Across the Realms

Chapter 1

Lady Alyn awoke as the sun entered through her window. Today was the day she would inspect the prospective pages, young children with aspirations of becoming knights, or perhaps only with parents who have aspirations. She sat up in her bed and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Today she would also be visiting her brother; partly on business but mostly because her mother had grown rather impatient with her children of late. They had not spoken in weeks, ever since Alyn had confirmed that the nasty rumors being whispered about her were true; they were not whispered often, few dared to speak ill of the Captain of the Guard, but Orshon had heard it all the same. She sighed and stood up, at the foot of her bed lay her trusty wolf hound, Maxis. She leaned down to pet Maxis on the head, he stood up and looked at her expectantly.

"Yes I suppose it is time for breakfast. Come, let us see what we can find." She said with a chuckle to the old dog. Breakfast turned out to be a roll bought at the bakery yesterday with fresh cheese for Alyn and a piece of dried venison for Maxis. Maxis devoured his breakfast quickly while Alyn took slightly longer.

"Alright old friend. It is time for us to go to work." Alyn said as she got up from the table. She quickly packed some food for the day in case she did not get home until nightfall, changed into a fresh tunic and leggings and tied her hair back with a strip of leather. As she left the house she was sure to lock it and made the short walk to the small cabin where Tessa lived. Tessa was Alyn's squire and a good one at that, she always made sure to have everything ready in the morning and never complained about her considerable duties.

"Good morning, mam." Tessa said as Alyn stepped through the door, "And good morning to you as well, Maxis." She finished with a smile. Maxis wagged his tail and smiled back, aside from Alyn, Tessa was his favourite person in the world.

"Good morning, Tessa. I trust you have everything ready to go, I would hate to be late this morning." Alyn said as she set her dirty clothes on top of Tessa's washing pile.

"Of course, mam. I spent most of yesterday cleaning your armor, and it shouldn't take anytime at all to finish the washing after we get back." Tessa said, cheerful as ever as she went to grab the first pieces of the armor. It took nearly an hour on the mornings Alyn had to patrol or visit the training grounds to get her suit of armor on properly. After that she assisted Tessa with her less complex set of armor. Then it was on to the stable behind Alyn's house to fetch her horse; Alixster. True to form Tessa had already fed and saddled Alixster, so Alyn took her sword from Tessa and slung the scabbard across her back. Most knights wore their swords on their hips but the claymore was far to long for this, over half as long as Alyn was tall. With everything ready Alyn hopped on to her trusty steed and the women, followed by the loyal hound, made their way to the castle. The castle was, as usual full of activity. As Alyn rode by she made sure to greet everyone who was going about their work. When they finally arrived at the training ground Tessa headed off to the squire's area to train while Alyn dismounted and walked over to where the page recruits were being drilled with Maxis close behind her. Overseeing the drilling were two of Alyn's best knights; Eron and Edar who both hailed from northern Europa. These days the pair gave Alyn hope for herself; if the kingdom could learn to accept two married men as two of the best knights in the land surely they could learn to accept her secret.

"Alyn!" The two men shouted in unison. They clapped her on the back and exchanged embraces. The other knights watching the drills shouted their greetings as well. "They look pretty good this year. Line up recruits! The captain's here to look you over!" Eron shouted. The recruits scrambled to line up. Alyn walked up and down the line of children, not one was over the age of twelve. Most were from Gonzor, obviously, but a few were from the surrounding lands, and one quite a bit farther. The boy at the very end of the row had the look of a child who was nearly twelve though he stood just three feet tall. He was also very stout for his height, it was quite obvious that this new recruit was a dwarf. The dwarves lived mostly in the great mountain range to the west, they lived longer than humans and were well respected for their well made weaponry. Alyn wondered why one so young would travel so far.