Chapter 51

Jorgarn exited along with the others, leaving Torbert to catch up with Lady Seni. Pernice, Fieth and Renoit went to make sure the men found a spot to set up the tents while Jorgarn wandered the grounds. He was standing above a ravine, looking down on a beautiful valley when a small hand touched his arm.

"I thought you were intent upon scaring off my dinner," the young girl said harshly.

Jorgarn about jumped from his skin when the arm touched his. It had been years since someone had sneaked up behind him. But it was the girl's words that gave him pause. He had tried to move silently through the forest so as not to disturb the denizens who called it home.

"I was quiet," Jorgarn stated firmly.

"Bah!" the girl replied. "You plod like a horse through here. I suppose you are one of those soldiers I'm expected to feed tonight. It is no wonder you can't catch your own prey. Can you at least help me carry our dinner home since you did nothing but impede me in catching it?"

"Certainly," he said. "I apologize if my presence caused you hardship. I did not know you were hunting."

"You should count yourself lucky I wasn't hunting you," the girl answered. "You walked within 30 paces of me. If I were so inclined, it would be you roasting over a fire tonight. Our game is down over the next hill. Now try to be quieter than you have been. I'm certain that other things have caught wind of the blood."

Jorgarn followed the girl as quietly as he could. She moved with ease though the forests and shot him pointed glances whenever there was a slight rustle – even if he hadn't been the one to make it. As they crested the rise to the next hill, Jorgarn saw a stout stag halfway down the hill.

"He would have come right to me if you hadn't blundered by," the girl said with a sideways glance. "Can you help me carry him up? I've already taken care of the difficult parts."

Jorgarn tried his best to be silent as he walked down the hill but the girl beside him almost glided. He was impressed with her woodcraft – and a bit dismayed that his had slipped so badly.

"You lug the buck, I'll watch for wolves," the girl said. "No need to try to impress me now with your stealth."

Jorgarn chuckled at the girl's feistiness.

"Do you, by chance, know Lady Longview?" he asked rhetorically.

"Of course I do," the girl snapped. "I count Eslada as a dear friend."

Jorgarn replied with the less than elegant, "Oh."

He pondered for a moment before kneeling to lift the deer onto his shoulders. The lone spot of blood on the animal came from its eye socket where an arrow had pierced it.

"Where did you shoot from?" Jorgarn asked. He could see that the animal had traveled only a few feet after the arrow struck it.

"Up there," the girl said as she pointed to a spot far above on a ridge.

Jorgarn knew he couldn't have made the shot on his best day. He shook his head.

"Are you saying that I lie?" the girl asked hotly.

"No," Jorgarn said quickly. Even kneeling he was almost as tall as the girl. "I was shaking my head in wonder, not in denial. Would it be possible for you to carry my sword and tunic? If you do, I think I can heft this onto my shoulders to carry so we don't damage the meat by dragging it."

"Bah!" the girl said again, a look of disdain on her face. "There is no need to try to impress me and wind up killing yourself. But sure, if you would like, I'll tote your arms like a good little lackey. I suppose I better get used to it."

Jorgarn took off his tunic so it didn't get any more stains on it and handed over his long sword.

The sword was almost as tall as the girl.

"Well, maybe not," Jorgarn said as he pondered the incongruity of having her carry something that might weigh half as much as she did. "Let me get this on my shoulders and then you can tuck that back in my scabbard."

The girl looked at the sword, the scratch on the blade being the only flaw, then back up at Jorgarn.

"You take care of your weapons," she said, "or you have never seen battle. Which is it?"

Jorgarn didn't answer but motioned for the girl to put the sword back in his scabbard with a nod.

"My brother died in battle," the girl said. "He did not run away."

The pieces clicked together in Jorgarn's head.

"You are Ronzet," he said.

The girl's eyes widened and Jorgarn smiled.

"Bren always said he had a sister who was like a ghost in the forest," Jorgarn said. "I'll admit I thought he exaggerated. I knew your brother well, Mistress Ronzet. You are right; he did not run from battle. You will make a fine addition to the Guard."

The girl's shoulders slumped slightly.

"If you knew my brother then it is obvious that you did not run from battle either," she said. "I'm sorry for behaving so badly. I was in the middle of packing for my trip to the capital when I was told I had to bring down two bucks to feed your group. I have been cultivating these deer so my family will have food this winter and now I have to slay two of them in order to feed your group. I know it is not your fault and I hope you will forgive my attitude when I start my training."

"Oh, you will lose your attitude when your training starts," Jorgarn promised with a smile. "But you will be treated no worse than the rest of your lot."

"Why did you ask if I know Lady Longview?" Ronzet asked as they neared the top of the hill. She was impressed by Jorgarn's strength in toting the animal. It would have taken two of her brothers to help her drag the thing up the hill and this man just lugged it as it were nothing.

"Oh, I have been on the receiving end of a tongue lashing or two from her," Jorgarn said with a smile. "Your temper reminded me somewhat of hers. That is all. I really didn't mean for you to have to answer me. I was simply trying to make a joke to myself."

"Are you from Longview?" she asked. She was gratified to see that the man beside her was at least breathing hard now.

"Yes and no," Jorgarn replied. "I am from Longview but not the region in Emertland. I am from the former country."

The girl stopped in her tracks as Renoit and Pernice appeared.

"Jorgarn!" Pernice said he came forward. "Let me help with that."

"I've got it," Jorgarn replied. "Besides, I have to redeem myself in Mistress Ronzet's eyes."

He glanced to his left but saw the girl no longer was beside him. He turned to find her kneeling on the path behind him.

"Sir Jorgarn, I apologize," she said. "I had no idea who you were. I would never have behaved that way around you."

"Up," Jorgarn said. The deer was starting to get heavy and his neck was starting to hurt. "Take this blasted thing, will you?"

Pernice chuckled and he and Renoit took the deer by its legs to carry it the remainder of the way.

"Will you stand up, for Creation's sake," Jorgarn said. "You need never bow to me. And I am not upset about how you spoke to me. It reminded me of my stepmother and my wife."

"Wives," Pernice put in. "Don't forget Bralan."

Ronzet had stood but her eyes widened at Pernice's joke.

"Baron Pernice Wort, Lord Chicote Renoit, may I introduce you to Mistress Ronzet, the youngest sister to Bren Seni," Jorgarn announced. "She will be joining us on our trip to the Capital."

The girl looked back and forth from the three men.

"You're... ," she stammered. "You were my brother's friends."

"And now we are your friends," Chicote said as he extended his hand to the girl.

"But I thought you all left Emertland," Ronzet said. "I mean, I knew Sir Jorgarn and Baron Wort had returned. But will the rest of you stay?"

"We will," Chicote replied with a smile. "There is much to do to rebuild this country and the Guard. Many of us have elected to come back to our homeland for that purpose. By the way, that tunic looks good on you but you aren't supposed to wear it as a dress."

Ronzet looked down at what she wore. She had put Jorgarn's tunic over her clothes rather than carry it to keep her hands free. There were some predators in the woods that held little fear of man.

"Don't worry, we'll find one that fits," Chicote laughed. The girl's face turned red.

"Once you deliver that to the manor, meet us back here," Jorgarn said. "You have to see where she took this stag. It is amazing."

He turned to Ronzet.

"You need not worry about providing us with meat," Jorgarn said. "We purchased a great deal of fish in Eslet in preparation for our visit. I am glad I caught you before you found another deer."

"Did you really shoot a boar when you were 10?" Ronzet asked. "Eslada, I mean, Lady Longview, said that you were the best archer she had ever seen."

Jorgarn chuckled.

"Then she obviously has not seen you," he replied, "because the shot you took to bring down that stag was one that I never could have made."

He turned to Pernice and Chicote as the girl blushed.

"At least 40 paces, downhill, at a moving target, dead in the eye," Jorgarn related. "Then, still carrying her bow, she sneaked up behind me and scared me half to death. That hasn't happened in years. I would suggest that I might be losing my edge but I think it is more a matter of her skill as opposed to my lack of skill."

"It was a lucky shot," Ronzet protested weakly.

Chicote simply chuckled and shook his head.

"Oh, we might dismiss the deer as happenstance," he said, "but not the other. Well, Baron Wort, shall we deliver this fine venison to the cooks and then return?"

"We shall," Pernice said with a smile. He could already picture the scene when he related the story to Leyota and Bralan. Jorgarn would never hear the end of being bested by a girl who was no higher than his elbow.

When they returned, Fieth and Torbert accompanied them – as did Lady Seni and her eldest son.

"Ronzet, are you creating trouble already?" Lord Seni asked. He didn't appear to be joking.

"No, I'm not!" Ronzet said. The temper she showed earlier was back in full force. Chicote snickered behind his hand – to where she couldn't see him but his friends could.

Jorgarn intervened and put his hand on the girl's shoulder. She immediately shook it off.

"Lord Seni, your sister has impressed me greatly today," he said. "She is an excellent woodsman – woodswoman? – woods something. She is also as fine an archer as I have seen."

The man relaxed a little until Jorgarn turned to Ronzet.

"However," he said as he turned his focus to the girl, "if she does not rein in her temper and her mouth a bit, I do foresee problems for her during training. Your skill is exemplary, Mistress Seni, but if you continue to allow your temper to determine what you say before you think and to make decisions for you, you will find training to be an arduous proposition. Once the trainers learn to provoke you, they will use that knowledge to your disadvantage. You need not heed my advice until you arrive at the training grounds. But once you are accepted into the Guard, it would be wise to know that some members of the staff will take affront at the demeanor you showed your brother."

Ronzet took a deep breath and nodded.

"I apologize, Lord Seni," she said. Apologies were obviously foreign to the girl. "I did not mean to create hardship and I hope you will forgive me if I have."

Lord Seni nodded.

"Lead us to where you took the shot," Chicote said. "But please know that I am not nearly as adept in the woods as I am in other areas."

Ronzet led Torbert, Elobert, Chicote and Pernice off to the woods while Jorgarn stayed behind with Lord Seni and his mother.

"I, too, apologize if I overstepped my bounds," he told them. "She is not my recruit yet and I should not have spoken to your charge that way."

Lord Seni dismissed it with a wave of his hand.

"It is why we felt she should not be the one we sent this year," his mother intoned. "She is too arrogant for someone of her age. I wished to send my brother's son but she bested him in competition. I suppose he will wait a year or perhaps make the trek on his own. I believe it would be better if she stayed behind a year to mature."

"I'm certain they both can go if you can spare them," he said. "As you might have noticed, we have restructured the Guard once again. There is less segregation than even in the past few years. The tunics represent the person's function rather than to whom he was born. Red is the infantry. Green is the Scouts. Blue is the Cavalry. The commanders wear tunics the same color as their troops but with black piping. Those of us who are unassigned simply wear what we always wore. We will accept your nephew and your daughter in the same class if they both can pass our tests. To my knowledge, there has never been a man or woman from this region who couldn't, so I don't figure that to be an issue."

"Are you certain it won't create hardship with other families?" Lady Seni asked.

Jorgarn shrugged.