Chapter 9 Two Years Later
For the last two years, Ashlyn had been throwing herself into her Ranger duties. Ever since she had beat Finch up for spreading some nasty rumors, her social life had gradually gone south. She really wasn’t liked around the Castle very well. Although she never really mentioned it to anyone, Corwin himself had beaten the tar out of her for beating on Finch. When Benedict had learned of the fight between Finch and herself, he had given them each a reprimand on their record. Since then, Ashlyn’s inherited temper came out quite colorfully. Servants were going out of their way to avoid her. Her fellow Rangers didn’t seem too fond of her right now, either. If she ever got an itch to beat Finch up again, she would stay true to her word and not really lay a hand on him. No, she would take him to a shadow where there was nothing but young children and they would be picking on him unmercifully—she’d see to it that he would be stuck there for a while. But unless Finch gave her a good enough reason, she was willing to leave it well enough alone—wouldn’t want to meet Corwin under those bad circumstances ever again!
She
often found herself on the brink of complete paranoia, sizing up nearly every
man she ever met to see if she could get a clue as to her attacker from two
years ago. (Thankfully she hadn’t
heard from him in a while.) She
found herself thinking about Luke a lot. She
found herself on the very brink of insanity some of the time.
Ashlyn
was having a paranoid moment when she was in the kitchen trying to enjoy a
sandwich she had just made for herself. Mandor
had just come in then, looking for something to drink.
They barely acknowledged one another and to Ashlyn he looked like the cat
who swallowed the canary. But
then, doesn’t he always look like that? She
sighed heavily and tried to return the attention back to her sandwich but found
herself sizing him up. He seemed to
be about the right height as the Man in Black (as she now referred to him) but
there was a kind of broadness lacking in the shoulders.
No, Mandor couldn’t be him, unless he were to shape shift…
At
that point her reverie was interrupted as Vincent came down looking for a
sandwich of his own. He quickly
found what he was looking for in the icebox and grabbed a beer before taking a
seat across from Ashlyn. She gauged
him with a raised eyebrow, but he didn’t respond—was too busy eating.
“Master
Vincent!” a guard had come into the kitchen.
“What
is it now? I’m trying to eat here.
I haven’t even gotten to the beer!” Vincent seemed to be slightly
annoyed as the guard came and stood at attention.
“Could
I see you alone for a moment?” he asked a little uncomfortably, shifting his
eyes quickly to Ashlyn and back again. Vincent
sighed heavily and got up. The guard
pulled him aside and whispered low enough for Ashlyn not to hear.
It only took a moment and with another exasperated sigh from Vincent the
guard left again.
“Was
it that top secret?” Ashlyn asked as Vincent began covering his sandwich.
“No.
The King has asked to see me and he has asked me to convey the message
that you’re to come along as well,” Vincent began covering her sandwich
next.
“And
he couldn’t tell me himself?” her temper was beginning to rise again.
Vincent only shrugged and raised his hands.
“What
can I tell you?” he picked up his beer to take it with him.
“This
game is getting tiresome,” Ashlyn rubbed her forehead.
“Doesn’t look like I’m very welcome around here.
If it weren’t for the fact that I was so involved with the Rangers, I
would be hanging around a lot less often. I
don’t need this. I probably could
be doing better things with my time!” She
continued to grouse under her breath.
“So
quit the Rangers and take some time for yourself,” he replied with another
shrug of his shoulders.
“But
that’s exactly what they want me to do! And
if I am relieved of the Rangers, I’m leaving here in cowardice.
No one’s gonna run me out of here with my tail tucked between my
legs!” Ashlyn said with an edge of anger as she followed him out of the
kitchen. They headed for the throne
room and found Random there with Finch, Pandora and Blake already there.
“Oh,
good. I wasn’t sure if I should
Trump you or not,” Pandora said as she closed her Trump book.
Ashlyn sighed quietly and gave Pandora a small smile.
At least her cousins still acknowledge her existence.
“Good
of you all to make it,” Random said with a genuine smile.
“Now let’s get down to business.
There is a small kingdom in the Golden Circle Known as Angmar who is
petitioning for membership. Ever
since they petitioned, they’ve been suffering several attacks from some
unknown enemy. King Denethor is
expecting you so you can begin an investigation, so leave as soon as you’re
ready. I suggest that you take some
of the Rangers with you. Good luck
all—you’re gonna need it!” Random
shot Ashlyn a quick look as he said his last comment and left the room again.
“The
main hall in say, an hour? I should
have the Rangers we need by then,” Pandora said as she got up.
Everyone readily agreed. Vince
headed straight back to the kitchen to finish his sandwich and the beer he
didn’t get to enjoy earlier.
In
an hour, the team was all set to go. With
Pandora’s help, they Trumped out to
It
was a good call on her part. Once
the team had gotten through Kashfa and were headed for Dega, Tariel had come
back to alert Pandora that the team was being followed.
“Tariel
tells me that we’ve got about sixty Weir on our tail.
I’m gonna do a little shifting shadow to see if we can’t lose
them,” Pandora announced.
“I’ll
help,” Blake offered. “Maybe we
can throw some obstacles out in front of them if they try and follow us.”
It seemed like a matter of minutes before the team had entered a canyon
that lead into a dead end.
“Blake,
you’re supposed to put the obstacles behind
us,” Pandora stopped suddenly.
“I
have been. I didn’t do this!”
Blake protested.
“Weir!”
came the whispered cry as a few of the Rangers had pointed upward.
It was clear to see that the Weir had somehow managed to get in front of
them and had them at an advantage, surrounding them all, looking down over the
edges at them.
“Wait
a second. Weir aren’t smart enough
to think of shifting to get ahead of us and
put this dead end in our way,” Vincent said.
“Uh-oh.
I think that will answer your question.
It’s Dalt!” Ashlyn pointed ahead of them.
Indeed, Dalt was in the front of them all, looking about the same as he
did the last time they encountered him.
“Kill
them! Kill them all!
They’re Amberites!” Dalt howled in a rage that signified the
beginning of the Weir attack. They
came charging down the steep inclines toward them, yelling and screaming.
Ashlyn felt the tingle in her spine as she pulled out her sword and got
ready for the fight about to happen.
With
Blake at her back, it was easy to take on the attacking Weir, hacking and
slashing her way through them, but found that it was not as easy as before.
It was almost as if they seemed stronger, or something.
She could feel her anger rise as an arrow barely nicked her arm and Blake
stumbled and fell to his knees.
With
a growl, Ashlyn threw herself into the attack and didn’t stop until the Weir
fell back. As she looked about after
the retreating Weir she saw that it was due to a newcomer that was fast coming
upon them.
“Is
everyone alright here?” the Captain called out to them.
“Yes,
thank you for the assistance,” Pandora replied as Tariel gracefully alighted
upon her shoulder.
“I
am Captain Antilles of the Corelaine Guard.
My Lady asked that I escort you back,” he saluted.
“And just who might you all be?”
“I’m
Pandora and these are my cousins. We’re
from Amber and we were on our way to Angmar to assist them in their petition to
join the
“Ah,
yes. I had a feeling that it was
you. Your Aunt Sand sent me.
If you and your men could follow me,” he motioned to a nearby path.
“Dalt—”
she began.
“He
must have retreated, my lady. There’s
no sign of him,” he lead the way.
It
wasn’t a far walk. Before they
really knew it, they were coming up upon a Castle that looked as if it were out
of some Cinderella-like fairytale.
“Greetings!”
Sand rose and graciously greeted her guests.
“I’m so glad you’ve made it safely.
Random told me that you might be coming through here.
I hope you’ll be able to stay and visit with me for at least a little
while.”
“Would
like that, My Lady. I take it Random
has filled you in for our reason for being out so far?” Pandora took a seat.
“Of
course. Angmar has been trying their
petition for years now. I hope Dalt
wasn’t giving you too much trouble,” she signaled a servant to bring in some
tea.
“Nothing
we couldn’t handle,” Finch said boldly.
“Here’s
the tea you asked for,” a girl came in carrying a tray.
Vincent’s mouth just about fell open and Blake began to stutter a
little.
“Vince!
Blake!” Pandora hissed at them. “Oh,
for Unicorn’s sake!”
“You
mean—” Vincent started.
“Let
me introduce myself. My name’s
Miriya,” she smiled sweetly.
“You
know her?” Ashlyn turned to Vincent.
“Somewhat.
I’ve come upon her in the Castle once.
She got scared and Trumped out before Blake or I could say or do anything
about it,” he said quietly.
“Well!
Seeing that it’s getting later, I’m hoping you’ll all stay the
night,” Sand said with a smile. Tomorrow
I can have
“Speaking
of Dalt, My Lady, but would he have anything to do with the attacks that have
been happening on Angmar?” Ashlyn asked.
“Oh,
no. Unfortunate for Angmar, there is
a strange ogre-like creature that has been wreaking havoc in the land.
It’s not known in Chaos—that I know of—and it’s very big.
He’s at least ten feet in height. You
all shouldn’t have much trouble going up against one of those.
I have all the confidence in the world.
I’ll see you in the morning, then.”
Sand bowed out and retired, leaving them alone.
Back to Chapter Selection
Back to The Hub