Hi again. Please, please, review. I don't care whether you thought it was stupid, or think that some of the characters need more work. If you do, tell me. I want to know, and please post suggestions as well. Just to let you know, if you post a suggestion, and I don't use it, it's not because it was weird and I didn't like it, it was because it didn't fit in with the plot. And sorry if I kill off your favourite character in an indignified way.

Chapter 4: Apprenticeship

Gilan smiled as he watched arrow after arrow slam into the targets he'd set up earlier. His apprentice was a fifteen year old girl named Ailee, daughter of the baron of Meric Fief and his wife, Lady Eivarroa. Her brown eyes were full of courage and determination, and her curly brown hair fell around her shoulders as she reached for another arrow. Ailee's lips were tight as she focused on the multiple targets, aimed, and fired. Gilan saw her eyes tighten as some arrows missed the centre, and then light up as the others hit. After she had used up all her arrows, she look up at Gilan, and he laughed at the worry in her eyes. Ailee was a perfectionist, and worried about getting in trouble for not being perfect. Gilan could see that she was exhausted after the hard day, and she had every right to be.

'That's enough for today.' Gilan told her. 'Come in and I'll cook us some of Halt's legendary stew. There's coffee on the table.' Ailee's eyes lit up at the word 'coffee'.

--

Ailee sat in silence with her eyes closed as she let her muscles relax, and drained her cup of coffee, then reached for a refill. She looked around, then spotted the jar she wanted next to Gilan.

'Gilan, could you pass the honey?' Gilan grinned and obliged.

'Glad to see you have good taste in coffee.'

'Will we be visiting Halt and Will anytime soon? I miss them.'

'Soon, but not yet. How about in two days?'

'That'd be great, but tomorrow would be better.'

'You want to walk there? Fine with me, but I have another method.'

--

The next morning, Gilan walked into the forest, with Ailee close behind. As they headed further, Ailee got more and more curious.

'Please?' she begged. 'Where are we going? Gilan, I want to know!'

'It's a surprise, missy.' Gilan replied in a rough deep voice, surprising Ailee. 'You just keep on walking and you'll find out.' Ailee glared at Gilan.

'You know, I'm really hungry, so maybe we could stop at that chef's place.' She laughed when she saw him blush.

'Not today. How about tomorrow when we visit Will and Halt?'

'Yay.' Ailee gasped in surprise as they reached what she assumed was their destination. An old man with a long beard came out of a small hut to greet them.

'Hullo there, Gil. Who's this 'un?' the man asked.

'This is my apprentice, Ailee. Ailee, this is Old Bob.'

'Good day, Bob.' Ailee said politely.

'She's all polite and ladylike! What are yer doing teaching her to tramp around the forest?' Bob exclaimed.

'We're not going to tramp any longer. That's why we're here.' Gilan replied with a wink.

'Come on then.' Bob led them to the back of the small hut. There was a paddock and a small stable here. Roaming around inside the paddock were two little horses. The taller of the two, a bay mare, trotted over to Gilan.

'Hello, Blaze. I missed you, girl.' Gilan said, feeling rather soppy. Ailee wandered over to greet the other horse. She looked into the horses eyes and saw surprising intelligence. She glanced at Gilan, before staring back at the sorrel.

'That's Sorcha. Means something like 'light' or 'brightness' in Gallic.' Bob told her.

'And she's yours.' Glian finished.

'So I just get on?'

'She's just a horse, right? Surely you've handled horses before.' Gilan said. Ailee started to climb up, but paused when she saw Gilan's innocent expression. She quickly got back onto the ground.

'What did you do? There's some secret, right?'

Gilan sighed. 'You know me too well.' Turning to Bob, he asked, 'What's Sorcha's code?'

'Her's is 'vai permitir mei'.'

'Is that 'will you allow me?'?'

'Not sure. Something like that, anyway.'

'So, vai pemitir mei?'

'Not to me, to the horse.' Gilan smiled. Ailee whispered in Sorcha's ear. 'Now what?'

'Haha!!' Bob laughed. 'She's got a suspicious mind, Gil, just like you!'

'Now you mount.' Gilan told Ailee. She did, and nudged Sorcha gently. The little sorrel walked forward.

--

Gilan grinned at Ailee. 'Done playing with the horsie?' he teased. 'Bob probably wants us out of here by now.'

'Okay, okay. I get it. Are we riding home?'

'Yes, we are.'

Ailee laughed, and galloped out of the paddock, yelling goodbye to Bob. Gilan mounted quickly and chased after the disappearing figure.

Please review! And most of the chapters aren't nearly as centred on one character as this one. A friend wanted it in my story, because her favourite character is Gilan, and she wanted him to have an awesome apprentice. *rolls eyes*