A Thorn In His Side
Hi everyone!
I'm back from a very, very long hiatus but hopefully everything has calmed down and I can continue writing. Unfortunately, though, I am going to be taking a pretty long break from one of my main fandom's, Harry Potter, as in the last year and a half or so I have had people be horrid to me about my writing and I have decided that I'm not going to write in Harry Potter anymore for the foreseeable future.
Don't worry, I'm not quitting or anything like that, I just need to have some time to figure out what I want to do in that fandom, so I'm going to be concentrating on my other main fandom, which is Ranger's Apprentice. I am hoping to have this story updated every week or so, but because of certain things in my life, posting a new chapter might become difficult.
I am going to say this here and now, if anyone has constructive criticism feel free to hand it out, but if you don't have anything nice to say, then please leave as I no longer have time for people who are ungrateful and want to cause me more emotional turmoil. I love writing and reading and spinning a tale of epic proportions, but when people leave horrid reviews or anything like that, it stuffs with my mentality and I'm left feeling downright dead.
I have missed writing and talking to anyone and everyone that wants to read my stories, and if you have any questions then please email me here- ilariajphoenix
For those of you who have emailed me and I haven't answered you, please email again as in the last month I have had internet troubles and have lost most of the emails that have been sent to me because of crashes I have experienced with Gmail. I have now sorted it all out and I might set up a new email in a month or so just for the purpose of receiving updates from other author's and so I can talk to you guys, my loving readers.
None of this is directed at anyone in particular, just those who have been horrid and haven't known when to stop. I don't own Ranger's Apprentice, that great honour belongs to John Flanagan himself and his publishers, and I make no money whatsoever from writing these stories.
Enjoy reading my dears,
Love,
Ilaria xx
Summary:
What if Will never went to Celtica with Gilan and Horace? What if Halt thought it was too dangerous and didn't want to see the young man he has come to call his son get hurt? Halt decides to go with his former Apprentice and the young Knight in training to settle Araluen's differences with their neighbour country, when they come across Princess Cassandra, or as she introduces herself to be Evanlyn. They learn of Morgarath's plans and alliance to the Skandian's, and Halt sends Gilan back to the War Camp in the mountains to warn the King and his General's of the upcoming invasion. Will Gilan and Will be able to save their father in time? Or will they lose him and have to say goodbye to one of the only people they have ever had in their lives?
Chapter 1
Quick Author's Note that I forgot to mention: Everything is the same as in the books, except Halt is in Will's place and Will goes after his 'father' with the help of a few people. The beginning of the story takes place after Halt and Cassandra have left, so I guess it takes place at the beginning of the 4th book but is now slightly AU. Enjoy!
Will throws the pieces of paper in his hand onto the desk in front of him, his brown eyes showing his fatigue and fear as he places his head in his hands and sighs loudly, not knowing how he, Crowley, Gilan and Ilaria will be able to get away to find their family member, who is probably wondering what the hell is taking them all so long to rescue him and the Princess, who Will is inclined to slap for getting his Mentor captured and possibly injured.
He looks over to the settee behind him and smiles at his 'little sister', who is currently curled up into Gilan's side and sleeping soundly, having been awake most of the night pouring over maps, texts and plans with Crowley and Merida, who is Gilan's 18-year-old Apprentice, to try and figure out how they're going to leave for Skandia in a days' time.
He looks up when he hears the door opening and Ilaria jerks awake, rubbing the sleep from her bottle green eyes and mumbling a thanks to Gilan, whom she sees as another older brother. He smiles slightly and pulls her back into his side, knowing she's not fully awake yet and finding her rather amusing as she snuggles close and promptly falls asleep again. Will giggles lightly as Gilan rolls his eyes, the older male probably thinking something along the lines of, 'Damn Apprentice's'.
Crowley enters the rooms with Merida in tow, her bright, mercury coloured eyes alight with triumph and Crowley grins at everyone in the room before stating, "We leave in two hours, the King has stated that Will, Gilan, Ilaria and myself are free to leave to find Halt and the Princess, whilst Meri stays with Desmond and helps him run the Corps." Will punches the air in relief and Ilaria yawns, sitting up and stretching before turning to Crowley and shaking her head, "About bloody time, I was about to go and convince him myself." Everyone in the room collectively winces, knowing exactly how that would have turned out, and it wouldn't have been in the King's favour either.
Everyone gets to work, packing their things and taking them down to the Castle Stables, where Ilaria, Gilan, Will and Crowley saddle their horses and are ready to leave within an hour, causing Merida to mutter to herself about the others not having any patience, but then she shrugs and grins, knowing that she wants Halt back as soon as possible so she can irritate him again. She wishes them all good luck, gives her brother's a hug and kiss to the cheek each, before doing the same to Crowley, her other father besides Halt. When she turns to Ilaria, she smiles and hugs her tight, slipping a necklace into her breeches pocket and giving her a pointed look and a letter from Amele, the Matron at Redmont Fief Ward.
Ilaria nods, her expression grim as she thanks Merida quietly before mounting her horse and riding after Crowley and the others, quietly explaining to Will what Merida had wanted. The blonde watches them ride off into the distance before she turns and heads into the castle, heading towards Desmond's chambers and beginning to plan out their next move against Foldar, Morgarath's leading General.
After riding all day, Will and the others decide to stop and make camp in the woods along the highway, where they set up a fire and their tents, Ilaria sharing with her Mentor and Will sharing with Gilan. The youngest of the four gets ready to start cooking, having shot rabbits earlier in the day and making it into a stew whilst Crowley and Gilan scout the area and make sure no one is following them. Will looks around to make sure the other two aren't in earshot before he turns back to Ilaria, who is skinning the final rabbit before cutting it up and chucking it in the boiling water before her, "Ills, what does the letter say?" He murmurs, and she shrugs, wiping her hands clean of the blood before taking the letter out of her pocket and unfolding it before she begins reading aloud in a quiet voice;
Ilaria and Will,
The necklace Merida has given you will you guide you to Halt and the Princess, but be warned, for the necklace will also alert you when there are enemies near you. Every morning, make sure you hide the necklace in your clothes, but against skin, for if it grows warmer, you are nearer to Halt, if it grows colder, an enemy is not far away.
Be careful my Grandchildren and help each other through the tough trials ahead.
Lots of love,
Grandmother
Ilaria's eyebrows raise to her hairline and Will groans, his brown eyes widening at the implications, "Well, at least she's helping us and not making us do this on our own like every other time." Ilaria shrugs before tucking the letter away in her saddle bag and she turns to Will, her eyes bright with happiness, "She's helping us Will because she knows Halt is part of our family, and even though I've never learnt under him, I've known him long enough to consider him my father, which is just how you feel about him and Crowley." Will raises an eyebrow at her and she grins, winking at her brother as she adds, "Which is the way I feel towards them too!" And they smile at each other before getting back to their tasks, not noticing the happy and surprised look on Crowley's face, considering he thought that they only tolerated him at best.
The next morning the four family members set off again, this time just as the sun rises above the trees and into the small clearing they had decided to camp in the night before. They saddle their horses and begin heading north towards Skandia and Halt, who they will forever protect no matter the cost to themselves. Throughout the day, Crowley and Gilan continued to teach Ilaria and Will the ways of the Ranger, asking them each different a scenario and getting them to think out their plans before sharing it with the small group.
They would also ask them to identify the different tracks in the underbrush and to kill small game for their dinner later that night, as well as question them on the current political status of Araluen and Celtica, who were on the brink of an all out war, "You know Crowley, if King Duncan would swallow his pride and extend his hand in friendship, this whole mess would blow over quicker than you might think." Will grumbles, causing Ilaria to snicker and Gilan to smirk, waiting for Crowley to tear him to shreds.
The Ranger Corps Commandant looks at his youngest son, the glare that is forming causing Will to slowly smile innocently before changing Tug's direction and moving to the other side of Ilaria, who bursts into laughter at the murderous look on their father's face, "One day William, I am going to murder you in your sleep." Crowley growls, his hazel eyes flashing and Will just giggles, batting his eyelashes at the man next to Ilaria before he catches a glimpse of something in his peripheral vision.
He frowns, putting his hand up and signalling for silence when Gilan goes to speak, "Ills, did you see that?" She nods, her expression grim as she knocks an arrow and aims it at a seemingly harmless bush, when they notice a slight rustle before Ilaria changes her direction ever so slightly and releases, the arrow hitting the bark of the tree with a dull thwack.
There's a squeak of surprise before a young man with silver hair and black eyes jumps out of the bush and glares at Ilaria, who gapes at the man neither her or Will have seen in the past five years, "Thorne!? What the hell were you doing in the bushes!? I could have skewered you!" Thorne intensifies his glare before huffing and shaking his head, his black eyes narrowing when he notices the other two, "Who the hell are these two?" His voice is gruff, giving the impression that he'd been screaming and Will groans, shaking his head and levelling a warning look at the short man and he grumbles to himself as he apologizes, causing Ilaria to ask herself why they put up with him, "This is Gilan Merric and Crowley Meratyn. Gilan, Crowley, this is Thorne Davidson, an old acquaintance of mine and Will's."
Will snorts in derision, rolling his eyes as he urges Tug into a walk, heading straight for Thorne and picking him up by the scruff of his shirt and depositing him behind him, "Don't move, speak or even breathe." Thorne glares at him and begins sulking, his black eyes showing his mischief, "Don't Thorne, or this time, I won't miss." Ilaria growls, her bottle green eyes flashing and the short man gulps, his body beginning to shake in fear, knowing that Ilaria wasn't threatening him but making a promise.
They continue on their way, Gilan and Crowley giving Thorne curious looks as Ilaria urges Asfaloth, her horse, onwards towards a small hill off to the side of the road where she dismounts and looks over the plains ahead, trying to see if there was anyone who was tailing Thorne or in turn, them. The other four catch up and she turns to the young man astride Tug, "Did anyone follow you from where you came from?" He shakes his head, his silver bangs falling into his eyes as he looks at her and states, "I dealt with them, don't worry. If anyone is following us, we can take care of them and send a message to Amele to let her know. Did you receive her package by any chance?"
Ilaria and Will both nod, their expressions grim as Ilaria places a hand on her chest over the Amulet that Merida had handed to her yesterday, "Good, because we're going to need it. Over there, near that big oak, is the border between our territory and the Raven's territory, and considering Lady Dane is missing, the Raven's are a bit edgy." Will's eyes widen, and he turns to face Thorne, ignoring Gilan's and Crowley's confused looks, "Lady Dane's missing!? Since when and how!?" Thorne shrugs, before turning to Ilaria and stating, "She went missing about a month or two ago after a raid on Vallas Village, and the Raven's are being very tight lipped about it so no one knows about what's going except Amele and us Messenger's."
Ilaria sighs as she mounts Asfaloth, her expression tired and annoyed as she guides them back to the road and they continue north towards their destination, Will and Ilaria knowing that tomorrow or the day after will be when they cross the Raven's Border, which most probably won't be pretty at all.
They make camp that night beside the road behind some bushes, and Will shakes his head when Gilan states he'll gather some wood for the fire. Crowley looks at him in confusion and Will sighs, deciding they might as well explain about the Raven's, "Alright, I think it might be History time." Ilaria glares at her brother, who ignores her before getting comfortable and sorting his thoughts before beginning, "Before King Oswald was king, there was another as well know, who had a daughter that supposedly passed away." Crowley and Gilan nod, looking confused as Will pauses. Everyone knows the story of King Harold and the tragic death of his daughter, Princess Evangeline, who was tortured and killed in front of her father six years before King Oswald was born. The Princess was his sister, a sister he never met but heard stories of, and in turn told stories to his son, King Duncan, who never got to meet the kind and loving Princess, who was his aunt.
"What does the Royal Family have to do with this?" Gilan asks, his brow furrowed as Will smiles gently at him before continuing, "This only concerns Princess Evangeline, who never died. Yes, she was tortured and thought to be dead by the King, but when they went to recover her body, they found it to be gone with a blood trail leading out of the room and into the forest by the Castle. Princess Evangeline went on to form the Raven's, a guild that swore to protect those who needed it, but they wouldn't get involved with any of the major wars, nor would they take anyone who had some affiliation with the Royal Family, they would only take those who were poor or in dire need of assistance."
Ilaria snorts at the shocked expressions on Gilan's and Crowley's faces, causing Will to smile in amusement as Ilaria takes up the explanation, her expression basically saying, 'Fuck it.' She clears her throat, thinks about how to word what she needs to and then she jumps headfirst into the continuation of the story, having handed out their food packs to everyone and handing half of hers to Thorne whilst Will was telling the tale, "After a few years or so, a woman by the name of Destiny Dane was found on the side of the road, her body covered in the same wounds Evangeline had sustained when she was living in the Castle. Evangeline could tell by the clothes 14-year-old Destiny was wearing that she was a Noble's daughter, which caused quite the internal war within herself.
"What really caused her to leap into action, though, was the obvious child growing in Destiny's stomach, so Evangeline took the young girl back to her small, and I mean small, castle to help her heal and recover. Over the expanse of four months, Destiny gave birth to a stillborn girl whom she called Omisha, which means Spirit of birth and death. After Destiny buried her dead child, she confided in Evangeline and revealed that the child would have been born sickly anyway because of what her father did to her…"
Gilan and Crowley gasp, before allowing Will to pick up the story from where Ilaria left off, "After that day, the Raven's became more than Protectors, they became Assassins who would find people who had hurt someone else and kill them in the same way they had hurt the victim, with some of the deaths being dragged out over long periods of time, the longest being about a year and a half." Gilan pales and Crowley splutters, having taken a sip from his canteen whilst Will was talking, "How come we don't know about this!?" He cries, and Ilaria smiles grimly, the smile sending chills down Gilan's spine, "Because they don't want to be known about. After about ten years, when Destiny turned 24, Evangeline passed away at the ripe old age of 38 years from an arrow to the neck. Destiny then became the Leader of the Raven's and began calling herself Lady Dane, allowing the Raven's to continue. They're all protective of Destiny as 95% of them grew up with her around, and some were even trained by her."
Will nods in agreement, taking another bite of his dried meat and swallowing before continuing, "At some point in the next few days we will have to cross into their territory, and when we do, they will know instantly. They probably won't recognize Ilaria or I as we haven't been in these parts for about 6 years or so, which means there will be a skirmish until one of us can be listened too." Crowley nods, his hazel eyes troubled as the question he's been pondering for the past five minutes makes itself known, "Why didn't she go back to her father? King Oswald loved her and called her his 'Treasure'." This time, Thorne snorts in amused derision, his black eyes holding complete hatred for one of the former King's, "He was insane, remember?" At the Ranger's nod, Thorne sneers and continues, shocking the two older Ranger's into silence, "He thought she was possessed because she was resourceful, talented at the bow and able to wield a sword better than he.
"He hired some Pictan's to torture and rape her before killing her, but not before he tried to 'cleanse' her in the way the Pictan's were doing it. He was raping his daughter for years, no matter how many times she got away, he would force her back and continue, only it would be worse. My father, Lord Matheus Davidson, helped her whenever he could, so when the Pictan's 'killed' her accidentally, he went down and helped her escape. The blood was pig's blood, they were hiding in the shadows when the King and the men who had tortured her for months came down to retrieve her body before the idiots left to search for her. This is north of Araluen, whereas the blood trail was found to the south."
Gilan nods thoughtfully, his skin pale and his body trembling as Crowley shakes his head and lies back onto the grass. Will stands, stretches and then heads over to Gilan, the younger of the two sitting beside the older and pulling him to Will's chest, where Gilan hides his face in the younger man's neck. Ilaria smiles slightly, before turning to Thorne and taking the necklace off and handing it to him, "Can you hold onto it for a minute Thorne? I want to go for a dip in the stream." Thorne rolls his eyes, smiling fondly at Ilaria as he nods his head places the necklace around his own neck and shooing her away.
She smiles gratefully before heading towards the stream in the small gully below them, her laughter being heard as they hear Asfaloth follow her, "She's always been drawn to water." Thorne murmurs fondly and Will grins, nodding his agreement as the two friends laugh uncontrollably at the inside joke.
After half the day of riding and avoiding the Raven's territory, Thorne rolls his eyes and whacks Will on the back of the head, glaring at the younger one when he turns with a murderous glare fixed upon his face, "Stop avoiding the damn place and get on with it!" Thorne growls, causing Will's face to slacken as he faces the front, looking out over the seemingly empty and innocent plain, "What do you think Ills? Should we cross or leave it until tomorrow?" She sighs, defeated, as she guides Asfaloth to the oak they were getting further away from. She urges her horse past it until she comes to a rather big boulder before she stops and draws an arrow from her quiver and knocks it in her bow, which had been sitting across her lap the whole entire morning.
She scans the surrounding plains with a critical eye, noting how some of the shadows aren't matching up with their objects, but she continues scanning the plains before an arrow whizzes past her and hits a shadow in the chest, causing it to gurgle and then crumble to the ground, revealing a man with serpentine scales under his eyes. She raises an eyebrow before turning around to thank Will, only to see that it had been Crowley who had fired the arrow. He urges Cropper over to her and scans her with a critical eye before pulling her to his chest with shaking arms, "Crowley, I'm fine. I knew he was there, but I admittedly thought he wouldn't try anything until I had let my guard down."
Crowley mumbles something into his Apprentice's shoulder, causing her to strain her hearing to hear him, "He was about to pounce, and his sudden appearance didn't sit right with me, so I fired…" Ilaria smiles gently as she hugs her father around the waist, burying her face in his shoulder as she relaxes. Will and the others catch up, Thorne dismounting and heading over to the body of the Serpentine creature, "A Vex? What the hell are these buggers doing out in the sweltering heat of the plains?" He asks, causing Will to frown in concern as Ilaria and the rest of them dismount, Crowley not leaving his Apprentice's side and causing her to roll her eyes fondly at him, "I'm fine." She stresses, and he raise an eyebrow at her and she throws her arms in the air, exasperation showing clearly on her face.
Will chuckles, causing Ilaria to glare at him and huff, before heading over to the body to inspect it, "You're right Thorne, what is a Vex doing out here!? They hate the heat and prefer the cold, wet confines of underground caves…" A look of horror crosses her face as realization dawns on her, causing Will and Thorne to pale when they realize the same thing, "I hope we're wrong…" She murmurs, her bottle green eyes welling with fear as they run to their horses and mount them, urging them into a full-on gallop and catching Crowley and Gilan by surprise. They turn and whistle for their horses, who come trotting over to them where they mount them and gallop after their family, worry on their faces as they look ahead.