Ara wore the look of a spanked puppy as she followed in Gilan's wake. She barely noticed the rest of the castle. The Arridi people had hot tempers, not as hot as the Toscanian people, but it was there. But Ara knew she was wrong, but she couldn't hid that vein of pride at beating the Oakleaf Knight at his own game. If nothing else she would have that to take back home. Her friends would never believe her if she told them. They never believed the stories her uncle told them.
They wound their way through the castle. It was just as big on the inside as it was on the outside. Ara was still marveling at the sheer size, and why there was a need for something to be so large. It was just the King and his daughter. How many rooms did they need, Ara thought to herself.
They finally seem to reach the end of their journey. Or so Ara thought, but Gilan turned and headed up the stairs to the towards the top of a tower. It was a curious design to make the stairs wind up in a circular fashion.
Every few stairs a thin cutout in the stonework allowed a sliver of bright sunlight to spill in. "Why aren't these proper windows?" Ara wondered out loud.
Gilan stopped to turn around and look at her. "So shooters can position themselves in here to shoot advancing enemies as they stream into the courtyard. Its big enough for them, but too small for return fire." He explained.
Ara started at him. Her brown eyes wide with shock. She looked out onto the courtyard wondering how many people had been slain. Gilan left her to her thoughts and continued up the stairs. They reached the top of the tower that began with a short landing. The landing was bare, but it ended with a solidly built wooding door with iron rivets up both sides. Gilan had to nearly beat his fists against the door to make a sound. Ara wasn't sure whoever was inside could hear the pounding but a moment later the door swung open.
"Gilan I wasn't expecting you back so soon." A rather short tall blonde man exclaimed. Ara was shocked at how small the man was. Gilan was the first ranger she had met, and she expected all of them to be as tall as he was. She guessed her uncle was not exaggerating about the stockiness of the rangers. "And who have we here?" Gilan stepped aside so that man could get a good look at Ara.
"This is Ara. Niece of a Arridi friend. Found her in the woods beating up on some thugs I had to arrest." There was a tread of amusement in his voice. "Ara this is Commandant Crowley of the Ranger Corps." Ara was not entirely uncouth. She did have a bit of home training, thank you father.
She gave him a little curtsey.
He let out a great bark of laughter. "Why she's no bigger than a sparrow." Crowley winked to show that he didn't mean any insult. Ara gave him a small smile holding back the remark that he was no bigger than she was. She she came up to his stomach, but she hadn't hit her growth spurt yet. She could still turn out to be a tall beauty. Like her mother.
He stepped aside and motioned for them to enter into his office.
Now Ara had grown up in her father's office. He was the Wakir of a large provence after all. Her father's office had been at the top of a small squat structure in the middle of town. All four sides boasted floor to ceiling windows that were open the elements during the day for a cross breeze. His office was decorated in the warm sand tones of Arridi. Plush lion pelts covered the tiled floor. Giraffe hides covered the chairs and couches in the lounge area. Her father's desk was a heirloom piece, crafted in Picta and sent to her great grandfather as a gift for trade relations of coffee and textiles. The desk was a solid hand crafted piece of ebony wood. It was as long as a tall man standing up and as wide as two men laying shoulder to shoulder. It was as heavy as an ox and once it was placed it hadn't budged. Her father's office had always had the air of activity about it. Parchment, ink wells, quills, abandoned cups of coffee, scrolls, leather bound tomes of law lay scattered about the place at all times.
Calling Crowley's office bare was a gross understatement. Nothing covered the floors nor the walls but stone and more stone. The room contained a desk a chair and a ink well. It was a study in Spartan design. There were two picture windows flanking the right and left walls. It was a great view that opened out onto the manicured grounds of the castle."Do you work here?" Ara asked with a rise of her slender brow.
The man chuckle, "Well it would seem so." He closed the heavy door and sat down behind his desk. Ara hadn't heard him move. Most people shuffled, grunted, squeaked, made some sort of noise. But not Crowley. It was uncanny to say the least. "So I am curious to this surprise visit Gilan. I thought you were going back to Redmont to fetch Jenny."Ara noticed Gilan's cheeks flushed at the mention of this Jenny.
Ara fought the urge to giggle like a school girl. She rather liked this blushing Gilan and not the one calming explaining the dogs of war to her. "Ara here distracted me, and Jenny was coming in with Halt and Lady Pauline anyways. So I thought I would run down a lead on some highway robbers. Ara had them almost taken care of by the time I rode up." He explained. Gilan took a deep breath before he continued. Ara sucked in a breath waiting for him to continue. "The little sparrow here wants to be a ranger." Ara stood up straighter and fixed Crowley with a unwavering stare. It was good to always appear confident.
Crowley steepled his fingers in under his chin to peer at Ara. She felt every imperfection as the time yawned before her. "She's a bit small isn't she," he finally said.
Ara stepped forward, but she bit back the retort that had bubbled up her throat. This was not the time to prove anything. This man didn't look like the type to be swayed by passionate words. But he was one to talk about someone being small. She could clearly see that he had to sit at the edge of his chair so that his legs didn't dangle.
"Commandant, she is no smaller than Will was." He looked back at Ara, her cheeks beginning to burn. She hated people talking about her while she in the room like she wasn't in the room. "Ok a little smaller than Will, but she is great with the sword and she did travel all the way here from Arridi on her own to join up."
The Commandant leaned back in his chair as he considered Gilan's words, "Well there is nothing that says a girl can't be a Ranger. We just never had one that wanted to join." He said to himself. "Are you ready for your own apprentice?" He asked.
Gilan started. "Me," he squeaked. "Why.." He gulped, "I thought Halt." He really hadn't considered taking on Ara himself. Ara's heart started to thump against her rib cage. Halt. Ranger Halt. The terror of Arridi with a bow in his hand. Would she really get to be his apprentice? The thought coursed through her veins like liquid fire. She had to fight to keep herself still. She forced herself to calm down, she was scared she would give herself a heat stroke if she didn't.
Crowley waved away his protests, "Halt has already fostered two apprentices. Some people might cry favoritism if I let him have another." He looked at Gilan. The small wrinkles at his eyes and mouth nearly leapt off his face as he smiled. "You were trained by the best Gilan. You are the best unseen mover in the corp not to mention the best with a sword. I see no reason why you can't take on an apprentice of your own. If agree to it, Ara is welcomed to be your apprentice." He laid out the proposal and left Gilan to his own devices to think it through.
Ara could hardly believe how easy that was. She wanted to bounce up and down on her feet as Gilan thought about the proposal. He was all that was standing between her life's dream and a miserable trek back home to her father. If she went back home her father would lock her away in a tower and never let her out. Not even to get married. The ceremony would be held in the tower. Her and her husband would live in the tower. She shuddered at the thought.
A battle was being waged in Gilan's head. The emotions were flicking across his face in rapid succession. It was a spectacular sight if you asked Ara, but then Gilan was trying to decide her fate. He was quiet for nearly 10 minutes. Ara was about to burst at the seams. She was never one to abide quietness and stillness.
Finally he looked up. Crowley leaned forward, so did Ara. "I would love to take Ara as my apprentice." He announced.
Ara couldn't help herself. She yipped and threw herself into his arms. She nearly knocked him over the back of the chair he was sitting in. She latched herself around his neck and squeezed. "Oh thank you so much. You won't regret it I promise." Gilan patted the girl on the back gently before detaching her from his neck.
He chuckled, "You won't be thanking me once you realize what you are in for." The serious tone in his voice gave Ara pause. A sinister smile spread across Gilan's face. "Don't worry it won't kill you." He said cheerfully.
Ara hoped so. Because she could go back to Arridi if she wanted someone to figuratively kill her. Her father was just about in the right mood for that right about now. The tower image flickered through her mind again.
"Well now that that is settled Ara why don't you head back downstairs. I'm sure we can rustle up a room for you. There is a dinner tonight and I am sure you want to rest and wash up before." Crowley sounded just like her father. Ara hoped that she would be treated as a real ranger once her apprenticeship started. Not that she was offended by his manner.
"Thank you sir," She dipped her and turn to wait for someone to open the door for her. A page appeared from the open door and motioned for Ara to follow him. She waved good bye to Gilan and Crowley who seemed to find the whole affair the most amusing thing ever.
The page retraced the steps down the tower and back into the castle proper. The sun was riding high but the warmth was still a fraction of how hot it would be in Farzi right now. She could almost feel the sand whipping across her face as she sand raced the local boys for the little bit of pocket money they carried around. As she followed behind the palace page she wondered if she could sand board during her apprenticeship. There was a lot more people in the palace then when her and Gilan had first arrived.
Just like before the people stopped and stared at Ara. Some of the little girls waved and giggled when she waved back. Many of the boys stopped and stared, tripping over their feet once they started moving again. Ara wanted to melt into the floor. She never liked being the center of attention, and this was torture to be on display like she were an amusing juggling act with a traveling caravan.
She picked up her pace and hoped that the page was going to lead her to a less public part of the palace for her sleeping quarters. She didn't have to wait long. The page lead her through a doorway and then up a wide sweeping set of stairs. She saw a few chambermaids and ladies in waiting scurrying off to do their work. They were more posed than the regular village folk as they didn't stop to openly gap at Ara, but she caught a few raised eyebrows and slowed steps.
At the top of the stairs they took a right and then a series of other turns that Ara quickly lost track of. This was more traveling than she had done in the saddle with Gilan on her way to the palace. They arrived at a wooden door that had been painted a delicate white. "Here you are Miss. Someone will fetch you for the dinner. You will find everything you need inside." He gave her a little bow before opening the door for her.
She stepped inside and thought she had died and gone to heaven. The room was easily the size of her entire house back home. It was a neat square room with a four post bed dominating the middle of the room. It was as fluffy as cloud, in a pale yellow color. Pillows on top pf pillows were piled on the bed. Ara's jaw was hanging open like a rusty gate.
The walls were covered in sea scape paintings and an echo of the bed coloring. She heard the door closing, but she didn't pay attention. The floor was covered in the softest fur she had ever felt. She wondered what sort of animal it was made from. Ara walked further into the room marveling at the fact that this room as in fact all hers. Not that she shared a room at home, but her bedroom was a quarter of the size of the room she found herself in right now.
To doors branched off from the room. One was a closet big enough for her entire class to fit in. The other was the most ornate bathroom she had ever seen in her life. A sunken tub sat smack in the middle of the room. With a wall or mirrors opposite the door. They had running water. Ara squealed like a little girl and ran over to the tub to test it out. A chain hung next to the spout. She pulled the chain and the water gushed out of the golden spout. Ara quickly stripped out of her traveling clothes astonished that she hadn't been aware of how long she had been in the clothes without a proper wash. Her mother would have been mortified to have worn the same clothes for a week while traveling.
Ara unbraided her hair as she waited for the tub to fill. A few bottles of colored glass sat a long side the tub. Ara uncorked a few a took a sniff. They were perfumes for the bath water. Not really Ara's style. Her friends loved the stuff, but in the oppressive heat perfume attracted bugs and you could be smelled 5 kilometers away. She turned the water as she slipped into the tub.
A contented sigh was the only sound she made. Ara leaned her head back against the pillow and wiggled her toes. The water was hot, but not enough to peel her skin away from her frame, but enough to soak the dirt away without too much scrubbing on Ara's part. She floated in the water on her back till her tired muscles relaxed.
By the time she was buffed and scrubbed like a new groat the sun had set.
While she had been in the bathroom some had come into her room and laid out a nice little party gown for her to wear. It was a hotter yellow than what was in the room, with dark blue trim around the hem and sleeves. The color went great with Ara's honey brown skin toned. She wondered who could have been that thoughtful.
The undergarments were a more sturdier than she was used to and she was sure she was going to be chaffed in all the wrong places by the time the evening was over. Getting into the gown was proving rather difficult as there were a lot more pieces and layers that Ara was sure should be considered torture. She pulled the cord by the bed and waited for someone to help her.
There was a knock on the door before a girl no older than Ara popped her head in. "Needing some help Miss Ranger?" The girl smirked as she saw the tangle of arms, legs, corset that was Ara and her outfit.
"Mffffptts." Ara squeaked. The girl had to help Ara's head through the neck hole before she could properly speak.
"What was that?" the girl asked once Ara's head was visible and her mouth was clear.
"How do you know that?" Ara rubbed her forehead where a small welt had formed from her trying to force her head through.
"Well you waltz into the palace and take on the king to be in a sword fight and win there's no hiding after that miss." The girl helped Ara step into a white petticoat. Then she helped her lace up the corset. It was more clothes than Ara had ever worn even at night in the desert. "Do you really want to be a Ranger?" she whispered as she started to help Ara with her hair.
"Since I was little and my uncle told me the stories about his Ranger friends I've wanted to be one." At first the girl was going to pin it up, but once the full effect of Ara in her gown with her hair down was seen she combed it out straight and left it hanging like a dark cape around Ara's shoulders.
"Be careful with those Ranger miss. They're a strange bunch they are." The girl nodded at her handiwork. Ara looked at herself in the mirror. She knew she was pretty but looking at herself she could see her mother under her features. With her face free from the usual dirt and sweat. Her mother's high cheekbones shaped her face. Her small mouth had a pouty quality, but the twinkle in her eye told you she wasn't a brat.
"Thank you," she whispered. The girl nodded once and motioned for Ara to follow her. Ara stepped into the yellow shoes to follow the girl down to the party.