The Ranger's Apprentice - Oakleaf Bearers discussion

Another fief

Maria sighed and stopped at the small shack. A few horses nickered at her presense. A stout man sitting on a log looked up from his carving. "Kevin, I'm in need of a horse," she said before he could say anything. He nodded and trudged over to the gate.

"Come on, Morgan," Maria waved her forward, still sitting on her horse.

Morgan climbed off Steven's horse careful again about the puppy. Then she approached a grey mare. She petted the horse a couple times readsuringly, and then fed it a carrot she kept from her last meal. After expertly putting a tack on the horse she climbed on it, and put the puppy in a spot which she coldd always see it, and still holdthe horse's rein.

Maria watched the girl. "Well, what do you think?"

Morgan let the horse walk a bit in the pen. "She has a good temperment," she commented.

She smirked. "You know you're on a Ranger horse, right?" Maria fixed the reigns in her hands.

((g2g))

Suddenly the mare threw her off. Luckily Morgan was as expirienced in falling off horses as she was riding them. She managed to fall off without harming herself or the puppy too much. "You knew that was going to happen, didn't you?" She asked, her tone was accusing, but she was smiling slightly.

Maria shrugged. "Perhaps. Would you like to know what you need to do so you can ride it?"

"Yes, I would like to know that very much," Morgan said. She got up, stroking the puppy to asure it everything was fine.

Maria got off her horse and stepped close to Morgan. Whispering, she said, "I believe the key words for this one are 'delicate flower'." she looked up. "Right, Kevin?" He looked up from his carving, now standing by the fence, and nodded.

Morgan looked at her skeptically. "So what, I just walk up to her, say 'delicate flower' and I can ride her?" she asked.
(gtg...)

((kk))

"Pretty much." Maria stretched and tipped back on her heels. "I hope you understand that by accepting this horse it means that you are now my apprentice. Of course, if you object, say so before getting on the horse again."

Morgan walked up to the mare, whispered "delicate flower" in her ear, and stroked her a couple times. "You wouldn't mind if I rode you, would you?" she asked softly, and the mare's response was a toss for her mane that seemed to say, "no, not at all."
Morgan climbed on the horse with more success this time. "What's her name?" she asked Kevin. "Willow," he answered, and Morgan looked down at the horse, it suited her in a way, and Morgan liked it. Then she turned back to Maria.
"You really mean it? I can be your apprentice?" she asked.

Maria shrugged. "It won't be easy and we'll be the only girls thus far in the Ranger Corps... that I know of at least."

"I promise I'll work harder than any other apprentice ever could have," Morgan said. If a normal person would have said this it might not be completely believable, but Morgan wasn't one to give up, nor was she a liar. When she made a promise like that, she kept it.

Maria scrutinized Morgan. "Very well then. Let's go." She climbed back onto her horse. "As my apprentice, I need to know, who was your father?"

Stephanie wrote: "Maria scrutinized Morgan. "Very well then. Let's go." She climbed back onto her horse. "As my apprentice, I need to know, who was your father?""

Morgan froze for a second. "M- My father?" she stuttered. "I don't really know anything about him, but... I have this letter and it has some sort of seal on it... It was with my mother when she died..." she pulled the letter out of her small backpack. It had some sort of royal crest on it and was addressed to her mother from her father. It was dated just the day before he had died. The royal crest on the letter always puzzled Morgan. She had always been told her father was a trader, but the crest was real, she knew it somehow. Then she had Willow trot over to Maria, and she gave her the letter. "Maybe you'll have some luck identifying the crest," she said.

((what's the crest supposed to be?))

Maria frowned as she looked at the crest and urged her horse into a trot. " Thank you, Kevin," she called in a voice just loud enough for him to hear. She stared at the crest, recognizing it now. "Have you ever read the letter?"

Stephanie wrote: "((what's the crest supposed to be?))

Maria frowned as she looked at the crest and urged her horse into a trot. " Thank you, Kevin," she called in a voice just loud enough for him to hear. She star..."

"Well... No, I saw that it was addressed from my father to my mother and I guess... I guess I sort of chickened out..." Morgan admited.

Maria frowned. "Why did you chicken out? It's not like you'd get in trouble."

((What's the crest supposed to be? Which country? Hibernia?))

(It's Hibernian, um... How about her father was the son of the king's youngest brother? The crests a... Griffin? IDK...)
"I just feel like I'd be invading their privacy..." Morgan said. She knew her parents were dead, but she still felt like she shouldn't read a letter that was between the two of them...

((kk what's the letter's contents?))

Maria shook her head. "It's a Hibernian crest. Royal by the looks of it." She carefully pulled the envelope open and unfolded the letter.

The letter was Morgan's father writing to her mother about he had lied about being a merchant in Hibernia, and saying how he was sorry for lying. The last paragraph explained who he actually was. It was signed, "With Love, Fernando".
Morgan peered curiously at her mentor. "What does it say?"

Maria closed her mouth, which had fallen open in surprise. "It seems that your father lied to your mother about who he was. He wasn't a merchant, Morgan. He was the youngest brother of the king of Hibernia. His name was Fernando." She handed the letter back to Morgan. "It seems you definitely weren't what we all expected."

Stephanie wrote: "Maria closed her mouth, which had fallen open in surprise. "It seems that your father lied to your mother about who he was. He wasn't a merchant, Morgan. He was the youngest brother of the king of ..."

Morgan thought she was lying at first. Then she read the letter. "Whoa... Does that make me like a princess?" she asked curiously.

Maria looked to the sky thoughtfully. "Technically....kind of I guess. Honestly, I'm not quite sure."

Morgan though over her answer for a few seconds. "I'd rather be a Ranger," she then decided.

A smirked colored Maria's face. "That's good. I'd rather not have to return Willow already."

"Yep, that would probably be rather inconvenient... Would you mind not telling anyone? About my father?" Morgan asked. She didn't exactly want people knowing that she was some sort of lost princess.

Maria shrugged. "That's probably for the best just on case someone is looking for you, among other things..... Don't want to draw too much attention to yourself."

"I don't see why someone would look for me right now, I mean it's probably been over 15 years since my dad came here, why would someone wait 15 years?" Morgan asked. Then she wondered if perhaps someone would keep looking for 15 years...

"Maybe not actively but they could be waiting for you to resurface," Maria mused.

"Resurface? When did I surface in the first place? I've lived 15 years in Redmont, nothing ever changed," Morgan said. That was one of the reasons she disliked it.

"They could be waiting to hear about anything that has anything to do with the royal family."

Morgan sighed, this had turned out to be much more complex than she imagined. She was starting to wish that she had opened that letter earlier. "Well, I just want to forget about this for a bit... At least until we get to wherever we're going..." she said.

"All right." Maria adjusted her position in the saddle.

(Timeskip?)

((sure))

(Could you?)

Maria sighed as she took a look at the fief. The castle still wasn't completed and the shopkeepers were still busy building and stocking their shelves. There weren't nearly enough town houses and they were expecting a wave of villagers from surrounding fiefs any day now. They were not on schedule. No, she corrected herself. The farmers were on schedule, thank goodness. They'd need the food for all the people they were expecting.

"Welcome home," Maria murmured under her breath with a sigh. She needed to report to the baron now, a rather grumpy man who's presence is made all the worse with the stress he was under. And honestly, he reminded her of some veery cruel people she knew. Not to say he was a cruel man, but he was sort of calloused. Of course, Gorlan Fief needed him if it was going to be up and running by winter, which was crucial.