Part 3/3 of the long-hiatus update. Enjoy!

17

The next few weeks, Maddie, Evanlyn, and Horace all refused to let Will out of the cabin. He was clearly annoyed by this, but dealt with it anyway. He was aware he needed to recover. He didn't have to be happy about being cooped up inside, however. Maddie had gotten a map of Skandia from Erak, and she and Evelynn looked over it. They seemed to be trying to figure out where the group was when they had come in, though Will had a feeling they had already moved. Maddie seemed annoyed that she had needed to leave before she could handle the camp, but she dealt with it in stride.

Evelynn was desperately hoping that Maddie wouldn't make her go back. She reasoned, however, that it would only look stranger if she refused when Maddie asked her to come. When that time came, the two of them saddled up and headed back out. When they reached the second site five days later, they went about circling the outside of the camp. They found the escape trail soon enough, and their new location wasn't even a day away. Clearly, they thought that no one would consider following them again. Despite all their caution, none of the watchmen posted around the camp noticed the two Rangers slinking through the bushes and trees towards the center of the camp.

The command tent wasn't anything special, Evelynn noticed. They only distinguished it from the rest of the tents by the loud yelling coming from within.

"No, you idiots, you're supposed to be looking for three Rangers now!"

Apparently, word that Will wasn't a lone Ranger on this trip hadn't quite gotten through all the rebels' heads. They went past the tent, towards the rations tent. Evelynn tried hard to control the slight paling of her face as she realized that there were immense amounts of warmweed being stored in the rations tent, the sweet smell reaching their noses. The two of them went about setting a fire to the wooden crates. Without those, the camp would likely fall into disarray, making it easier for the two of them to lower the rebels' numbers and take Fenn captive. Erak wanted to deal with Fenn himself.

Evelynn stayed to the side of the tent farthest from the warmweed, which prompted a questioning look from Maddie. Maybe she knew what the plant did, and wanted to stay away from it. How she'd know, aside from Will telling her - Maddie was pretty sure he hadn't - was a mystery. She'd solve it after this mission was over, she decided, and went back to her task. The crates and their contents set fire easily, and soon the tent was engulfed as well. The two Rangers got out the back as quickly as they could, and Evelynn clambered up into the trees to pick off panicking Skandians. Maddie's cowl went up, and she ran around the edge of the camp to attack them from behind.

For the most part, their plan worked. Maddie was on the ground, engaging Fenn, while Evelynn put the Skandians rushing to aid him out of commission. It seemed to be going perfectly well, though Maddie couldn't help but feel like it was all too easy. Once Fenn simply gave up the fight, she knew something was off. She glanced up to Evelynn's perch in the tree, and relaxed some when she saw the small girl in the branches, still undetected by the Skandians swarming the clearing. She realized what was wrong, however, as a pair of strong hands pinned her arms to her side.

"You've caused us quite a bit of grief, Ranger," a low voice said behind her. She recognized it as the voice of the smaller Skandian who had been tormenting Will. Maddie grasped for her saxe knife as he was talking. "We almost had what we wanted, then you swooped in and took it all away."

Maddie swiped up with her saxe at the Skandian's hand, feeling accomplished as they pulled back suddenly. She stomped the heel of her foot on his toes, for extra measure, before twirling around to be behind him and swinging her knife to rest by his throat.

"I wouldn't make any brash moves," Maddie warned in a low voice. Her own blood ran cold, however, as she heard the cry of alarm.

"Maddie! Helphhfff-" Evelynn cried, the end of her word being cut off by something being held over her mouth. Maddie's eyes darted to where Evelynn had just been, and saw her at the bottom of the tree, pushed against the trunk by Fenn.

"You dirty little traitor," Fenn said, and hit her across the temple with his closed fist. Maddie felt an uncontrollable anger building up in her chest, rising to her throat. She wasn't aware when, or how, but she had started to view Evelynn as just a little more than an apprentice - more of a surrogate child.

"You never run from me, you understand?"

Fenn's hands crept up to Evelynn's throat.

"I didn't recognize you before, in Araluen. But now, you go and make yourself a no-good meddling Ranger…"

Fenn was cut off by an arrow in his arm. It fell away from Evelynn's throat, the now-unconscious girl sliding to the ground. There was an unmistakable, cold fury in Maddie's eyes when the bulky Skandian turned around.

"Hands. Off. My. Apprentice."

Maddie had the smaller Skandian pinned down by his arm under her foot, the unmistakable Ranger longbow now held in her cowled figure's hands. Another arrow was already nocked at aimed at Fenn.

"Why should I? And who gave you any order of her her? She's my slave, and she ran away. I'm merely reclaiming my lost property."

Maddie was struck with surprise, though she was careful not to show it. Evelynn was… The thought didn't complete, and soon, Maddie's eyes hardened further.

"She's a human being. She was never anyone's property, and certainly isn't now. Now, I'll say it one more time before I send this arrow through your other arm too." Nothing in Maddie's voice gave even a slight suspicion that she might be joking, and Fenn realized it. He also realized that his arm could heal, but he wouldn't get another chance to reclaim his runaway slave. He chose the arrow, thinking that the Ranger was probably bluffing.

True to her word, though, the arrow went sailing into his arm just as he turned back around to Evelynn. The look of shock on his face made it clear that he wasn't really expecting Maddie to follow through with that promise. The girl was just a slave, after all. Surely, not even a Ranger would care so much, even if she was an apprentice. Before he could react, the Ranger was on him, her knife held at his throat. The drips of blood from both arrows dripped onto the dirt below, wettening it in little circles, now tinted red. He heard the Ranger's low, dangerous voice in his ear, barely above a whisper.

"You will never touch my apprentice again. Do you hear me?"

Fenn started to nod, but felt the sharp edge of the knife against his skin and spoke in a low, scared voice.

"Yes…"

"Good. Now, you will take care of your men so they won't follow us - the ones that aren't dead, anyway - and then you and your son will be coming with me to Hallasholm."

The realization that Maddie fully intended to turn him over to the Oberjarl terrified him. He was perhaps more terrified by the fact that, if he put up a fight, she would have no qualms about ending his life for the Oberjarl. If she did, she certainly had no qualms about injuring him greatly.

"Yes."

"That wasn't a question. That was an order."

Fenn saw the wisdom in simply doing what the small, cloaked figure said. She kept an eye on him while he did the task she set him to before tying the two Skandian rebel leaders back-to-back and confiscating any and all weapons on their person. She then quickly set to taking care of her apprentice, making sure that she was okay. To Maddie's utter relief, her pulse was still strong, and she was breathing normally. She wasn't totally sure that she wouldn't do Erak's job for him if Evelynn hadn't been, she realized. Maddie decided to just let her rest while she handled getting the group ready to be on the road as soon as her apprentice was up.

Evelynn woke up sometime in the morning the next day. She rubbed her head, which hurt slightly where Fenn had struck her, and looked around. She was in what she thought was Maddie's tent. She could see the clearing outside, and realized that the large Skandian rebel camp had been taken down and replaced with the Rangers' two-person camp. She didn't see Maddie or any Skandians, however. That changed as soon as Maddie ducked into the tent. She saw a brief light of relief in her eyes before it was gone.

"You're up. Good, we need to get going. We have a five-day trip back to Hallasholm and two immensely annoying captives."

Evelynn got up and the two quickly took down the camp. Evelynn did her best to shy away from the spot where Fenn was, but found that she didn't have to. Maddie had given her the far side of the camp to take care of. There was no good reason for her to do that, Evelynn thought. Unless… she had found something out, regarding her past with Fenn. On the road, she looked over at Maddie.

"Maddie?"

"Yes?"

"Can I ask a question…?"

Maddie smirked, and Evelynn realized she had made a mistake.

"You just did."

"I… yes. I did. I mean, can I ask a different question?"

"You just did."

This caught Evelynn off guard.

"No I didn't!"

"You did. You said, and I quote, "can I ask a different question" when, before, you had simply said "can I ask a question". So, by that logic, you did ask a different question."

Evelynn frowned.

"Er… okay, but I mean…a different one," she said, avoiding the word question altogether, afraid of opening up for a repeat answer.

"Go ahead."

"What… what happened back there…?"

Maddie was silent for a while.

"Fenn was hurting you."

"I… I know that."

"And I put an arrow through him. Two, actually. I think Erak will understand, once I explain the situation to him."

Evelynn was shocked. No one had ever done anything like that for her before, ever. She glanced over to the two Skandians walking in front of them and was startlingly aware of a set of bandages on Fenn's arms. She wondered why Maddie had stood up for her like that, but either way, it made her feel… wanted. It was a new feeling for her, and she was stumped by it.

The five days of their return trip were long and exhausting for the two Rangers, having to deal with their loud, complaining Skandian captives the whole time. Maddie left Evelynn at the cabin while she left to take care of Fenn and Harek - they had learned the smaller Skandian's name sometime during the second day. Evelynn found herself somewhat nervous, but surprisingly, also somewhat less so - she didn't have to worry about Fenn anymore. She sat out in the stables, brushing Midnight after their trip. The horse's presence calmed Evelynn down. She didn't notice Will coming in until he was leaning on the edge of the stall.

"Hey," he said. "How'd your escapade go?"

"As good as it could, I think," she said. "Maddie keeps saying Halt's not going to let you do these kinds of things anymore."

"He says that a lot. He seems to be forgetting his own adventures near the brink of death."

"So… he's not serious?"

"No, that's not what I'm saying," Will said with a smile. "He's totally serious."

"Then why aren't you worried?"

"Because, you see, Halt is not in charge. Gilan is. Meaning, of course, that it's a two-against-one battle he'd be trying to fight. Also, Halt's retired, so I don't think he can tell either of his apprentices what to do anymore… at least, not in regards to accepting or not accepting missions."

Evelynn smiled at that. "I suppose that makes sense."

"So, back to your escapade. It must have been more exciting than hanging around here all day with worrying royals."

Evelynn shrugged. "We went in, we set a fire to their rations tent, and we took Fenn and Harek. Maddie seemed to know what she was doing, so I just stayed up in the tree she told me to stay in and shot Skandians from there." She purposefully left out the part about how Maddie was almost taken by Harek, and the part where she had almost been suffocated by Fenn. She didn't think Will necessarily needed to know those parts.

They heard a horse coming up, and Tug and Midnight gave a friendly greeting. A moment later, Maddie and Bumper appeared around the doorway. She glanced at Will.

"Shouldn't you be inside, recovering?"

"I got bored." Will smiled playfully at her, and Maddie rolled her eyes.

"Halt's not going to like this. Any of it," she said, and Will raised an eyebrow.

"Which part are you referring to specifically?"

"All of it."

"You know as well as any Ranger that the job comes with its own fair share of life-threatening situations. Halt knows it too." Will had to realize, however, that Halt may be more upset with this particular situation, given that he had told Halt that he'd be fine.

"What about the warmweed?"

Will got quiet. Evelynn didn't miss the glance he shot at her before returning his attention to Maddie.

"You don't have to tell him that part, you know."

Maddie glared at him.

"I do. Or, at the very least, Gilan needs to know. Do you have any idea where they even got it?"

"Harek was saying something about sneaking around in Araluen to get it…"

"Gilan definitely needs to know, then."

"Who's going to listen in Araluen, anyway? There, we only use it as a pain reliever. The other Rangers will, of course, but not really anyone else. You know that regular people are downright terrified of us, so anyone with a small supply of it for medical purposes isn't going to let a Ranger snoop around their shop and watch for raiding Skandians."

Maddie sighed, seeing the point. She had grown up without that fear only because she had known Will for the majority of her life, and her parents were the Araluen royalty. She had never harbored the fear of Rangers as practicers of black magic, like most people did. Maddie glanced over at Evelynn, who was sitting on the floor of the stall, seemingly lost in thought.

"We can talk about this at another time. Right now, though, you need to go inside," Maddie said. Will glared at her playfully.

"But, Maddie. Your parents won't stop hovering over me."

"Dad is your best friend, and Mom was with you when you were on warmweed. They're just worried about you."

With an exaggerated sigh, Will dragged himself back into the cabin. Maddie rolled her eyes, and glanced over at Evelynn."

"You should come in, too. It's getting late."

Evelynn looked up at Maddie.

"Can I ask you a question?"

Maddie smirked, and Evelynn quickly realized her mistake. The same mistake she had made before, she realized with sinking pride.

"You just did," Maddie said, hearing herself echo Will, and likely Halt when she thought about it.

"Okay… I mean, a different one." This time she simply skipped the different question bit altogether. She wasn't making the same two mistakes in a row again.

"Go ahead."

"What happened with Will… last time? You guys keep mentioning it."

Maddie looked down at her apprentice for a few minutes before answering.

"That's a question you should be asking Will, not me." Maddie headed back inside, and Evelynn followed shortly after. She wanted to know about Will's past in the hopes that it would make her less nervous about her own.