They went outside and Ara was once again reminded of the climate difference between Araluen and Arridi. At home right now it would have been a balmy 100 degrees. Not a wind in sight to be hand. The only people out in the sun would be the people that hod nother other way to fed their familes except for the sweat of their labor.
Ara would have been indoors with the fans going and a servant with a cool drink standing by if she needed one. However with the clouds hanging low in the sky fat with rain she sort of missed the dry heat of home.
However today in Araluen she was trailing behind the lanky form of Gilan as they trekked deeper into the forest. A deeply wooded forrest at that. A deeply wooded forest that was chilling by the moment. Ara was still marveling at the abundance of trees in her new home. She couldn't wait till it snowed. She had never seen snow, but she had read about it.
She refocused her attention on Gilan and the task at hand. He was carrying his ever present long bow in one hand and a smaller bow. She had never seen a bow like that before and she was wondering if it was the one she was supposed to use.
There was no way she had the strength to string a long bow let alone actually notch an arrow. Her mind was off to the races as she thought of all the things she was going to learn as a ranger's apprentice.
She didn't notice that Gilan had stopped walking and she was still moving. Ara slammed right into the tight body of Gilan. The force was enough to knock her back on her tail. Gilan turned to look down at her, "Was that performance this morning a flash of brilliance?" He asked holding out his hand to help her stand up.
"No sir it wasn't" Gilan started as she called him sir. He wasn't sure if he liked being called that by his apprentice, but there needed to be a clear line between the two of them. He pulled her up and looked down at her. She sprang up lightly onto the balls of her feet. "It won't happen again." she told him confidently.
He nodded and stood back for her to see what his body had previously been blocking. It was a large clearing. Not as big as the one their cabin sat in but this one was big enough for several large, white targets to be set up at varying ranges.
Ara's heart started to thump in her chest. This was a shooting range and here she was going to learn to shoot. Something her father strictly forbidden. She felt scandalous at how excited she was to get her hands on a bow.
"I know bows aren't a standard Arridi weapon of choice, but you're a ranger in training now. And the long bow is our principle weapon. You have neither the skill nor the strength to use it yet so you will learn on this bow." He handed the over the bundle he had been carrying.
Ara unwrapped it and uncovered the most curious bow she had ever seen. Her face fell. "What is it?" she asked him trying to hid her disappointment. She was being given a little girl's bow. Not a proper one like he carried. "Is it a little girl's toy?" she asked finally not being able to hold back the burn at the back of her throat.
Gilan stared down at her. "Ara look at me." She took a few deep breaths before pulling her chin up and looking at him. "You are my apprentice. A Ranger's apprentice. You will be treated as such. You are not a girl, nor are you Arridi. Ranger's apprentice is all you are till you become a Ranger. I am not here for my health nor to teach you something you can gossip about with your girlfriends later. Now may I get on with the lesson or would you like to pout now?" He was going to have to help her get over that chip on her shoulder. And fast. Because if she reacted like this when there was no offense made how would she do when someone pushed her buttons before they knew it would get to her?
Ara let his words sink in before she gave him a small smile and a little bob of her head. He returned the smile before getting on with the lesson. "This is a recurve bow from the Temujai, and its sole purpose to help you learn how to shoot. All apprentices are taught on this before they move onto the long bow." He explained.
Ara shuddered. She knew who the Temujai were and she prayed that they never moved on Arrdi. Skandia only just managed to beat them back. "Can I try it?" she asked. Her eagerness had burned away the disappointment.
Gilan smiled, "Well if you think that's a good idea go ahead." He stepped back. Luckily Halt hadn't had to do this with him, but he knew that Will had fallen for it. So he was going to let Ara try it if she wanted to.
Ara grinned and grabbed a arrow from the quiver that she had unwrapped. She notched it against the string before pulling back with her little thumb and forefinger. Her arms trembled as she pulled the string back. She was barely strong enough to pull back the string on the recurve bow.
She aimed at the closet target only ten meters away and fired.
TWHACK!
The heavy bowstring slapped into the soft flesh on the inside of Ara's arm stinging like a scorpion. Ara howled in pain throwing away the bow like he was going to kill her. An angry red welt was already rising up on the sensitive flesh. The throbbing brought tears to her eyes, "Ow." she said looking up at Gilan with venom lacing her light brown eyes. She had to stop herself from kicking Gilan in the shin and breaking something.
"You're impulsive Ara." He wagged his finger at her. "Maybe that will teach you to stop and think things through before you rush into something." He said cheerfully retrieving her downed bow. He handed it back to her which she took with a scowl. She would have happily wiped that smirk off his face.
He bent down and pulled a stiff cuff from the bundle. He slid it up Ara's arm. It wasn't a snug fit but it would do the just the same.
Ara's face burned as she finally noticed that Gilan was wearing a similar cuff on his arm. "Ok give it another go." he prompted.
Ara selected another arrow and notched it. He stopped to correct her form here and her stance there. Showing her how to properly draw the string. Her shoulders burned and she struggled to hold the bow taunt.
The bow wobbled slightly and it was all she could do to keep it straight, but she did. She shot the arrow and her aim was true.
It smacked into the ten meter target with a solid twack.
She would have punched her fist in the air in triumph, but she didn't think it was an action becoming a Ranger so she refrained, but only just. "Well done Ara, but not nearly ranger quality. You need to practice." he announced. "But that is for another time. Put it down." Ara obeyed and waited. She was quivering with glee over hitting the target. She had never been allowed to touch something so dangerous and she had managed to shoot her first target.
Gilan handed Ara a double scabbard same as the one that sat on his hip. "These are Ranger knives." Ara couldn't believe that in one day she was doing things her father would have skinned a live lion before letting her do. It was so scandalous she was almost buzzing with giddiness.
She had to swallow twice to calm herself before she reached out for the scabbard. Ara carefully took the scabbard out of Gilan's hands. The knives were set one above the other. The one on top was the smaller of the two. She could only guess how sharp it was.
"Pull it out slowly." Gilan instructed. He could vividly remember when Halt had handed him his set of knives. He scratched at the scar running down his forefinger. Ara slide the top knife from the scabbard slow enough to test Gilan's patience. She was surprised at the weight. "Its been perfectly balanced for throwing." He slid his own knife and with a causal flick of his wrist sent it flying across the field.
It smacked into a tree with a satisfying thunk.
"That was...wow." Ara breathed. "Will I be able to do that?" she asked.
"Sure." Gilan said with a smile. She couldn't believe all of the great things Rangers did. A slow smile spread across her face. "With a lot of practice," he told her cheerfully. The smile vanished.
He showed her the other larger saxe knife as well. "This is for close quarters fighting. We Ranger's don't like to fight that way. That's why we spend so much time practicing with our longbows, but sometimes its unavoidable. I will show you how to use this, but with your sword skills we will work with that more." Gilan had been trained by one of the best swords in the realm and he could see that Ara had the makings of one of the greats as well.
She beat Horace after all and he was trained by the same master as Gilan. That had to be worth something.
They spent another three hours out in the woods. Gilan sat composing a letter for Jenny as Ara practiced with her recurve bow. He would stop to correct her here and there or to just watch her shoot. He was never going to finish his letter to Jenny and he hadn't seen her in nearly two months. He knew Jenny understood his job and his responsibilities, but it still pained him that he had to spend much time away from her.
Ara felt like her arms were made of burning hot lead when Gilan finally called her practice to a halt. She couldn't remember the last time she had worked that hard. Not even for her lessons. Looking at the targets her heart sank. Hitting a target 10 meters away once was good, but she had missed more than she had hit and her aim diminished the further away she went. She wasn't feeling so hot about her abilities at the moment.
"Don't look so disappointed. It takes years of practice to get up to Ranger level, and years we have." He clapped her gently on the shoulder.
"Thank you sir," Ara said softly.
"Call me Gilan alright. Sir makes me sound old. I'm hardly 25." He ran his hands through his hair.
"I just turned 15." Ara offered. To her 25 was old, but Gilan was a child compared to her father. He was nearly 50 years old she was sure. All of his hair was grey.
Gilan threw his arm around Ara's shoulder, "Come along then grasshopper." They headed back towards the cabin in a pleasant silence.
Ara was thinking of how great it was going to be to climb into her bed and just sleep for the rest of her life. She could actually smell the down feathers in her pillow and it was making her smile. She pulled on Gilan's sleeve to get him to stop. "Someone'e here." she whispered.
Gilan looked down at her, "How do you know?" He asked.
Ara had never before explained to anyone how she knew some of the things that she knew, but she felt that she could tell Gilan without him thinking she was barking mad. "I can see them moving. Nearly twenty meters back behind us." she whispered.
Gilan looked startled that she was so precise, but he glanced back. "Bad form Will. She saw you." he called into the trees.
Ara turned back as a small man seemed to step out of a tree trunk. He was wearing a Ranger's cloak. He threw his hood back, "How? I didn't move till you both walked past me." Ara's breath caught in her throat as she connected with the name Gilan had called him.
"Will Treaty?" she asked as he brown eyes going wide with awe.
Will gave her a little bow. "Well I hope so I'm wearing the underwear his wife put out for him." Ara couldn't believe how small he was. Gilan she thought was average height for a man. Certainly an Arridi man who were rather tall, but she scarcely believed the stories of the small Rangers that helped her uncle.
They had all seemed larger than life to her. So she was sure her father had been pulling her leg about how small Will Treaty was, but here Will stood not even half a foot taller than she was and Ara knew she was small for her age.
Even for a girl.
"But how did you see me?" He asked again.
Ara shrugged, "My mom's brother was born blind and everyone thought he was just going to be lame and they he was going to be a burden that needed to be taken care of so he learned how to see with his feet. He said its like seeing the vibrations people make when they move. He taught me how to see that way. Said it gave him excellent practice to have a little runt running around." She explained.
Her uncle went on to be one of the best generals in the Arrdi army and she had got her sight back. Ara felt it was a win-win for everyone involved.
Will and Gilan looked at her with their mouths hanging open. "Well that is certainly handy," Will said when he finally recovered his wits.
"So I guess this makes up for the ambush at the Gathering then." Gilan said with a elbow to Will's side. He had to bend slightly to do it.
"Yeah we're even." Will countered back.
They walked the rest of the way back to the cabin in a cloud of chatter. Ara was having a good time listening to the easy banter between Gilan and Will. It made her miss her friends back home. She wondered what they were doing right now.
She wondered if Fatima had finally gotten her father to start the marriage negotiations with Amar. She always thought the two of them would end up together. That thought brought her around to her father. Was he still looking for her? Did he realize where she was? Was he mad at her?
It wasn't until her mouth started to water at the delicious sent in the air that she was pulled out of her daydream. She hadn't seen Gilan put on anything, but she was glad dinner was ready now. Ara couldn't remember a time she had worked that hard in her life.
Ara stopped just short of the porch. A small man was standing on the porch of the cabin. He was as grizzly as he was wiry. He just stared down at Ara like she had done something naughty.
She caught herself straightening her ponytail and wiping off the sweat from her brow.
His face was stern and utterly unforgiving. "Its true I see." He folded his arms across his chest. "We're letting girls into the Ranger Corps now." The man said. Ara stiffened. "And not just any girl. Selethen's niece I hear." Ara could feel her chance to be a Ranger slipping away and she was close to tears.
She battled her emotions back. She was not going to lose it.
The door to the cabin opened and two women stepped out. One older and regal in her beauty. Her ruby gown billowed out behind her. Ara could imagine her holding court at one of her father's functions. She called all attention to her.
The other woman, younger and just as captivating at the older woman. "Oh Halt she is perfectly lovely and you are scaring her." The older woman said putting her hand around the man's arm. Ara started at the name Halt. "Forgive my husband." The older woman motioned for Ara to come forward. Ara gulped.
She was surprised that her feet worked properly. "I'm Pauline. Halt's wife." Ara was scared to shake the woman's hand. It was so smooth and refined. Ara knew her hand was right filthy and developing calluses. "Don't worry my dear. I'm married to a Ranger." Pauline took Ara's hand and gave it a strong shake.
"I'm Ara m'lady." She hoped that was the right honorific. She had head it said a lot around the castle.
Pauline giggled. It was a throaty musical laugh. "Well you three could learn a thing or two from Ara here about how to treat a lady. Come on in and lets leave the men to men things." Ara followed Pauline into the house with the other woman in tow.
Ara would rather had stayed on the porch with the men. She was a Ranger's apprentice now, so it wasn't like they weren't going to tell her Ranger secrets, but she wasn't going to say no to Pauline.
"I'm Alyssa by the way." The willowy blonde said holding out her hand. She gave Ara the same hearty handshake as Pauline. "I'm Will's wife." Pauline motioned for them to sit down in the spartan living room. Ara was glad that she had spent the morning cleaning up the place. "So I am guessing you have a right little tale about how you got here." Alyssa said.
"I took a wolfship here." She told them simply. She didn't know how much trouble she would get Olaf in if she blabbed about who had stowed her away on their ship.
"That is very enterprising though a touch dangerous for a young lady I have to say." Pauline added as she sat down with a cup of coffee. Since living with Halt she had developed a taste for the stuff. She was still working herself up to the honey.
"My mom wouldn't have thought so." Ara was sure her mother if she were still alive would have been proud of her. Well she wouldn't have stood in her way if she wanted to become a Ranger.
"What did your mother have to say when you told her what you wanted to do? From what I know of Arridi woman carrying out the King's justice isn't a career option." Alyssa asked.
"My mom was bit by a king cobra on a hunting trip when I was seven." It was the worst day of her life.
She had come home to find her father sitting in her room holding on to her favorite veil. He was just staring at the wall, not moving. The veil he was holding had been the one that she and her mother had stitched together. It had taken them nearly five months to get it done right. Neither of them were much in the sewing department. Even her aunt and cousins had given up trying to teach them. It had started out as something to do after dinner and before bedtime, but then it had turned into a matter of pride for both mother and daughter.
Ara had worn it during her first veil dance. She had been so proud of it. "Are you alright." Pauline laid a gentle hand on Ara's shoulder. Ara blinked away the memory to smile up at Pauline.
"Yes ma'am." After that it was easy, playful banter between the women.
Pauline knew that Halt never would have agreed to have a dinner with an apprentice if Ara hadn't been a girl and if Ara hadn't been related to a good friend of Halts. She couldn't being to imagine what Ara was going to go through as the first and only girl in the Ranger Corp, but after watching Will, Alyssa, Horace and Cassandra grow up nothing was going to surprise her. And as long as Halt was around Ara was going to be in great hands.
"How is she doing?" Halt asked as they all leaned back in the chairs on the porch with cups of coffee in their hands.
"Well its only the first day, but she is stubborn as a mule. She nearly worked herself into the ground just to prove that she could do it even though I purposely gave her hard task for a girl of her upbringing." Gilan answered. "Ara thinks she has a lot to prove because she is a girl and because she is small. Its going to push her to make mistakes." He knew that Ara was going to do something stupid one day that was going to get her seriously hurt if she didn't get rid of that chip on her shoulder.
"You must not remember being an apprentice." Halt said softly. Gilan looked at him. Was he getting crazy in his old age? The only things that kept Gilan alive were the things he remembered doing and learning as Halt's apprentice. "You just had to prove to the world that you were picked to be a Ranger because you were good and not because of who your father was." Gilan grew still. "You rushed into danger to prove you could get through it. So Ara isn't the first person with something to prove. You have to learn how to teach her without breaking her." Halt sat his cup down. "Its not your job to teach Ara how to be Ara. She has to learn that on her own. Its your job to equip Ara to be a Ranger. Watch her, study her, learn how she learns see how she reacts. Then adjust yourself to her. Not the other way around." It was the most Halt had ever spoken in one go. Will and Gilan were hanging on his every word as usual.
Halt sat with Will and Gilan sharing his wisdom with them. It was nearly time for Will to take on an apprentice and more than anything he wanted his former apprentices to make good masters. So he instructed them till Pauline announced it was time to bring the party indoors. Winter was coming to Redmont and it was no fun sitting on the porch with frost in the air.
Christmas must have come early because the little party went well into the night. Ara sat on the end of her seat as everyone retold some of their greatest victories. Ara was especially touched when Halt told them the story of Will's rescue from the Skandians.
Ara got to spend time with the very people who had given her life meaning. It was possibly one of the best nights of her life.
The next morning she left a small blue flower on Gilan's plate before breakfast. He never said anything about it but he did put it in a cup with water on the window sill.