xxvi.

Maiah looked out the window at the shinning shape disappearing into the distance. Their armors reflected the early sunshine making it easy to spot even at a distance though eventually they disappeared beyond the hill. She chewed her lips nervously hoping Alia's unpredictability had been predictable and she had sent the men in the right direction. She saw no other way Alia could manage her plan other than by hitting from the west coast and it had been clear those were her intentions when she had sent the scouts ahead of her to explore the terrain and wipe out the way. As a side assignment they could kill the snitch.

She heard the steps nearing her door before there was a soft knock. They weren't heavy and seemed to be treading with care as if avoiding being heard; anyone else would have been surprised when the princess opened the door softly and walked in; but she had heard her from at least four or five meters away from the door and by now she could recognize her steps.

"Your Majesty." Maiah exclaimed feigning surprise at the princess's arrival when Cassandra cleared her throat. She had learned to let the monarchs always think they excelled at everything and were above their inferiors even in their most acclaimed skills.

"You don't have to do that." Cassandra said sitting herself on one of the armchairs by the fire. The days were becoming colder and colder as the winter approached. "I know I don't walk soft enough for a Ranger to be surprised. And I've heard you don't really show anything in your expressions unless you want to so your surprise didn't fool me."

"I'm sorry, your—"

"Maiah, you don't have to apologize, I was joking. And do stop the silly Your Majesty. I'm Cassandra. They call me Evanlyn from time to time though. Long story."

Cassandra invited her to sit though even when she took her place on the opposite chair she remained at the edge and straight backed. She had come here to try to make new friends and all she got was a follower of proper rules of etiquette.

"Um, well," she couldn't understand how the foreigner had grown close to her own friends and she couldn't seem to approach her. Then she reminded herself that they weren't the heir to the throne and there was also a small suspicion that had to do with them being males. That had to lower their rank in the eyes of the Seer even if she was aware it wasn't the case in Araluen. And that was the very reason why she had come to speak with Maiah in the first place.

Cassandra looked into the fire trying to see if Maiah would get a little more comfortable and gave herself time to think of a way to tactfully introduce her interest on her culture. There was really no quiet way of doing it, she doubted anything could work past her and she would immediately know it was because she wanted to direct the conversation towards her past. Finally, she decided she was not a courier and therefore her best option would be to blurt it out without preambles.

"I bet you were never left out of important war councils, were you?"

"Well, as an apprentice I was not even allowed near the room. But I guess you're right. I didn't participate in the debate, but I was bound to be there as a Seer of the empire."

"I know you don't like talking about it, but I just…I used to think the kind of authority you have was only some kind of made up sort of thing."

"I guess it sounds appealing and I do prefer being in the action of the moment rather than sitting out here having tea." Maiah started already knowing what Cassandra wanted was details of her culture not necessarily relating to the invasion. "At the same time, the extremes are not the best ways to cope with problems. Here women at least have some position; I mean, they respect you, you will become queen one day and they will still obey what you have to say even if they sneer at it behind your back. You have Alyss and Lady Pauline and…Jenny with her own restaurant. The balance is tipped against men, but there is still some liberty for women. Back in Mazoniria if you are a boy you are worse than a dog. The queen has a few young men to ensure she gets an heir, but if a boy is born he is taken out of the palace and given into one of the villages that are less favored by the state. Farmers are somewhat on equal grounds but there still is a slight distinction before the law. The men in our armies are the soldiers that are sent ahead of the companies as a distraction, the ones who clean up everything.

"And still, our own training as the queen's forces made me wonder if it wouldn't just be easier for me to have been born a boy. They expect so much from you, no matter who you are, but especially when you are part of the royal line. In a way, now that I see how much simpler it is for Will and Halt to do things that take so much effort on my part I realized they push us to achieve the same strength a man has without understanding we are just not built that way. Does that make sense?"

"I think I understand." Cassandra said quietly. Now that she put it that way she realized that as much as she had entertained herself thinking it was possible for the roles to be switched, the extreme to which Mazonirians carried it was unsettling. When she had first heard of a country of female warriors she had been too excited to get a full grasp of it and even jealous of Maiah; now she understood why the Seer was the way she was.

Maiah understood the princess's curiosity and humored her by telling her more details about her life. She didn't want to get her pity so she kept details of her apprenticeship and missions under Prowessa, telling only the broader picture. She could see Cassandra was too excited by the given information to really care about the gaps in the story or the strange skipping around unless they took away from the action. Despite telling her the darker parts of the Mazonirian society, the princess seemed impressed with it and even a little too eager to learn more. She guessed, in a way, that was how she felt towards the country she was visiting, except she did not show her emotions and she was learning it by living in it.

Slowly, however, they drifted away from Maiah's mysterious world and into easier conversation making both of them realize, without either of them saying anything about it, they were more similar than they had believed at the beginning. It was true Maiah still kept her distance and respected Cassandra as the Royal Princess even if she called her by her first name, and there was also a rougher edge to the foreigner that Cassandra had been forced to polish at court. Nevertheless, when it came to their interests and likings, both girls shared the excitement and eagerly plunged into new stories, even getting a few giggles in the mix.

Cassandra had never really found someone that shared that spark that often got her into trouble and although she could still feel Maiah wasn't being completely herself, she was starting to see why the Rangers had easily integrated her into their group. There was always that tone of sarcasm so peculiar of her own friends which at first had made her slightly nervous when around them but that now would die without. Thankfully, Horace had always been around to keep her sharp on it; it wasn't as obvious as in Halt since, after all, the knight was usually the one that got picked on when he traveled with the Rangers; but it was better than nothing. With Maiah, she could cut back on the boyish edge that she had had to maintain when talking with her friends and still not feel like a shallow, silly little girl.

On the other hand, Maiah realized the monarch wasn't as hard to deal with as she had expected and even got to enjoy the time they spent together. She had had a few moments of company with Will and naturally Sir Horace and the Princess came along with him, but after he had left the day before on his "mission" she had thought she would be going back to her lonely, monotonous life in confinement. Thus, she was more than glad to have Cassandra over and, unlike with Will or Gilan, she allowed herself to slip out slowly from the shell she had needed to carry business. It wasn't that she was forgetting her duty, but if they had her without anything else to do and no way to be of any service, she decided she could give herself a small treat and make a friend. She had to remind herself this was the Royal Princess she was talking to, equivalent at some time to Alia herself, and thus had to watch carefully where she treaded; but for the most part the girl was quite easy going and not too hard to handle.

Thus, by the time Cassandra went down to dinner—she wasn't sure how court would react to her talking with what could as well be a war prisoner or their savior and therefore decided to keep it secret—the two had become friends and agreed for Cassandra to visit her the following day. She had slipped away just in time since the Seer's own dinner was brought up minutes after Cassandra had closed the door behind her. Maiah realized it wasn't as hard to swallow now that she knew there was someone out there who was expectantly waiting for the following day to visit the uninteresting chamber she was being kept in.

Cassandra cursed under her breath and leaned against her door with a hand on her chest to keep her heart from jumping out. Once she had recovered from the scare, she shot daggers at the laughing Horace who sat peacefully on the armchair facing the door. She had believed everyone would be downstairs either getting dinner or consulting with each other the decisions that had been made three days ago. After Will had informed them they had been killing farmers in the west, they had decided almost unanimously that their best option was to send as many troops as they currently had at their disposal to this part of the kingdom where they would be meeting with Arald's own and begin preparations to stop the invasion that would surely come from there.

"What are you doing here!" She yelled throwing a pillow on his face. She already knew it wouldn't reach its target—his fast reflexes still caused her some annoyance from time to time—but it still felt good to let out part of her anger and make sure he knew there was anger.

"I think the appropriate question should be where have you been?" He chuckled catching the second pillow that rushed to meet him.

"That is none of your business."

"Would you at least tell me if her conversation was interesting?" As soon as the words left his mouth he lifted his hands to show her he meant no harm and shielded himself behind the armchair. It didn't stop her from glaring venomously at him.

"I have no idea of what you're talking about." She knew she could trust Horace and he wouldn't judge her but it was the secret that kept the excitement in the thing itself.

"Come on, where else could you be?"

They stared at each other, Cassandra trying to get him to drop his gaze and Horace counting how many seconds it took for her to drop the frown and smile. Less than thirty.

"Fine. But don't tell my father or he'll flip out. Something tells me they are not keeping her in there because they are afraid she will get hurt but the other way around. Am I right?"

"It could be." He said shrugging. "they haven't said anything of the sort when I'm around but it was starting to seem a little strange to me as well."

"Halt should know, right?"

"I don't see why he wouldn't. But at the same time I don't think he would agree with it. She's really a good girl."

"That makes her sound like a dog." She said glaring though there was the joke in her eye. "But you're right. I don't see why Halt wouldn't do anything about it."

They stayed in silence for some time, both thinking about the last few words they had exchanged. They couldn't do anything about the issue—if indeed there was something along those lines—but trust Halt. Even if Halt knew about it and was letting it happen, then there had to be a reason for him to let the events unfold as they were doing and would keep everything under control to quickly bring it back if it got a little too extreme.

Besides, with the troops gone west, there was little more they could do about anything. For the moment, the castle itself had but the necessary men to keep it functioning, and even if they had wanted to, there were not enough guards about to spare some and post them outside Maiah's room if something got out of control in the view of the council. Furthermore, Cassandra guessed they were keeping it lightly leaving the foreigner for the Rangers to deal with. True, she was their source of information and had used her knowledge to base their whole tactics; but, as said before, the men were gone, the calls for the fiefs had been sent, and now all they could hope for was Gilan's report; something everyone assumed would be only protocol since there was no reason for there to be anything going on in the east.

"Speaking of which," Cassandra started turning back to Horace, arms crossed over her chest. "Weren't you supposed to have gone away with one of the companies?"

"Your father decided he wanted me to stay behind until we got more men. Then he'll lead the remaining companies with Sir David and a few others. Why?"

"Just wondering." She said with a nonchalant shrug of the shoulders though something told him there was more to her question than 'just wonder'. Still, since he couldn't quite put his finger on it and she had finished the statement with a closing note, he decided not to push any further. "I'm sure he has his reasons?"

"I would like to think so." He replied. A hint of a smile touched his lips though he was quick in repressing it. If he didn't want her to keep secrets in her words, why was he being so careful about what he let out regarding to the plans? It wasn't as if she would go around and spread them anyways. But there was someone whom she would be talking often now and even though he trusted Maiah after watching the Rangers practically set their lives at her feet, there was still something that made him weary of foreigners. It wasn't personal, of course, more like an inbred way of thinking that resided in their culture for hundreds of years now—it would surprise him if other nations weren't doing the same.

"You think Gilan will be back soon?" She asked. Funny how their conversations nowadays consisted of short snippets of questions and answers regarding the war and everything that came along with it. Not too long ago, they had found themselves talking about the rationings that were being sent out throughout the kingdom, and before that about the condition of city walls, roads, and especially the ports.

Horace was about to answer back when he thought he caught a familiar noise outside. Closing his mouth and standing from the armchair he met Cassandra's eye telling him he hadn't imagined it. Somewhat hesitantly, they made their way to the window searching in the darkness any sign that proved their ears were still working properly. Cassandra opened the window letting in the cold breeze along with the increasing sound of hoof beats galloping through cobbled streets. It took them longer to locate the source in the night and it wasn't until the bay and its rider were a few meters from the entrance to the castle that the torch light revealed the messengers. On the courtyard below they saw the cloaked figure dismount and stumble as he got off the saddle and made his way to the stable boy that had come in running. They knew it wasn't a usual sight, especially when the shorter figure of the stable boy walked away with the reins of the horse in his hand while the taller shape, still struggling to keep his footing, entered the door trying his best to cover as much distance with his long legs.

"Well, I think it's about time you got down there and used your credentials the right way." Cassandra said once Gilan disappeared from their sight. "Try and see if they'll let you into the council and then come back and tell me what is going on."

"Curious sort, aren't you?" Horace grumbled good-humoredly. "Sometimes makes me wonder if you are just talking to me because your father lets me into the council room."

"There might be some truth in that statement." She said with a large grin.

He rolled his eyes more at himself than the girl before him. He was really a fool for falling so completely into her arms when she did that.

Okay now, give me some credit I have been posting relatively early-at least for my standards-and believe me I've been trying. So...REVIEW! Tell me what you think, even if you don't like it (if this is the case, though, please be a little nice about it. Just kidding, it's fine). I think I should be approaching the ending, by which I mean probably ten more chapters or so.

Please, please, please, REVIEW.

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