Ok, I know it was a rough start, but I'm getting there. Positive attitudes and a lot of thinking is what keeps me going.

FYI, this is when Alyss and Will are not formally boyfriend and girlfriend.

So here we go, chapter 3

He looked to the girl, and realized, not for the first time, that he would miss her dearly.

They had grown up together, and Will had to say he was surprised of how Alyss was taking it.

He had expected for her to show that she was a little upset.

But instead, she had just encouraged Will to be brave and never forget her.

Will smiled to himself; she was a diplomat after all.

He knew that it would be absolutely impossible to forget her, after all that they had been through.

He hoped that he could be brave, just for her.

And when he came back he would be able to spend a lot of time with her.

He was grateful for this short time of privacy, just him and Alyss.

"And make sure that you take care of Horace too." Alyss finished, smiling.

Will smiled, taking Alyss's hand into his.

He really did not know how to say goodbye to her.

He pushed his thoughts out of the way, and gave her a warm hug.

A genuine one, a hug that only best friends would understand, then bent down to kiss her hand.

"You better go now," Alyss said," We wouldn't want them to leave without you."

Will got up reluctantly, and made his way to where his horse was.

Gilan's eyebrows had been in a permanent frown since he woke up.

He had finished his breakfast and coffee in silence, just frowning.

And this absolutely killed Clera.

She had looked for opportunities to talk to Gilan privately, but could not find the chance.

Why did things have to be so complicated?

Opportunity rose after breakfast, when everyone had risen to do the final preparations before departure.

Gilan had still been seated, looking down in his coffee, deep in thought.

Clera pounced at the nearest seat to him, the best smile she could have on her face.

"You know you're face will get stuck like that if you keep frowning." She said with every ounce of hope that Gilan would finally say something to her.

"You said you were leaving," Gilan said with pain in his voice as he continued, "To the Skandians, where they love you and would take care of you. Not so that you could hide in Araluen for the rest of your life."

"And I was, and I did. Not for very long, though." She smiled again, hoping that the situation would ease. "You know I wanted to stay with you."

Gilan's voice rose at that, "No actually, I didn't know. I didn't believe you. I thought you were LYING. Just as you did to me plenty of times before."

Clera winced, hurt deeply. "You are not the victim here. You get that deep inside your arrogant head. I left because I didn't want him to kill you. Just like he killed everyone else."

There were no tears in her eyes, just the sound of tears in her voice. She got up and walked away. If Gilan wanted to be that way, then so be it.

"I'm happy to see you too." Gilan whispered sarcastically. The conversation made Gilan even more confused. But he knew that things would be awkward between the two of them.

The ride had been a silent one between the two of them, but it held lots of conversation with everyone else.

Horace, Will, and Cassandra had all decided that they loved Clera.

The four of them had been the source of laughter during their ride.

"Alright, we'll stop here for the night." Halt announced. They had covered good ground for the day. He had hopes of reaching at least a day earlier then the day of coronation.

"We need more noble women like you at the castle," Cassandra announced happily, "Every woman there just wants to make me more ladylike. It's annoying, really."

Clera smirked, "Are you saying that I'm not ladylike?"

Cassandra swallowed fearfully, hoping that she did not make Clera angry, "Of course not," she managed to say fearfully.

"Don't worry, I know what you meant," Clera said smiling. "But look at me; I am cooking after all, aren't I?"

Cassandra looked down at the boiling pot of stew, which looked absolutely delicious. Her stomach growled, and for the first time Cassandra had not realized how hungry she was.

"Yes, food!" Horace exclaimed, as he made his way over to look at the boiling pot.

"The best food I have ever eaten!" both Will and Horace exclaimed as they gobbled the food.

Halt shot glares at them, because he was known best for his stew.

Clera smiled gratefully, knowing that the boys were just hungry.

But still, she could not help feeling great that they had loved their food. It was the fun of cooking, how everyone liked it.

After they had finished everyone got ready to get some sleep, except for Clera, who cleaned up after everyone.

Gilan had finished his preparations for bed to see that Clera was still washing dishes, at a nearby pond. He made his way over to her to finally speak to her after a wrong first impression.

"Did you like it in Skandia?" Gilan asked as he made his way over to her.

Her face was etched in hard working, her tongue protruding from her mouth. She looked up and smiled sweetly, but definitely not genuinely.

"Yes I did. A lot different from Araluen, though. But you know that of course. Made some nice friends." She said simply.

"You didn't turn anyone's teeth black again did you?" he asked grinning.

It had been almost twenty years since Clera had tricked Gilan into drinking a mysterious drink she had made, consisting of pen ink.

They both laughed as they remembered how Gilan's teeth were black for a month.

"So you enjoyed it there?" Gilan asked.

"Well it wasn't for enjoyment, but Skandia had its moments."

"But why would you go?" Gilan asked with hurt in his voice.

Clera frowned, "The same reason I told you years ago."

"Because you didn't want to stay with me right? Because you thought that you couldn't be a ranger?" Gilan asked.

Clera took a deep breath. She knew it would take a lot of patience for him to understand.

"I did not want to hurt you…" she started to say.

"By leaving? You tried to not hurt me by leaving? Please tell me oh Explicate One how that makes sense." Gilan said, sounding even more hurt. "You left to hurt me, you lied, and then hurt me. You said it would be fun, like a brother and sister on an adventure, right? Sounds like you had an adventure."

"Gilan, I left to protect you." Clera's voice rose. "I didn't want him to kill you. Just like he killed my horse, just like he killed my mother, and just like he killed Noah."

She stormed off, searching for privacy wear she could change her clothes.

"Who's he?" Gilan asked himself. He decided to go to Halt for answers.

He approached Halt to find him alone, completely unaware of Gilan's conversation with Clera.

He decided to speak to the point, since he knew everyone was tired from traveling.

"Did Clera have a brother?" Gilan asked Halt.

Halt seemed to be surprised by Gilan's question, but he knew that he would have to answer eventually.

"Noah looked exactly like Clera. He was slightly older than her. He was a very good older brother, the two of them were very close." Halt started to explain "But when they were very young, the two of them were abducted by a man that is still unknown."

"Clera managed to escape without her brother, and tried to warn others of the man." Halt continued "The man eventually came back and murdered Noah, and his mother. Old Bob looked to horses for comfort, as did Clera."

Gilan swallowed, deep in thought.

He had no clue what Clera had been through. He slapped his forehead.

Why did he have to be so stupid. Why did he have to be so insensitive?

He knew he had to make everything right in the morning.

Thank God that's finally done. I got really worn out at the end of writing this, longest I've ever written.

Final Opportunities before departure, did I say that? I think I'm going crazy.

Just clearification, Clera is the daughter of Old Bob, creative huh?

Why do I always imagine everyone to have a British accent? I told you I'm going crazy

Give me a week to get out of my craziness coma and please…

Review PLEASE!