Exam Stress

by The Comte of Saint-Nicholas

One-shot set after 'The Battle for Skandia'. Will is overworked. Crowley is officious. Gilan is suspiciously happy. Halt is irascible - well, Halt is always irascible. Crowley must inform Halt that to be a legal member of the corps again, he needs to redo his final exam. Halt is about as pleased as you would expect. Which is not pleased. Not pleased at all.

This was written a few months ago as a response to hideous exams, instead of actually doing my exam prep. I touched it up a bit and decided to put it up here, because what the heck.

Disclaimer: If I was actually John Flanagan, I would be publishing this on actual paper with a shiny illustrated cover and be making actual money from it.

The cabin in the woods outside Redmont was peaceful and quiet. Halt had been back in his old quarters for less than a week after returning from Skandia, but it already felt like home again. It had been aired, dusted, cleaned, dusted again, and furnished with basic essentials like firewood and water. Needless to say, the majority of this work had been done, not by Halt, but (begrudgingly) by his apprentice, Will. Halt had given the boy a broom, and with the words 'I want to be able to sleep inside before nightfall' had settled himself with a stack of paperwork comfortably against a tree.

From his place outside in the sun, he occasionally called corrections or words of encouragement to Will, undeterred by the fact that Will was inside and Halt couldn't actually see if he was slacking, or missing bits, or needing to put his back into it. Will, by his increasingly exasperated noises, seemed to think Halt had become able to see through solid walls and was thus able to spot when he didn't seem to be working hard or fast enough.

The scene was peaceful and content, if you ignored the grumbling apprentice. Halt sighed quietly and closed his eyes, letting the sun wash over him. He'd missed Araluen.

Sometime later, without sign or signal, his eyes shot open again, and though he remained perfectly still, darted around the clearing. After a moment, he relaxed and stretched slightly. Will hadn't seemed to notice his mentor doze off in the sun. Frowning slightly, he tried to place the quiet rhythmic noises he had heard since he woke up, growing louder each second.

Hoofs, he thought. And only a Ranger horse could keep them so quiet. He stood up and moved into the centre of the clearing, next to the quiet cabin, watching for his visitor.

'You need to lounge less if you don't want to spend tonight in a tree', he called gruffly, and was rewarded by a flurry of movement in the cabin as Will pretended he had been working all along. When Halt turned back, a horse and rider were standing at the edge of the clearing. Halt didn't need to look closely to recognise them.

'Crowley!' he called. 'How kind of you to drop in. Come by for a drink?'

The rider lowered their cowl to reveal red hair and a rather long nose. 'Well, I wouldn't say no, Halt' he replied. 'It's scorching on the main road.'

Halt nodded and called at the cabin again. 'Will, would you bring a pitcher of water out here? And two cups.'

The apprentice hurried out of the cabin a moment later, handing the requested drinks over with barely-concealed annoyance. He nodded to Crowley, and then went back into the cabin. Halt raised an eyebrow at his retreating back and gestured Crowley over to the tree he had been working next to. Crowley gave a pointed look at the confidential and important letters, forms and correspondence left lying under a tree, but Halt shrugged it off.

'Everyone around here knows better than to steal from a Ranger' he said.

Crowley gave up and dropped the subject, motioning instead towards the cabin, from which the sounds of dusting were slightly more incensed than usual. 'Will appears to be working hard.'

'With bad grace' replied Halt. 'It's all that gadding about in Skandia, not a care in the world. He's gone soft.'

Crowley appeared to be trying very hard not to raise an eyebrow. He finally said 'You know, sometimes I wonder why we ever give you apprentices. You'd think we would have learned by now.'

'Well, I do have an ulterior motive' conceded Halt. 'Wonderful and pleasing though it is to hear my disobedient apprentice taking out his irritation on the carpets. They never normally get so thorough a beating.'

'You always have an ulterior motive, Halt. And not many Rangers would look so pleased by the idea that their apprentice seems to be considering beating them to death in the night.'

'At least I would die in a perfectly clean cabin.' said Halt with a completely straight face. This time Crowley couldn't resist raising an eyebrow.

'Unless he sets it on fire. Will appears to have an aptitude for burning down large wooden structures' said the Ranger mildly.

Halt glared at him. 'He wouldn't dare.' Crowley said nothing, and after a pause Halt continued 'I assume you did have a reason for appearing in Redmont, rather than simply to belittle my control of my apprentice?'

'Yes' said Crowley, leaning back against a tree, 'But it needs to wait until Gilan gets here.'

'Gilan's coming?' asked Halt, and Crowley nodded. Halt considered this for a moment, and then said 'Well, I guess Will could use a hand with the cleaning.'

Ω

When Gilan rode into the clearing on Blaze, Halt and Crowley were talking quietly over one of the interminable sheets of paper. Halt, without looking up, called out 'Gilan! How nice to see you. There's only one broom, I'm afraid, but I'm sure Will would be glad of a hand anyway.'

Gilan dismounted, chuckling, which quickly died when Halt turned a baleful gaze on the younger Ranger. 'You think I'm joking? I can only hope you haven't gotten out of practice since you left my apprenticeship. And you' he added 'had better hope that as well. Otherwise it will ache even more.'

Crowley stepped in quickly. 'You're welcome to rope Gilan into your cleaning, Halt, if you can catch him quick enough, but first we need him for some serious business.'

'We've got two official Rangers here already' pointed out Halt. 'Why would we need three?'

'Because this is about one of them' replied Crowley. 'Now, shall we go inside?'

'Why inside? The weather's good enough out here.'

'Firstly, because I have a suspicion that if you don't give Will a break soon he will do something desperate and then we would have only two Rangers out here' said Crowley pointedly 'and secondly because it's a rather delicate matter and the closer to our chest we keep it, the better.'

Halt thought for a moment, and then shrugged. 'Fine. Perhaps it means you'll actually tell me why you're here quicker.'

The three Rangers entered the cottage, Gilan and Crowley needing to stoop to clear the low doorframe, and settled themselves around the table.

'Will, take a break.' Said Halt, jerking his thumb at the door.

'I hate to tread on your toes even more' said Crowley completely unapologetically 'But it's probably best it Will stays too. This will affect him quite considerably as well.'

'Fine!' cried Halt in mock annoyance. 'I'll just sit here quietly and wait for you to make all the decisions, shall I?'

'That would be quite helpful, yes' replied Crowley, studiously avoiding a grin as he rifled through his bag. 'Right right right right right… Ah ha!' he emerged from his searching of the satchel brandishing a sheet of paper triumphantly. 'Knew it was in here somewhere!'

Crowley settled down a little, looking down his long nose at Halt. 'Halt, Ranger Three of Redmont Fief, in sworn service to King Duncan of Araluen?'

Halt stared at him. 'Yes.' he said bluntly. 'I'd have thought you'd have worked that out by now. Who do you think I am, Abelard?'

'Just following procedure, Halt' said Crowley breezily. 'Got to do things properly, you know.'

Halt snorted. 'Hang procedure, Crowley, and get to the point.'

'All right, just a moment… Gilan Davidson, Ranger Eighteen of Meric Fief, in sworn service to King Duncan of Araluen, also present as witness…' continued Crowley, just as cheerfully, despite Halt's dark looks. Gilan nodded brightly ('Here, Crowley!') and the corps commandant continued. 'Crowley Meratyn, Ranger One of Araluen Fief…well, of course we've got Crowley...Right!'

He looked up from his paper and nodded once or twice judiciously. Halt looked from Crowley to Gilan with growing suspicion. They were both too happy for this to be anything good. Crowley was normally painfully cheerful, but Gilan only started smiling that way when something embarrassing was about to happen to Halt. Sometimes, Halt wished he was less good at reading his former apprentice.

Crowley leaned forwards, managing to smother his grin with a look of concern. 'Halt, there is a minor but really quite serious problem arisen about…well, about you.'

Gilan's smile grew even broader and Halt knew at once that his suspicions were correct. 'Listen, if I wanted beating about the bush I'd send Will with his broom' he said gruffly. 'Get to the point.'

Crowley nodded again. 'Of course. You remember when you were banished?'

'Of course.'

'Well, technically at the moment when King Duncan passed sentence on you, you were expelled from the Ranger corps. And that means, when you came back a year later and were reinstated, according to the law, that reappointment is void. It's like if we picked a random person of the street and handed them an oakleaf. It can't be upheld.'

'I was pardoned wasn't I?' said Halt a little tetchily, eyeing Gilan's smile distrustfully.

'You were pardoned, yes' replied Crowley. 'That's all fairly straightforward. It's the recovery of your old position that's a little more problematic.'

'So?' asked Halt. He was a little worried about this, added to his contempt of any lawful niceties, but he wasn't too concerned, given that Gilan was still smiling.

'Well, it's always been a bit complicated with you Halt, given that we don't have any documentation of your apprenticeship with Pritchard, but…' Crowley looked up from the paper at Halt, noticed his expression, and hurried on. 'In the simplest possible terms, you have to complete your apprenticeship again.'

Halt choked on his cup of coffee, staring at Crowley uncomprehendingly. 'What? Five years as an apprentice? You're mad, Crowley!'

'Well' said Crowley 'In light of your past service, and especially your recent Skandian venture, the King, Lord Anthony and myself have agreed that we will allow you to bypass the apprenticeship itself.'

Halt subsided slightly, breathing a sigh of obvious relief. Crowley let him have a moment, and then continued; 'You will still have to complete the final exam at the next Gathering, though.'

Halt's head shot up again. 'You are mad!' he burst out. 'You expect me to go through that whole final exam rigmarole with a bunch of spotty eighteen year-olds?'

'Halt, Halt' said Gilan admonishingly. 'Final-year apprentices are twenty, you know that.'

Crowley nodded. 'And I should mention that as well as appraising you of the facts, this visit serves as an inspection to see if you're fit to proceed straight to the qualifying exam. And so far, it isn't looking good.'

'But-' began Halt, but Crowley cut him off, reaching into his satchel and producing a clipboard, inkwell and pen.

'Unfamiliar with basic parameters of apprenticeship' the commandant muttered aloud as he wrote.

'Crowley!' shouted Halt, feeling more futile by the minute. He didn't want to look at the side of the table where Will sat. He heard the small explosive noises of someone desperately trying not to burst out laughing.

'Tsk, tsk…Inability to control temper' muttered Crowley quite audibly, adding another note to the clipboard. Gilan had sank below the table, where unrestrained snorts could be heard.

'Shut up, Gilan' snarled Halt, but before Gilan could respond, Crowley made another note.

'Lack of respect to a senior Ranger…dear, dear, Halt, this isn't looking good. Keep on and I'll have you redo the last year of your apprenticeship.'

'Gilan's not my senior' said Halt incredulously.

'Yes he is, given that he is a fully qualified silver-oakleaf bearer and you are, as of yet, not.'

Halt took several deep breaths, making a heroic effort to calm down in the face of the three Rangers in front of him: Crowley, the picture of polite and helpful authority, pen poised for another comment, Will, who was trying unsuccessfully to smother his laughter at Halt's expression, and Gilan, who had still not re-emerged from under the table.

'Crowley' he asked. 'In all seriousness, do I have to take the exam?'

Crowley dropped the air of the inspector and set down his pen and clipboard. 'Yes. It's really more of a formality than anything else. Just the basics, if that's any consolation. A tactical exercise or two. Courier's code. Silent movement. And we'll be checking your archery, of course, to see if it's up to scratch.'

Halt glared at the other man. 'Crowley, I can shoot better than you.'

Crowley made a dismissive hand gesture. 'yes, but-'

'I can shoot better than anyone in the corps.'

'Yes, but-'

'Do I really need to prove it in front of a group of assessors half my age?'

'Yes' said Crowley firmly. 'I'm sorry, Halt. But without it we can't give you the authority of a Ranger.' He chuckled. 'And it's not as if you need to worry about failing.'

Halt opened his mouth to say something acerbic, probably along the lines of 'If it's a foregone conclusion, why do I need to take it', but Crowley cut him off with uncharacteristic seriousness. 'It's not just you we have to worry about, as well. If you don't regain an official position as a Ranger, all of Will's training and apprenticeship since your banishment is counted as not legitimate. It would take a lot of work to sort out, and he might have to start his second year again with another Ranger.'

Halt hesitated, but really his mind was already made up. If he had to complete the exam to become a Ranger again, he'd complete it, and hang Gilan's amusement. And if that wasn't sufficient encouragement, the idea that he might jeopardise Will's apprenticeship was more than enough. Halt knew that he would never willingly endanger the boy's path to being a Ranger. Not after he'd shown such an aptitude for it. Not after he'd chosen it over knighthood and glory on two separate occasions.

He looked up at Crowley, who was watching him carefully. 'Fine.' he said gruffly. 'I'll take the blasted exam.'

Gilan, who had just managed to rise back above the table, eyes teary from laughter, beamed. 'Brilliant' he said weakly, and Halt glared.

'By the way, Crowley' he said, still staring at Gilan. 'Why does Gilan have to be here?'

Crowley shrugged. 'We needed a sworn-in Ranger to witness the thing-'

'I volunteered' put in Gilan cheerfully.

'I'll bet you did' muttered Halt.

Crowley continued. 'Also, it's a week until the gathering, and we need a full Ranger to watch you and Will's apprenticeships until that time.'

'No.' said Halt in realisation. 'No.'

'Someone from a small fief that can last for a week without them…'

'Meric isn't the only small fief' interrupted Halt in something that sounded a little like panic. 'What about Bartell in Seacliff? Or Harrison in Coledale?'

'Someone with knowledge and previous experience of Redmont…'

'Oh God' said Halt, and Crowley burst out laughing.

Ω

Crowley mounted Cropper as the sun began to drop in the sky.

'Feel free to stay the night, Crowley' said Halt, standing by. 'It'll be a bit tight, but Will can sleep in the stable.'

'Thanks, but I must be getting on back to Araluen. There's probably a whole stack of paperwork that's accumulated since I left.'

'Rather takes all the fun out of being a Ranger, doesn't it?' said Halt, and Crowley nodded wearily.

'Though' he said, brightening up 'There is the odd bit of fun paperwork.' Halt glowered and he glanced back towards the cabin, where Will was helping Gilan unpack. 'I hope he isn't too hard on you. He has been waiting for this moment for the best part of eight years.'

'I can still put the fear of god in him' said Halt, grimly amused. 'He thinks he's in control, you'll see. Then he'll start having flashbacks to the third year of his apprenticeship.'

Crowley winced. 'A time best left forgotten, I think. Ah well, he'll have Will to snap him out of it.' He paused reflectively. 'By the by, what was your ulterior motive for working him so hard?'

'I always work my apprentices hard' said Halt in mock affront. 'It's what makes them the superb Rangers they are.'

'Harder than usual, then.'

Halt thought for a moment. 'He had a bit of a relationship problem with the princess.'

Crowley nodded in understanding. 'Of course. He spends the whole winter with her as Evanlyn, just the two of them against the odds, and then back in Araluen she's swept away by a tide of tittering noblewomen and he doesn't know how to cope with treating her as a princess.'

'Exactly' replied Halt. 'The whole business with him turning down the royal commission didn't help either. She saw it as a rejection of her. I figure the more time he spends expending energy working like a Skandian and hating me, the less time he has to brood over his heartbreak.'

Crowley chuckled. 'Ever the martyr, Halt. Will it help?'

'It won't reform his relationship if that's what you mean' answered Halt. 'But it might distract him from it until it's a bit less fresh. And when he's older, they'll both be able to cope fine. It just needs to tide him over until then.'

Crowley grinned, and Halt felt a momentary stab for some of his earlier attitude. 'Crowley…I'm sorry if I was a bit harsh today.'

Crowley waved it off, regarding Halt from his horse in amusement. 'I'm sure it was just exam stress. You know Halt, behind all that sarcasm and gruffness you really are just a big teddy bear.'

'I will have you know' said Halt with great dignity 'That bears are dangerous and powerful animals. I should know. I kill them with my bare hands.'

Crowley laughed fully this time, turning Cropper away towards the track out of the forest. 'I'll see you at the Gathering, Halt.'

'See you at the Gathering.' Halt stood outside, watching the Ranger until he was out of sight. Then he turned away from the growing dusk towards the lighted cabin, where he knew his apprentice and his former apprentice would be waiting to begin his 'education'. With a quiet sigh, he fixed his expression into a slightly disapproving deadpan and entered the cabin.

Halt knew his apprentices very well. They were waiting.