The Orchard

[King Thedriol]

To the back of the castle, there is a beautiful orchard to the left of you that offers its fruitful goodness and charm to anyone who wishes to visit it. Also a private, romantic place, a dreamy spot to bring your lover to watch the sundown or go on a picnic. The warm smell of apples is fresh in the air, and by the time it reaches the Autumn the Orchard will be full of people picking the sweet, juicy fruits for the Castle and countless small children out scrumping (seeing how many apples they could pick and steal without being caught). It is a very private place full of mystery and sunlight.

[Rose]

The same evening Rose left the library, she wandered around the back of the castle to the orchard with the intention of watching the sunset. She had found the perfect place, as the orchard had an excellent view of the western skys. The fruit trees there were small, by tree standard, and Rose leapt up to a branch with ease. She leant back against the trunk and watched the sky which had bathed the orchard in a soft orange light. As the sun sunk further into the horizan, the orchard turned pink then finally a brillaint red as the sun disappeared. For some reason, it seemed more impressive than when Rose had watched the sun set at home, but she couldn't think why.

Rose glanced lazily around the orchard, though she wasn't really expecting anyone else to be there. Without the sun, the orchard was getting cold now, but Rose was half asleep and hadn't noticed. One of her legs swung down from the tree as she fell asleep and her head tilted to one side. A slight breeze stirred Rose's hair, a bird called from the far end of the orchard and small insects began to hum in the grass. Rose didn't hear a thing.

[Rose]

*apologies for double posting, but i wanted to post again *

Surprisingly, Rose slept almost the whole night through up the tree. She was in such a deep sleep, she barely moved all night, which was quite fortunate for her. Quite early that morning, just as the sun rose from behind her, Rose stirred. She was having a rather vivid dream in which her sister married the king and she was their slave, feeding her sister small fruits. She rolled over.

Rose awoke in the split second before she hit the ground. She landed square on her back with a thump. Opening her eyes slowly she lay dazed, wondering where she was. She looked up at the branch she had been lying across just seconds before and remembered. Then she lifted her head off of the ground and propped herself up on her elbows. Her skirts had fallen up to her knees, so she could see the long graze on her calf, where the leg that had hung down from the branch scraped across the rough bark.
"Ow!" she groaned, then closed her eyes and lay her head back on the ground unaware of the sunrise she could have been watching behind her.

[Arikain Galarond]

Arikain jogged slowly into the orchard, smiling dreamily at the tangarine sunrise spreading slowly across the sky like an ink pen dipped in water. It looked to be a warm day, but the sharpness of the morning was pleasant to run in. He closed his eyes a moment, relishing the soft touch of the cream chirt against his skin and the cooler feel of the metal chain of the pendant he wore around his neck. On his chest was pinned the crest of the King, which he wore proudly as he continued around the wood.

As he passed one particularly knarled old tree, he suddenly noticed a small figure curled up against the trunk - Rose. Her eyes were closed as she lay fast asleep in the grass, and Arikain drew breathlessly to a halt, dropping down onto his knees beside her. "What are you doing out here..?" He murmered to the sleeping girl. "Have you not found a place to stay..?"

Reaching into his pack, he drew out a light coat. Although it was not cold, the nights would quickly grow chill, and he did not wish for Rose to get ill. Laying it gently over her, he quickly stretched out and then returned to her side, sitting just a little way off with his knees tucked up against his chest. Flicking his hair from his face, he watched for her to awaken.

[Rose]

Rose opened her eyes, blinking in the light, then sat up stiffly. Where was she? Then she remembered: the sunset, the tree...the fall from the tree. 'I must have fallen asleep again after the fall' she thought to herself 'I don't kn...'
She suddenl;y noticed the cloak covering her, and looked around, to see Arikain, leaning against a tree not far from her.

"Arikain?!" she said in surprise, "How long have you been there?Is..is this yours?" she asked, indicating the cloak. Smiling, she added:

"I assure you, that there is a good reason as to why I was lying on the ground..."

[Arikain Galarond]

"Oh there is, is there?!" He laughed loudly. "What are you doing down there? I've told you if you need a place to stay you've got one! I mean..." He trailde awkwardly off, and blushed. "I'm sorry, I just meant that if you need a place to stay... There's no need for you to sleep outside!"

He threw his head back and ran his hands through his hair, yawning widely. The sun was a little way abouve the horizon, and long black shadows streaked out across the fields. He stretched his arms out. He felt much better having been for a run, much more awake, but it was stll very early!

"And yes." He added. "That is mine... You looked a bit cold. I hope I didn't disturb you... So what are you doing out here then?!"

[Rose]

"Well, I'd like to say it's a long story. But it's not, so I'll tell you... When I left the library last night, I went to the little herb store across the street to get something for my headache. Well, when I came back to the libaray, I couldn't find you or Brynna and then I decided to watch the sunset, so I walked here, climbed that tree, fell asleep...then fell out...then woke up here..." she trailed off and laughed, realising how ridiculous the story sounded, and how pathetic she must look, lieing on the ground after falling out of a tree.

She stood up and shook her skirt, then Kain's cloak out.

"And thank you for your cloak, how many times have I used it now?" she said, folding it over her arm.

"About your room, if the offers still open, i'd like to take it up...but you see, my sister's coming to stay, and there will be two of us, I mean we'd share a room but...I can understand if you didn't want both of us staying! Anyway, now you've heard my story, let me hear yours. Why are you out in the orchard so early in the morning? Birdwatching is it?"

Laughing, she threw Kain's cloak back to him.

[Arikain Galarond]

Kain laughed, and deftly caught the coat.

"Well, that sure is an interesting story..." He said, grinning. "But I'd love to have you and your sister to stay, if you don't mind sharing a room. If she's half as interesting asyou are, it'll be fun to stay the least. As long as she doesn't share your love of the outdoors... I'm not sure I can cope with rescuing two of you every morning!"

He stood up, breathing in deep lungfulls of the morning air. He was joking, of course, he loved every bit of the outdoors. "I'm just out for a run." He said. "Although it'll probably turn into a walk as of now. I love the mornings, theyre just so refreshing... I come out more or less every morning. ALthough I have to say, this is the first time I;ve every found someone sleeping in a tree..."

[Rose]

"Well, I'd like to say this was my first time that I've slept under a tree, but it isn't! I seem to remember doing it a couple of times before when I was younger..." said Rose, smiling at the thought of herself under the tree.

She started walking through the orchard with Arikain.

"Thank you for your spare room," she said warmly, "My sister's going to be so excited when she hears we're staying at the castle. She's coming sometime today I think, but I've told her to meet me at the inn where I'm staying." she threw a glance at Arikain, sure another tree joke was on it's way.

They walked along for a bit in silence, which wasn't uncomfortable, both were just enjoying the outdoors. Rose felt hungry, she hadn't eaten since yesterday lunchtime.

"Hang on." she said, a sudden idea striking her, thenleapt up the nearest tree in two light bounds.

"Heads up!" she cried, and dropped four apples in quick succession down towards Arikian, a good test of reation time if ever there was

[Arikain Galarond]

Catching Rose giving him a sidelong glancem Arikain decided to let the comment about her staying in an inn slide. "What - woah!"

Starting as suddenly darted up a tree,Arikain barely caught the numerous apples she threw at him, catching each in succession and then allowing it to drop to the floor.

"Breakfast?" He asked, arching an eyebrow. "You mean, although you fight to survive out here in the wilderness, you still find time to eat a decent meal?! Now THAt is skilfull!"

Gathering up the fallen fruit, he walked on, sure that Rose was following close behind. "I'm looking forward to meeting your sister." He called back. "Is she as eccentric as you? I hope she is! I can just see the sort of girl who'd be your sister... Let me guess, a real wild thing, spends half her life asleep under the stars?"

[Rose]

Laughing, Rose leapt down from the tree and caught up with Arikain who had started to walk away. she caught him in time to catch the comment about her sister.

She laughed and shook her head, stealing two apples from Arikian;

"I'm afraid you'll be dissappointed in how un-wild she is. She's never spent a night outside in her life and probably never will. She's a girly girl, and fond of her home comforts, but, although we're different, we've always got on well...then again I think there's only enough room for one eccentric in the family. Amaryliss is the pretty one, my elder sister the clever one and me, well I'm the eccentric one..."

She bit into the apple, it was a bit sharp, but this went almost unnoticed.
"And I have..." she started, with her mouth full, then stopped and waited until she'd finished before continuing.

"And I have to warn you, Amaryliss will probably embarass me in some way, or in all ways. For starters she'll call me Fiorella and she's always asking about the men and nobles I've met. You'll just have to ignore that, oh, and she'll probably plague you with questions about anything and everything...but apart from that...she'd quite loveable really..."

[Arikain Galarond]

Arikain laughed as Rose took two apples, and bit into one of the two he had left, relishing the sweetness as he crunched into the fruit.
"Your sister is girly? I can't believe that!" He paused, a small smile playing about his lips. "And why.... Why would she call you Fiorella? Unless... Unless, that's your real name of course?"

He smiled to himself. He was amazed at how relaxed he felt. He wasn't nervous, or embarrassed, as he usually was around other people. His smile widened, and he looked keenly at Rose, an idea formingin his head. He would wait for her to reply, and then he would see...

[Rose]

(( Apologies for the whole not replying for 2 months thing ))

Rose stopped as they reached the gate at the edge of the field. It lead onto a small track that wound its way up to the castle.

"Yes...yes, that is my name." Rose replied rolling her eyes,
"Another one of my parents less than brilliant ideas," she paused, pulling the stalk out of the second apple and letting it drop to the ground.
"I use my middle name Rose, so that's the name most people call me by, well, except my mother!"

She pulled herself up to sit on the gate, facing Arikain. He looked thoughtful.

"What is it?" she asked, curious.