Alyss' Return: She Lives

Chapter One: Alyss

Alyss woke to the slight touch of a feminine hand. "Alyss." Said the girl. Alyss opened her eyes at her name and she quickly rose to get into the servant uniform.

The uniform was a plain beige dress with a white apron around the waist. The whole of Anselm knew that she had been the one to save the five-year-old girl from the burning inn, but told the fief never to tell anyone who asked about her. Even when she told them, she dyed her hair black and and she still wanted to retain her grace and style that she earned from the Diplomatic Service as an apprentice of Lady Pauline.

She carried on in life as a servant for the Baron, just so she could at least earn a little money for future travels. That was because she had lost almost all her belongings in the fire.

She went into the laundry room and found another servant covered in wet bright blues and greens and yellows. "Andrea!" Alyss cried. "What are you doing? Don't put them all in at once! The yellow will get mixed into the blue!" Alyss ran over to the helpless servant covered in wet clothes. Once the girl was uncovered, Alyss helped her up and helped her dry off. Andrea was a new recruit into the staff. She was recruited at the same time that Alyss was. Although, Alyss certainly did a better job at the laundry than the other girl. Andrea had brown hair, which was always up, and bright green eyes. The look suited her well enough and the cheerfulness would get some of the ladies talking to her. Or maybe some of the knights talking about her.

Alyss on the other hand was graceful as she walked and she was always serious, but she knew that it helped to create conversations and temporary friends among the people in Anselm. Several of the knights had the nerve to approach her and give her overdone praise for her beauty and grace. Other knights were not quite so satisfied with complimenting her through words.

So, on several occasions, as she was pinned against the wall, she gave them a nice gift across the face. Sending them off angrily, holding their cheeks as they walked off in pain. Alyss knew better, but she could see no other way out of situations like that.

In her current situation, Alyss separated the blue from the yellow and green, with some difficulty, as they were already wet. She set them up on separate clotheslines as she spoke to Andrea. "Why don't you go get on a new dress? You'll dry off a bit faster then." Said the tall graceful, now black-haired girl.

Andrea nodded and walked out of the room without complaint. Not too long after she and Alyss were recruited together, Andrea saw it fit to argue and complain about the orders Alyss was giving her. After a short talk with her, the complaining slowly ceased.

After that was done, she left the laundry for someone else to do and went up to the Baron's study and his private apartments. She had received orders that same morning to clean out the dust from the rooms. The Baron was out and about on his occasional rides, after he had eaten so much during feasts. The exercise was working so far as to give the servants some time to clean his apartments before he returned.

She sweeped the floor, and cleaned out the privy, which was worse than it sounded. The Baron always had a bit of a bad digestive system and, unknowingly, he had let the servants suffer for it.

Alyss exchanged the sheets and blankets with a different set, then left to clean the office. Once she entered she noticed in her peripheral vision that the door was open slightly. She cleaned out the soot and ashes from the fire place and began to sweep the remains into a bucket she had brought.

Now she was aware of another presence in the room besides her own. The door. She thought. It must've been someone walking in.

She rose after sweeping the remains of many fires in the fireplace and turned to face whoever was in the room.

It was a young man, in his late twenties it seemed. He had brown eyes, which were deep and unwavering. But Alyss could see a small hint of curiosity in them. Small as it seemed, Alyss knew it was there. He had the cowl of his green-gray, mottled cloak up and it hid most of his face from any ordinary observer. But Alyss was no ordinary observer. He had a young girl at his side. She seemed friendly, as did the man next to her. Her blond hair was down and poking out of the cowl of the cloak, which was the same one as the man wore and the girl carried the same weapons as the man she was with.

They seemed friendly in their looks. But there was even more when she looked at the man. There was something unmistakable about the man's eyes. For a moment, Alyss was tempted to throw herself at him, all the while crying out, "Will!" But she held back and she remained calm, but still looking a bit reluctant.

"May I help you?" She asked.

"We're looking for the Baron of this fief." He said simply.

Alyss shook her head. "I'm afraid the Baron is out this morning. Would you like to leave me with a message for him?" She replied. Before she finished speaking, Will was already shaking his head.

"No. We'll be off," he replied gently, then as he stepped toward the door, he stopped to add, "Oh, what's your name, miss?"

"Catherine Altright, sir." Alyss replied. Better to keep my identity secret. She thought. He doesn't know I'm alive. Will squinted his eyes at her in suspicion and she smiled at him. The reaction caused him to flinch. He apparently had expected me to remain unsmiling. She thought.

He nodded to himself. "Well, Miss Altright, I'll check in later to see if the Baron's here by then." He told her.

Alyss nodded. "I'll make sure to let the secretary know of your presence here in Anselm. Where will you stay?" She said.

The question grabbed Will's attention and he stood there for a moment, so Alyss detailed her question a bit more, "just in case the Baron needs to send for you, where will you be staying temporarily?"

Will thought for a moment, rubbing his newly forming beard. "We'll be at the Inn at Danvers Crossing." He replied.

"Very well. I'll be sure to let the secretary know," she said slowly turning around. Once she was fully turned around, she realized that she almost forgot something and turned quickly, "Ranger!" She called, careful not to call him by his name. She knew he'd left but she wanted to make sure that he was still within earshot of her yelling his title.

He poked his head in a few seconds after she called. "Yes?" He said.

"What's your name? I want to leave the secretary with more to go by. I'll want it to be more urgent, as the Baron doesn't see to matters like two Rangers around his fief soon enough. Now, your name?" She explained.

Will came into the room fully as he went to step closer to her. Alyss had the grace to look more and more nervous as he approached. Then, as he stood in front of her, he replied in a quiet tone, "My name is Will Treaty. My friend you saw is my apprentice, Maddie. Now keep quiet to the village." He told her.

Alyss nodded, gulping as she did so in order to appear nervous about his attitude at the moment. The gulping also made her appear as if she was imagining what would happen if she told everyone around the entire fiefdom that the Legendary Will Treaty was here.

"Good." Said Will. He stepped away from her and grinned. Then, he quickly exited the room, stooping at the door to add, "don't forget to wipe the shutters of the dust that settled on them."