Of Assassins and Rangers

Chapter 1

Ashlyn Brazewood was laying down in a small clearing in a forest near Castle Redmont. Her clothes were soaked, as well as her dark hair, which was pulled into a tightly woven braid. She was staring at the cloudless afternoon shy. Her head was occupied with thoughts of the following day. It was a major day for her and her friends. It was Choosing Day, the day where the wards at Castle Redmont chose what they wanted to do for the rest of their life. But the problem was, Ashlyn had no idea what she wanted to do. She had spent long hours studying what the different occupations offered, but none of them appealed to her. She wanted something that had adventure and excitement, but the jobs didn't offer the kind of excitement she wanted. She looked at the sun, estimating the time.

"I should probably start going back, dinner should be ready soon," she said to herself. She pushed her body off the ground and started the walk back to castle. Her mind drifted, again, to Choosing Day. She desperately wanted to do something other than farm work, but she feared that was where fate was taking her. Her mind was so deep in thought, she barely realized she was near the castle walls. She quickly scaled the walls and dropped into the court yard. She walked to the wards' dining room and entered.

"Come on Will, try to eat something. Tomorrow is a big day after all."

Ashlyn watched as her blonde cheerful friend, Jenny, tried to coax Will into eating something. Jenny gestured towards Will's untouched plate and smiled at him encouragingly. Will attempted to smile back, but it looked more like a grimace. Ashlyn around the table and noticed that everyone's plates were stacked high with their favorite foods. Ashlyn smiled, knowing Jenny was probably behind it. She turned her attention to the faces at the table. There was an obvious tension hanging in the air.

"Nerves I imagine," George said. He was a scholarly boy with a brilliant mind. He was fascinated with rules and regulations and he had a knack for analyzing and debating both sides of an argument, most of the time at great length. "It's a dreadful thing, nervousness. It can freeze you so you can't think, eat, or even speak."

"I'm not nervous," Will said quickly.

"And I'm a three headed unicorn," Ashlyn said, bringing attention to her presence.

"Ashlyn! Why weren't you here on time?" Alyss scolded. Alyss was a graceful, beautiful girl. She became a motherly figure to the wards, even though they were the same age.

"And why are you wet?" Daniel added. He was a tall, muscular boy. He was fascinated with animals and, most of the time preferred their company

"Well, I'm late because I lost track of time, and it took longer than expected to get back. I'm wet because... well that's a funny story. You know Halt the Ranger right? Well, he was here for something. I was extremely bored, so I thought it would be a great idea to stalk him. Let's say he wasn't very happy," Ashlyn explained.

Her wardmates fell silent. They looked at each other, back at her, then burst out laughing. Even Alyss giggled a bit. Ashlyn smiled and took her usual seat at the table.

"After he judo flipped me into the river he told me, and I quote, 'Trying to our sneak a Ranger wasn't a very bright idea was it.' So I replied "Not really. But I was bored and you provided a way to amuse myself.' He did the thing where he raises one of his eyebrows. I started asking him a bunch of questions, but hardly answered any of them. He finally said he had to go, but I think he just got annoyed with me," Ashlyn said with a smile on her face.

"Why on earth would you do something like that?" Noah asked. Noah was a black-haired, almost scary looking guy. He was almost as tall as Horace, but not as muscular. He could almost always be found tinkering with bits and pieces of metal.