Disclaimer: I do not own Ranger's Apprentice.
"She's so beautiful," Nicolas murmured, looking down into the sleeping face of his newborn daughter.
Maddie smiled in quiet agreement. To any random onlooker, the red, wrinkled creature was anything but attractive. To the new little princess's parents, she was gorgeous.
"How do you feel about being queen someday, little one?" Maddie whispered. The baby stirred in her mother's arms, but didn't wake. Maddie looked up to where her husband sat at the bedside.
"She needs a name," she said, as if the idea had just occurred to her. Nicolas nodded.
"We had some good ones, didn't we? Here—I wrote them down—let me get the list—" He reached into his pocket, but before he could retrieve the list, the door to the small ward opened.
Horace Altman, Maddie's father, married to the queen, and foremost knight of the kingdom, rushed in, his graying hair plastered to his face and clothes dripping.
"It's raining like cats and dogs out there," he said by way of greeting, then he crossed the room to his daughter and son-in-law, sending a cloak to lie in a heap on the floor as he did so. His eyes lit up as he saw the bundle in Maddie's arms.
"Girl or boy?" he asked quietly, reaching out to take the child into his arms.
"Girl," Maddie replied. Horace smiled, practically glowing as he looked down into the sleeping face in the crook of his arm. He gently swayed, rocking her back and forth.
"I'm a grandfather," he whispered. Then he looked up, his face all business. "You haven't named her yet, have you?"
"We were just about to," Nicolas said, showing off the list. "We were thinking of—"
"Forget that," Horace interrupted. "See, something's come up." He carefully placed the baby back in Maddie's arms. "Will arrived a couple of hours ago. We were out for a ride, talking about the baby, and—well, he brought something up. . . ."
The three men were in Hibernia.
Halt and Horace had camped out for the night, Will had stayed in an inn. The hard camp rations were frugal and dry. Taking pity on them, Will brought a bundle of the inn's breakfast to the campsite.
He transferred a large portion to his plate and reached for his fork. He paused as he saw Halt moving to join him and take his own share of the bacon and sausages, ripping off a chunk of the fresh soft bread to go with it.
"I thought you said hard rations build character?" Will said, managing to stay straight-faced. Halt looked up at him with some dignity.
"I have character," he said. "I have character to spare. It's young people like you two who need their characters built."
"I'll build mine tomorrow," Horace said through a mouthful of food. "This is excellent, Will! When I have grandchildren, I'll name them all after you!"
And even though Horace did, Will never forgot that offhanded comment.
"Seriously, Dad?" Maddie said incredulously.
Horace shrugged helplessly. "I had completely forgotten. But since Will remembered . . . well, I'm a knight of honor. I keep my word."
He thought he heard Maddie grumble something very unladylike about where he could put his honor. He chose to ignore it, however. "So, what are you going to name her?"
"Children! Uncle Will's here to see you!" Maddie called from her informal meeting room. She rolled her eyes when she was met with no response.
"Willow! William! Willard! Willhelmina! Willson! And . . . Willa!"
Will nodded sagely. "I think that last one was a bit of a stretch," he commented.
"Oh, shut up."
Author's Note: I do hope this happens. I really do.
