Ah, 68 reviews...I love you guys. :) Yep, I'm feeling much better now.

Anyway, there will be some...unpleasant...female stuff later in this promised 2nd chapter. Later. Not now. When I do Evanlyn's POV, you can skip that section if the female stuff will make you uncomfortable.

Anyway, thanks to ME, Raider, Shadow, and Music for their reviews!

Enjoy!

Misfortune

~Gilan's POV~

After Ashlynn stormed away (though I knew that it was all an act) and the remaining five of us were left gaping open-mouthed after her, Will somehow recovered his senses first and turned to me.

"Convince her to stay here in Redmont, will you?"

"And...why is that, exactly?" I asked, though I thought I already knew the answer, thanks to a tip from Crowley earlier.

Will shrugged. "Oh, no big deal...it's just that it's Horace's birthday today. And he's coming to Castle Redmont later today, along with Evanlyn, of course, for a huge dinner party."

I nodded. "I see. And you chose today to tell me, of all days."

Will hesitated, then grinned sheepishly. I grinned back at him as he replied, "Well, yes."

"Just as well that I got him a gift, then," I said, smiling impishly as I pulled out a small, wrapped box from a hidden inside pocket on my cloak.

Will regarded it curiously. Not much would fit in there. He asked, "What do you have in there, anyway?"

I smiled again. "Oh, nothing too fancy. You'll see soon enough."

A/N: Normally, I hate Horace's guts, but after the 10th book I've started detesting him and that stuck-up brat of a princess Cassandra a little less. Repeat: a little less. But still...it'll be interesting to see what I make of their characters...

~Horace's POV~

Evanlyn and I were riding side by side, talking quietly about the upcoming dinner party at Redmont. Since she was traveling semi-incognito for this "special occasion," as Will had so nicely put it when we'd told him about the event location, I was addressing her by her late maid's name and not by her official title.

By the same token, she wasn't addressing me by my official title, either. And thank goodness for that. I didn't think I'd ever get used to the feeling of being a future King.

"So..." Evanlyn's voice jolted me from my thoughts, and as I glanced sidelong at her, I couldn't help marveling at my good fortune. Here I was, a lowly orphan of Redmont's Ward, talking and laughing with the Crown Princess of Araluen, with her beautiful blond hair and tomboyish green gaze, betrothed and engaged to her, to-be King of all Araluen.

Life was good, I thought, grinning, as Evanlyn's voice broke into my musings again.

"Horace, dear? Are you alright?"

I smiled at her. "Never been better."

And with that profound statement of epiphany, we arrived at Redmont's gates.

~Evanlyn's POV~

The food was amazing, the guests were wonderful, and the presents were astounding.

Jenny's reputation truly had been well-founded, I reflected as I smacked my lips after yet another piece of apple pie. Then I glanced down at my belt and tunic with some worry. Both felt at least three sizes smaller now, which was a surprise with all the exercise I got.

Still, I thought, shrugging, I could always do more workouts later. At this party, however, it was time to enjoy myself.

I smiled as Will and Alyss came over, walking hand in hand. Thank goodness I was friends with Alyss now. As I'd told her several months back, it would have been severely awkward for our future husbands to have wives that hated each other's guts.

"So, Will, when are we going to be celebrating your birthday party?" I asked, gently teasing him.

He grinned at me, signifying that he took no offense at the jibe. "Oh, sometime off in the future," he replied loftily. "Don't let it concern you."

"November 21st, to be exact," Alyss interjected, smiling slightly as Will turned a scandalized look on her.

I smiled again. "And what about the dazzling Courier, Lady Alyss?"

"April 23rd," the two of them replied at the same time.

"Hey! There are others here at this party, you know," a mock reproachful voice said from behind me. I turned around to see Gilan, grinning as always, arm wrapped casually around Jenny; the two of them were followed by someone slightly shorter than Gilan wrapped in a Ranger cloak...

I frowned momentarily, then had it. It could only be Ashlynn, the first female Ranger apprentice.

"Good evening, Sir Gilan and Lady Jenny," I replied with mock formality, stressing Gilan's title as he was a Swordmaster as well as a Ranger. "And to you, too, Miss Ashlynn. And if you don't mind, I'd like to see that grim, gray-and-green hood down off your head, please. Traveling ladies enjoy seeing party guests' faces," I told her, smiling to take any harsh edge out of my words.

Gilan turned around and laughed as his apprentice self-consciously pushed her cloak cowl away from her face.

"Ashlynn, these people are not out to get you, you know," Gilan said, smiling. "Least of all the Crown Princess, future Queen."

She pretended to ignore him and went straight to me with her right hand held out.

"Pleased to meet you, Lady Evanlyn," she said as we shook hands. "Gilan and Will have told me a lot about you."

"Is that so?" I asked, raising my eyebrows at them so that they both grinned sheepishly. "Well, I suppose I may have to tell you about them. Come on now, let's go."

So I led the bewildered girl by her shoulders away from the two Rangers and their very obvious lovers to a relatively empty part of the dance floor, close to the music entertainers so that no one would hear us.

"Peder's in there, playing the violin," Ashlynn suddenly said, jerking her head toward the two violin sections and grinning.

I smiled back. "I hope he doesn't humiliate Will too much."

We both laughed at that, then spotted him and waved. But once Peder's eyes were back onto his music, I gripped Ashlynn's arm and said, in a very low voice, "Your monthly's come, hasn't it?"

Her china-blue eyes widened, and I thought I saw several tears shining in them, but then she blinked rapidly and the moment was gone. She said, equally as quietly as my question, "Yes." And then she felt the need to ask the question, "How did you know?"

"I can sense those sort of things," I replied. "After all, I'm probably the first Crown Princess of Araluen that actually left the borders of her own country for adventurous reasons. The rest probably only ever traveled to Gallica for stuffy diplomatic reasons." I paused, then added, "No offense to Lady Alyss or Lady Pauline, of course, but that's the way it was."

Ashlynn nodded, a trifle uncomfortably.

I cleared my throat and lowered my voice even more. "I know how awful it is when you're riding on a horse. I had to face it all the way here from Castle Araluen."

Her lowered gaze suddenly perked up to meet mine. Her mouth opened and I nodded, already knowing what she would ask, and then said, "Yes, I'm going through it right now, too. Its timing is so misfortunate...wait, unfortunate," I corrected myself, grinning, "but better it than nothing, right?"

Ashlynn shrugged slightly. "If you say so."

I appraised her, a little worriedly. There wasn't really a way I could help her out now, not if she was feeling that horrible, but maybe...maybe...

Suddenly, inspiration struck me and I cried excitedly, "Yes! I can make you feel more comfortable! Come with me! The healer will have just the thing for you."

And then, I took Ashlynn by the hand and led her, half-running, half-stumbling, out of Redmont's Great Hall toward the castle doors and Wensley Village, not caring that most of the other guests were staring at me as if I'd gone insane.

Maybe I had...

~Ashlynn's POV~

The linen cloth the healer had given me worked wonders. Instantly, I felt better, more comfortable, and happier in general. I smiled gratefully at Lady Evanlyn (she'd told me just to call her by her incognito name, since she didn't want all the formalities and groveling restricting her and everyone else at such an informal birthday and dinner party) and said, "Thank you. So much."

She grinned and replied, "No problem, Ashlynn. Now go off and enjoy yourself, because I have to go find Horace."

I followed her directions and wandered around the dance floor for a while, no doubt looking lost to the other party guests, but I didn't care. I'd discarded my Ranger cloak and left it draped over Mariah's saddle after leaving the healer's office, so most people didn't recognize me, and I was fine with that.

I sighed and decided to lean against the wall in the shadows so that no one would see me. As my gaze wandered around the scores of dancers, I instantly recognized Lady Evanlyn, dancing with who could only be her betrothed and future King, Sir Horace. Then there were Will and Alyss...Halt and his wife, Lady Pauline...Gilan and Jenny...

My stomach jolted slightly at that last pair. Oh, she'd been pleasant enough when greeting me, with Gilan watching, of course. But she'd made it obvious (not that it wasn't plain enough to see already) that Gilan was hers, and only hers. After all, once Crowley and Will had distracted Gilan's attention with some or other report from the King, Jenny had faced me with absolute coolness and told me to "bug off," as she put it.

She obviously thought I'd become his apprentice only because he was good-looking. I gritted my teeth and muttered under my breath that she was wrong, and that I would prove her wrong a hundred times (at the very least) before I died.

I contented myself with a Death Glare pointed her way, imagining that I could knock her down just by looking at her, and felt a huge sense of satisfaction when she paled slightly and stepped back from Gilan. Only one step back, but it was enough for me. I smiled grimly. One down, ninety-nine to go.

"Not the most mature way of proving her wrong, perhaps," a deep voice next to me said mildly.

I jumped back in shock, then relaxed once I realized that it was Halt. But I couldn't help wondering how he'd known what I'd been trying to do, so I asked, "And how would you have done it?"

"Simple," Halt replied, then continued rapidly, "I would have gained her trust by piling on the flattery, and all the while be secretly gaining Gilan's admiration so that he would enjoy spending time with me rather than with her. And then I'd embarrass her in front of everyone who'd previously respected her...most likely by spreading rumors or scandalous words...but anyway, after that, I'd plead with everyone else to help your cause because it would by then be so obvious that Gilan liked you better than her, so then she would be disillusioned and disheartened ever more, and Gilan and you would both be extremely happy. Understand?"

I blinked several times. "Uh...could you repeat that, please, sir?"

I was surprised to see, as I looked up, the ghost of a smile lifting the corners of Halt's mouth. Will, Gilan, and Crowley had all impressed upon me many times (too many times to count, actually) that one: Halt disliked showing emotions, two: when he smiled, it probably was not good for the state of your health, and three: he smiled so rarely that his mouth was forever a straight line. Forever and always.

"And besides," I said quietly, "I wouldn't think of doing that. I would be ashamed of myself for the rest of my life."

"You wouldn't think of doing what?" Halt asked, too innocently.

I rolled my eyes in exasperation. "Doing what you just suggested. I'm not going to ruin her reputation in front of the entire Kingdom."

"Perhaps not, but only half the Kingdom is here right now, not the whole Kingdom," Halt replied, completely straight-faced.

I sighed. "Honestly, I can understand why Gilan and Will love to torture you now."

Very strangely, he grinned at me now and said, without missing a beat, "This? Torture? I consider this payback for your loathing of coffee."

I rolled my eyes again. "Oh, please. Not that again."

Earlier in the party, before Horace had opened all his presents and gifts (including two caricatures of Horace and Evanlyn, to be placed on their wedding cake, from Gilan), Crowley, Halt, Will, and Peder had managed to corner me outside the Great Hall, where it had been so loud I couldn't hear myself think.

With my luck, they'd managed to raise a whole shouting storm at me until Gilan had noticed and come to my rescue. I'd caught his quick wink, telling me not to give anything away...yet.

No, the time for that would probably not come until the Gathering. Which was...dear God...only six months away.

In that amount of time, I had to learn all the skills that a normal Ranger apprentice would get a full year to complete. If I didn't miss any more training, I'd be lucky to get in seven-and-a-half months.

Of course, with my luck, again, I'd get something more like less than half-a-year.

And my estimate was confirmed (though I wasn't to know it then) as a panting, half-dead messenger ran into the future King.

And on that stunning note, I leave you for an indeterminate amount of time. Please don't kill me.

Now review! I'll sing the Happy Birthday song to you! (my lil' sis's b-day's in two days...) XD