I do not own The Inheritance Cycle.
A side story. Rose is around 13 and Ilbert is a year older than she is.
Rewritten:6/30/14

Enjoy,


Wooden Swords and Lace Slippers

The girl thought she was clever being hidden down behind a clutter of stout willow trees which lined the training yard. The leafy vines were very, very dense and the trunk she was seated behind was inclusive crouched in a place that she thought hid her completely from view. She did not think that old man or the group of boys could see her, and she was feeling rather clever for her venture. Had she of known that Mil the old swordmaster, who was overseeing the group of you boys and apprentices, had been watching since the moment she came than she would likely have the better sense to leave.

However she did not know, did even have the faintest idea that his light eyes would occasionally flicker away onto her nor that Mil was becoming more and more exasperated by her sticking around. He had dealt with girls sneaking around to watch the boys he trained, hoping to see more than was right at their age. It annoyed him and occasionally distracted the boys from what they should be otherwise focused on.

The swordmaster gritted his teeth after a time of watching the girl and turned to his students. "I'll be leaving you scoundrels for a quick moment," he said. "And if I find that any of you have been lazing away while I'm gone a price will extracted. That means you, Aneirin, and don't think that I won't notice!"

An imp-faced boy with an upturned nose looked away from his partner and nodded seriously, this earned him a sharp whack on the shoulder from his partner's wooden sword. Mil shook his head at the boy, it seemed likely to him that the boy would never learn, and walked towards the sables. He had plans to insure that the spying girl would never return.

.

Rose wiped a damp string of hair from her face and looked up the gray sky. The air was far more humid than any spring day had the right to be, it made her miserable. She was no longer watching the boy in the field, she had begun to find that watching them thwack each other with wooden swords was quite boring. And the unflattering grunting noises they made did not help.

She had considered some time ago that perhaps she ought to the castle but found herself unable to do so. She just wished that Old Mil would hurry his lesson to an end because she wanted to talk to Ilbert more than anything at moment. Old Mil wouldn't likely hurry though, he always took his sweet time.

Sometimes Old Mil would keep them long after supper until the sky had begun to darken, bringing all of the boys through paces one by one. He was old, Ilbert had complained once, old and annoying and grumpy and slow. There was not a time when Old Mil acted as if he cared for one of them even if they not feeling well, actually he seemed to like the chance bully them.

Ilbert often said that he hated Old Mil. Tornac said that Ilbert respected the man but didn't quite know it yet.

Rose didn't know what to think. She only saw Ilbert's sourness towards Old Mil and truly believed that it was not respect that she saw, but Tornac was never wrong. Not once. Maybe Ilbert really did respect him.

She pushed her hair out of her face again, wishing that she had not lost her ribbon on her rush out here. It couldn't be helped now she supposed, and peeked around to look again the boys. She wished again that Old Mil would let them leave.

She was still spying when Old Mil swept down on her, grabbing roughly by the back of her neck. "What are you doing here?" he demanded as she squirmed under his calloused hands trying her best to free herself. He shook her teeth rattled. "I asked you a question. Answer!"

Rose tried to answer but her head felt wobbly and each time she opened her mouth she felt dizzy. She swayed slightly and blinked, noticing that most of the boys had stopped their practice and were standing at the edge of the field, watching their teacher with ample eyes.

One of older boys was studying her with wide eyes. She felt that she recognized him from somewhere. "Uh, sir, you might want to let her go," he said. "That's the daughter of the late Lord Morzan."

Old Mil's grip slackened though he did not let her go. "Is that true?" he asked raising his eyebrows. "Well?"

"Y-yes," said Rose looking up at his weathered face. "It is."

As soon as the words were said he released his grip on her quickly stepped away as if he were afraid something horrible were about to happen to him. He stumbled over a discarded weapon. "Very well then," he said straightening himself. He looked at her his students who were watching him rather intensely and looked down at her a stern frown. "Do tell me what you are doing here."

Rose bit her lip nervously; a habit that Cordelia had threatened break her of though the nursemaid's attempts never seemed to work. She opened her mouth and then shut it and looking in the small crowding of boys for Ilbert. She found him clear across the clearing and looked at him meaningfully.

He nodded slowly, his eyes rolling in annoyance, and called out. "That would be my fault, sir." He sounded regretful and slightly nervous. Rose hadn't been more jealous of his ability to lie so effectively as she was then. "I had asked Muirgheal to meet me here after lessons, you see. I guess that I told her we would be done sooner than we were. You have my deepest apologizes."

Old Mil huffed and folded his arms across his chest. "Well, then get out of here," he said, "the both of you. Can't have a girl sitting around here when there are men working, now can I?"

With a frown, Ilbert pressed his way through the crown of boys to Rose. He grabbed her wrist as he went by and marched onto the path back to the castle. He walked quickly and angrily, his footsteps stomping against the path for a time.

"I'm sorry, Ilbert," said Rose from behind him. She warily glanced up at the back of his head and bit her lip.

"Just be quiet," he grumbled, swinging his wooden sword about his side. "I don't want to talk to you right now."

Rose bit harder onto her lip and looked at the newly bloomed flowers as they passed them. She felt like she hadn't been out in the open air in ages, and that now everything was so different and colorful. Normally she spent as much time as possible outside in the spring but this year was different; most of the season had been spent inside the castle walls.

A shadow fell over them and she looked up a familiar tunnel of leafy vines and twisting wood. There were no irises this year in the planters along the tunnel's walls but tiny hanging bell-shaped flowers. She liked the irises better.

Suddenly Ilbert came to a stop at the end of the tunnel and looked back at her, his undisciplined hair framed his scowling face in a mass of curls. There at the tunnel opened into a round clearing with a fencing of flower and in its center was a large bubbling pale-stoned fountain. Evidence of their meetings here was everywhere; a broken spinning top sticking out of the dirt close to the flowering stems, a pair of lace slippers that hung hidden from view on the brass structure in the middle of the fountain, a beheaded toy soldier that hung high in the overhang of the tree by a fraying ribbon.

"Why did I lie?" he asked. "You know I hate lying, so why did I have to lie for you this time?"

"Because I couldn't say that I was hiding from Tornac and his gang of overseers so that I could see you." Rose looked up at him and pulled her wrist from his grip. "You know very well that he would just march me right up to the castle and lecture me about how important it is for girls to learn the art of medicine and perfume making. Its rubbish, and I don't want Tornac to know that I was there."

Ilbert shrugged. "He'll find out eventually," he said and then grinned. "But at least I'm out of practice now, right? And you're here for a change. Hmm, what should we do?"

"Not go back to the castle."

"Wouldn't dream of it," he said. "My sisters were trying to talk me into play some dumb game with them when I left. If I returned I might find out what they were talking about!" He looked at her suddenly, his eyes widening. "Does Tornac even know you're out here?"

Her eye focused on the ground and she couldn't look up.

"Gods, Rosie!" Ilbert exclaimed. "Honestly?"

"I couldn't stand it anymore. I had to leave," she said softly. "Please don't tell."

"I'm sure he already knows," Ilbert grumbled. "We should get back up there, then. That assassin man is out there, somewhere. Gods forbid, he's here- within the walls. You really should not have left. What if you were found by him?"

She pinned him with a stare. "But I had to leave!"

"Why?"

"Because," she said taking a deep breath, "I ran into Lord Lakan earlier today, and he said-"

"Stop! Just stop now! Any sentence that begins what 'Lord Lakan said' is a bad one-"

"He said you were leaving." Her breath ran out of her and she looked at him, waiting for him to tell her that it was just one of Lakan's horrible lies.

Except he did not.

"Oh," he sighed, looking at the ground with a fallen face. "He told about that?"

"Yes," she said breathlessly. "It not true though is it? You're not really leaving, are you?"

Ilbert did not look up from studying his shoes. "Well, I was going to tell you," he said slowly, kicking at a stone. "Really I was! Not just yet. See it's not to happen for a few months and with everything that has been going on with you I thought was best not to burden you."

Rose's lip wobbled. "Why?" she breathed. "Why are you leaving?"

"My parents think it will help my health," he said miserably.

"Oh." She looked up at him with a frown. "You've have not a lot less attacks lately though, don't your parents know that?"

Ilbert simply shook his head. "It doesn't matter. They've made up their minds," he said with a shrug. "Come on, let's go do something."

'Something' turned out to be a simple whistling game. Both Rose and Ilbert sat on the edge of the fountain looking up into the branches above, and whenever a bird chirped tunefully they tried to copy it. Ilbert could get the birds to sing back to him. Rose could not, and after a time she just listened.

"You should be better at this," Ilbert said. "You have lessons almost every day with Bardge."

"I hate those lessons." Rose looked down at the flacks of blue paint at the bottom of the fountain and watched the water stray over the surface in fractured ripples. "What do you think squirrels do all day?"

"Squirrels?! How would I know?" He asked his voice suddenly very high. "Maybe you should ask them."

"They can't talk," she said studying the sky, noticing for the first time how very late it was becoming. "Tornac is going to kill me."

Ilbert gave out a sharp laugh. "Honestly, Rosie? You are speaking of Tornac, right?" he said after a moment. "He won't kill you."

"He won't be happy either," she told him. "He never is when I sneak away from him. You have always been in Tornac's favor, Ilbert, and so you have never seen him angry but his wrath compares to that of a wight! It's scary."

"He saves kittens from tree and nearly breaks his leg doing it. He is not that scary," he said.

"Yes he is." She twisted her hands and then sighed. "And I remember that the nasty thing gave mee rash on my arms from having to carry it back for your sister. She was afraid that she would get fleas if she touched it. I almost wish she did."

Ilbert didn't answer, instead he frowned looked away into the brushes. "If you say so," he said doubtfully. "Did I tell you, Da has decided to let us keep Willo?"

"Who's Willo?" She tilted her head to the side. "The cat?"

"Willo is what Ilona wished to name her, in honor of the willow tree we found her in." Ilbert said looking into the brush again for a time. "Rosie, I think it would be best if we went inside."

Rose made a face. "I've been trapped inside that castle for over a week. I believe I'm beginning to lose what is left of my sanity, so please, I'd rather stay out here," she said leaning back on her palms.

Leaning forward, Ilbert grasped her wrist gently. "Rose," he whispered, "there is someone watching us from behind that bush. Don't look."

She looked and Ilbert yanked her hand from under her, tipping her onto his lap. She looked up at him furiously, but he put a finger to his lips. "What are you doing?"

"Be queit," he said, pushing her onto the ground. "I was serious when I said that someone is watching us."

"It was probably a squirrel."

He frowned at her. "Squirrels don't carry knives. Don't you say that I only saw a silver kernel either."

"If there's someone watching us, they might just be a kernel."

His lips twitched into a small smile, and he slid down beside her, fingering for the handle of his practice sword. "This might not be the best time for a joke," he said softly. "Let's go. Quickly."

Rose nodded, suddenly serious and stood up. Ilbert stood also, with his wooden sword in hand, not a moment after she had, and lead the way back through the leafy tunnel.

The sound of a pair of heavy boots crunching leaves made her look back. There was someone there behind those brushes after all and that person did, indeed, have knives. Very long knives, that shimmered evilly in the light. The slim man met her gaze and smiled. It chilled her to the bones. He took a quick step towards them, there was a garrote dangling from his belt.

"Ilbert," said Rose urgently grabbing his hand, which he automatically shook off. "Let's go!"

Ilbert looked back at the man and swore violently, causing Rose to blush from his inappropriate language. He tightened his grip on his wooden sword and grabbed at her hand before breaking into a run. Rose struggled to keep pace behind him, slowed by the heavy skirts of her dress and the slick soles of her slippers.

It is no wonder men are always the heroes in tales, she thought, they don't have skirts weighing them down. Get a knight in a dress and see how he fairs, I am willing to bet he will be the one who is in need saving and not the maiden.

She immediately glanced behind her and gathered the skirts of her dress into her hands.

The man behind them was quick, he had nearly managed to catch up with them. Rose yelped and quickened her pace when she saw the man's gloved hand reach out towards her. She was not quick enough and he closed his arms tight around her, painfully ripping her grip from Ilbert's hand, and pinning her arms to her sides, his back against her front. She screamed and kicked and squirmed, but it was useless as he held her such a way that it was difficult to do any damage. At the sound of her scream, Ilbert spun around with a shout, lifting his practice sword. The assassin lifted her and stepped back, somehow kicking the wooden sword from Ilbert's hands with enough force to knock them all over.

She hit the ground hard, white dots danced in front of her eyes and she felt a strange warm wetness, that she thought to be blood, dripping down her head yet she did not feel any pain. She blinked twice to clear her head then rolled away from the man beside her. The assassin was on top of her before she could move very far. Grabbing a fistful of her hair, he yanked her head back and slipped the strangle cord around her neck. As he pulled back the cord to tighten it, Rose slipped her hand between the cord and her neck, as Tornac had advised to do over the past weeks, the cord stung her hand as it cut painfully into her skin.

She hadn't noticed Ilbert, and neither had the assassin, as he wobbly walked towards them and bashed the wooden sword into the back of the man's neck along his spine. The man limply fell on top of Rose, causing her to scream. Ilbert dragged him off of her and pulled her up by her arms, ripping away the cord.

"Is he died?" she breathed, looking down at the man. She was shaking so hard she could hardly manage to stand.

"I'd rather we didn't find out." Ilbert looked around and Rose looked at him. His face was pale and damp, his lip bloodied and swelling.

Ilbert let go of her and grabbed a discarded knife close to the assassin. He nodded weakly and began to walk hurriedly towards the castle, covering his mouth and hunching over as he began to cough.

Rose glanced at man once more. He had been sent to kill her and she hated him for it, but she pitied him as well. For what reason had his life turned so tremendously that he thought it was his right to kill a young girl? And for what, riches and fame? She glared at his face angrily willing her mind to remember each detail. Then as he began to stir she turned away and ran after Ilbert.

She could hear shouts ahead of them and the familiar sounds of men, and it wasn't long until she saw the guard Ivar jogging alongside Tornac. Rose glanced back at the assassin in the distance. He was now standing, swaying side to side, watching her closely with heated eyes. She looked back at Tornac. Tornac met her own eyes, his eyes were both furious and relieved, and she thought that perhaps she best turn around and take her chances with her alleged killer.