Oh my gosh Book 12! Basically, this story is every rumor I've heard about it so far, or almost all of them...maybe. Mainly three: 1. Alyss dies in terrible accident. 2. Halt decides to give Will an apprentice to male him less depressed. 3. The apprentice is Horace and Cassandra's daughter.

Actually, the third one is pretty much confirmed because the title of the book is The Royal Ranger...And it ha in fact been confirmed that Will's apprentice is the first female ranger...In fact, the third rumor might have actually been confirmed officially...I'm too lazy to go check...

"Will, I feel like you've forgotten what's important." Horace said carefully. He was standing behind the chair that Will was sitting in because Will didn't want any company. Ever again.

Will turned around and looked at Horace for a moment, then shook his head and turned back around.

"Seriously, Will. We kind of need you. Um…There are multiple issues happening right now and…Many citizen people are unhappy because they're being robbed and…Cassandra kind of thinks that the treasuries will become a target, which would be great for whoever stole it, but…Really bad for us, and…Yeah." Horace stumbled over almost every word because…Will scared everyone now. Horace knew that Will was just mourning and depressed, but…He was very explosive in his depression.

"Go away, Horace." Will said in a very much depressed kind of voice.

Horace opened his mouth to respond, but couldn't think of anything to say. "Well, I can't really leave until I've gotten an actual response out of you, and, um…"Horace tried to figure out something else to say.

"I haven't forgotten what's important, Horace. Alyss was important. Right now, that's all that matters." Will's voice cracked at the end of the sentence and turned into a sob.

Horace decided to leave then.

"He's mourning, Halt." Horace said.

"I knew he was mourning, Horace! I didn't send you to find out what was wrong with him. I sent you to try to give him a feeling of duty. The stories of all those people who'd been robbed and of the people whose homes had been burned and all those other stories I gave you got nothing out of him?"

"Well…I may have forgotten most of the stories. And I may have also left out most of the details."

Halt closed his eyes and shook his head.

"I just…Will is really kind of scary now. It's like he plans to shoot anyone who bothers him!"

Halt shook his head again. "Will doesn't need to be alone in a room by himself! Why everyone is letting him is beyond me."

"He's scary!"

"Will isn't going to shoot anyone, Horace." Halt said. "He really needs a big distraction. Something that will occupy his time and make him think of things other than himself."

Horace looked at Halt expectantly.

"How old is your daughter, Horace?" Halt asked.

"Uh…Almost fifteen." Horace wondered what this had to do with anything.

"Well, I was planning on waiting a little longer, but we need Will back now, so any problems that people have with this can't be helped." Halt started walking to the door.

Horace got to his feet. "What? What are you talking about, Halt? What problems would…What?"

Halt turned and looked at Horace. "Your daughter wants to be a ranger, correct?"

"What…" Horace's eyes widened in understanding. "No, no, no, no, no. I refuse to allow this! The notion itself is insane! Maddie isn't just any person, she's royalty, she's precious! Even if she weren't, Will isn't in his right mind! And who's ever heard of a female ranger? You can't just…" Horace trailed off as he saw the expression on Halt's face.

"Will is the best, Horace. He won't let anything happen to your daughter."

Horace was silent as Halt left, considering everything. After a few moments, he left to tell Maddie that things would go her way after all.

Will slumped in his chair as he heard the door open. Did no one understand the concept of no company ever again?

He heard the door close, then Halt's voice. "Good news, Will. You're getting an apprentice."

By the way, I really don't like this story, but I'm posting it anyway because it's all I can think of for this theme and I want to move on.

Also, I wrote this story like a month ago, but I didn't post it because I read a Harry Potter story called Harry's New Home that was so fantastically well-written that it made me feel unqualified to post anything. So yeah...I really recommend that you go read it, it's really good!

Quick plot summary: The Dursleys are a bit more abusive than they are in canon, and Snape finds out how abusive they are and goes to Dumbledore about it. He tells Dumbledore that there is no way Harry is living with these people anymore. Dumbledore tells Snape to figure out who Harry will live with. Then, when Snape presents his ideas to Dumbledore, which are basically just guidelines of the people Harry will live with, like they shouldn't have any other children, or be a young couple that has the potential to have children..."A young couple, then? No, young couples breed!" And Dumbledore basically says, "Okay, you fit the bill." And Snape just has to deal with it.