Okay, then, here's the sixth chapter. Hope you like it.
Random comment: Kietleen is pronounced Ky-et-leen. My brother read this story (right of the jump-drive without my permission) and kept pronouncing it Keetleen, which bugged the crap out of me, and we had this whole argument over it, so... just keep that in mind.
It was almost midnight. The moon was nearly full, missing only a sliver from its perfect circular form. Its light flowed almost liquid-like in through the tall window of the castle infirmary, falling directly onto the features of Kietleen Arratez. The light illuminated her face, calm, serene and close-eyed. But she was far from sleeping.
She listened intently, and hearing nothing, she flicked her dark eyes open. She gazed up at the ceiling for a moment, then slipped silently out of her cot. She knelt down and pulled a rucksack out from under the cot. Along with her horse, Ranger Treaty had told the stable hand to bring her belongings from the inn, so now she had her things with her, something she was very grateful for.
She slung the rucksack over her shoulder and ghosted over to the door. Her heart skipped a beat when she tried the handle and saw that it was locked. What kind of infirmary locked up their patients? Well, maybe if those patients were mentally ill it would make sense, but she certainly wasn't. Of course, it might as well not be locked, for all the trouble it gave her.
She produced a set of lock picks from her rucksack. She pulled one of them out of its niche and stuck it into the keyhole, carefully moving it so it would be effective, but still silent. Finally, a telltale click told her that the door was opened.
She pushed it open slowly, wincing as it creaked slightly. But it wasn't loud, so she doubted it would wake up any of the other patients.
She walked lightly down the halls, moving quickly, but knowing that silence and secrecy were her best weapons. She crept down the stairwells and out through the courtyard, heading toward the stables. If she was going to escape, she needed her horse.
The stables weren't locked, and there was no guard. She pushed open the stable doors, slipping inside and scanning the stalls for her horse. Not seeing him immediately, she whistled softly. A nickered answer told her where he was. She walked quickly over to his stall and undid the latch. Leading him out carefully, she had to open the stable doors wider to get him all the way outside.
The guards didn't see too much wrong with a rider pelting out of the gates. Presumably it was someone with an important message. No one seemed to be chasing them, at any rate. Kietleen rode past in a full gallop, figuring the fast approach was best. She was quite relieved when the speculation turned out to be true.
She stopped at the tree line. She had one last thing to attend to, one thing that was necessary but that she was not looking forward to with her still-aching side.
She went back to the castle wall, leaving her horse tied to a tree. As she had only two nights ago, she began to climb the wall of the southeast tower, this time heading directly to Halt's quarter's window. She knew he was gone, but she didn't know where to. At the very least, she needed somewhere to start.
After peeking over the windowsill, she saw that Pauline was not yet at home. That was strange, even if it did make her job much easier. She dropped lithely into the room, stepping up to Halt's desk. It was in better shape than before, if not by much. She examined the seals and chose one that looked fairly recently read. Scanning it quickly, she saw that it had nothing to do with a supposedly week long mission. She continued her search, well aware that these were confidential documents and she could be imprisoned for reading them without permission. On her sixth letter, she found it. Bandits that need your attention… Terrorizing villages… She found the name of the village. It lay up in the northern part of the fief. She should be able to get there and possibly pick up the trail. Her side still hurt, but she would be able to manage.
Just as she was climbing back out of the window, the door opened. Kietleen dropped, trusting her arms to keep her secured to the ledge. She felt her shoulders strain and hoped that Pauline would get to bed soon. She heard the diplomat fall onto her bed with an exhausted sigh. She must have had a long day, especially as she was only just getting home at midnight.
She had to swing a bit to get her toes in contact with the wall, but once she achieved that, she was securely against the wall within ten seconds. She climbed down quickly, getting to her horse as quickly as possible. Without hesitation, she set her horse into as fast a pace as he could keep up without running to ground. She needed to catch up with Halt.
The healer's apprentice walked nervously up to Will. "Ranger Treaty?" he asked hesitantly.
Will turned and smiled. "Yes?"
Despite the warm greeting, he was still visibly nervous. "Do you remember the woman you brought us about a week and a half ago?"
Will's expression turned thoughtful. "Kietleen the Gallican? Yes, I believe I do. Did something happen?"
The apprentice nodded. "She ran away. Her side wasn't completely healed either. Her horse is gone from the stables, her bed was empty and her rucksack was gone. We don't know why she left so early. Our head healer said to tell you, since you brought her here."
Will smiled again appreciatively. "Thank you for telling me."
The healer's apprentice nodded again tensely and walked away, very grateful the Ranger hadn't gotten angry.
Will wandered through the castles halls with his cowl shoved back up over his head, wondering why on earth Kietleen had left. He hoped it didn't have anything to do with his comment that she couldn't stay once she was healed. Perhaps she had thought she was healed and would have to leave. On the other hand, he'd gotten the distinct impression that she was smarter than that. As a reflective thought, he recalled that there had been something almost familiar about her. He frowned. He couldn't think of where he'd know a Gallican woman from.
His thoughts switched from Kietleen to Halt. His former mentor was already a few days late. That certainly wasn't his style. Despite what he'd told Pauline, Will began to worry. He wished there was something different happening to take his mind off that. He thought of Kietleen's sudden departure. Maybe he could go and find her and see why she'd left. Some sixth sense was telling him he should, but he couldn't be sure that wasn't just his desire to be doing something.
He walked out to his cabin, putting some coffee to brew and slumped in a chair, arguing with himself whether to go or stay. Half an hour later, he stared into his half empty mug of honeyed coffee and continued to debate the same thing. He was still worrying about Halt and was subconsciously urging himself to go after Kietleen. Coming to an abrupt decision, he stood and gulped down the rest of his coffee. Moving quickly, he threw together some traveling supplies. He walked out to the stable where his loyal pony stayed.
"Ready, Tug?" he asked, and the Ranger pony cocked his head.
Are we going somewhere? he seemed to ask.
"You bet," the Ranger replied. "We're going on a fieldtrip."
Kietleen grimaced and put a hand against her aching side. When she pulled it away, it had blood on it. Her wound had reopened. Just great.
She swung out of the saddle and rifled through her bags, searching for the extra bandages she'd snatched from the infirmary. She wrapped her side up quickly, but made sure it was tight. She climbed into the saddle once more, thinking that this forced travel couldn't be good for her injury, but knowing that she would go insane if she just sat healing in an infirmary while she still hadn't gotten to Halt.
The town was about a day and a half away now, possibly less if she pushed herself. Her horse could handle anything she could at the moment, seeing as she was somewhat weak and her horse was only just below the Ranger horses' standards in endurance.
She set her horse back into a canter, gritting her teeth against the pain in her side, heading further north.
Did you know writing constantly for hours wears you down? Bet you do if you've ever done it! ^_^ I've been typing for the past two hours on several different stories while being in a car on a family trip, with two more hours to go. What fun. Isn't sarcasm such a wonderful thing?
R&R, you know the drill. I like to know people are still reading this!
-Rydd Rider