Author's Notes~
I'm back with another chapter! I realized that I forgot to do review replies last time. :O However, I don't have the time to do them now, but I'll tell you what, I'll go back when I do have time and edit them in. ;D I feel bad for forgetting them. :( I like to communicate with you guys.
Moving on, this is actually the second chapter I posted using the LibreOffice that FF recommended. It's an alright writing doc~ Though I'm still getting to know its functions.
Without further comments...Chapter Seven!
Dance of the Crimson Knives
Chapter Seven
The sun was high in the sky as Will and Selethen approached the Gathering Grounds. It was the first place that Will thought to look. If Halt and Crowley were anywhere to be in secret, they would most definitely meet there. However, despite the secrecy of the grounds, Will didn't think to bother with blindfolding Selethen. With such a task at hand, it didn't seem to matter, and Selethen was more focused on the destination rather than the trail.
Will urged Tug onwards as they started to near the Gathering Grounds, feeling anxiety begin to rise in him. He felt suddenly incredibly eager to find his mentor, explain everything, and have a plan. Selethen followed with his mare, trusting that the Ranger knew where he was going.
However, the young Ranger's hopes were dashed as soon as they arrived. The grounds were empty.
Tug slowed to a halt, dipping his head in his own disappointment to find Abelard absent. Selethen rode up beside Will, looking about uncertainly before resting his gaze questioningly on Will. "Nothing's here," he said simply.
Selethen's comment made Will want to scream out in frustration. It was disappointing enough that he could see that his own thoughts were wrong, but hearing the obvious stated and thrown in his face made the whole situation seem worse, and made him look like a fool. For the entire trip Will acted as though he knew what he was doing, and practically knew where Halt and Crowley would be, but he was mistaken.
"Of all places, they'd be here!" Will said irritably as he clutched Tug's reins.
"Perhaps they are still out searching for Faustus and unaware of where he has really been," Selethen suggested calmly.
But Will shook his head. "No, two experienced Rangers like Halt and Crowley wouldn't be off on a wild goose chase. They'd be on Faustus's trail, and thus we would have seen them come across Castle Araluen," he explained certainly.
"You forget," Selethen went on. "That Faustus himself is also a Ranger."
A scowl appeared on Will's face. He hardly considered Faustus a Ranger, not after all that's happened. Though the idea that Faustus could cleverly hide his tracks wasn't a far-fetched one. Faustus would have to assume other – true – Rangers would hunt him down and would be prepared for that.
"Come on then," Will said reluctantly as he changed direction. "We might as well start heading towards Coledale. If they're not at the Gathering Grounds, they could be seeking answers at Faustus's former fief."
Selethen nodded. "A wise possibility," he said in agreement before giving Will another brusk nod, indicating that he was ready to follow Will's lead.
The young Ranger looked away from the Arridi warrior and, with a gentle nudge of his heels, urged Tug in the direction of Coldedale, and Will could hear the pounding hooves of Selethen's mare following.
Now Will suddenly felt calmer, but there was still a dark flare in his eyes that won't extinguish until Faustus was caught...and punished.
Alyss, tall and elegant, stood at the doorway of a gloomy room in contrast to her presence. Even with the sun peaked at its highest point, the room of the Crown Princess held little light, as if the grief blocked out any forms of cheery light.
Motionless by Evanlyn's bed was Horace, keeping his new wife's hand clutched firmly in his. For a while now Horace had barely spoken or eaten, something incredibly out of character for him. Standing next to where Horace sat was King Duncan, his arms folded as he looked over his wounded daughter. His back was turned towards Alyss, so she was unable to see his expression.
Finally, after a long and tedious moment, the king turned around, revealing his stained cheeks to Alyss, before heading out of the room with nothing more than a glance in the Courier's direction. He mumbled words of fury under his breath as he left, as if he was preparing to take his rage and grief out on some unfortunate guard.
Once he was gone, Alyss slowly stepped forward into the room, coming up next to her wardmate. She held a tray in her hands, on it some fresh fruit and steaming soup. But Horace didn't seem to even register his friend or the food she carried,
Alyss gently nudged Horace with the tray. "You should eat," she said softly as she took up the chair next to him.
"Not hungry," Horace replied shortly, not lifting his gaze to greet the Courier.
"Eat anyway," Alyss insisted as she nudged him again. "You need it."
Horace now glanced sharply at Alyss and said almost angrily. "I said I'm not hungry!" he snapped, looking ready to shove the food to the floor.
Alyss almost gave in to her friend's out-of-character lash. But quickly she regained her Courier facade and looked evenly at Horace in the eye. "You'll eat," she said as she forcefully placed the tray in his lap. "It doesn't hurt to take care of yourself. How can you possibly expect to look after anyone else if you can't even do that?"
Horace stared at Alyss for a long moment, then looked down at the food tray in his lap. Giving in at last, Horace took the spoon and slipped some of the warm broth into his mouth without another word.
After a few mouthfuls of soup, Horace finally took a pause, wiping away some of the liquid that dripped down his chin. "I'm sorry," he said guiltily, looking down. "I'm just..." he trailed off, looking sorrowfully at Evanlyn before slowly turning his attention back to Alyss. "...worried."
With a gentle smile, Alyss placed her hand reassuringly on Horace's. "So am I," she said. "Evanlyn has the best doctors in the kingdom at her disposal, she'll be fine. You'll see."
Horace managed a weak smile at his friend. It was, he discovered, a little easier than frowning. It gave him a slimmer of hope.
Kilometers away, Selethen and Will were on road towards Coledale. There was something off in the air, and Will could feel it. By the tensed look Selethen took on, he could tell that the Arridi warrior shared his feelings.
Neither of them said anything. There was no solid reason to worry, and so far Tug didn't seem bothered by anything which reassured Will that things were sound.
However Tug then perked his ears suddenly which caught the attention of both riders. The Ranger horse made a small, uncertain noise. Selethen glanced questioningly at Will. "Trouble?" he inquired.
"Perhaps..." Will said as he rubbed Tug's neck, his eyes scanning their surroundings. He was feeling a sudden thrill. If this was Faustus...and Will hoped it was...he was anxious, very anxious, to come face-to-face with the traitor of a Ranger.
His thoughts on Faustus were distracted as they heard a cry of pain ahead. Will's eyes widened as he recognized the cry of pain.
"It's Crowley!" he said in alarm towards Selethen, not waiting a moment more to urge Tug onwards at full speed. If that was Crowley, his mentor was in danger as well. He didn't even look back to see if the Arridi followed, but he could hear following hooves behind him.
As Will and Selethen burst through the trees, they found the two Rangers they have been looking for. Only they were alone. The scene before them presented an unconscious and bleeding Crowley and a wounded Halt, who was leaning over his fallen friend with little attention to the wound in his arm.
Halt looked up suddenly at the appearance of Will and Selethen, he had quickly drawn an arrow, prepared to defend himself, but the movement caused him to hiss in pain and drop his arrow.
Sloppily dismounting their horses, Will and Selethen rushed over towards the two Rangers. "It's only us, Halt," Will said bluntly as he knelt down by his mentor. "But what happened?" Will was already checking out Halt's wound, and the senior Ranger didn't bother to try and shrug Will away, knowing it was useless.
"Ambushed," Halt rasped with a wince as Will tended to his wound. "Our horses had barely registered them before they suddenly came out of nowhere."
"They...?" Selethen spoke up as he looked over Crowley, who was bleeding from a back wound.
Halt nodded, confusion and anger clear in his eyes. "They were," he winced again as Will wrapped his wound. "Arridi warriors." Then, as if suddenly registering Selethen fully, he whipped around and attempted to draw another arrow on Selethen before Will stopped him. "Wait!" Will said, "Selethen is only helping us."
Will cleared up his mentor's puzzlement by going on to explain the situation with Arridi and where Selethen stood. Halt relaxed slightly as he was enlightened and nodded. "My apologies," he said to Selethen, who was quick to dismiss it. "Understandable. The current issue is that Arridi warriors are already in Araluen."
"They made a run for it as soon as they heard you coming," Halt said with a look between Will and Selethen.
Will thought deeply on this. They ran? If this was the conquer that Aatu was intending, it wasn't very impressive. "He's eating us out form the inside..." Will realized. "He was never intending a full blown frontal assault.'
"He's picking off gradually," Selethen agreed with a solemn nod. "He knows the value of Rangers in Araluen, he intends to dispose of them and help eliminate the obstacles. Faustus has helpers."
At the sound of Faustus's name, a dangerous look flared in Will's eyes and he rose abruptly to his feet. "Not on my watch!" he stated, turning and, quickly mounting Tug, began to ride off with Halt calling after him. "Will! You foolish boy! Stay back!"
But Halt's calls went ignored.
Selethen soon rose to his feet as well, mounting his mare and riding after Will. He didn't want to leave the Ranger's behind in their current state, but he couldn't afford to have Will do something rash and stupid. The young Ranger was blinded with anger.
He could see Will up ahead, Tug having slowed slightly which enabled Selethen's mare to catch up. Selethen could see Arridi warriors upon Will, aiming to kill.
Kicking his mare's sides for speed, Selethen bolted through the crowd of Arridi warriors, all of who stumbled back in surprise at the sight of their former commander.
Will, who already had an arrow at ready, glared furiously at Selethen. "What do you think you're doing?" he demanded.
"Saving your life," Selethen said sharply. He knew Rangers were skilled, but he knew the capabilities of his own men more so than the Ranger did.
One of the Arridi warrios lifted an accusing finger at Selethen. "You!" he screeched. "You traitor!"
Selethen turned to face his accuser. "Only to Aatu," he said firmly.
The group of Arridi soldiers did nothing at first. Do they attack and kill Selethen? In truth, many of them were here only on orders, but there was still an attachment to Selethen, who had always been their faithful commander.
Without a word, the Arridi warriors retreated into the trees. Will moved forward to follow, but Selethen grabbed a hold of Tug's reins and stopped him. "No," he said to Will. "You may be a Ranger, but your blindness will have you dead."
Will turned his head furiously at the Arridi. "They nearly killed Halt and Crowley!"
"And you nearly had them kill you," Selethen said calmly. "We can't afford to rush into the face of danger, not this time. Right now Halt and Crowley, Crowley especially, need proper doctors."
Will bit his lip hard as he thought this over quickly. He eventually nodded. "Fine...very well..." he said, realizing Selethen was right. "Let's head back."
Elsewhere, Gilan was out and about on Blaze. He was at the Norgate fief, following a trail he was certain was left by Faustus. He never returned to his own fief after the wedding, he had another goal in mind.
Blaze pushed through the snow, it coming up rather high on the small shaggy horse. Gilan slid off Blaze's saddle and inspected the snow. Faustus was certainly one to cover his tracks, but Gilan could still make out how they were covered. It wasn't easy, but Gilan managed it.
It was then did Blaze suddenly kick his legs out in panic, causing Gilan to spin around in alarm. He barely was able to do anything. Something sharp came down on him hard and, in a blue of pain and crimson, Gilan fell back in the snow into darkness.
Author's Notes~
Thoughts? Comments? Concernts? Please let me know in a shiny review!
