One shot about how Alyss survived because she did and didn't find Will in time to make it into the 12th book. No one can tell me otherwise. Look for my Percy Jackson reference. Enjoy!

As Alyss lay in the smoldering rubble, she reflected on the past few hours, or was it days? She didn't know. What she did know was that the inn she was staying in had caught fire, someone had probably set it, and she had rushed back into the burning mess and saved a young girl by throwing her out the window and into the arms of some of the soldiers.

Before she could jump out, a beam fell, blocking that window. Mindful of the fact that her dress was probably catching fire, Alyss had dashed into the hall, seeing a window at the end of it. She jumped and landed on her feet, falling to her knees and rolling onto her back. The building was two stories high and she had jumped from the second floor. Judging from the pain in her left leg, she'd broken it. Alyss was just contemplating how to move to safety with the most-likely-broken leg of her, when a huge section of the roof broke off and fell towards her. Alyss squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the inevitable.

When Alyss regained consciousness, she woke to a young man staring at her. He looked at her, concerned. "Are you alright?"

Alyss groaned and shut her eyes. "Am I dead?"

The man shrugged. "You almost were. The Inn burned down two days ago, I'm surprised you're still alive. You would have died if the part of the roof that fell had landed any closer to your chest." His gaze scanned the wreckage. "I will be back soon, I need to get some help moving you out of the wreckage. I'll try to hurry."

The man left and soon returned with five other men and some sort of sling contraption.

The man came over to her. "I never mentioned, but, would you tell us your name?"

Alyss nodded her head slightly, careful not to move too much. "Alyss Mainwaring."

The man smiled. "Alright Alyss, I'm Jake, and we are going to move you onto this sling so the healer can take a better look at your injuries." Jake nodded to the other men with him. "Let's get the wreckage of of her."

Three hours later, they had cleared away the wreckage around Alyss and were trying to get her onto the sling. Keyword, trying. Alyss groaned. "What if you lay the sling next to me, and you can lift and set me onto it."

One of the men nodded. "Great idea."

Carefully lifting Alyss by her back, supporting her shoulders and legs, the men picked her up. Then they slowly lowered her onto the sling and set her down. Then Jake picked up one of the two poles meant for carrying the sling. "Great. It worked. Let's get this thing in the cart."

Alyss groaned. "I'm going in a cart, that can't be good." Any more movement would upset her legs.

Jake shook his head. "A friend came up with a contraption recently to allow the sling to move on its own in the cart. It should help you."

Alyss to a deep breath. "Alright, should, is the best bet I've got. Let's do it."

The rest of the men grabbed the poles and slowly picked up the sling. The small procession made its way over to the cart and the men slid the poles into slots to keep the sling secure. Jake stayed in the back of the cart to make sure Alyss was okay. Surprisingly when the cart started moving, it didn't jostle her much.

They traveled for an hour before they reached the next town. Jake had explained that the town they had been in had a healer, just where they were going had a better one.

When they finally reached the healer's house they were greeted by a middle aged woman who immediately started fussing over Alyss. The other men, except for Jake, had left shortly after arriving. The news on her injuries were grave.

The healer had introduced herself as Jaeda, and was trying to figure out what exactly was wrong. "You have many burns, no doubt from lying in burning rubble for hours. And your leg, Oh dear, I believe that you broke both your upper leg and your lower leg and possibly your ankle. I'm pretty sure that's all, but there's no way to tell."

Alyss groaned. "Yeah, well that sounds correct, but I believe something's wrong with my back."

Jaeda's frown deepened. "That's even worse. The only thing I can do is have you rest until it's healed, but, Nortgate is a big fief, and this area doesn't have the best healers. I'll do my best."

Alyss picked her head up and looked at Jake sharply. "We were in Colwen, you never told me we were moving out of the fief. Why?"

Jake shrugged. "It was a minor detail. You never asked, and I didn't want to worry you over anything."

Alyss let her head fall back onto the sling. "Fine. How long till I'm stable enough to move long distances in this cart."

"About two weeks." Jaeda looked at her oddly. "Why?"

Alyss looked them in the eye. "Because, it would be best if I got to Castle Macindaw."

Jake raised his eyebrows. "Why'd you need to go to Macindaw?"

Alyss looked at Jaeda. "I trust you, as much as I can, having known you an hour, but there's a healer near the castle that is probably the best in all of Araluen." She winced. "Sorry. That was blunt."

Jaeda shrugged. "That's alright. I'm more experienced in small things, like splinting bones and common illnesses. That," She waved a hand at Alyss. "Is pushing it."

Alyss smiled softy. "Great. I'm glad you understand."

Jaeda nodded and brushed her hands on her apron. "Good, let's get you ready to travel."

Three weeks later, Jaeda had deemed Alyss well enough to travel. Which meant leaving as soon as possible for Castle Macindaw. Which was a three week journey from the southwestern part of the fief, going slowly by cart. Which was a big production by itself. The little trio had stayed in inns whenever they could, since Alyss was injured and Jaeda had insisted on coming. Because Alyss 'might do something reckless and injure herself even more'. Even Alyss's insisting that, no she wasn't that type of person, didn't help. Besides, Alyss thought. Between the two of us, that's Will's job.

When they reached the small village near the castle, Jaeda immediately asked her for directions to the healer. Alyss smiled a little. "Well, we go into the woods."

That was where Jake put his foot down. "No. Absolutely NOT. We are not going into the woods at night. Even if you know where you are going."

So they stayed in an inn, with Alyss in the cart in the barn, as that was the safest place for the cart.

Alyss sighed as she drifted to sleep. She felt horrible. Will, her husband, probably thought she was dead. Granted, she almost was, but still. Not cool. She had been missing for almost a month, and the news that your wife that you thought dead is Surprise, alive! is not news you should get in the mail. Without any proof, even if Alyss wrote a letter herself, would seem like a very, very cruel joke to Will. Alyss wasn't about to subject the man she loved to that fate.

When morning came, they quickly got breakfast from the innkeeper's wife, who had taken pity on Alyss, and had said she looked like nobility and could be related the Lady Gwendolyn who came through the town some ten years prior. Alyss rolled her eyes at the game she had played when she last came to the small village.

When Mari, the innkeeper's wife, learned they were going into Grimsdell forest, she immediately got worried. "You don't want to go in there," She shook her head. "Legend says that Malkallam, the Black Sorcerer, lived there. It's a very dangerous place."

Alyss shrugged the best she could, and immediately winced. That had hurt. "I'm pretty sure we'll be fine." She smiled. "Besides, we're wasting time."

So they set off. An hour later, they were at the entrance to the forest with one problem. The cart couldn't fit very well. And if Alyss remembered correctly, the path narrowed.

Jake looked at Alyss questioningly. "Well, we're here. And stuck. Now what?"

Alyss thought for a moment. "Go on the path until it splits. Take a left. Keep going until you reach a clearing. Ask for someone named Trobar, don't question his appearance, he's sensitive."

Jake climbed down off the cart from where he was sitting. "Alright, I'll be back-"

Jaeda cut him off. "No. What about that sorcerer guy?"

Alyss rolled her eyes. "You believe an urban legend? I promise you'll be fine."

Jake shrugged. "Okay then. I'll be back."

Jaeda huffed. "Well, I still think it's a bad idea."

Jake went down the path. The trees grew steadily closer together and the light faded quickly. After about five minutes, he reached a split in the path. The signpost pointed in two directions, and Jake took a left like Alyss had said to do. Fifty feet down the trail, he tripped over a root. Jake shakily pushed himself up, only to find himself face to face with a skull of some sort. He bit down a scream and backed into a tree. He wasn't a coward, but right now, he really felt like turning and running.

Jake gulped and shook his head. He had to go on, he couldn't let Alyss down. He forced himself to put one foot in front of the other, continuing down the trail.

Five minutes, three skulls, and two warning signs Jake had finally reached the clearing that Alyss had mentioned. The woods were very dark, so he had a hard time seeing what was what, and jumped two feet when the hulking mass in the center moved. "Whos ther'?"

Jake swallowed the lump in his throat and forced himself to speak. "Jake. Jake Mason. Are-are you Trobar?"

The figure nodded. "'Ow'd you know me?"

"Alyss. A girl named Alyss sent me. She's hurt, and said you could help."

Trobar stood up. He was easily the size of two men. "W'ere? W'ere is she?"

"Uh, follow me." Jake took off down the path, not caring if Trobar was following or not.

Jaeda shifted from where she was sitting in the front of the wagon. "It's been ten minutes. Where is he? I thought you said it didn't take long?"

Alyss closed her eyes. "I dunno. It seemed like less last time I was here. Granted, that was like ten years ago, but still."

Jaeda looked at her, shocked. "Ten years! Is this guy still here?"

Alyss opened her eyes and closed them again. "Probably." Then Jake raced out of the woods and pointed behind him. Alyss smiled. "Oh look, here's Trobar."

Jake looked at Alyss strangely. "You have weird friends."

"Meh. I have weirder ones. Hello Trobar." Alyss grinned at the frowning giant.

Trobar examined the cart. "Are you o'ay."

"No. Not really. Do you think Malcolm can help?"

Trobar moved closer to the cart and Jaeda hopped down from her seat. "Alyss, who's Malcolm? Sounds like Malkallam a bit."

Alyss laughed a little. "Kind of the point. Oohf."

Trobar picked up the sling contraption in his huge hands. "He ca' he'p you."

She sighed. "Thank goodness. Let's go." Alyss looked back to where Jake and Jaeda were standing. "You two coming?"

Jaeda shook her head, snapping out of her daze. "Yes. Of course. I am coming. Let's go."

Alyss looked up at Trobar. "Do still have Shadow?"

Trobar beamed. "Sha'thow's had puppies."

Malcolm greeted them, standing outside his small cottage. Alyss waved weakly. "Hi."

He walked over to Trobar and visually examined her. "Hello Alyss, long time no see. What did you do now?"

Alyss pretended to think for a while. "Oh, nothing much. Just an inn falling on me. While it was burning."

Malcolm groaned and rubbed his temples. "What is with you Rangers and sort always doing potentially harmful things? First it's storming a castle with a bunch of Skandians, then Will drags me out into the middle of nowhere because Halt is dying, and then it's this. How did you end up in an burning inn?"

Jake blinked at the famous names. "You know what? I'm not even going to ask."

"It's a long story, I escaped, but I saw a little girl trapped still and raced up to help her, got her to safety, but my exit was blocked. So I jumped out a window on the other side of the inn, breaking my legs and blacking out." Alyss shrugged. "Then, I came here."

Malcolm nodded. "Still not the craziest thing ever." He looked at Jake and Jaeda. "I'm sorry, I'm being rude. I am Malcolm, I'm a healer who somehow finds himself doing crazy things for Alyss and her friends."

Jaeda shook his hand. "Nice to meet you. I- Alyss is obviously in good hands. We'll be going now."

Alyss smiled at the two. "Thanks Jaeda. Jake. I owe you my life."

Jake shrugged uncomfortably. "That's okay. Let's not make a habit of it."

Malcolm cleared his throat. "Trobar, let's bring Alyss inside, and then can you show these two out?"

It was later that night and Malcolm was splinting Alyss's legs. "Jaeda did a good job. I'm very certain you will be able to walk eventually. It will take a while to heal though, and you will need to go very slowly, letting your joints adjust before you start attempting walking. Does Will know what happened?"

Alyss sighed. "No, but the inn burned down, no one found my body, since I'm here, so he probably thinks I am dead. I would write a letter, but I don't think he'd believe a letter from his wife who supposedly died a month and a half ago."

Malcolm nodded. "I understand."

It took Alyss's legs 3 months to heal completely and her back took two more. One month after her back had healed completely Malcolm allowed her to start walking a little bit each day. She found it to be difficult and exhausting, but was walking normally again three months after she started to try. One year after Alyss first came to Malcolm, he allowed her to finally start making her way back to Redmont. The day she left, he gave her enough money for a passage on a boat down the coast.

Alyss had set off, optimistic, and reached the port happy, and excited to see her husband soon.

She paid her fare for passage on the ship bound for Davensport, the town she'd make her way to Redmont from, and boarded the ship. It left the port and it was then that Alyss realized she didn't get enough information. It was taking the long way around Araluen, going northwest around Picta and back south around the west side of Araluen, finally going down around by Celtica and the to Davensport. Alyss got off the ship as soon as they reached the first Araluen town.

With no money and no transportation but her feet, Alyss made her way from town to town, earning what money she could to pay for room and board. She stayed in each town for about two weeks before moving on.

Alyss stayed in the town of Brunswick for five months for the winter and to help with the planting season. She left Brunswick early May, and finally arrived in Redmont 23 months after she barely escaped the inn with her life. Almost two years without seeing her husband, their friends, or even the people in the town.

As she walked through the village, she saw a figure in the distinct mottled cloak of a Ranger coming out of the butcher. It wasn't Will, but it wasn't someone she knew either. Will had either gotten an apprentice, which was an interesting thought, or he had been reassigned to a different fief, which would've been horrible, because that meant her already long journey would be even longer.

She slowly walked through town, soaking in the familiar sights, when she decided to stop wasting time and go find Will. Alyss took the familiar path into the woods and into the clearing where the cabin was. The curtains were shut in the windows like always and the whole image almost brought tears to her eyes. Tug, thank god, Tug was in the paddock with a younger horse, which meant Will must have gotten an Apprentice. Tug whinnied hello and Alyss walked up the steps onto the veranda. She could hear people murmuring inside.

Alyss swallowed her fear and raised her hand, knocking. She could hear a chair being pushed back and someone walking to the door. It slightly opened to reveal Princess Madelyn, though what she was doing there was beyond her.

Maddie eyed her warily. "Uh, can I help you?"

Alyss nodded. "Ca-," her voice stuck in her throat. She was so close. "Can I talk to Will Treaty?"

Maddie's eyes flicked inside and back to Alyss's face. "Mmhm, give me a minute. "

The door shut and Alyss heard murmured voices before heavy footsteps. The door opened to reveal Will staring at her, slack jawed.

She smiled weakly. "Trobar says hi."

Will enveloped her in a hug that took her breath away. "Why?" He whispered when he finally released her. "Why did you let me believe you were dead? You are real, right?"

Alyss nodded. "Yes, I'm real. You'd never believe me if I had just sent you a letter. You would have needed proof."

Will nodded, staring at her face. "God I missed you." He hugged her again, and Alyss sobbed into his shoulder. They stayed like that for a few minutes, letting reality sink in. Alyss pulled away and saw that Will was smiling.

"Let's go inside." He said softly. He took her hand and opened the door, pulling her into the house.

Maddie sat at the table, drinking coffee and staring at Alyss. "Aunt Alyss?"

Alyss covered her mouth and barely refrained from sobbing, she hadn't heard that name in years. She nodded. "Call me Alyss."

Maddie set her cup down on the table. "Cool." She glanced at Will. "I'm gonna go feed Bumper and Tug. I'll be back in a minute." She smiled. "Good to see you're back. And alive," she murmured.

Alyss laughed and Maddie smiled. Then the girl turned and walked out the door, slightly limping. She sat in a chair and looked at Will who was smiling at her. "Is she limping?"

Will nodded. "Yeah. Took a spear to the leg. She's fine, but will always limp from now on." He sat down next to her.

Alyss leaned her head on his shoulder. "Is she your apprentice now?"

"Yeah."

"I didn't know the Corps took girls."

"It was a recent thing. And a long story."

"It was Halt's idea, wasn't it."

"Yeah. How are you alive?"

"Also a long story."

The door opened and Maddie walked in. "What are you guys talking about?"

Alyss smiled. "Long stories. Namely, how you are training to be a ranger."

Maddie winced and sat down. "Yeah, that's an interesting one. Long, but interesting."

Will grinned. "We have time. Besides, Alyss should hear this story."

"Okay, why not?" Maddie shrugged. "So this story starts with a misbehaving Princess."

Alyss laughed. She was happy, she had her husband, a friend and a long story. She was set. "I know a thing or two about that."

"Ooh." Maddie sat forward. "Who?"

Alyss pretended to think. "Well, namely your mother."

Maddie smiled. "You will tell me about that after this."

Will groaned. "Cassandra is going to kill you."

"Nooo. She will be ecstatic to see me, and kill you."

Will slumped in his chair. "You're probably right."

Maddie laughed.

Hope you liked it! Please leave a review with your thoughts!