought he was taking the news amazingly well, but inside, he was shocked. Utterly and completely astounded. He was an uncle. Ferris had a child. Moreover, it almost definitely explained the boy, Michael. Apparently, "he" wasn't a boy.

"What do you mean gone? Where to?"

Sean sighed. "I don't know! That's what I need your help with. We had a…disagreement, about two weeks ago. I confined her to her rooms, and three days later, she was gone. I don't know if she was kidnapped, or simply ran away." Sean's expression looked deeply ashamed.

Countless questions knocked about Halt's head; he chose one.

"What happened to her mother?"

A/N There's another chapter for ya'll! The last line doesn't seem like a big thing, but trust me, it's pretty important. *iz not trying to make you stay interested* teehee. Does Alyss seem OOC to ya'll? Srry bout that, I'm typing this chap in a hurry... Please review! I can't think of anything else to say, so toodle pip!;3