Halt silently crept to the king's palace, knowing that if anyone found out he was going to talk to the king about Will, he'd be taken out. He arrived at the king's palace, breathing quietly as he saw the king discussing matters with Lady Pauline. He waited until she left then walked in, as if appearing from the shadows. The king looked alarmed as he saw Halt emerge from the shadows.
"If this is about Will-"the king began to say before he was cut off by Halt.
"This isn't me asking for your permission," said Halt, "This is me telling you that I am going."
The king steamed furiously as he walked towards Halt. "Who do you think you are," he spoke angrily, "Telling me what you're going to do without my say?!"
"I am a ranger," said Halt, "And if you don't let me go as a ranger then I'll resign."
The king stood in the cold room, contemplating the situation. "Fine," he said in defeat.
Halt walked out of the room and into Horace's and shared with him what he had been discussing with the king.
Horace listened to Halt and finally began to speak, "I'm coming with you."
Halt knew there was no way to stop him from coming, so he reluctantly agreed. Horace brought his newly sharpened sword and they set off to find a boat. The king sent a courier who led them to one.
Horace and Halt began inspecting the boat in front of them when the courier cleared his throat. "This isn't the best boat we have but it should suffice for your journey." The young men looked on inquisitively as the courier continued. "It has all the supplies you shall need and should last until your arrival."
Halt let a smile slip, at least as much of a smile as a ranger could muster, and said his thanks. The courier left and Horace and Halt boarded the boat. Horace observed the boat intriguingly as he stared at all the swords on display.
The two boys set off in the brisk of night, as the cold wind blew the sails off towards sea. Horace began preparing a meal as Halt steered the ship in the direction he last saw Will and Evanlyn. He stared grimly into the night sky as he wondered what was happening to his friends.
"The Skandians couldn't have gotten far from here," Horace exclaimed as he sat down to eat at the table inside the captain's quarters. Halt was silent as he began to eat.
"We're getting up at dawn," said Halt. Horace gave a slight nod and went to sharpening his blade. Halt traveled to his bunk with heavy thoughts of his friends' fate weighing down on him.
Halt awoke bright and early; off in the distance he could barely see a faint outline of the sun rising through the thick, damp fog.
Horace walked past Halt's bunk and squinted into the thick fog. "Halt, I think I see land!" he shouted.
Halt jumped to his feet and put on his rangers cloak as he ran onto deck. There was indeed land before them as well as a dock where Halt quickly steered the boat. They hastily jumped off of the boat and began to search the area around them. The cold air whipped against their faces as they saw the blizzard ahead of them.
The two walked towards one of the locals and described to her the ship Will and Evanlyn were on.
"Have you seen it?" Horace said hastily as Halt finished describing it.
The old woman pointed slowly east of where the docks were and said, "I saw a couple of men with a boy and girl walking in that direction."
Halt thanked her and they set off in the pointed direction. The two were shivering in the cold as they began to think about setting up camp when they heard nearby voices. They looked through the snowy sky and found steam coming from a little north of where they were. They followed the smoke quickly in hopes of being able to stay near the fire.
Halt and Horace simultaneously stood frozen in shock as they gazed upon two familiar faces. It was Will and Evanlyn there before their very eyes, and being prepared to be sold as slaves to other Skandians.