Twin Destinies
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.
Chapter 5
" Lauren, can you beleive it?" Raina sighed as she sat atop Alver, staring at the city through her rough bangs. " Haven. We're in Haven."
" No' yet, little miss. Ye still hae tae git through me firs'!" A rough looking Guardsman stepped down from his post and brandished his trident at them, scowling.
" Halton, is that you?" Raina asked, peering at the grizzled man closely.
" An' who migh' you be?" He asked, squinting at her just as closely.
" Raina and Lauren Ravensmorn. You used to work for my father a few years ago." Lauren answered, suddenly recognizing the man.
He had given Raina her first real knife, even though it had been just a peice of metal that he had pounded into a sharp blade and glued to a handle that one of his own knives had broken off of. She loved it,and used it to the point that it had worn away, since the metal hadn't been all that good, but she still had the handle.
" I can' belive me eyes!" Halton took his helmet off and his blue eyes were bright with happiness. " Th' day I lef' tha' assassin business was th' day I ne'er thought I'd see ye again, and here ye are! On those darned beast also. So ye've been Chosen."
Raina smiled sweetly. " Of course Halton, Companions don't go around letting themselves get stolen, now do they?"
Halton laughed and clapped a hand on Alver's shoulder. " You be careful 'round this 'un boyo, she's go' 'er mother's wit." Still laughing, he sent them on their way with chits that showed people that they needed to get to the Collegium as soon as possible, so a free inn at the night was in order, but Raina wanted to get there as quickly as possible, so they didn't take it.
" You really thought of that?" Lauren asked, wnondering how much more mature Raina had gotten since being Chosen.
" No, Alver said it and I just repeated it." Raina smiled, sucking on a peice of her hair.
Now that it wasn't wieghed down, it was actually very curly and almost seemed as if it were lighter in color also, lending her a fresh faced quality that he had never noticed in her before. Whatever effect Alver had on her, it was a good one. He wondered if he was so very different.
: You don't need to be different, Chosen.: Shora said, and he felt a rush of love and gratitude at the words. : I love you just the way you are.:
Lauren felt that it should have been his mother saying that, and not his Companion, but it seemed so much more right coming from Shora. He couldn't see his mother saying anything like that to anyone, not even herself.
" Could someone please open the gates?" Raina yelled, standing at the front of them and banging on the metal bars. " We need to get in!"
: Let me try.: Alver offered, then he closed himself to Raina so her head wouldn't hurt after this.
: Uncle Roland! We need in!:
There was the sound of distant hooves and a large white figure came barreling up to them. The new Companion nosed the latch open and stood back, letting the gates swing open slowly. : Don't expect me to open the gate for you all the time. What if I had been doing something important?:
His voice was stern, but there was a tone of love and family care underlying it. After all, Alver had called him Uncle.
: Rolan, this is Raina and Lauren. Shora got Lauren a little earlier than was expected, is that a problem?: Alver asked, because Raina had been thinking the same thing, and even though she could hear Rolan, she didn't know if she could speak to him also.
: It's not that much of a problem. Even though Shora went to make sure you stayed in line, it's a goos thing when any Companion finds their Chosen. I think it would have been rather cold to just get Raina and then come back for him a few years later, don't you agree?: Rolan had a point, and it was a good one.
Lauren just stayed quiet, knowing that they were in a relay of sorts. He didn't mind, and it was comforting knowing that Raina was a good Mindspeaker, because he couldn't hear anyone but Raina and Shora, which probably meant he didn't have a very strong measure of it. He was glad though, because the stronger Gift you had, the more responsibility you gained, and he was just getting used to having Shora right now.
Rolan left and Alver led them in, obviously telling Raina where they would need to go, since he and Shora needed a good rest and a hot mash before the night was over. She nodded and kissed his nose, then blew a kiss at Shora as Lauren got off. She was answered by a soft whinney and the sibling pairs went their ways.
" He said we would need to go to the Queen's Own, since she was the only other one up this late tonight." She told Lauren as she led him into the large building.
The training that he thought was long dead in him awoke and he found himself testing out the buildings with an assassins ears and eye, memorizing the doors and passages they passed and the smells that they encountered. Sounds were of no importance, but escape routes were.
" This one right here." Raina said, knocking on it and waiting.
The woman that opened it was not old as Lauren had expected, but young and lively. Not as young as he was, but maybe only a few years older than him. She had a tumble of chestnut brown hair framing a heart shaped face that held great brown eyes and a mouth that was in a line right now, not knowing whether to smile or frown at them.
" Herald Talia?" Raina asked politly, clasping her hands behind her back and standing tall and proud.
" Yes?" Talia asked, and she looked from Raina to Lauren worridly.
" Herald Trainees Raina and Lauren Ravensmorn, reporting for stationing and duty, ma'am." Raina said happily, the official words disarming themselves merely by the sound of her childish voice.
" You're the ones that Rolan had to let in, aren't you?" Her solemn face broke into a smile and she nodded. " I've sent a page to get rooms ready for you. Since tomorrow is a break day, I'll show you around then and get you ready to start the next day. Is that okay?"
" It is more than okay." Lauren said, breaking into a smile himself. " I wouldn't expect you to show us around in the middle of the night."
Talia laughed softly, due to the sleeping husband in her room. " Good, because I wouldn't." A tall boy appeared from around the corner and hurried over to them.
" You're rooms are ready." He said, and Talia bid them goodnight, letting the page deal with them.
He led them to their rooms, even though Raina ended up sleeping in his room with him because she was scared of such a new place. " Even though it's so wonderful, and what it represents is beautiful, its still not home and that's going to be a little scary for awhile." She said when he asked her what was wrong.
Lauren nodded and wrapped her in his arms, feeling the different lengths of her hair spread over the pillow in a wave of silver washed gold. It all felt so right, being here. Shora was the best thing to happen to him, and he was glad that she had come when she had, or he might not have been there if she had waited. Lauren closed his eyes and heard something in the back of his head, a soft whispery voice, singing lullabyes to him, promising good dreams if he fell asleep.
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.
Chapter 5
" Lauren, can you beleive it?" Raina sighed as she sat atop Alver, staring at the city through her rough bangs. " Haven. We're in Haven."
" No' yet, little miss. Ye still hae tae git through me firs'!" A rough looking Guardsman stepped down from his post and brandished his trident at them, scowling.
" Halton, is that you?" Raina asked, peering at the grizzled man closely.
" An' who migh' you be?" He asked, squinting at her just as closely.
" Raina and Lauren Ravensmorn. You used to work for my father a few years ago." Lauren answered, suddenly recognizing the man.
He had given Raina her first real knife, even though it had been just a peice of metal that he had pounded into a sharp blade and glued to a handle that one of his own knives had broken off of. She loved it,and used it to the point that it had worn away, since the metal hadn't been all that good, but she still had the handle.
" I can' belive me eyes!" Halton took his helmet off and his blue eyes were bright with happiness. " Th' day I lef' tha' assassin business was th' day I ne'er thought I'd see ye again, and here ye are! On those darned beast also. So ye've been Chosen."
Raina smiled sweetly. " Of course Halton, Companions don't go around letting themselves get stolen, now do they?"
Halton laughed and clapped a hand on Alver's shoulder. " You be careful 'round this 'un boyo, she's go' 'er mother's wit." Still laughing, he sent them on their way with chits that showed people that they needed to get to the Collegium as soon as possible, so a free inn at the night was in order, but Raina wanted to get there as quickly as possible, so they didn't take it.
" You really thought of that?" Lauren asked, wnondering how much more mature Raina had gotten since being Chosen.
" No, Alver said it and I just repeated it." Raina smiled, sucking on a peice of her hair.
Now that it wasn't wieghed down, it was actually very curly and almost seemed as if it were lighter in color also, lending her a fresh faced quality that he had never noticed in her before. Whatever effect Alver had on her, it was a good one. He wondered if he was so very different.
: You don't need to be different, Chosen.: Shora said, and he felt a rush of love and gratitude at the words. : I love you just the way you are.:
Lauren felt that it should have been his mother saying that, and not his Companion, but it seemed so much more right coming from Shora. He couldn't see his mother saying anything like that to anyone, not even herself.
" Could someone please open the gates?" Raina yelled, standing at the front of them and banging on the metal bars. " We need to get in!"
: Let me try.: Alver offered, then he closed himself to Raina so her head wouldn't hurt after this.
: Uncle Roland! We need in!:
There was the sound of distant hooves and a large white figure came barreling up to them. The new Companion nosed the latch open and stood back, letting the gates swing open slowly. : Don't expect me to open the gate for you all the time. What if I had been doing something important?:
His voice was stern, but there was a tone of love and family care underlying it. After all, Alver had called him Uncle.
: Rolan, this is Raina and Lauren. Shora got Lauren a little earlier than was expected, is that a problem?: Alver asked, because Raina had been thinking the same thing, and even though she could hear Rolan, she didn't know if she could speak to him also.
: It's not that much of a problem. Even though Shora went to make sure you stayed in line, it's a goos thing when any Companion finds their Chosen. I think it would have been rather cold to just get Raina and then come back for him a few years later, don't you agree?: Rolan had a point, and it was a good one.
Lauren just stayed quiet, knowing that they were in a relay of sorts. He didn't mind, and it was comforting knowing that Raina was a good Mindspeaker, because he couldn't hear anyone but Raina and Shora, which probably meant he didn't have a very strong measure of it. He was glad though, because the stronger Gift you had, the more responsibility you gained, and he was just getting used to having Shora right now.
Rolan left and Alver led them in, obviously telling Raina where they would need to go, since he and Shora needed a good rest and a hot mash before the night was over. She nodded and kissed his nose, then blew a kiss at Shora as Lauren got off. She was answered by a soft whinney and the sibling pairs went their ways.
" He said we would need to go to the Queen's Own, since she was the only other one up this late tonight." She told Lauren as she led him into the large building.
The training that he thought was long dead in him awoke and he found himself testing out the buildings with an assassins ears and eye, memorizing the doors and passages they passed and the smells that they encountered. Sounds were of no importance, but escape routes were.
" This one right here." Raina said, knocking on it and waiting.
The woman that opened it was not old as Lauren had expected, but young and lively. Not as young as he was, but maybe only a few years older than him. She had a tumble of chestnut brown hair framing a heart shaped face that held great brown eyes and a mouth that was in a line right now, not knowing whether to smile or frown at them.
" Herald Talia?" Raina asked politly, clasping her hands behind her back and standing tall and proud.
" Yes?" Talia asked, and she looked from Raina to Lauren worridly.
" Herald Trainees Raina and Lauren Ravensmorn, reporting for stationing and duty, ma'am." Raina said happily, the official words disarming themselves merely by the sound of her childish voice.
" You're the ones that Rolan had to let in, aren't you?" Her solemn face broke into a smile and she nodded. " I've sent a page to get rooms ready for you. Since tomorrow is a break day, I'll show you around then and get you ready to start the next day. Is that okay?"
" It is more than okay." Lauren said, breaking into a smile himself. " I wouldn't expect you to show us around in the middle of the night."
Talia laughed softly, due to the sleeping husband in her room. " Good, because I wouldn't." A tall boy appeared from around the corner and hurried over to them.
" You're rooms are ready." He said, and Talia bid them goodnight, letting the page deal with them.
He led them to their rooms, even though Raina ended up sleeping in his room with him because she was scared of such a new place. " Even though it's so wonderful, and what it represents is beautiful, its still not home and that's going to be a little scary for awhile." She said when he asked her what was wrong.
Lauren nodded and wrapped her in his arms, feeling the different lengths of her hair spread over the pillow in a wave of silver washed gold. It all felt so right, being here. Shora was the best thing to happen to him, and he was glad that she had come when she had, or he might not have been there if she had waited. Lauren closed his eyes and heard something in the back of his head, a soft whispery voice, singing lullabyes to him, promising good dreams if he fell asleep.
