This story takes place in the last year of Will's apprenticeship, right before Erak's Ransom, which puts him at about 21 years old. While it is a five year apprenticeship, it took him six years because of the additional year at Skandia.
The sky had opened up with a vengeance rivaling that of Morgorath's, sending torrents of heavy raindrops pelting towards the drab landscape below. Puddles pockmarked the courtyard of Castle Redmont and even though their cloaks were water-resistant, both Halt and Will could wring out their mottled cloaks like a rag dunked in a bucket.
Halt took one precursory glance through the open stable doors at the gray sky, stubbornly refusing to brighten, and huffed, turning back to Will standing next to him. His apprentice was cupping his hands in front of his mouth and blowing into them, trying to tempt nonexistent warmth into his frozen fingers while he waited for Halt to explain.
"Now that the horses are situated, we can get started. I'm going to hide your bow somewhere within the castle and then go find myself a nice fireplace to warm up by. Your job is to find the bow and then find me before the time runs out," Halt said. He withdrew a small sand timer from the depths of his soaken cloak. "Give me five minutes before you start and I'll start the fifteen minute timer once I find myself a fireplace."
"Okay, but I am not waiting in here for those first five minutes," Will said.
"Well you're not waiting in the castle."
"Why not?"
"I don't want you tempted to cheat."
Will crossed his arms across his chest, but instantly regretted it as his cold tunic pressed against his skin. "I'm not going to cheat, Halt."
Halt pursed his lips, but found it increasingly hard to ignore the numbness creeping its way through his own toes. Eventually, after Will refused to be cowed under his withering gaze, Halt sighed and capitulated, "Fine. Follow me."
Halt pulled up his drenched cowl, biting back a string of Hibernian curses as a fresh round of water dropped into his face. Will would have snorted at his mentor if the same thing didn't happen to him almost simultaneously.
Wordlessly, the two Rangers stalked out of the stables and followed the gravel path that now more closely resembled sludge towards the castle whose lanterns were gleaming tauntingly from the windows, a beacon of light and warmth in an otherwise barrenly dismal sky. Halt pulled open an inconspicuous door, a servant's entrance, and instantly pushed his cowl back. Will quickly slid into the small corridor next to him, shaking out his mop of brown hair like a dog, showering Halt with more rainwater.
Halt glared at him, shooting daggers as dangerous as the knives stashed at his hip. "Really?"
Will smiled meekly. "Sorry?"
He sighed and snatched Will's bow that he was holding beneath his cloak to keep as much rainwater off of it as possible. "Five minutes," was all he said. Then he disappeared into the shadows.
Will rubbed his hands together in front of him and looked down the hallway where Halt had just disappeared. The servant's entrance was very short, almost immediately branching off into two scarcely lit corridors, and barely wide enough for two people to stand shoulder to shoulder near the hook protruding from one wall where coats and scarves dangled anonymously. By habit alone, Will backed into the corner, blending in with the uncertain light from the two lonely torches bracketed to the opposite wall and he waited with a patience that had been drilled into him for five years.
The minutes dragged on slowly, but the wait was made slightly more interesting three minutes in when a servant bustled in and absentmindedly grabbed his scarf from a hook, humming to himself, and never seeing the sentinel Ranger in the corner. Another minute passed. Then another thirty seconds and Will rocked onto his toes to make sure he could still feel them when the door blasted open at his side, nearly hitting him and letting in a shocking gust of frigid air.
"Dear lord," an old woman muttered as she backed against the door, slamming it closed. She peeled off her woolen gloves and tucked her silver, windswept hair back behind her ear and then patted the bun secured behind her head. Slowly, torturously slowly, she began to slip out of her coat and scarf, folding it neatly, and looking for an open hook.
Five minutes had passed and Will was anxious to not waste a second of his allotted time, yet he knew that if he just started walking, he would scare the poor woman senseless. The desire not to scare her was increased tenfold when he recognized her as Martha, one of the women who cared for him as a child in the ward.
But when she continued to show no signs of leaving, Will was forced to put on his best smile and step out of the shadows.
"Pardon me," he said softly.
Martha jumped, dropping her neatly folded scarf, and a hand instantly flew to her chest, her eyes fluttering in surprise. "Oh my lord! You scared the-" She cut herself off as she took in the mottled cloak and quiver peeking out from his shoulder. Her eyes widened and she bowed her head demurely.
"Sorry, Ranger. Didn't mean to speak out of turn," she said in her thick lilting accent.
Will took a few hurried steps towards her, hands outstretched comfortingly, but dropped them when she took a reflexive step backwards. He still wasn't used to the fear he instilled in people, even those he had known since he had come to Redmont.
"No, no! I'm sorry, Miss Martha. I really didn't mean to scare you," he said.
Her eyes narrowed suspiciously, but she kept her voice forcibly polite. "How do you know my name?"
"Wha-Don't you remember me?" Will asked and couldn't help the heaviness that lodged in his chest. Though of course, he was being unfair. She cared for tons of kids of every age for years now. Why would she remember one scrawny boy with a penchant for trouble?
"Will? Is that you?" she said, peering at his face.
Will grinned despite himself and despite the stoic image he was meant to uphold. "Yeah."
"My! I didn't even recognize you all grown up!"
"It's good to see you again. But if you'll excuse me, Halt is waiting for me somewhere."
"Of course, of course! Don't want to keep the Ranger waiting."
Will nodded with a warm smile, and flicked his cowl up, silently slipping past the old woman who watched him turn with her gloves clutched to her chest and motherly pride radiating from her rosy cheeks.
Forcefully, Will tried to shake the thought of Martha from his mind, but he let her face hover in the back of his thoughts. After all, Halt's cloak must be dripping like his. How hard could it be to track him? All he has to do is follow the dripping water or his muddy shoe prints.
Will turned the next corner and came to a much busier, wider hallway with servants crossing from doorway to doorway and hallway to staircase, bustling about like a beehive. But his eyes instantly snapped to a tall serving girl rolling from toe to heel at the opposite wall, worrying her lip and holding a folded Ranger's cloak.
Martha's memory was shoved from his mind, as were any of his misconstrued thoughts of this being easy. Sighing to himself, Will approached the girl, already having an inkling of an idea as to what to expect.
"Ranger Will!" she said cheerfully as he approached. She perked up and beamed, hurrying away from the wall to meet him halfway. "Ranger Halt said to give this to you."
Will raised an eyebrow and took the sodden cloak. "Did he say anything else?"
She nodded dutifully. "Yes. He said to tell you this word for word:-" she sucked in a breath and her eyes flicked upward as she remembered-"'Did you think it would be that easy.'"
Though she said it as blandly as if reading off a chore list, Will could hear Halt's smug grin and sarcasm oozing out of each word. "Right. Thanks," Will managed through pursed lips.
"No problem, Ranger Will," she said joyfully. "You know, I've seen you around here before and heard of all the things that you and Ranger Halt have done, but you're nothing like I imagined."
Will cocked an eyebrow and studied the girl in front of him. Though, 'young woman' may be more accurate considering they were about the same age. "Is that so?"
She nodded emphatically. "You're much younger than I thought. And shorter too."
Will restrained a sigh and resigned himself for a lifetime of hearing comments on his height. But at least he was taller than Halt now, even if it was by just a measly few centimeters.
"I get that a lot," Will replied. "If you'll excuse me." He shook out Halt's carefully folded cloak and glanced at it quickly, seeing a smudge of mud halfway up the fabric, much too high for it to be mud from the ground. Something snapped into place and Will grimaced; Halt had wiped the soles of his shoes off so that his footsteps would be even less visible. He flung the cloak unceremoniously over his shoulder, leaving both hands open and began to march off towards the far wall.
"Good luck on whatever you're doing!" the serving girl called after him, drawing a few curious stares towards her.
Laden with two cloaks, heavy with rain water, Will raced down the hallway where the serving girl was waiting before, assuming that's where Halt had caught her. Now is when things get difficult. No longer in the servant's sector, people of all professions were crossing the large entrance chamber through archways, staircases, and doors, criss-crossing in a dizzying pattern made more confusing by the rain, encouraging everyone to take indoor passages rather than cutting through courtyards and packing the thoroughfare with people.
At least it's warm in here with all this body heat, Will thought to himself. Now, what would Halt do?
Instantly, Halt's voice reprimanding him echoed in his skull. Don't rush into things. Observe and plan first. Then act.
Will slid out of the hallway entrance and stood frozen against the wall, his eyes scanning back and forth for a pattern. Muddy footprints and squelching feet danced across the polished stone floor, blending together to create a chaotic artwork. The young Ranger's brows furrowed together as he thought through the puzzle that must have a solution. He cast his eyes downward to his own feet as he thought and realized that while he didn't know where Halt's trail ended, he did know where it began.
He retraced his steps back to the hallway and scanned the ground for a footprint like his own. A soft leather sole with no heel or indents, though wiped clean with only the barest traces of mud.
There! The back half of a wet shoe had smudged another print, interrupting its toe with the mark of a soft, heel-less shoe.
Will grinned victoriously to himself and raced forward to crouch beside it, letting the sea of people flow around him and ignoring their inquisitive murmurs. Some stopped to try and see what he was looking at, but lost interest quickly when all they saw was a dirty floor. Impervious to their looks, he followed the angle that Halt's heel was headed and his eyes found an archway-an archway that Will was very familiar with.
Now, Will had a very good idea as to where his bow would be hidden, and to confirm his suspicion, he saw a second fraction of a footprint just in front of the archway that matched the first. He picked up the pace and jogged down the hallway, stopping only at the next fork in the path. One path curved to the left into the darkness of a barely lit corridor with gray light streaking through the thin windows and the other shot out to the right, following a curved path for a meter or two before splitting into a wider perpendicular hallway. Will glanced to the curved path on the left, knowing it led to the girl's room of the ward and took a chance by heading to the right. Even Halt had to have enough decency to not sneak into the girl's dormitory, right?
Leaving no time to doubt himself, Will strode into the next hallway that was slightly more lit with torches hanging between thin windows on one side and identical wooden doors on the other. The first, he knew, was a playroom. He tested the handle and found it locked. The second door would be a classroom, but high-pitched voices were suffusing under the door and Will decided to check that room only if the rest were empty. The third was another classroom and the fourth was a spare room that was hardly ever used except for holidays and Will didn't bother checking them, choosing instead to rely on instincts and he shoved open the final door of the hallway.
A nostalgic smile stretched across Will's face as he entered the boy's bedroom. It was like he had never left. The same rickety beds lined both stone walls with mismatched blankets and uniform wooden cabinets on each side. Two wardrobes were pressed against the far wall for all the boys to share and two round rugs with multicolored concentric rings were in the center. A few small toys and knick-knacks were strewn about haphazardly while others were carefully placed on the owner's bed or nightstand.
Will let his hand trail against the footboard of one bed as he made his way to the far left wall where he had fallen asleep every night for fifteen years. And sure enough, there was his treasured longbow, lying on the bed, propped up against the pillow as if asleep itself.
How Halt knew which bed was his, Will could only guess. He grabbed the bow and glanced to the other side of the room where Horace and George used to sleep and found a boy's wooden sword lying on the floor next to George's with some kind of poetic irony. The boy who now called Will's old bed 'home' had left his neat and tidy, tucking the blankets beneath the mattress and left only a spare pair of shoes at the foot of the bed. He left the room, shutting the door softly behind him with a light heart and his ears ringing with nostalgic memories.
If Halt was feeling mawkish, there were only a few places in this castle that he would go, none of which were on the ground floor. Will jogged back down the hallway towards the girl's bedroom, but instead of turning left, he turned right and headed up the staircase that wound its way up the tower. He hurriedly scanned the gray floor of the wide second story hallway, but saw nothing out of the ordinary-which, when dealing with a Ranger like Halt, could mean absolutely nothing.
But, Will forced himself not to question his instincts and he raced up the next flight of stairs, following the same routine. Again, nothing seemed off-kilter.
On the third floor, under the light of multiple bright torches, water glinted against the stone near one wall. Will dropped to a crouch near it and dipped a finger into the thin water mixed with the barest hints of mud. There was another small squelch of dirty water further along the wall, collecting in an uneven rivet in the stone. Of course, they could just be puddles. But not many people would walk so close to a wall when the entire wide hallway was available and empty. Plus, this was his only lead and it matched with Will's best guess as to where Halt was leading him.
He turned through the maze of castle corridors, side stepping servants with ease and one eye always watching the floor for more damp spots hidden by the wall. While he did use the marks as a map at the beginning, now, they were just confirmation as to where to go. Will was so certain of where he would find Halt by the time he reached the next wing that he barely glanced at the ground at all.
Grinning to himself, he strode forward, towards the dark oak door at the center of one wall, some latin phrase curving over the arched top. His hand hovered over the handle, yet his eyes narrowed in thought. If his estimates were correct, then he still had plenty of time before that timer ran out.
White sand trailed slowly into the bottom of the timer, collecting in a mound at the corner of the table. Halt stared at the timer with narrowed eyes, as if trying to distinguish between every single drop of sand that fell from the top. His back was to the fireplace, its warmth heating through his damp tunic, and his arms were crossed.
"Glaring at the timer won't make the sand fall any faster, dear," Pauline said in her voice as light as music. She was pouring over beside Alyss. Both were sitting behind the desk, side by side, with their heads bent over something of importance.
Halt momentarily switched his glare to his fiancée, but all he met was her forehead since she didn't deign to look up.
Alyss, however, took pity on him and did glance up from her work with a patient smile. "He still has time, you know," she commented, inclining her head towards the timer that still had at least two minutes left.
"Barely," Halt scoffed. "This really shouldn't have taken him this long."
"Then why'd you give up so much time to do it?" Alyss asked.
"To see if he would overthink things in the excess time rather than trusting his instincts."
Alyss nodded and let her head bend back over the page, her blond hair falling past her shoulder. "You'll find out soon either way."
Halt breathed out impatiently. There was always the possibility of the timer itself being defective and that being the reason why the sand was falling so slowly, he reasoned. Though, the odds of that-
Three knocks sounded from the closed door in the rhythm of a horse's gallop and both Alyss and Pauline's heads snapped up with near identical smiles. Halt was entirely unphased and if he was being honest, somewhat disappointed that it had taken Will this long.
He heard the door open and saw Alyss's grin widen, her cheeks suddenly flush, but Halt still refused to turn around.
"You're late," he said.
"No I'm not. I still have at least a minute and a half," came Will's voice.
"I gave you that much time to see if you'd overthink the task, which you clearly did. You should have been here at least five minutes ago, maybe more if-"
Crunch.
Halt's eyes narrowed and he whirled around, cutting off his harangue mid-phrase.
Will was grinning while making a dramatic show of chewing, his cowl down and crumbs sticking to his cheeks with a flaky pastry in one hand.
"What are you doing?" Halt asked darkly.
Will shrugged. "I got hungry."
Alyss's office fell silent, save for the sound of Will's chewing and the crackling fire.
"That wasn't the task," Halt finally said sternly.
"I finished the task and like you said, I had extra time."
Halt stared at his apprentice, but long were the days where he could get Will to cower with a well-arched eyebrow or an expertly-crafted glare.
Will swallowed, then withdrew his other hand from beneath his cloak. "And I thought you three might be hungry," he said with his contagious, lopsided grin as he held up a white dinner plate laden with three more mouth-watering pastries.
"Ooo! Did you get an apple one?" Alyss instantly said, her interest piqued.
"Of course I did," Will said, affronted that she even had to ask. He placed the plate on the desk beside the timer and handed one to Alyss. She instantly bit into a corner and her eyes fluttered closed with a moan of pleasure.
"These are delicious!" she cried. Pauline smiled and plucked another from Will's plate.
"Fresh out of Chubb's oven," Will commented and glanced back at Halt who resolutely took the last pastry from the plate.
"Oh, come on Halt! I got my bow back, I carried your sodden cloak around,-" with his now free hand, Will tossed Halt's cloak to him which he caught nimbly over the crook of his elbow "-and I brought you dessert."
The corners of Halt's mouth quirked up, but he responded in the same deadpan voice as always. "There was no way to know for sure how much time you still had. You shouldn't have taken the risk."
"Aren't you always saying battles are won taking risks?"
"But you need to know which risks are the right ones to take."
"And you find out by seeing if you win or not," Will finished for him. "And in this case, I won. I finished in time and got dessert."
Halt sighed to himself, hating that Will was old enough to use his own logic against him. "Fine," he grumbled. "But only because these pastries are so damn good."
Will's grin widened and he took another bite out of his, large enough to challenge Horace's eating habits.
"They really are," Pauling agreed, rubbing her hands together to dust off the crumbs onto the floor, her half-eaten pastry sitting on top of a neat stack of papers. "Who were these meant for though?"
Will's grin faltered. "What do you mean?"
"I presume Chubb didn't willingly hand these over and knowing your particular past combined with Halt's training and, shall we say, penchant for doing things the atypical way, I've come to the conclusion that these were made for someone else and you just decided that they wouldn't miss four of them."
Will's grin returned in full force. "Five, actually. I had another on the way here."
Halt smirked and Pauline let out a tinkling laugh. "Five, then," she said.
"They were probably meant for Lady Sandra's lunch with her friends, but there's no way they would ever eat all those pastries. Chubb made a small mountain of them."
"And how do you know about Lady Sandra's lunch?" Pauline asked, genuinely curious.
Will shrugged. "I hear things."
"Does it even matter? He got us apple pastries," Alyss said, licking the golden, buttery flakes off her fingers with a glance at her mentor. Will's heart skipped a beat and he fought the urge to kiss her lips that still had an outline made of pastry crumbs. Instead, he turned towards Halt to see him shoveling the last bit of his pastry into his mouth.
"He only got you an apple pastry. I was left with pecan," Halt commented, wiping his hands on his trousers.
"Beggars can't be choosers, dear," Pauline said.
"I was going to say if you're not alert, you're gonna get hurt," Will said with a smirk, carefully watching Halt's reaction.
Halt blinked and turned slowly towards him. "You've been spending too much time with Gilan."
Will let out a laugh. "He told me you always loved that phrase of his."
"Did he also tell you that he created that little phrase while sparring and his continuous use of it led to far more rounds than needed?"
Will gave a shrug, belying the uncertainty that suddenly coursed through him. "You're on."
Halt's eyes narrowed and he turned back to his fiancée. "Are you going to finish that?"
Pauline picked up her pastry and nibbled at one side. "Yes, Halt. Yes, I am."
Halt grumbled to himself and Alyss couldn't help but add, "Why don't you go back to the kitchens and grab another?"
"Maybe I will. I'll grab it on the way to dragging Will to the battleschool so he can spend some quality time sparring in the rain while I watch from under a nice and dry awning."
Will's smile slid off his face, making Halt grin with vindictive pleasure.
"Let's go, Will," Halt said, shouldering past him on the way to the door.
Alyss stood and walked quickly around the table to give him a quick peck on the cheek. "Good luck. Don't get too bruised up."
"I won't, but I will get soaked."
"Come back here after to warm up by the fire."
"I-"
"We have our own fireplace," Halt cut in grumpily. "Now get moving. I want an apple one before Lady Sandra or her friends take all of them."
Will rolled his eyes and planted a harried kiss on Alyss's lips before waving to Pauline who was still shaking her head at her tactless husband-to-be. The door shut behind the two Rangers and Alyss remained standing in the center of the office, gazing wistfully at the door.
"What have we gotten ourselves into?" she asked mirthfully.
Pauline laughed. "I think you're too much like me for your own good. It got you stuck with a Ranger."
I hope you enjoyed this set of short stories! I will soon be posting a new story that's just a random collection of Ranger's Apprentice short stories and oneshots so stay tuned for that. If you saw any typos or have any comments or suggestions or story ideas, please please let me know!
Much love 3