The next morning, before they were about to break camp, Will pulled out his map from his pack. He spread it loosely over his lap while everyone else crowded around him. Alyss's blond hair trailed over his left shoulder and down his arm while Ember's red hair tickled his right ear and neck. He scratched at it and Ember tried to encompass her hair better by pushing it back. "Sorry," she said. Will shrugged.
He pointed to the map. "We were originally heading northeast from Castle Araluen, but after Baron Lynnyd's delightful little scout, we're now heading more north and less east to Gasana Fief." He moved his hand in an almost straight line to the left. "And Halt should be there." He jabbed the tiny drawing of a castle smack dab in the middle of Gasana Fief with his pointer finger. Then he rolled up the map and stood up. He rested his hand on his scabbard and glanced around, squinting where the sunlight was strong from the east.
"Let's wait half an hour before we start out again," he said, and the rest of the group nodded their agreement. "We'll easily reach the castle today, and since the full moon was only last night, Lynnyd probably won't have done anything with Halt yet. He'll think we're still on our way to Gallica, and will probably be trying to figure out what to do about us, rather than what to do with Halt."
"Leaves us half an hour for training," Gilan grinned. He stood up and rubbed his hands together. "Right, let's start with unseen movement."
Ember just stared at Gilan like he was crazy. "Are ye mad?"
"Last time I checked, I was quite sane," he said dryly. "Now, first things first: people see what they expect to see, alright? So if someone's looking at a field, and they don't expect to see any heads poking out-"
"Then they won't see any heads poking out," finished Ember.
Gilan grinned. "You're catching on fast."
"Go over in that field." He nodded directionally, and Ember nervously walked to the field. She gave him a quizzical look over her shoulder, one that he did not fail to notice. "Go on," he said encouragingly. "I'm going to close my eyes for ten seconds, and I don't want to be able to see you when I open them."
She hurried to the field and crouched down.
"Not there," Gilan said a few seconds later, exasperated. "You've got a whole great big field to lie in and you choose the one spot by a log where there isn't any covering?" Ember did not fail to notice, however, that he was smiling through his exasperation. It seemed as if her failures were humorous to him, almost as if he had made the same mistakes before. "Try again," he called, closing his eyes. She crawled a few feet to her left and lay still in the grass.
It felt as if he'd barely opened his eyes when he next spotted her. "Alright, that's a good start," he said. "But when the wind moves, a person's eyes are attracted right to you, because that's the spot in the grass that isn't moving. So you have to move with the wind."
"Um…okay," she called through the grass. "How do I do that?"
"Figure it out."
She bit her lip. Here she was, an orphan girl who had survived not one, not two, but three fires. She was in a foreign country, with people she barely knew, on a mission to save someone she didn't know, and he wanted her to figure out how to move with wind?
She glanced through the tall grass in front of her, past Gilan, and even past the campsite. She saw in the distance, when the wind came, it knocked the plants over a little bit, and then they straightened out, only to be knocked over by the next gust. When she saw the grass move fifty meters in front of her, she prepared herself and moved with the grass that surrounded her. She did not, however, straighten up in time with the grass, much to Gilan's amusement.
When she looked up again, Gilan had his bow out and had the string pulled back, pointing a non-existent arrow at her. "You'd be dead now," he said around a grin.
Ember rolled her eyes and waited for the next gust. When it came, she placed her left foot in front of her and crouched on her right knee, balancing on the ball of her right foot. She spread her weight out by placing her hands in front of her and using her fingertips to support her. She leaned forward as the gust came, and looked quickly left and right to see if the grass would go the other way. When it was time, she leaned back and then did not move.
"Well done," said Gilan. He clapped slowly, and Ember stood up, beaming, with bits of grass in her red hair.
She practiced a few more times until Will waved to them and they realized it was time to go.
Ember rolled her sleeping pack and carefully doused the fire with water. She pulled the wooden stakes out from the tent and laid them next to the olive-green canvas. Will came and folded it up while Horace and Gilan saddled the horses. Alyss washed the dishes and they were soon on their way.
Ember's training did not stop there. Will continued, "Ember, sometimes large parties send scouts along with them. Do you know what that means?"
She shook her head no.
"It means that if you were to hide from a large party, there could be a scout in front of them to pick up would-be assassins. Or, there could be a horseman or two a kilometer in the back, bringing up the rear for the same reason. If you were to hide from a party, you'd want to make sure that everyone had gone by, wouldn't you?"
"Yes," she said.
Only a few moments later, she heard Horace say, "Slow your horse to a walk." He slowed down, and Ember commanded her horse to do the same. The distance between the two of them and the rest of the group slowly greatened.
Ember looked at his hands, where he had let go of the reins. He interlaced his fingers behind his head and stretched. She slipped her hands out of the reins and rested them on her thighs.
"Woah," she said when her horse lurched. Her hands jutted out to her sides like wings to help keep her balance.
Horace glanced at her over his shoulder, amused. He held his arms out at his sides and steered his horse with his knees.
Ember stared, slack-jawed at him. He nodded at her, as if saying, Your turn. She couldn't believe that he expected her to do the same.
She slid a foot, and then another, slowly from the stirrups and forward slightly. Painfully cautiously, she placed her knees towards the shoulders of her horse. Upon balancing correctly, she smiled triumphantly at Horace.
Only a few moments later, however, the grin faded from her face as she started to lose her balance. Her arms pinwheeled madly in front of her as she tried to regain her balance. She finally found her center of gravity and rightened herself.
"You okay?" Horace asked.
"Yes," she said, grinning nervously. "Sorry."
Horace waved her apology away, shaking his head. "Nothing to be sorry about."
"Try it again?" she asked dubiously. Horace grinned.
She pulled her knees up again and this time Horace provided her with some instructions. "Keep your legs on either side of the saddle." She obliged. "Now, keep your spine straight, but loose so that it allows some movement."
"What?"
"Just, sit up straight, but feel the rhythm of your horse. It's like when you post." She nodded, and straightened her spine while also trying to keep it loose. After what felt to her like ages of practice, Horace finally urged his horse to a canter, which was much smoother than a trot, and Ameerah followed.
"Why'd ye teach me that?"
"What?"
"Ye know, riding without the reins. Why?"
"So that you could fight and ride at the same time. Pretty important, you know?"
"Yes."
Ember felt the steady bouncing of the horse. Her rouncy she knew, could keep this pace for hours (although, admittedly, not as long as the Ranger horses) and so Ember did not have to worry about her changing paces. She bounced with the horse, slight up and down movements that mimicked Ameerah's gait, and immediately felt better. It was easier to bounce up and down than it was to stay straight. She urged the horse on, faster and faster, all while remaining balanced. She felt so…alive! And free! She laughed gaily and then hunkered down on her horse's back. Her knees were bent and she grabbed Ameerah's mane with her outstretched hands. She deftly threw her feet back in to the stirrups, and raced Horace to catch up with the group.
She beat him, naturally.
A/N: By the way, 'rouncy' is a Medieval horse that was bred for long-distance travel. I figured it would be used for a mission like this, and that a rouncy would be similar to a Ranger horse, although nowhere near as cool ;)