Joy and light in the darkness

Joyous solstice, Happy New Year, and whatever other holidays you may celebrate at this time of the year. I hope you enjoy the end of the year and will have a great start on the next one.

This is a winter solstice story and I'm posting early, because I want to keep it close to the solstice. Enjoy reading and leave a review afterwards, please. :)

The sun was hanging low in the sky, shining through the bare branches and tree trunks, as two quiet figures rode through the forest.

Halt and Will had just finished the final round of the fief of the year and was now on their way back to the little cabin they called home. It was still early in the afternoon, but it being the shortest day of the year, the sun only rose low in the sky and would soon set again. Will knew it would be completely dark in just a couple of hours, but he looked forward to it. Or rather he looked forward to what would happen once the sun had set.

During this time of the year there was an annual solstice celebration at Redmont, where everyone would come and celebrate the fact that the days would now start getting longer and lighter again with plenty of good food and drink and dancing, of course. And Will had a plan to celebrate the solstice festival with his old ward mates, who he rarely saw all together. Well, almost all of them; Horace would stay at Araluen this year, but Jenny, Alyss, and George would be there and Will usually only saw them one at a time otherwise.

He and Halt rode in companionable silence as they often did, each one listening to the quiet forest around them and scanning their surroundings. By now this had become second nature to Will, and it was no longer a conscious thought. He simply did it like all other Rangers. And while Halt didn't say anything he was proud of his apprentice's growth and skills as a Ranger and he had great expectations of Will's future.

As soon as they reached the cabin Will swung off Tug, nearly bouncing on the ground in excitement for what was to come. Halt hid a smile. Will could be unreadable when on the job and quite serious, but when at home he was still full of youthful energy and joy.

You could learn something from him, Abelard seemed to say as he turned his head to look at Halt. Don't be so grumpy all the time.

I'll be grumpy whenever I like to, Halt silently answered back as he swung off Abelard's back. Then he patted Abelard's neck. Besides Will is energetic enough for both of us.

Abelard shook his mane, but followed without further comment as Halt led him into the small stable behind the cabin, where Will had already rid Tug of saddle and bridle.

§

Will and Halt spent the rest of the afternoon writing their reports on the state of the fief as well as tidying up the cabin after the weeks they had spent on the road. Aside from sharing a cup of coffee while doing the reports neither of them ate anything knowing that they would soon be feasting on the best food Master Chubb and Jenny could produce, and both wanted to save their appetite for it.

The sun had set and the sky turned a dark blue colour by the time Will and Halt, both now in fresh clothes, swung up on their horses again and rode to Redmont to join in the celebrations.

The guards on duty saluted the two Rangers as they rode through the gate, and a stable boy came running to take their horses. Usually Halt and Will took care of Tug and Abelard themselves, but as they had already given them a good rub earlier in the day and it had been a short ride, they allowed the boy to take the horses knowing he would be excited to share how he got to handle the Ranger horses later today.

There was already a lot of people around, as the people of Wensley also came to Redmont Castle to celebrate and more was arriving every minute. Will was scanning the crowd trying to find his friends. Halt saw it and smiled internally.

"Go on," he told Will. "Find your friends and enjoy the evening. We'll have enough work again tomorrow."

Will flashed him a smile. "See you later, Halt," he said before he bounced off, gliding through the crowd. Halt shook his head slightly, then set off himself to find the company he wanted to keep for the evening, and first on his list was Baron Arald. He might have given Will time off, but Halt wanted to give Arald a summary of what they had observed around the fief before he truly relaxed and kicked back. An image of Pauline rose in his mind as he thought about that and a small smile did manage to find its way onto his face.

§

"Oh, Jenny, you should have seen his face! When George quietly, but firmly, corrected him he looked as if he had just been slapped! And then he turned this lovely shade of red as the other scribes confirmed that George was right. It was so hilarious I almost started to laugh." Alyss' eyes were shining as she retold the story to Jenny, George sitting next to her and trying not to look too pleased with himself.

"Well, my dear Alyss and Jenny, he was just so clearly wrong on the matter; of course I couldn't stay silent."

"Of course not," Alyss agreed.

"But I must admit it felt good taking him down a peg; his arrogance had really started to grate on my nerves."

"Mine as well," Alyss admitted. "He was such a know-it-all, it was almost insufferable."

Jenny chuckled. "Good thing I didn't have to deal with that; at least I just have to deal with the daily tasks of the kitchen and avoiding Master Chubb's ladle."

The other two laughed at that, and Alyss took the opportunity to cast a quick glance around hoping to see Will. She knew he had promised to come tonight, but she also knew that as a Ranger he and Halt could be called away to deal with something anywhere in the fief at any time. Even though Will had said they should be back before the winter solstice celebrations, it was not a certainty. Still, she hoped Will would be here tonight to celebrate with them.

"I think I prefer the debates over Master Chubb and his ladle," George said in mock seriousness, which got another laugh out of the girls.

"Y'know, I think I agree with you."

"Will!" Alyss exclaimed and jumped up to hug him. Will was leaning nonchalantly against the tree the other three were sitting next to, but pushed off the tree with his shoulder to return the hug.

Alyss was amazed at how quietly Will had arrived. Of course, the others hadn't been quiet, but she had only just looked for him without catching so much as a glimpse. She knew his skills as a Ranger had definitely improved in the last few years and she couldn't be more proud of him.

Jenny and George got up to hug Will, too, and soon all four of them settled around the small fire they had set up for themselves.

Jenny was shaking her head. "When did you show up, Will? I swear I had looked at that spot only a moment before and you weren't there."

Will couldn't help a slight secretive smile at that. "I heard the last of Alyss and George's story," he replied. "But I didn't want to interrupt it, so I just stayed hidden until you were done telling it."

George shook his head in admiration. "I really don't know how you do it, Will. It's a mystery to me."

"Probably as much of a mystery as all the law texts you pour over every day is to me, George," Will said with a little smile.

Jenny clapped her hands together to get their attention. "Well, no more story telling; now that we're all here, it's time to start this feast!"

"Hear, hear," George said.

As Jenny passed food around Will said: " You didn't have to wait for me to begin eating; you know I could have been held up somewhere in the fief and not have made it tonight."

Jenny shrugged philosophically. "Didn't hurt anyone to wait a little. If you hadn't shown up by the time the feast really got going we would have started, but we wanted to be sure you weren't coming first if that was the case."

George and Alyss nodded their agreement.

"We didn't want to start without you, Will," Alyss said and briefly put her hand on Will's.

Will smiled back. "Thanks. You're all good friends."

Then they felt silent as they dug into the food, only speaking to praise Jenny's skills as a cook, Jenny beaming every time they did so.

§

Elsewhere Halt was deep in conversation with Baron Arald, Sir Rodney, and Lady Pauline discussing the current state of the fief. Arald appreciated Halt's dedication to keeping trouble under control and had long admired the man's skills as a Ranger. He now once again gave himself a mental pat on the shoulder for ensuring that Halt became the Ranger of Redmont, and he knew that he and his Battlemaster would use the information Halt gave them now to determine where in the fief it might be a good idea to send a patrol of knights or where Lady Pauline might send one of her couriers.

While all four of them were enjoying the food and drink set in front of them, they were also working. Their juniors might be able to take the night off and forget all about work, but as the heads of each their area they never really stopped working, not even during a celebration such as this. Lady Sandra sat next to Arald and listened to the conversation between the other four, but generally didn't interfere. Instead she intercepted anyone approaching them and engaged them in conversation to prevent them from interrupting. It was something she did easily and gracefully, so that no one besides Pauline and Halt ever realised just what she was doing. Both Arald and Rodney were oblivious to Sandra's quiet efforts to let them have their conversation uninterrupted, and simply didn't notice how people's attention were directed away from them.

Sandra smiled to herself. She loved her husband, but he wasn't one for subtleties. That was definitely Lady Pauline's and Ranger Halt's areas of expertise. Pauline caught her eye and gave her a small nod in appreciation of her efforts, before she turned back to the conversation, and Lady Sandra herself engaged someone else in another conversation.

§

It was much later in the evening, but people were still busy eating and drinking and generally just having a good time with friends and family. Jenny had fairly quickly bounced off to the kitchens again, but not before giving them all firm hugs, big smiles and promises that there would be a dessert surprise later in the night.

George had been caught up in a friendly debate with some of his scribe friends and was clearly having a good time.

Will and Alyss sat by the embers of their fire, neither wanting to rise to get more wood for the fire, watching the people dancing nearby and just enjoying each others company. Alyss put her hand in Will's, leaning against him.

"You're cold," Will said softly, turning his head to look at her.

"It's a cold evening," she replied.

"Here," Will said, shifting around so he could free one side of his cloak. "Come under my cloak."

Alyss gratefully scooped closer to Will and snuggled under his cloak with him.

Will felt his heart beat faster, now that Alyss was so close to him that he could feel her body heat. He took her hand between his and warmed it between them. Alyss sighed in contentment and leaned her head against his shoulder as they both continued to watch the people dancing and talking and laughing together.

"Y'know, I wouldn't mind staying like this for a while," Alyss said softly.

"Neither would I," Will replied just as softly.

They both turned their heads to look into each others eyes before Alyss raised her head just enough to meet Will's mouth in a kiss as he bend down to her.

In the dim light of the embers no one took notice of them, and that suited them just fine. Other people could wait until later; for now it was just the two of them and they both wanted to get the most out of the moment they had together.

§

In another corner of the courtyard Halt and Pauline were sitting withdrawn from the rest of the celebrations. Neither was saying much as they enjoyed warm drinks in the cold night, but they both felt great contentment being in each others company. Like their protégés they were both of the quiet opinion that the troubles of the world could wait until tomorrow. This evening was theirs to enjoy and neither Halt nor Pauline were in any hurry for it to end. They didn't know that exact sentiment was echoed by Will and Alyss only thirty meters away.

But this evening would be remembered by them all for a long time to come with great fondness and love.