A/N: "Peace out. Enjoy life. Live the Adventure." -FunforLouis
TheRanger'sDaughter: And here is Carissa!
Disclaimer: I am not John Flanagan.
Epilogue: Carissa
Carissa rode with Rosalina through the snow up to the front steps of Roscrea Castle. Frey had refused to leave the wolfship until it was secure but Rosalina had enough of the rocking she could handle. They raced up the steps as they could safely manage and didn't stop until they were in the safety of the awning. They put their hoods down and blinked at the surprising scene in front of them.
"Daniel!" Carissa exclaimed. She ran to her brother and threw her arms around him. Daniel hugged her tightly.
"William?" Rosalina asked warily. "Kane? What are you doing here? I thought you were still in Skandia."
"We got caught in this snow," William answered as he hugged his sister. "What about you?"
"Frey's been itching to sail and I thought a visit to Hibernia would be nice," Rosalina answered. "He's still with the ship securing everything."
"You've got some snow in your hair," Daniel teased as he joined them. Rosalina made a face and ran her fingers through her hair.
"Come on, let's get inside where it's warm," Scout urged. The large group hastily walked towards the open doors of the castle.
Carissa slowed her steps, deliberately falling behind. Warden did the same. He took her hand and pulled her towards the corner. "This way," he whispered. Carissa pulled him back towards her and kissed his lips before letting him back her around the corner.
Their relationship was a tough one. After Rosalina's wedding Carissa had been charged with transporting all their gifts to the couple's rooms and arranging everything while Rosalina and Frey spent the night elsewhere in the castle. Warden had voluntarily stepped up to help after growing bored of dancing and refused to take part in Skandian drinking games. During the many trips up and down stairs and through hallways they'd begun talking. The talking led to Warden treating her to a late night meal at a tavern. Nobody noticed their absence. Scout didn't need protection in her childhood home and Rosalina had no use for a lady-in-waiting on her wedding night or even the next morning.
Warden had gone to bed late that night thinking that would be the last interaction he had with the princess of Araluen's lady-in-waiting, but he'd been wrong. Carissa had been waiting by his door bright and early asking if he'd like to join her for breakfast. It'd been such an amazing feeling having her reach out to him. After years of Scout's rejection (and his eventual acceptance of that rejection) Carissa was a breath of fresh air. It'd gone on like that for the duration of his time in Araluen after the wedding. Scout had been too busy enjoying her family to notice and Kelly had seemed to slip away for shenanigans of her own.
Every night Warden met Carissa at that same tavern with horrible food to avoid being caught and Carissa met him at his door every morning for a quiet breakfast of whatever she could lift from the kitchen. Their long talks led to long kisses and when Warden had to leave they promised to write one another. Each had kept that promise. Being with Carissa almost made Warden want to leave Hibernia and take up whatever position he could in Araluen. Guarding Anamaria or Rosalina, maybe, but in the end he hadn't been able to bring himself to leave Scout's service. She was by far more interesting than the princesses in Araluen and she could take care of herself, giving him more freedom to write in secret to Carissa.
They didn't have to keep their relationship a secret. Both were fairly certain Scout and Rosalina wouldn't mind a romance between a guard and lady-in-waiting. Such relationships were common when said guard and lady-in-waiting served the same royal, or at least the same country, but there would be complications with an official relationship. It'd be harder to see one another. The past two years Warden had weaseled his way into the protection detail of every Hibernian who traveled to Araluen and Carissa had taken more time to 'visit her brother' in Hibernia. If their relationship was official their peers would complain and perhaps even block their attempts.
"You could leave Rosalina's service you know," Warden whispered to her.
"Just as you could leave Scout's," Carissa countered.
They were interrupted by the clearing of a throat. Warden jumped away from Carissa when he found himself face-to-face with Prince Ace. His heart raced. Ace would no doubt tell his sister of what he saw. Kelly came behind Ace looking just as bewildered. The four of them stood in a square, not one speaking and not one touching.
"What did you see?" Ace demanded. Warden's forehead creased.
"See? Um…we…um…"
"Us see?" Carissa asked quickly. "What did you see?"
"Are you two…?" Kelly trailed. Warden could see her solving the puzzle in her mind.
"Are you?" Carissa echoed. That was one of her more admirable traits in Warden's opinion. She always had something to say to get herself out of trouble.
"You two are a couple?" Ace asked bluntly. Warden felt his face flush. Carissa stood her ground though he could tell she was just as embarrassed.
"Maybe," she replied warily. "It's rather odd though for a prince and lady-in-waiting of different kingdoms to be alone together."
"I have a feeling Kelly and I are in the same boat as the two of you," Ace sighed. "You're trying to carry out a long distance relationship?"
Warden and Carissa both nodded. Ace and Kelly shared a glance that confirmed they too were romantic with one another.
"Perhaps we can take turns running defense for one another," Ace suggested. That put the other three at ease. Warden sighed with relief. Ace wasn't going to rat them out to Rosalina…or Scout.
"Actually," Carissa said in a thoughtful tone, "Perhaps we can work this out for the better. How long have you two been attempting to be together?"
"Since Rosalina's wedding," Kelly answered. "You?"
"Since Rosalina's wedding," Carissa confirmed. "Kelly, it's a longshot I know but…what if we convinced Scout and Rosalina to switch us? We can say we have a bet over which of us is the most versatile and it can only be settled if we switch because they are so different. You can give Rosalina a try and I'll take Scout…if we're able perhaps we can talk them into making the switch more permanent."
"You mean…leave Scout's service?" Kelly asked in shock. "That's…that's…"
"Brilliant," Warden finished for her. "You two have the same job, just under two different princesses. It's easier for you two to switch. I mean…Prince Ace can hardly up and move to Hibernia, can he?"
"Nice save," Carissa muttered to him.
"I suppose it's worth a try," Kelly said. "I mean, we don't have to go through with it if I'm not a good fit for Rosalina or you're not a good fit for Scout…right?"
"Right," Carissa assured her.
"Let's give it a go then," Ace said.
They went to the main dining room where everyone had gathered. Warden nodded to Kelly with encouragement but obviously she hadn't mustered up the nerve to confront Scout with terms of their fake bet. Luckily Carissa had.
"Rosalina, Scout," the Araluen lady-in-waiting began, "Kelly and I have made this bet. She believes she's more versatile a lady-in-waiting than me because Scout has so many different roles in Hibernia as a crown heir, adopted princess, Academy graduate, and all that, but I believe serving Rosalina requires a better prepared lady-in-waiting because she travels more and requires more attention."
"Can't say she's wrong there," Rosalina shrugged. Carissa went on.
"With your permission we'd like to switch places for our stay here, just to see."
Everyone at the table exchanged glances and set down their drinks. They were quiet for several moments and then Scout said, "I'm all for friendly bets, especially ones that I can help rig for my own personal gain, but are you two sure this has nothing to do with the fact you're trying to get closer to your lovers?"
Carissa's cheeks burned red, as did those of Kelly and Warden. Somehow Ace kept his composure. Carissa wasn't sure if it was his time as a prince or time as a medic that gave him the skill.
"You know?" Kelly whispered while everyone else laughed. Scout nodded.
"We all know. It's a badly kept secret," Scout told her gently. "Kelly I've been prepared to be without a lady-in-waiting for over a year waiting for you to ask to go to Araluen. I have a reference letter for you in my desk so that you could get a job waiting on Anamaria." Scout looked to Rosalina, who was obviously offended. "Anamaria was more likely to understand the situation," Scout shrugged.
Rosalina looked to Carissa and Warden. "I've been waiting for you to ask me about resignation. I was going to give Warden an offer he couldn't refuse to join my guard," Rosalina told her. "I didn't want to lose my friend."
"And I don't want to lose my guard," Scout countered.
"I like this arrangement though," Rosalina went on. "Kelly, you are more than capable of being my lady-in-waiting. I don't want to lose my childhood friend but her heart has obviously been in Hibernia for some time now. If you want to move to Araluen to be my interim lady-in-waiting while I look for someone else that would be fine."
"Interim?" Kelly asked shakily. "As in temporary?"
"Well, if you've gone through all this trouble to be with my brother I expect he'll marry you one day. Then we'll both be looking for new staff."
Kelly smiled uncertainly while Ace put his arm around her. "Accept it Kelly," he whispered.
"Carissa, do you want to live here in Hibernia?" Scout asked.
Carissa looked to Warden. "There's no chance you'll move to Araluen? Remember my younger brother is a lot easier to face than my older brother."
"She's got a point there," Daniel confirmed. Julia kissed him to soften his tone.
"You've already been replaced. Why would I go to Hibernia when you're the one out of work?" Warden asked. Carissa smiled.
"Scout…"
"I don't have a problem with the captain of my guard being with my lady-in-waiting. It's convenient if anything," Scout shrugged. Carissa smiled.
"I accept."
"Me as well," Kelly laughed.