The old lady passed across the street, the customary scarlet ribbon still tied around her wrist as she shuffled her feet in her slow progression down the road. “Miss Gerry!” Elaine called, waving from the other side.

She paused and looked over at Elaine. “Oh, hello,” came her quiet reply as a smile spread across her face, adding more wrinkles to her already wrinkled face. Elaine waited for a cart to pass before she quickly jogged across the street to offer a hand to Miss Gerry. “Thank you, dear,” she said, “would you spend an afternoon with a lonely old woman?”

“It would be my pleasure.” Elaine walked along, carrying Miss Gerry’s satchel and supporting her with an arm as they made their way slowly toward the small cabin. Passers-by paused to watch the young teenager helping the old lady home and smiled at the gesture of kindness.

The cabin in which Gerry lived was small and fenced, kept as well as any nonagenarian could be expected to keep it, and tastefully decorated. Upon entering, Elaine was stunned to see a sword, polished to a high shine and displayed proudly above the mantle. Standing in a corner was a bust which held a molded breastplate and paldrons which showed signs of battle damage.

“Were those yours?” Elaine asked, gesturing to the armaments.

“Oh, that was from a long time ago,” Miss Gerry said, “but I remember it like it was yesterday.”

“But there hasn’t been a war for fifty years.”

“Yes. It was THE war,” she explained, “I fought alongside Paul and Roman when the Baaman Empire attacked. I guess that was before even your parents were born.”

“So you are Captain Gerry? I just always assumed you had died a long time ago. My grandpa used to tell me stories about you.”

“I’m sure they were embellished, dear.”

“They might have been, but you did serve. You were one of the Rangers! I’ve always idolized you!”

Gerry looked deep into Elaine’s eyes and saw a fire burning beneath them that would not be extinguished easily. “Is that what you aspire to be?”

“From the time I could walk.”

Gerry smiled and took a stick from the mantle. She tossed it to Elaine with surprising strength and brought her cane up to bear as Elaine caught the stick. “Defend yourself.”

Elaine looked up in surprise, just in time to deflect a blow leveled at her head. A series of strong strikes buffeted her as she retreated and parried the cane. Each stroke whistled through the air as Gerry advanced in the girl, both of them wearing mischievous grins. She could not believe that this lady who she had supported as they walked through town could deliver such substantial force behind each strike, but she relished every second of it.

Elaine lost track of where the cane was coming from and felt its weight upon her bare arms and on her legs. “I surrender!” She cried out between laughs as she resigned herself to sitting on the floor with her hands up to protect her head.

“Okay,” Miss Gerry said, still cackling with glee, “I will train you.”

“Wh-what?”

“You said you wanted to be a Ranger,” she explained, “so let’s make it happen.” Untying the scarlet ribbon around her wrist, she revealed a scar across her hand that it was covering. A medallion fell as she untied it and Elaine bent to pick up the piece of metal.

“This is the Savior’s Seal,” she said in awe as she turned the piece over.

“Yes, I keep it close to help me remember the friends who I have lost.” She took the seal from Elaine’s hand as it was held out and tied it back onto the ribbon.

“How did you get that scar?”

“That is but a small piece of a much larger story., Gerry explained, “but this,” she lifted her tunic to reveal a long scar which spanned her entire torso, “is the rest of it.”

“Oh, my.”

“Motherfucker got me with a pole axe. The leading edge tore my breastplate and gorget off and damn near killed me.”

“How did you get away?”

“Roman split his skull with his great hammer. I wasn’t fully sure he was to be trusted until that moment.” Her eyes took on a distracted look as she looked almost through Elaine, recalling the events from decades past. “He had been one of us, but he left after a disagreement with Prince Humboldt. I think he went back to his farm after the war and I never heard from him again. Maybe someday I will get to meet his son.”

“What do you remember of King Paul?” Elaine asked.

“He never wanted to be king. All through the war, he tried to pass authority off on someone else, but it never stuck. He tried to make me the ruler a few times, but I knew that he would do a much better job than I. Finally, he decided to instruct Betta how to take his place.”

“Queen Betta is his daughter?”

“Not exactly. He met her on the eve of the war and she attached herself to him. After she was old enough, she joined the ranks and proved herself in battle,” Gerry smiled at Elaine, “want to meet her?”

“Could I?” Elaine asked.

“Of course. I haven’t alienated her yet,” she chuckled, “Even after all this time.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Paul and I had some great disagreements after the war and we only made up shortly before he died. Perhaps my only regret in life was not reconnecting with him sooner.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.”

“Don’t be. He died twenty years ago, and he died how he always wanted to die: with his boots on the ground and a sword in his hand.” Gerry recalled his death and a solitary tear spilled from the corner of her eye, spreading out in the crow’s feet before it traced a line down her jawline. “But I lost both a king and a friend.”

“I can’t imagine that. King Paul died long before I was born.”

“Yes. The memory of his death faded from the minds of the people after only a few years, but he was the best of all of us. We all thought the war was over, but it turns out there were cells of Baaman rebels who still held to their old arrogances. That, I think, is what made it so much worse. The bastards pounced on him when he was on his way to York to deliver his token of thanks for their alliance during the war.”

Elaine dropped her eyes to the floor as she tried to understand what the assassination of King Paul had meant, but her teenage mind was incapable to grasp such political intricacies. “What happened after?”

“We took the entire regular army and crushed any sign of rebellion that remained within the former Baaman Empire. When we were finished, there was little left of that land except a great smoking hole in the ground. Even York and our other old allies joined in the massacre after Paul was martyred.”

“But I’ve heard that the southern country is beautiful.” Elaine said.

“Well yes, but it has been more than twenty years since they were destroyed, and we absorbed the territories into Pitt. Those barbarians could never have made anything of the land they had. All they ever grew down there was corn and tobacco, nothing that could actually sustain a nation. Even before the war, they were forced to buy most of their food from other kingdoms. We intercepted many wagon trains filled with potatoes coming all the way from the country north of Cherokenne. When you have to rely on others so heavily, you’ve really got to o business invading any other nation.”

“I should really be getting back. I’m sure my mother will start worrying about me,” Elaine said as she realized that she had been visiting Miss Gerry for over an hour.

“Alright, honey,” Gerry relented, “come back tomorrow and I will take you to meet the Queen.”

“Really?”

“Of course! I don’t make promises that I don’t keep. If you’re serious about wanting to become a Ranger, training must start as soon as possible.”

“Thank you, ma’am! I will come in the morning.” Elaine’s heart jumped in her chest as she walked home in the late afternoon; a mix of excitement at meeting the Queen and trepidation over telling her parents about the prospect of becoming a Ranger.