AUTHOR'S NOTE: Aridian is loosely (Ok, completely) based on phonetic Arabic... Thank you, Google. I love you, Siri!
As Halt, Will, and Gilan rode away to chase the Kalkara, Hannah hurried to prepare her horse and Crowley's. Just as she was tightening Cropper's girth, Berrick came up behind her and tapped her shoulder. Hannah jumped.
"Berrick! I thought you were still in the tent!"
"Nope! I left right before Halt got here. You get used to it eventually." Hannah nodded. Some of the ranger habits (such as disappearing and re-appearing randomly) were a bit hard to adjust to. "I'll see you around," Berrick continued, "I have to get back to my fief. Good luck!"
"You too?" Hannah responded, slightly confused. She quickly finished with the horses and then made her way to the command tent to see what was up. Crowley beat her to it.
"Help me get the tent. I'll fill you in while we work." Crowley said, jogging over to the first spike. Hannah rushed to join him.
"Are you familiar with the Wargals?" he asked.
"In legend only. I've never seen one myself."
"Well, you're about to," Crowley noted grimly. "There've been reports from Araluen's border guards about a company of the beasts wreaking havoc on the towns. Our job is to stop them."
"How? Aren't their hides strong enough to snap a sword? And their claws are doused in poison that kills you if they slash at you!"
"That's just an old Aridian legend," Crowley said, giving her a curious look, "Where did you hear it?"
"I, uh, forgot."
"OK. Anyways, they aren't invincible. Definitely fierce, but not invincible. A well-shot arrow should do the trick. We'll just have to pray we can stay at long range. A Ranger knife won't do much if we have to confront them hand-to-hand..." Crowley drifted off. Hannah could tell he didn't like their chances if that happened.
"What about a sword? Would that work against them?" Hannah asked tentatively.
"If we had a good swordsman with us, then yes. Unfortunately, your Ranger training won't help much with swordsmanship."
"My... friend... taught me to use a- an Aridian battle saber." Hannah blurted out.
Crowley stopped putting the tent away to look at her. "Tell me the truth. Every time I ask you about yourself, you freeze up. Don't get me wrong, I would trust you with my life. I am trusting you with my life. But I can tell there's something you haven't told me. I promise, whatever it is, I won't tell anyone. And I won't judge you for it."
"I- are you familiar with Princess-"
"Ayishah! Yes. Yes, that makes sense. Wow, for the commander of a group of spies... Well, it took me a while. I assume you want me to call you Hannah still?"
"Please. Just- Just pretend that I'm not... her. That I'm Hannah Berrigan, the orphan from Redmont. It makes things a lot simpler."
Crowley nodded. "I want to know more later, mind you. For now, though, lets go find a sword." Hannah nodded. Crowley finished packing the tent. "Seacliffe Castle isn't far from here. We'll go there and you can choose a sword from the armory. I assume you won't want armor?"
"Gosh, no. That makes it impossible to move."
"Good answer. You should also choose a horse to leave in the stables so that you don't have to worry about them too. Ride the one you are more comfortable shooting from."
"I'll ride Star. She has a smoother gait, so my accuracy will be better." Crowley nodded his approval. "Also... I know that this probably isn't on top of you mind right now but... How will apprentices be evaluated this year? Halt mentioned something about a different kind of test?"
"You and Will have both passed already, as far as I'm concerned. At this point, the testing is merely a formality. We'll let the missions count as your "evaluation."
"OK, thanks Crowley," Hannah nodded, relieved.
"For now, though, we need to get moving." Both rangers mounted their horses, and they began cantering toward Seacliffe.
When Crowley had said that Seacliffe castle was "close", Hannah expected to ride for the better part of a day before arriving. As it was, they had only been out for a half an hour when the pair reached the ferry.
"We'll have to take it across the channel," Crowley explained. To the ferry master, he called out, "Good morning! We need passage for two and an extra horse."
"Free passage for Rangers. Hop on," responded the burly captain.
The ride across the channel was short, only about ten minutes. As they got off, Crowley thanked the captain, and then turned to Hannah.
"The battle master here is called Norris," he said. "He should be our best chance at finding you a sword." Judging by the way he said that, Hannah could tell that the chances were small, but she agreed anyways.
The pair rode the small path to the castle, which was fairly unimpressive. Hannah knew that Redmont was grand, even for castles, but Castle Seacliffe was beyond modest and pushing the border into disrepair. From where they rode, Hannah could see rot on the western wall, which was wooden, and noticed weeds growing all around. Now Crowley's low hopes made sense. The castle had no moat, which allowed the two Rangers to ride directly to the front gate. As Crowley talked to the guards, asking for entry, Hannah frowned. The castle was obviously not here for function, but to show status. That was most definitely not the job of a baron, but oh well. It was a small, remote fief anyways. There probably wasn't much need for fortified towers...
"A sword? Why do you need a sword?" asked Norris, the (rather fat) battlemaster. "There hasn't been any trouble here in the past twenty years!"
"And I suspect that has more to do with the success of the Ranger living here than it does your apprenticeship program," Crowley replied curtly. "As a matter of fact, the two of us are about to go chase some Wargals out of Araluen. That would be why we need a sword." Hannah noticed that he forgot to mention that the Wargals were well on the other side of Araluen. She suspected his lack of foresight might have something to do with the stunned and terrified expression on the knight's face. If he could even be called a knight. This man was obviously more interested in the meals that came with the title than the responsibilities.
"I, well, you see, I, umm, I would love to, love to help you, but, you see, we, um I, um, the castle only has enough swords, um, for our, for our apprentices!" Norris stammered. He was obviously trying to ignore the problem.
Crowley grunted in frustration, and unconsciously dropped his hand to rest on the saxe knife sheathed at his hip. Seeing trouble approaching, Hannah said, "How about this. Bring out your best apprentice, and let him have his choice of sword and armor. I'll take my pick from what is left over. Whoever wins gets a sword. Deal?"
"Of course, but you will have to wait outside. Can't have you sabotaging our equipment, now can we?" Norris said, suddenly cocky. After all, there was no way this small, slim, gentle-mannered girl could beat his best apprentice in a fair fight. Hannah, on the other hand, was feeling very confident. There was no way that this man, who had probably never been on a battlefield, could teach an apprentice how to deal with her. She may be small, but she was quick, strong, and determined. Furthermore, Norris had just implied that she could do more damage outside than she could from within. He apparently had never met a Ranger before. Which meant that he would prepare his apprentice in entirely the wrong way (if he prepared him at all) and Hannah would have the definite advantage. This was going to be fun.
"We'll see you in twenty minutes," Hannah said in agreement.
In order to pass the time, Hannah and Crowley browsed through the town's marketplace, admiring beautiful shells and artful baskets made of braided seaweed. Seeing to it that this was an ocean town, this was not surprising. What was surprising, however, was the spice vendor.
"Exotic spices! Coriander, cumin, cardamom, paprika!" he shouted. "Exotic spices, straight from the dessert!"
Recognizing his accent as Aridian, Hannah inched her way through the small crowd around his spice cart.
"Tah a'leen!" Hannah called to him, "Min dawaei sruri 'ann altsarof! 'Innani daeawa alan Hannah. Kayf hu Cae li'a?" (Tah a'leen! Pleased to see you! I go by Hannah now. How is Cae li'a?) Cae li'a was Tah a'leen's wife, and Hannah's best friend. She was the one who had helped Hannah to escape, and her husband had allowed her to ride in his spice cart until they reached the Araluen border.
"Jayid jiddaan, waqalat 'annaha tukhattit ealaa alttaharruk huna qaribanaan." (Very good, she plans on moving here soon.)
"laqad sa'alt kathiraan balfiel, walikun yum'kin 'an tus'al ean shay' wahid 'akthar min dhlk?" (I've asked for so much from you already, but could I request just one favor more?)
"Bialttakidi, ya sdiqey! Ead isyf baed kel shy', hal?" (Certainly! You came back for the sword after all, did you?) he replied.
"Naeim, yeb'dow 'annani sawf tahtaj 'iilaa dahalik. Laday shay' lak zawjatan kadhalik." (Yes, it seems I will be needing it. I brought something for your wife as well.) She reached behing her neck and unfastened a delicate necklace. It was a braid of silver, with one gold stand woven in. A simple sapphire pendant hung from it. Although Cae li'a's eyes were brown, Hannah thought that it would look beautiful on her. Hannah handed Tah a'leen the necklace, who carefully placed it in a spice box in the bottom of his cart, thanking her. He then pulled out a curved saber, it's hilt made of tooled leather. The belt was braided, the sheath hand stamped with the winds of time, the family crest. Originally, Hannah thought she had left the sword with him for fear of being discovered. Later, she realized that she simply wanted nothing to do with her former life, and had ended up getting rid of everything which could prove useful.
At this point, Crowley, who had been watching their exchange with a confused expression,put a hand on Hannah's shoulder. "We should be going soon," he said quietly.
Hannah nodded. "Shukraan lakum ealaa kl shay,'' Hannah said as she bowed. ( Thank you for all you have done, my friend.)
"Hatta naltaqi marratan 'ukheraa, ya sayidatan," he replied. (Until we meet again, my lady.)
"Are you sure, Crowley?" Hannah asked. They were walking up to the castle armory. "I already have a sword, this is only time wasted."
"Not wasted, no. It will do Borris or whatever his name is well to see how awful the defense precautions are here. HE TOLD US TO WAIT OUTSIDE SO WE WOULDN'T CAUSE TROUBLE! This man needs to be taught a lesson."
"They have, what, 35 men at arms?"
"They should, yes." Crowley emphasized should.
"Then why don't we run in and hide the swords real quick? Give him something to think about." Crowley grinned. It would be a valuable lesson for the battlemaster. Fun, too.
"Ok, lets go," he said as he flipped his cowl up.
It hadn't taken long to move the swords. At Hannah's suggestion, they were left in the treasury, where they would stay for at least another week. Now, they were walking through the front door.
"We're ready," Crowley said. "You promised us a sword?"
"Yes, yes, this way!" Norris said, walked through the doorway, out of the training room and into the armory.
He came to a stop quickly. " I- I don't understand- I- they were here a- a minute ago!"
"What was here?" Hannah asked.
"The- the swords!"
"Don't you have 25 knights, and 10 apprentices?" Crowley asked, doing a good job of faking confusion.
"I- yes! We do!"
"Then surely you have at least one sword?" Crowley asked.
"I- I do! I have 50! I- I don't understand!"
"Well, thankfully I brought mine with me," Hannah said. "I was hoping for something a little larger, but this will work." She had, in fact, been hoping for something exactly the same as what she was holding. "I suppose that might put me at a small disadvantage, but we might as well go through with the plan anyways."
"Yes. Yes of course!" Norris said relieved. "Jerome! Jerome get in here!" he yelled. A tall bear of a boy walked in. He seemed to have just recovered from a severe beating.
"That my opponent?" he asked rudely.
"Yes. You are ready?" Norris replied.
"She a Ranger? They don't use swords," Jerome grinned. "Yeah, I'm ready." Crowley narrowed his eyes. He didn't trust this boy. He seemed like the exact type who would go through a few years with Rodney and then be expelled for disregarding the rules.
"Fair fight. Stop means drop your sword. No more blows. One and done. No follow-up matches. We'll both abide by the same rules. I assume Rodney taught you how to do all that?" The last part was a wild guess, but she remembered seeing him around Redmont, and he looked like the type to get himself banished. Not to mention he was all beaten up, and was actually fit. Norris didn't seem capable of producing an apprentice who was either of those things.
"As a matter of fact, he did," Jerome narrowed his eyes. "How do you know who I am?"
"If I recall correctly, Norris introduced us," Hannah noted. Jerome scowled.
"Just get on with it!" the bully demanded.
"You might want to be careful," Crowley cautioned, "Alda and Bryn aren't here for you this time."
"How do you know about them?" Jerome hissed.
"Oh, I'm friends with Halt. You've met, yes?" he asked, noting the boy's suddenly nervous expression. "He says you were attacking Will. We Rangers are a tight nit group!" Crowley said, enjoying every second of the boy's reaction. He had vowed that if he ever saw one of the bullies, they would pay. Again.
Hannah's eyes narrowed after hearing Jerome's track record. Crowley became certain that Jerome would pay.
"Well then, if it's all agreed, let's begin! Fair fight!" Crowley said happily.
"Fair fight," Jerome grunted. Hannah simply nodded. 'Good job,' thought Crowley, 'You would be a good courier. Technically, you didn't agree to anything, only acknowledge Jerome's agreement. That might come in handy in a moment, judging by the boy's expression." Jerome was, in fact, throwing the two Rangers murderous, if not terrified, glares.
The two apprentices stepped inside the duel circle. "Begin!" cried Norris.
Jerome lunged for Hannah immediately. It was obvious that he was relying more on brute strength than any sort of athletic ability. Hannah nimbly danced out of the way, avoiding the blow by a good foot. She could have easily ended it there, but felt that a little more humiliation was needed. She knew that Jerome would jab at her whenever she was near. So, she ducked in, waited for him to strike, and then, at the last possible second, lifted her sword and deflected his blade with a quick flick of her wrist. 'This is why I love the Aridian sabers,' Hannah thought, smiling. 'Unless you've been trained with one yourself, it's almost impossible to imagine all the defense and attack maneuvers that can be utilized.' It went on like this for a few more minutes, Jerome attacking, Hannah nimbly dodging and deflecting. Once she bored with this, she switched to offensive maneuvers. Her blade was a flurry of motion as she twisted her wrist. Left, flip and return, up and curve, quick circle. Another benefit to a curved blade: it is very, very hard to track the blade with your eyes. Hannah began moving with her attack, driving Jerome out of the ring. Seeing an opening, she smacked his head with the flat side of her blade. A reminder. This was followed by a quick flip that smacked the opposite flat side against his chest. Crowley was impressed. Hannah was good. Really good. Especially since he was pretty sure she hadn't had any sword practice in The Ward.
"You're out," Hannah said. In order to avoid actually being hit (although Hannah was careful to pull her swings back before they actually did Jerome any lasting damage) the bully had stepped a bit too far. Hannah had won. AND, as an added bonus, Jerome would have a nice, big bruise to sport in honor of his defeat.
Norris was stupefied. "We- I- You-" Crowley raised his eyebrows.
"You agreed in the beginning," he reminded him. "And Hannah played fair."
"I- No more swords!" Norris blurted, finally able to put together a sentence.
"That's fine," Hannah said, "I needed the practice more than anything. Thank you for all your help!"
"We should be going," Crowley noted. "Good luck improving your training program!" he hinted, turning to walk out. Hannah followed him, but turned her head after a step.
"Give Alda and Bryn my regards!" she said, landing a flat edge blow on the back of Jerome's head.
"You.. Said no backlash," the boy said stupidly.
"And she never agreed to her own terms! Good day!" Crowley reminded him.
Once they were outside, the two Rangers grinned at each other. "Smart," Crowley praised her.
"Thanks, Crowley!"
"Let's go get our horses back. You can leave Maya with the staff."
"Judging off of what I have seen of the castle staff so far, I think I'll ask Tah a'leen to watch her for a couple days."
"That's probably better. Regardless, we'll go get our horses. Then we're going hunting. But not for a sword this time!" Hannah grinned at his joke.
"Yeah, this was harder than it should have been. Worth it, though! I don't know what they did to Will, but if Halt found out..."
"Oh, he got what he deserved. A bit more, in fact, but I'm not complaining," Crowley finished for her. Hannah nodded, smiling. She finally had a family, one that would stand up for her, that she could talk to freely. It was a good feeling.