The sun was just beginning to sink below the palisade of the massive red keep when Will swung up in his saddle. He was finally returning to the little cabin in the woods. Will was finally going home. He could sense Halt watching from the window of his suite, wishing he was riding from the cabin in the clearing.
It still felt odd to ride for the cabin without Halt. For so long it had been Halt's cabin, but even without Halt it still felt like home. The cabin in the woods would always be Will's home.
Will smiled as Tug started for the cabin, moving without a command from his rider. The guards at the gate smiled waving him through. Will waved back, his smile broadening to a grin.
It had been a long trip away. Will was ready to sleep in his own bed, sit on the veranda with his mandola without Halt's withering gaze and agitated behavior. Will suspected Halt was just being cruel, and he hardly minded that Halt acted so rudely all the time because he knew the gruff outward appearance was just a show. But he was ready for some time without the frowning greybeard.
A breeze pulled at Will's cloak as he started down the road toward Wensley Village, it tousled his hair, buffeting his face. The leaves of the trees lining the road rustled in the summer wind, a handful pulling from their branches and floating toward the ground before the horse and rider. Tug snorted, blowing one of the leaves up again as it fell on his snout.
I hear the wind across the plains, a sound so strong it calls my name. It's wild like the river; it's warm like the sun. It's here, this is where I belong.
A thin curl of smoke rose from the chimney of the cabin in the woods. Someone from the village had come to light his fire, and he suspected Jenny had left him a meal when she came to feed his dog, Ebony. Will swung down from his saddle by the veranda steps, pulling his saddlebags down and throwing them over his shoulder. He rubbed Tug affectionately on the neck as he turned for the cabin.
"We're going back out Tug," he smiled dropping the laden saddle bags just inside the door of the cabin. "It's been too long since we patrolled Redmont Fief."
Tug snorted, his large brown eyes looking from the cabin to his rider. Aren't you going to eat?
"I can eat later," Will smiled mounting the shaggy pony. "And are you really saying you'd rather stay here on such a beautiful night?"
It smells like rain, Tug commented idly as Will turned him back down the road.
"It does not," Will laughed, urging Tug to a trot, skirting around the fields surrounding Wensley Village. "You just want sweet oats and apples."
I think I've earned them, Tug tossed his head whinnying. Will laughed, bending over Tug's neck as the horse increased his pace again.
"You did boy," Will agreed. "You certainly did."
A pale moon rose over the trees as Will rode. He had no set destination, he was just riding to reveal in the joy of being home. The wind pulled him, whispering to him as Tug tore down the forest roads and past the rolling fields. The cloudless sky was dotted with twinkling starlight. The night was accented with the sounds of crickets and the occasional owl, his way guided by the fireflies dancing in the brush.
Will breathed in the deep smell of Redmont, the familiar scent of his home.
Under the starry skies, it feels like I've flown, this place is perfect—the place I call home. Moonbeams in the forest, the wind through the trees, ripples in the water—let nothing take this from me.
A candle was burning the window of the cabin when Will and Tug returned. A smile spread over his face looking at the point of light, Alyss would have lit that candle for him. Tug whinnied happily; calling to the elegant Courier he knew was sitting up waiting for the Ranger.
"Quiet Tug," Will laughed swinging from his saddle. "She's probably already asleep."
"Talking to your horse again?" the door swung open. Her shadow fell across the Ranger and his horse. Will could hear the smile in his wife's voice even if he could not see it on the shaded face.
"Of course not," he responded, rubbing Tug on the ear as he turned to face Alyss. "Why would I talk to a horse?"
"I missed you," Alyss wrapped her arms around Will where they met on the top step, her smile just visible in the pale moonlight. "I didn't think you were home yet."
"Yes you did," Will laced his fingers through hers. "I left my saddle bags inside the door."
"If Halt saw that he would throw a tantrum. He loves his cabin spotless."
"It's not Halt's cabin," Will smiled leading her back into the yard to where Tug was waiting. "It's mine. I can leave my saddle bags where I want."
Everything I want is all right here. When we're together, I've nothing to fear. Wherever I wander, no matter the distance, there's one thing I've learned. This is the place I call home. This is where I'll always return.
"You're not leaving your saddle bags in the middle of the floor."
"Of course not," Will smiled as they walked with Tug to the paddock. "I'll pick them up as soon as I give Tug some sweet oats."
Tug snorted happily as he entered the paddock, watching Will as the Ranger entered the lean-to stable. Will poured some of his limited supply of sweet oats in a trough for Tug. The horse munched contentedly as Will unsaddled him and Alyss brushed him.
Will and Alyss walked back to the veranda with their hands laced together. They sat on the steps watching the stars pass overhead. Alyss lay her head on Will's shoulder; he wrapped his arm around her.
It's to here I'll always return.