Daughter of a Ranger

Chapter 7

Jemma woke early in the morning and ate a cold breakfast. They hadn't made a fire near the castle as the smoke might alert them to their presence.

As dawn arose, her companions woke too. Maddie came down from a tree, where she had had her watch. The companions packed their gear in silence. They saddled their horses, not knowing when they were going to leave, and if they were going to be in a hurry or not.

They carefully took their horses to the edge of the trees, and left them there.

Slowly and quietly, Jemma lead the others to the castle, showing them the best way to sneak inside. She knew this place like the back of her hand. After all, she hadn't seen anything else for the past thirteen years.

She quickly scaled the wall, and the friends took off their cloaks, to make them look like guards or sentries.

Jemma looked down and watched as her mother "struggled" with a pile of wood on her back. She "stumbled" and Jemma knew she had to get down, fast. She jumped down the wall, with Will following her.

Gilan was already in the castle.

Jemma ran over to Alyss, just before she "collapsed". Will grabbed her, then Jemma quickly put the wood on her back. She looked up to the office window, to see Gilan give her the thumbs up.

Seconds later, guards, Oracle and Gilan stepped out of the castle and marched over to Jemma. She grinned manically.

Oracle looked a little repulsed, before Jemma slapped him across the face, which turned the expression to furious. He demanded to know why she did it, but she kept her mouth shut.

Gilan stepped forward, said his piece and Oracle smiled. He liked the idea of making the girl in front of him pay. He could tell now that she was the one that had escaped a few weeks ago.

He marched back into the castle, and the guards tied her hands together and got some of the servants to bring her some cloth and rope so she could make her gown.

...

Throughout the rest of the day, Jemma was busy making her gown. She wanted to have a hidden scabbard, but she wanted it to look stylish but also have enough room for her to move around in.

So, when she was finished, she looked at the result.

The rope was supporting the cloth around  her waist and hooked it onto her shoulders. The gown billowed down, with many folds, which concealed a scabbard. It looked like the type of thing a wight would wear in a myth.

She was pleased with her work and looked out her window, to see that it was dark. She put her lantern on and waited.

In the distance, roughly where the trees were, she saw a small light, doing the symbol for ready to receive message.

Jemma made quick work and made the message of: "All fine. Friend with Oracle, secretary. Go ahead with what we were talking about. J."

She hoped that they understood most of what she was talking about.

Will smiled when he saw his daughter's message. He relayed back, "K. Go ahead. See you tomorrow. Over and out." He did the symbol for finished, then walked back to the campsite.

Alyss, Horace, Maddie and Halt were sat in a small circle, leaning on trunks of dead trees. Alyss happily motioned for him to sit next to her, and when he had, she cuddled up next to him and he told them what he message had said.

Alyss proceeded to tell them some stories from Jemma's childhood, making them all laugh.

Will told them about what Jemma had said to Halt about Oracle, and she looked down and whispered, "She didn't tell me about that." Will gave her a hug to cheer her up, and everybody tried to convince her that it wasn't her fault. But Alyss was pleased with the level of work Liam had trained her daughter with.

She snuggled up to her husband that night, wrapped in his cloak.

...

In the morning, Gilan snuck out of the castle early to meet up with the others to continue the plan. He had said a quick goodbye to Jemma, looking and checking the dress she had made.

Alyss had spoken with him before, and he had her small package under his arm, which he gave to her when he got back to camp. He had set up small fires in the basement for Maddie to light and nodded to her, to tell her he had.

The others were packing up all the leftover gear in case they had to make a quick getaway. They saddled the horses and took them to the edge of the trees, before going into their groups and getting into position where sentries should normally be.

Meanwhile Jemma was getting ready in her dress, with rope tying her hands together.

Once they were ready, Halt got his bow ready and Maddie scampered away, towards the basement.

Suddenly people started to hit drums and Jemma was lead out, towards a platform that had been built pretty quickly. She was forced to kneel in front of a block of wood and put her head in a slot. Without Oracle and the executioner knowing, she put her hands in a clear view for Halt to shoot the rope.

Just before the executioner could put the bit over her neck, securing her in place, Halt shot, severing the rope and freeing her hands.

She sprung to her feet, pulling her sword out of the scabbard.

As she was fighting many Knights, Gilan held Horace back from the action. Will and Halt angrily looked at them, as if to tell them to go and help. Gilan quickly told them under his breath, "We just want to test her abilities with the sword. She has been very secretive about it. We are here at a moments notice if she needs it."

They watched, in awe, as she cut down every Knight in her way, in a few minutes.

Then Gilan whistled.