A/N: as promised, the next chapter!
To Dani3434, thank you for your wonderful compliment, I hope you'll enjoy the next chapters just as much!
Chapter 5
Walking into the same hall like they had when they arrived here the first time was beyond difficult for the two former slaves. Evanlyn had clamped herself to Horace as they entered, fearful of being separated again.
As for Will, he tried his first steps walking into the hall with as much confidence he could master. But as soon as Erak started introducing them and explaining the issue at hand, everything Will had feared started escalating.
"The girl can go to the dining hall and the kitchen. Put the boy in the yard." He heard the sentences echo in his head and he looked skittish around, hoping no one would take him away this time.
As Halt spoke with Erak and the Oberjarl, Will found a new tactic to keep himself from having another panic attack. He clenched his wrist like Halt had earlier and he started to focus on the pain of his nails digging into his skin.
It wasn't pleasant, but at least it worked. After a while Ragnar decided he wanted to speak to Halt in private. Halt agreed but asked permission for him and his companions to settle first.
While they walked to their accommodation, Halt noticed the heavy breathing of his apprentice. He saw the slight frown indicating Will was concentrating on something. He had seen that frown a thousand times in the first year of Will's apprenticeship but for the first time the frown worried him.
Without missing a pace, Halt put his arm on the tiny shoulders and immediately he felt Will snuggling into the cloak. They didn't say anything, just keeping close was enough. Halt realized that Abelard had been right, or he just imagined the horse talking to him and it was his own brilliant mind coming to the conclusion that being there for Will was far more important than finding out what happened.
Finally they arrived at the rooms assigned to them. It was quickly decided that Horace and Evanlyn would share a room and Will would stay with Halt.
The room was enormous and the fireplace made it comfortably warm inside. Normally Will would just appreciate the wonderful decorations, and being able to sleep in a comfortable bed instead of the cold ground or his own hard bed he was used to.
However, for the first time he could see the work behind the beauty of the room. He could smell the sweat of the slave yards gathering the logs for the fire. He knew a slave girl had been here shortly before them stoking the fire and making the beds. Even the water on the table was there because the well was cared for in the winter by the yard slaves.
Will realized how little time there had been between the torturous work and his comfort now. Not too long ago it was him with the paddles breaking the ice, making sure someone in the palace could drink the precious water.
He shivered at the thought of how much horror was woven into this place. Suddenly the beds weren't that appealing anymore and his hunger faded again.
Halt waited patiently while Will took in the sights of the room. At first he just thought the boy was overwhelmed by the grandeur of such a room, as he was accustomed to the cabin in Redmont and for the past few months an even smaller cabin far away from here.
But there was a certain hint of disgust he detected in the brown eyes. For a moment Halt stood puzzled by how someone could detest a room like this, but then he realized that unlike in the castles of Araluen, these chambers weren't prepared by paid servants.
"Will…" he began as he stepped towards the thin boy. However nothing came after it, how did you reassure someone who had experienced the horrors, knowing there was nothing you could do to change it? How could he tell Will to ignore those thoughts of the slaves preparing this room, without thinking of the fact that the people here had ignored him all winter?
Will looked up at his mentor, and smiled as he realized the struggle Halt went through.
"It's okay, Halt. I just need some time." He reassured him.
Halt shook his head in disbelief, he couldn't fathom how strong the young lad was for being able to deal with this all. He pulled Will closer to him and gave him a hug. After a while he spoke softly into the brown curls, "It's not okay, but we'll get through it."
They stood there together for several minutes when Halt finally pulled away.
"I need to see the Oberjarl. Maybe you should go to Horace and Evanlyn if you don't want to be alone." He suggested but Will already shook his head.
"No, I'll be fine here. It's been quite intense today so I'll try to get some sleep." He answered and Halt noticed the dark circles under the usually vibrant eyes. For a moment the ranger hesitated whether it would be a good idea to leave Will alone when he was going to sleep, but he gathered that Will knew what was best for now so he nodded in agreement.
"I'm proud of you, Will." He said simply and walked towards the door.
After the door closed behind Halt, Will's hand made it's way to his pocket. He just couldn't resist the pulling effect of that small bundle especially after an emotional day like this. The warmweed gave him a sense of control even though he was aware of the fact that not being able to part with it was just a sign of lack of control.
Still he sat down on the ground and opened the bag just enough for the scent to come through. Instantly he was appalled by the smell and even more by himself for not resisting the urge. Just as fast as he has opened the bag, he closed it again and shoved it back with the rest of his supplies.
Will knew he had to tell someone about his abnormal obsession with the warmweed, but he just didn't know how. For now he figured it was okay to keep the bag and smell it sometimes, if his urges became worse he would tell the others.
Once calmed down, Will started to look around for a place to sleep as he was truly just exhausted. He knew it was ridiculous to be appalled by a simple bed, but he couldn't help it for now. Halt would probably smack him on the head if he fell asleep on the wooden floor next to the bed.
So he chose the middle option, a comfortable chair in the corner of the room. The slaves probably didn't have much work on that compared to the bed and fireplace.
Will curled himself up in the chair and unlike some nights before, he immediately fell asleep.
Halt returned to the guest wing after his conversation with Ragnak and bumped into Horace and Evanlyn.
"Halt! We were just going to check on Will. How did things go with Ragnak?" Horace asked.
"It went better than expected, he is willing to work together. As for Will, he went to bed for the afternoon so it would be best not to scare him by charging into the room."
Evanlyn grinned at the comment, she had warned Horace beforehand not to disturb Will. She knew he needed the rest more than anything and with Horace's big feet he indeed could cause an earthquake walking into the room of a sleeping ranger.
Horace knew it was two against one and admitted his defeat, "Fine but tell him to come to dinner in two hours. I don't think I can eat all the portions he skips for much longer, and that means something Halt."
Halt's face grew more grim because he knew what Horace meant. They had all noticed Will's continuous lack of appetite and being in recovery should normally lead to a bigger appetite.
At first Halt had put it on the fact that Will's stomach wasn't used to the portions and it would be alright with some time. However while Evanlyn indeed ate more and more each day, Will only took what was necessary to get through the day.
"I promise you that I will drag him to dinner myself if I have to, Horace." Halt answered and left the two in the corridor as he walked towards the room he shared with his apprentice.
Halt found Will fast asleep on the chair, and he smiled sadly as he realized how Will had stubbornly refused to use anything touched by a slave.
However the manner Will was curled up in the chair wouldn't do him very good, especially for what Halt had in mind for the coming days. So with the gentleness of a mother with a newborn, picked the grim ranger his apprentice up and placed him on the bed next to the fire.
Once he was convinced the blankets were neatly around the frail body, Halt sat down next to the bed rubbing his face tiredly. Days after the reunion, it didn't shock him as much that Will didn't wake from his sleep if things were happening around him. Sure they had to break that again once he could be trained again.
For now Halt was just glad that finally Will slept peacefully. No tossing around, no moaning and even his whole posture seemed less tense. He was a long way from being fine, but Halt knew with this progress that Will would eventually recover.
Hours later, just before dinner Will woke up. The first thing he noticed was the soft mattress underneath him and the warmth coming from the blanket. Then he saw his mentor standing at the window, watching the sun go down.
His mind started fitting the pieces together how he had ended up on this bed. Although the thought of the slaves still ran though his mind, Will couldn't deny how much he needed the comfort and warmth the bed gave him.
Halt seemed to be deep in thought as he still hadn't noticed a certain young man was already awake and ready to fire a new string of questions.
"Were you jealous of my comfortable place in the chair?" he joked and immediately Halt turned around to see the big smile on Will's face. He had been worried that Will wouldn't be happy with the switching of places, but that worry had been unfounded.
"Well you couldn't let me sit on a bed waiting for sleeping beauty to wake up." Halt retorted.
Will was already sitting up, his energy restored as he went on, "So how did it go with Ragnak? What did he say? Are we really going to war? What are your plans?"
Halt quickly held his hand up and sighed as soon as Will gasped for breath after firing the four questions with a magnificent speed. Some moments it was like Will had become an entirely different person after his ordeal. And then there were these moments when Halt knew somethings would just never change.
"Well luckily you weren't at the meeting, with this rate you would have confused the poor Oberjarl to death." He commented, raising his eyebrow, before he went on.
"Ragnak agreed they could use our help so that is what we will do. Together we will make plans how to defeat the Temjuai. Erak and I will scout again tomorrow afternoon." Halt explained.
"Can I come with you? I know I'm behind in training but let's be honest I'll be more silent than Erak." Will asked hopefully. He didn't want to stay here behind, especially when the two people most likely to protect him from being enslaved again were gone.
But Halt already shook his head to Will's great disappointment. "No, I've something else in mind for you to do. Although I agree that you are a far greater asset than Erak is, which is not that difficult so don't praise yourself too much."
Curious for the plan Will remained silent, he knew impatience was never rewarded by Halt. And indeed after waiting just long enough to test his apprentice, Halt continued, "Tomorrow morning you will practice with your bow, then you take at least two hours rest and continue with your knife throwing practice. Erak found your double knife scabbard so no time to waste, don't you think?"
Tossing away his previous disappointment, Will became excited again. "You really think I'm ready to train again?"
Halt raised his eyebrow again, "well I should think so, your holiday has taken far too long, don't you think?'
Will knew Halt was pulling his leg, but still he wasn't so sure about it.
"I would love to train again. But when your were scouting with Erak, I tried to train with Horace and something happened…." He stopped, maybe it wasn't such a good idea to tell about his panic attack. If Halt knew about it, he might not want him back to training.
But Halt didn't let the young apprentice think too long about a solution, "Horace already told me what happened. Mind you, next time I expect to hear these things from you sooner. Your panic attack was a natural reaction to the fact that you two were fighting hand to hand and you were put in a position that triggered memories like at the gate. I believe that no harm will come from shooting your arrows or throwing knifes, so training it is."
Will smiled at that, he was looking forward using his weapons again, getting back the feeling of fighting for himself again.
The genuine smile came as a relief to Halt and he patted Will on the leg, "Now, let's go to the dining hall, before Horace has eaten everything there."
Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed the second part!
Stay safe, trust your cloak, and hopefully see you soon.
