Hi Everyone:
Thanks for all of your reviews. Please scroll down for the Chapter! Replies are as follows:
Concerning OOC for Chapter 1:
Several people reviewed suggesting that the violent scene in Chapter 1 would never have happened. Here's my reasoning: Firstly, I agree that had Kel, Ilane or anyone else known this was going on, they would have put a stop to it immediately. However, they had no idea and Kel was back in Corus. Secondly, I also agree that Oranie appeared reasonably supportive of Kel in Page. However I believe she only supported Kel when she was well into her training. That doesn't mean she wouldn't side with Jascy's mother about Jascy becoming a page. Oranie would also probably believe she had more chance to stop a niece than a sister from doing something she didn't agree with.
Finally, there's a bad egg in every family. Remember that in Midwinter Luck Coralie was thoroughly unsupportive of Kel as well. And Jascy is her only daughter – if you were a conservative, I think you'd be about to slap your daughter to their senses too. I hope this clears it up a bit!
Reader of Fiction: I have nine chapters drafted, and lots more planned. Certainly there's no end currently decided on. Thanks for reading!
Opalshine: Anders is Jascy's dad. I agree, but unfortunately he didn't know about the way Coralie was treating Jascy until it was too late (that is, until Jascy ran away.) Opalshine again: Oops! Umm...lets just say Skyfly is an albino darking, okay? I seriously had this picture of clear darkings in my head :)
Nutz Nina: Thanks! Here it is.
Kaypgirl: Thanks for your comments. I've given some reasoning above, and I hope you continue to read my story. Kaypgirl again: Wow...you're really sharp. I'd honestly forgotten I'd described Keatin in Midwinter Luck until I checked back after your review. Oh well, for this story at least, green eyes it is.
Soul of Power ROCKS OUT LOUD: Well...here's another chapter. Hope you like it!
Me: No problem, they're now named. Thanks for your review!
fanficprincess101: Keatin was indeed the same Ranger that brought in Loey and Tobe. Kitani is completely different however to Kitaji, Merric's Sister. (Okay, so you caught me! I was kind of reusing the name :) .) Thanks for your review!
alynawatlovers: Thanks for the comment. I think you're correct that Oranie defended Kel (in Page.) More comments above under 'Concerning OOC.' Thanks!
Drop Your Oboe: That's correct, Jascy's magic would have to be from Coralie's family as the Mindelan family doesn't have any. Thanks for your review!
Lady Knight Emey: Thanks heaps! I wasn't originally planning to include Kel and Dom much at all, but maybe I can weasel it in later on...
Chapter 3: The Old Ones
When Jascy woke the next morning dawn was just over the horizon. If she was to get to Corus with time to spare, she would have to leave the inn now. Packing her things quickly, she paid for a quick breakfast and her lodgings.
The stableboy met her at the gate with Dreamer, fresh after a good rest. Her hood down now, the stableboy didn't hide his shock at her real age. Jascy smiled and shook his hand in thanks, and set off down the road that was taking her south towards the capital.
Time was on Jascy's side, but the weather most certainly was not. Even though she was just a few hours out of Corus, by midday the rain had become so torrential that she had to stop for shelter. It was an isolated patch of forest with no dwellings of any kind in sight. Trudging off the road and into the trees, Jascy led Dreamer far enough in that they could not see the road and the road could not see them. Jascy was too well aware of the dangers of bandits in these areas, and hated to be forced to linger.
The rain kept pouring and Jascy reluctantly decided to search for higher ground deeper in the forest. After a while Dreamer clipped a shoe on a stone set into the muddy forest floor. Jascy bent down to check Dreamer's shoe and realised that it was not any ordinary stone. It was a building stone, roughly cut into a square with patterns carved into its surface. They had stumbled on ruins of the Old Ones!
Sure enough, only a few metres ahead they met a crumbling stone castle, its roof partly caved in but still offering decent shelter from the rain. Jascy led Dreamer inside, picking up a small stone from the floor of the dark room. She sent her purple gift into the stone, which first shuddered from the power but then shone brilliantly with a purple light.
The light bounced off of the walls of the room, and Jascy saw they were in the Great Hall. She could tell by the elevated stone floor at one end of the hall. It was the dais, where the nobility would sit and eat. Filled with a sudden sense of adventure, Jascy tied Dreamer to a tree that had taken hold in the cracked stone, and proceeded up onto the dais. She knew enough about castles to know that the entrance to the treasury was always located behind the dais. It was likely it had already been found and the treasures taken, but Jascy figured she'd try her luck.
The walls around the dais were thickly overgrown with ivy, which Jascy proceeded to systematically push back, looking for any flaws in the carved stonework that might herald the existence of a door. Almost to the end of the wall, and feeling rather disappointed, something very strange caught Jascy's eye. Holding up her wooden Ranger token to the stone's light, she checked back again at the carving. Sure enough, an intricately carved pair of crossed knives was part of this stone's design. It was chiseled exactly like the other stones, and fitted into the carvings around it so seamlessly that it was obvious it had been carved at the same time the castle had been built. A long time ago, longer than the realm of Tortall had even existed.
Jascy gasped with delight at her find, and experimentally pushed the stone. It melted before her very eyes, peeling back to reveal a stairway down into the ground. 'Old magic,' thought Jascy aloud 'This just keeps getting better and better.'
Holding up the stone light to guide her way, she trod slowly down the worn stairs and into the tunnel. A little while later, the narrow passage ended abruptly and Jascy gasped when the purple light of her gift bathed the chamber's contents. This wasn't just a treasury or just an armoury, those she had seen enough that they weren't worth gasping about. This was a priceless cache of everything imaginable.
One object caught her eye. Hanging on a bronze hook in the wall was a deep purple sheath encrusted with gold leaf swirls. The golden handle of a longsword was visible out of the sheath. It was evidently gold plated, for solid gold would have been impossibly heavy. In the middle of the hilt was set a large and flawless amethyst.
Without further thought, Jascy picked it up off the hook and strapped it around her waist. Drawing the sword with a little difficulty, for it was much harder than it looked, the stone light showed up tempered blue waves in the blade. Jascy grinned with delight, it was quality steel. She sent a prayer of thanks to the Old Ones. I come in peace she told them Thank you for your kindness, I'll take only what I require.
A half hour later Jascy emerged from the tunnel and led Dreamer outside. She withdrew her magic from the stone light, which became just like any other stone again as she tossed t back onto the floor where she had first picked it up. The speckled pieces of sky that could be seen through the trees were all a pleasant ice blue, and the sun was now out and unusually warm for autumn. The sudden change in weather was surprising, but Jascy was glad.
Jascy transferred a few bits and pieces from her hands to her pack, including a few jewels for bribes and a new bow and arrows of better quality. The only other things Jascy had taken were the sword, a dagger and a curious amethyst stone. Hanging on a solid gold chain the amethyst was polished and round-cut.
What interested Jascy most about it was that the very centre of it appeared hollow and filled with a few tiny drops of some kind of liquid. The amethyst was fastened to the chain with a gold piece that appeared to be able to be screwed off, though Jascy hadn't had the chance to try it yet. So, after checking it with her gift for signs of an evil gift, Jascy slipped the chain over her neck next to Keatin's token and struck out back to the road. She was amassing quite a collection.
Jascy knew she would be in Corus in a few hours, meeting Lord Padraig of HaMinch to become a page. But as much as Jascy tried to deny it and pretend it wasn't the case, the thought made Jascy hollow inside. The last two days had given her a taste of true freedom, one that was difficult to relinquish and even harder to pretend she didn't want. But it remained to be the case that her options were clear: page, or lady.
She nudged Dreamer to a trot.
Thanks for reading and I hoped you liked it! This was a bit of a filler chapter, so if you want to read the next chapter Flick Decisions, review pronto!
StarryEmeraldNights
