Disclaimer: I do not own Ranger's Apprentice. I don't make any money from this story.

Campsite, Skandia:

"... and here we are." finished Horace. "We've told you our story, what's yours?

Will and Evanlyn glanced at each other.

"I'll start, shall I?" said Will. "The Skandians couldn't cross over the Stormwhite, so we stopped at Skorghijl. At first, we were allowed to go anywhere on the island. We tried to escape, but didn't get very far. They kept a pretty close eye on us after that.

A little while after arriving at Skorghijl, we were joined by another crew. Slagor's. He and Erak, the Jarl of the group that captured us, were enemies. Once they got enough ale in their system, however, they were civil enough. For Skandians, that is.

After we got to Skandia, we were put to work as slaves-"

"You were what?" cried Horace in surprise.

"Slaves, Horace. Anyway, they set us to work around Hallasholm, their capital. Evanlyn was sent to the kitchens while I worked in The Yard." said Will.

"Eventually, I became Erak's personal slave." here, Evanlyn picked up the story. "One night, Erak sent for me- no, no nothing like that!" she added hurriedly when Horace growled softly. Even Halt seemed a little relieved.

"He'd come across Will a little while back and seen the change in him. He'd found the boy a worthy opponent and was sorry to see him in his current state, so, he devised a plan to get us out. We made our way up to a hunter's lodge and stayed for the winter. I went out to check our snares when I was captured by a Temujai scout."

"When Evanlyn didn't come back, I got worried and grabbed my bow and the arrows I'd made. I found where she'd been captured and tracked them back to the Temujai camp. You know the rest, really." finished Will.

"What's The Yard?" asked Horace, finally.

"It was where all the yard slaves worked. They also slept in a hut out there. The yard slaves were responsible for things like chopping wood and hauling water. It was also the assignment that killed the most slaves." answered Will.

"I'm sorry this happened." said Halt, quietly.

Will felt a sudden flare of anger and uncertainty. Is that all he has to say? He thought. I've nearly died and been beaten countless times, not to mention raped, starved, and recovered from an addiction and all he can say is that he's sorry this happened? Do I really mean so little to him?

He doesn't know that. Said another part of his brain. All he knows is that you were enslaved. Who's fault is it that he only knows part of the story?

Wasn't this what he wanted, anyway? A small reaction, then everything could go back to normal.