Hey peoples! I wasn't able to update this as soon as I wanted to, but here it is anyway! I hope you like it!

Thanks to Dodo123, Captive1princess, Xbamsod, J.L.T. Lunoyla, Pinkpaint, GodricsRanger and Lizzet Nighthunter for many reviews and correspondence!

Chapter 11

"Lilly." Will nudged the girl with his bow and she moaned softly, turning over. Will sighed deeply and prodded her again harshly.

"Aaah!" Lilly screamed aloud and had her knife unsheathed, lunging at Will, before realizing it was that was her mentor who was poking her. Will mildly knocked the knife out of her hand with the tip of his bow. Lilly glared at him harshly before putting on a face of remorse. "Sorry about that, Will," she mumbled and got out of bed, picked up her knife and headed into the cooking area, starting to unwrap the meat parcel. Will stared at the girl, massaged his temple and went out the front door, letting it slam shut. Lilly looked around the cabin once and sighed, then shrugged, continuing to sulk. Her blurry eyes focused on Will as he entered the house again with something obviously hidden behind his back.

Lilly narrowed her eyes, "What do you have there?" she questioned, trying to walk around Will, who kept moving, keeping his back turned from her.

"Nothing," Will said innocently, spinning faster as Lilly proceeded to sprint around him in circles.

"Stop moving!" She yelled at Will, waving the knife she was using to cut the meat with around, a small smile on her face. "Fine!" She told Will sharply, and turned to finish preparing breakfast. "Make your own coffee," she threw the words over her shoulder.

"Okay! Okay! You win!" Will relented, and tossed Lilly the bag, who eagerly opened it.

"What's this?" Lilly was sitting at the table, staring at the bag, as Will grabbed the coffee pot, then took out the beans and the muslin cloth.

"A present," He replied nonchalantly. "When I was in town, I went into a store and asked the lady what girls your age need. She gave me this." He turned back to the fire pit and waited for Lilly to open the bag. She pulled out a wooden brush and a series of ribbons on spools. "For your hair," He added unnecessarily. Lilly nodded and waited for him to continue. "I also got you your own mirror. I think now might be the time to take a look." Will smiled as Lilly shrieked with horror at the sight of herself.

Her hair had been sticking straight out one side of her head and on the other side, she recognized the bow somewhat hidden by the bird's nest of messy hair. Undoubtedly from my dreams, she thought internally and set the mirror on the table. Then, grabbing the brush, she first undid the remains of her braid. After she brushed her hair, Lilly carried the small bundle toward her room, ignoring Will's laughing.

Once she shut the door behind her, a wide grin spread across her face. The room had a bed against the east wall, and the foot of it was facing the center of the room. A dresser held a few of her belongings, and a shelf was above it. A single window let natural light into the room. It had heavy wooden shutters and a thick curtain to keep out the hostile weather. Lilly set the mirror on a shelf and retied her hair into her simple braid using the new ribbon. A few minutes later she walked out of her room, feeling very much refreshed, and found Will sitting at the kitchen table, looking over a few maps and letters. He selected a few and placed them in his cloak pocket.

"We are going to be going up to the castle today and we need to bring your luggage," -Will gestured to the shivering hostages outside.- -"to the Baron. They will be interrogated, but we need to get them off of our hands." Lilly nodded and frowned, slightly, yet her mood was very much improved by Will's small act of kindness.

"You only have one horse," she said wisely.

"Yes. Good observation," he replied impassively, continuing to gather a few more papers intermingled with weapons, as he prepared for the short trek in the snow. Lilly trailed behind him like a puppy, continuing to speak.

"But, I thought..." Lilly started.

"You're an apprentice, you are not ready to think." Will smiled again, as he filled a canteen with warm coffee, and Lilly scowled.

"Who's walking?" She asked again, already knowing what the answer was.

"You are," Will told her and she sighed. "Along with brand-man."

"Okay...make me walk next to a murdering criminal. I see how this is going to go down," Lilly paused, got up from her chair, paced around the cabin, looked at Will and sighed again, Overly dramatic, he thought.

"You will be walking, until you get your horse," Will told Lilly, ignoring her horrid acting, trying to butter up his apprentice.

"A horse? A horse! I get a horse! Yes! Do I get to pick it? Will it be a boy or a girl? What am I going to name it?" Lilly jumped up and down excitedly asking the questions to Will and herself.

"Whoa!" Slow down!" Lilly froze in place with a giggle as Will sat and started to answer her questions. "We will be going to get your horse today or tomorrow, and as far as your horses gender...um, we will just have to see what Old Bob has on hand. One other thing, your horse will already be named."

"Whatever! I get a horse! I get a horse!" Lilly kept chanting and started skipping around the room. Will put his forehead on the table. Out of all the things I thought a girl apprentice would be like, he said to himself, seeing her skip around my cabin was not what I envisioned.

The rest of the morning continued quite energetically, and Will was eventually able to convince Lilly to settle down enough to walk through the woods- like the obedient little apprentice she never was. Lilly walked next to the branded convict, and the accomplice's hands and ankles were tied together then fastened to Tug's tail, since he couldn't walk. Will accidental nudged the man's tender leg, then replied with an unsympathetic, "Whoops." Knowing the drill, Tug stood obediently as his owner fastened the rope, and the group trudged up the slope to the castle.

The quartet arrived at the castle gates, to find the red stone fortress barred to the outside world. Will walked up to the gates and found himself talking to Sir Eric, the sentry guard. The two stood outside the large wooden door and tried to protect themselves against the harsh snow that was blowing angrily against them, as Lilly and the criminals waited impatiently, yet said nothing.

"What do you mean you are in lock-down?" Will questioned the credible knight, creating a Plan B in his mind.

"We found an intruder trying to scale the walls around dusk yesterday, Baron Arald and Sir Rodney will be questioning him now.

"First assassins, now intruders, the princess is not going to be happy," Will muttered as Sir Eric hesitantly opened the large main gates.

Cassandra gasped as the bag was pulled off her head. She bitterly recalled the dank, and cold night in her cell. She smiled internally, while scolding herself and remembered secretly planning the excursion under her father's nose. The princess had planned the infiltration of Redmont. The task would be to test the castle's battle and invasion readiness and her own... abilities.

"Cassandra!" The Baron dropped the sack that was on her head on the floor and stared at her. Rodney, being the quickest of the all the people in the room to recover, approached the chair she was in and, on one knee, speedily unfastened her leather bonds.

"My lady, please forgive me!" Arald said quickly and fell to his knees. Cassandra smiled, stood and stretched her arms and legs.

"The fault is all mine, Arald." She looked at him, and in turn looked at Rodney. "Castle Redmont has passed my test!" She grandly announced.

"Test? Test? I wasn't aware of any procedures occurring for your arrival," the Baron started to say.

"Of course you weren't," She told him patiently with a weary smile. "If you had known, how else could your domain be properly evaluated?" Cassandra clarified Baron Arald's confusion and the knights standing guard, opened the interrogation room doors. The Baron led her up the main staircase shaking his head, profusely apologizing, and Sir Rodney trailed behind the two, looking at the tapestries with much boredom.

Cassandra was lead to her room, and she gratefully dismissed the Baron, assuring him she was completely fine. Once she washed, and returned to her more comfortable attire, she found her luggage neatly placed in the middle of the floor. The coach she was supposed to be traveling in must have arrived shortly after she was released, Cassandra guessed. A girl sat at her table, staring out at the magnificent view through the bedroom window. Cassandra stopped on the threshold between her bedroom, and the washing room, in complete shock.

"My lady," The girl stood and the princess stared, as she started to walk silently toward her. Cassandra closed her mouth and tried to wipe the look of annoyance off her face as the girl spoke. "Will told me I should meet you."

"So, how do you think it is going?" The Baron was pacing around his study and he looked at Will worriedly who sat impassive in one of the chairs.

"I haven't heard any screaming, so I'm going with my gut," Will told Arald as he plucked a walnut from the dish and chewed it thoughtfully. "They are both okay. Or dead," The Baron spun back around and continued pacing.

"Oh, I hope so," He paused. "I mean the okay part," He added when Will raised a questioning eyebrow. "Why did you send Lilly up to see her?" He questioned Will again.

"Well, Lilly needed to meet her. Their personalities, talents and skills are mostly similar. The difference between the two is... Cassandra knows control, and Lilly does not," Will told him wisely and the Baron nodded, understanding the reasoning.

"Will sent you?" Cassandra asked, and Lilly nodded. The princess breathed deeply, controlling her turmoiling emotions, "He told you to come into my chambers while I was washing, and so you sat here?" Cassandra asked, keeping her temper under control.

"I don't understand much about, um, royal... expectations," Lilly said quietly, running her hands over her braid nervously.

"I can tell," Cassandra muttered to herself. "What is your name at least? Tell me that."

"Lilly, milady," Lilly answered obediently, and attempted to curtsy. Cassandra eyed her garb; although she didn't wear the Rangers signature cloak, Cassandra recognized the saxe knife on her belt, the bow and quiver were left on the table, and she suspected that the throwing knife would be hidden somewhere else on her body.

"Well then, Lilly. For whatever reason Will wanted me to meet you, I am glad to have done so." The princess spoke cooley, crediting her testy mood to the chilling night she spent in the cell. "So, you are a Ranger."

"Um, yes?" Lily answered hesitantly.

"It's not a trick question, and I'm not going to condemn you if you answer wrong," Cassandra smiled slightly and urged Lilly on.

"Yeah, I'm a Ranger," Lilly told her slowly. "I mean, yes mi'lady," She corrected herself and added in a whisper, "Is that a good or a bad thing? I haven't been able to figure it out yet," Cassandra giggled, and Lilly gave a half smile.

"Being a Ranger is a great thing!" Cassandra assured her, appreciating Lilly's honesty and her ignorance of the elite group she was now part of. "The kingdom wouldn't be what it is without them. They have prevented so many wars, and Will himself got the treaty with Skandia to occur. That's why he's called Will Treaty," She told Lilly, putting emphasis on Will's surname.

"You are soooo lucky," Cassandra walked behind the screen in her room, and put on her dress, handing Lilly her towel, as she continued talking. "At times, I've wanted to be a Ranger... well since I was trapped in Skandia with Will. Wow, the first girl Ranger, you know I have been waiting for this to happen for a long while. I have a lot of hopes riding on you," Lilly shuddered and could almost feel the responsibility fall on her shoulders. Cassandra stepped out from behind the screen, wearing a satin, v-neck white dress. "How do I look?" She asked.

"Wonderful!" Lilly told her. Looking in a mirror, Cassandra turned and evaluated her reflection.

"Hmmm. I guess so." Cassandra looked at Lilly. "What are you going to wear?"

"Excuse me?" Lilly asked, slightly shocked.

"Well, the Baron is throwing a banquet, and I wanted to know what dress you brought," Princess Cassandra explained.

Lilly looked at her slightly bewildered. "I was going to wear this," Lilly gestured to her outfit. "I always wear this."

Cassandra frowned. "I can tell," Lilly's boots were covered in snow and mud, and her collar had a couple of blood stains. There was a tear in her right legging and she had dirt on her face. "I don't think your outfit is exactly appropriate for this sort of.." Cassandra gestured rapidly then sighed, not finding the word she was looking for. "...thing." Lilly walked to the mirror and saw what the princess saw. She moved away and stared at her feet, embarrassed. "I think have one you can borrow, we are about the same size," Cassandra spoke aloud, lifting the tension. With that said, she rummaged through one of her spare suitcases and pulled out a green dress. "Here this one looks like it will fit you well." The dress was a light green and had a scoop neck. The waist line was beaded and a darker green bow tied in the back.

"I don't think I can wear that..." Lilly started to say. "I'm a..."

"Very dirty person?" The princess asked, then answered the question. "Yes you are. Go into the washroom and get a bath." Cassandra commanded. Lilly glanced toward the washroom, and back at her with a skeptical glance. "Go," With another look at Cassandra, Lilly turned and washed.

"Baron?" Will started, and Arald looked up from his book at Will. "I think the men are ready." The Baron nodded and the two tramped down the stairs, into the bowels of the castle. They met the two knights outside of the interrogation room and they supplied them with information.

"They both cracked like an egg," Rodney started to say, and Eric finished his would-be speech.

"We did indeed find out that they were from Skandia, like you suspected," He said, gesturing to Will. "They told us that the had orders signed from the Oberjarl. Which doesn't make any sense, we have a treaty with them," The others nodded and the passageway was silent as each man thought of possibilities. "He told us that he was the leader of the assassination group," Sir Eric continued and the group walked toward a nearby staircase.

"We questioned him further about the possibility of the continuing attempts at Cassandra's assassination, he hurriedly assured us that the group would disperse without a leader, therefore we have no more to worry about," The group was silent, each processing the information as they proceeded to walk up a level of the castle, heading toward the dining hall.

"Its a good thing you found them when you did, Will," Rodney told the Ranger, breaking the deafening silence.

"Actually, I didn't find them," Will corrected. "Lilly did," The Baron stopped at the top stair and looked at Will. Rodney and Eric turned and face Will also.

"Lilly found them?" Baron Arald questioned him again, astonished. "That little girl?"

"Yep. Which reminds me sir," Will began, "there is a body that should be given... a proper burial." Ignoring the jaws that dropped before him, he continued. "I am sure someone in the town has more skill in these matters than I do, but I have no idea where to find someone with the proper skill, and frankly time for it. Do you know who I could talk to about this?" Will stopped suddenly and made sure he had Arald's attention. "One other thing: Don't tell Evan."

"I shall find someone to take care of the man," the Baron said quite calmly and regained control of his emotions. "And about Evan, don't worry. I wouldn't dream of it." The master the castle turned back around and continued to walk up the last flight of stairs that would lead them to the glorious meal Chef Chubb and Miss Jenny had prepared. "My word! Fifteen years old, and blood is already on that girl's hands," Arald whispered to himself, shaking his head sadly and opened the large ornate doors that lead into the dining hall. "Cassandra ought to know."

I hope you liked it! The next one is my favorite!

~Raider