Honestly, Horace couldn't care less about the plan to surprise Baron Arald for Christmas. Really. In his opinion, everything was too complicated, and his own task - getting and decorating the tree, that is, was once again too complex. Where could an 8-year-old get a Christmas tree? Wouldn't it be a better idea to just use one of the big trees that grew on the courtyard and where Will always escaped to safety?

Horace applied force to the pencil he was writing with. It was time for the morning lessons, and all the wards were learning how to read and write properly. In Horace's case, the pencil gave in under the pressure and the graphite broke with a crack.

"You can't apply this much force, Horace," said Mistress Aggie. "I can lend you another pencil, but we don't have a full stock. Please, try to be more careful with this one," she said, swapping the pencil he had in his hand for another one. Horace took it with a grumbled "thanks" and tried to focus on the writing.

The boy couldn't focus. He knew that everyone except for him and Will had done their parts already, as he saw Jenny and Alyss storing candles and wreaths to hang on the doors before Christmas, and Mistress Aggie helped the girls prepare dry apples that would eventually become the tree's decorations. The tree that was currently still non-existent.

Horace pursed his lips to a thin line. To anyone who was looking, it would seem like a look of concentration but that wasn't the case. He was thinking about everything but the work he was supposed to be doing.

People usually used normal trees that grew in front of their houses, or, if there were none, they could go get a small tree from the forest and place it in front of the main entrance. Never, ever did they place it into the rooms.

Which meant that he would have to get a tree somewhere. And by somewhere , there was only one option: the forest. Horace didn't want to steal someone else's tree. He was raised better than that. Sure, sometimes he tried to sneak into the castle's kitchen and get something to eat (he was still a growing boy and he liked good food a lot - and especially Master Chubb's turkey pie was to die for), but he knew not to steal anyone's property. That was the first rule they learned in the ward. Never, ever steal someone else's belongings, otherwise, they'd lead a poor life in the prison underground.

Horace blinked and focused his eyes on the letters on the parchment. He wanted to become a knight, he didn't need to learn how to read and write, that was stuff for someone like George or Alyss, but not for him. The boy once again applied too much pressure on the pen and the graphite almost snapped. Suddenly, he felt a gentle touch in his hand and Mistress Aggie lifted it and saved the poor pen at the last second.

"You have to do it like this, Horace," she said and guided his hand along the paper, the boy's arm copying her movements automatically. Horace followed the path the graphite left on the paper. He couldn't care less. He was supposed to be a warrior, not a scribe!

Finally, the torture hour seemed to end and the wards were allowed to leave. They had simple bread for lunch and then, they were free.

As usual, the wards got warm tea for lunch, preparing to go outside in the afternoon.

They were already dressed in their winter clothes when the door to the ward creaked and inside stepped a big, broad-shouldered young man. Going by the armour he was sporting on his chest, he was a young knight. Horace and Will's eyes sparkled immediately.

Mistress Aggie left the children for a moment and went to speak with him, leaving the two boys bouncing with excitement impatiently.

After some minutes, the adults turned to the children and Mistress Aggie spoke: "Children, this is Sir Karel. Baron Arald asked him if he wanted to show you a training session of the battleschool."

Horace gaped, then realized that he must be looking like a fish, and closed his mouth, already nodding vigorously.

"Yes!" he called happily. Mistress Aggie frowned at him.

"I mean, yes please!" he corrected himself. Will nudged him hard in the ribs but didn't say anything except his own agreement. He didn't want to argue with Horace in front of an actual knight.

Sir Karel straightened and held the door open for all of them as they came outside. Horace's eyes sparkled. Sir Karel was the perfect embodiment of a knight. Broad-shouldered, strong yet chivalrous, and he surely abode by the codex of knighthood as well.

The kids went behind Sir Karel and Mistress Aggie. The two of them seemed to be deep in a conversation, while the kids led their own conversation, often accompanied by snowballs.

"A real knight!" Will whispered to Horace. The other boy's eyes sparkled as he whispered back: "I know!" At that moment, both Will and Horace forgot about their long-term rivalry, united by the vision of visiting the battleschool. Of course, both of them would be on their best behaviour. No bickering, no arguing, no provoking each other. They both wanted to see how apprentices trained to be knights, something that they both dreamt to do as well when the time came.

The journey from castle Redmont to the battleschool wasn't very long. After leaving the gates, the group turned left and continued on a wide sandy path until they could see the barracks. Will and Horace, excited, went in the front of the group while Alyss and George trailed behind them, more interested in the talk they led about writing utensils and which one was better. Jenny was left at the ward. She was still recovering from her adventure in the river, and it was better to let her rest for the time being. The girl didn't like it, of course. She much preferred to be active and spend time with her peers.

Finally, they arrived at the barracks. Having four children with him got Sir Karel a few weird looks from the apprentices, but one stern look later, they all went back to the activities they had been doing before.

Will and Horace stopped, gaping around as if their biggest dreams had been just fulfilled. They had almost been left behind if Mistress Aggie didn't come back for them.

"Will, Horace, you have to stay with the group," she said. "Otherwise you'd get lost." She gently held their hands and led the boys to the rest of the group.

Apparently, they had to stand while the battleschool apprentices did their afternoon exercises. Sir Rodney himself was watching as well. The Redmont Battlemaster came to the small group.

"Good afternoon, everyone," he greeted. The children looked at him and chorused: "Good afternoon, sir!"

Mistress Aggie nodded her head.

"Sir Rodney," she acknowledged him. The knight nodded back.

"Lady Aggie, it is good to see you again," he said, then looked down at the children. "I assume these are your charges?"

Mistress Aggie nodded again.

"Yes, sir. These are Alyss, Horace, George, and Will," she introduced them quickly. "Baron Arald asked Sir Karel if he would be so kind and showed them a lesson at the battleschool."

Sir Rodney looked over them.

"I know; I've been informed about it." He stroked his beard and leaned forward to see the kids.

"Tell me, is there any future knight?" he asked with a small smile. Sir Rodney was a warrior, yes, but he could also be very gentle, especially with children.

Horace bounced on the spot.

"Me, ME!" he exclaimed happily, Will joining in with his own yelling.

Sir Rodney frowned from the sudden noise and held a hand up to silence the boys.

"Alright, that's enough. Would you like to try it out with a wooden sword?"

"Yes, please!" Will and Horace shouted in unison, stepping forward. Mistress Aggie frowned.

"Rodney," she warned him, shaking her head. "They're children, not your soldiers."

The knight stopped in his tracks.

"Oh, come on, Aggie! I bet they wouldn't want to leave without at least trying it out," he argued, and Horace and Will joined him, making the perfect puppy eyes at her. Mistress Aggie sighed.

"Alright then, but nothing dangerous," she said, then looked at Alyss and George. "You two want to try as well?"

Alyss shook her head, George followed a split second later.

"I'm comfortable just watching," Alyss said, hugging herself. The weather was chilly and just standing there without moving made the cold seep through her clothes. However, the girl was proud and knew that she could take it. It wouldn't be long before they went back to the castle, she was sure of it.

George looked like he'd like to be anywhere else than here, but he stood, hugging himself with his arms in an attempt to try and warm up, and watched as Sir Rodney handled Will and Horace two practice swords, made entirely out of wood.

"Oof, this is heavy," Will commented as he held the sword, trying to keep it off the ground. Horace smirked.

"What, Will? Is the baby sword too heavy for you?" he shot back, even though he was also struggling to hold the sword in the air. Sir Rodney didn't pay attention to their dialogue and patiently showed them how to do the basic moves. Will and Horace tried to repeat them after him, and by the end, they were so exhausted that they couldn't continue. Sweat was running down their foreheads as they entrusted the swords back to the knight.

"That was awesome!" Horace called as he ran back to where the rest of the group stood.

"Absolutely thrilling!" Will added, wanting to be a knight more than ever now.

Sir Rodney smiled.

"Maybe we have two new knights in the making," he remarked, amused by the boys' enthusiasm.

Sir Karel stood before them once more.

"Come along, you'll get a tour of the battleschool," he said, beckoning them to go after him. They all complied and soon they had gone through the barracks, the stables, and the training grounds before they stopped next to another barrack building.

At that moment, Horace's gaze swayed over the compound. There was a nice tree! It was small and a few of its branches were broken. It looked like it belonged to no one.

Horace looked back and forth, not seeing anyone who would come up to the tree. He assumed that someone had deposited it there, in the shadows. He could salvage it before it became someone's firewood.

A plan forming in his head, Horace waited until the rest of the group went inside. He stayed out, and, as soon as he was sure that he was alone, he ran to the tree. He reached out and tried to lift it up when a low, menacing voice interrupted him: "Stealing, are we, boy?"

Horace felt his throat tighten as he slowly turned around to look into the dark eyes of Halt the Ranger. He gulped.

"N-no, s-sir," he said, hating how his voice trembled. Just like other people, Horace was scared of Rangers. They were surrounded by an aura of mystery, always shrouded in their magical cloak and seemingly teleporting from place to place.

Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Horace said: "I just… I just thought that the tree wasn't anyone's…"

Halt shook his head disapprovingly under the cowl.

"Thinking doesn't mean you're right," he said, still keeping that low voice that seeped into Horace's bones and terrified him to no end.

"I-I'm sorry!" he yelled, not wanting to know what magic the Ranger would bestow upon him. Halt clicked his tongue.

"Follow me," he said, and Horace had no other option than to obey. Head down, he followed the Ranger to a large room, presumably Sir Rodney's office. It was plain and rather Spartan-looking, and the knight himself sat behind a large wooden desk.

"Halt? I didn't expect you back so soon," he said, looking up. "And with young Horace no less. What's the matter?"

Halt pushed Horace in front of him.

"He tried to take that discarded tree," he explained, telling on Horace easily. The boy paled. Not even Will dared to tell on him but this Ranger, this Ranger had done it. He was royally screwed now.

Sir Rodney tilted his head at Horace.

"Is that so? Why did you try it, Horace?" he asked.

Horace's breath quickened as he tried to keep calm.

"Well, you see, sir… we're planning a Christmas surprise for Baron Arald, because he's always so nice to us, and I've been, euh, tasked with getting a tree. But I don't know how I should get the tree, or where, and when I saw yours, it seemed as if it didn't belong to anyone and-"

Sir Rodney held up his hand, effectively shutting him up.

"I see. You're not sure how to get a tree, is that right?"

Horace nodded, relieved by the easy-going tone the Battlemaster used. Sir Rodney then turned to Halt.

"Halt, would you be so kind and help Horace take the tree up to the castle?" he said, and Horace's eyes sparkled in relief.

The Ranger, however, didn't seem like it was a good idea. He stroked his beard.

"Hm, I could be persuaded to help…" he drew out, instilling doubt in Horace's mind once more. "But only if the boy here apologizes to the one the tree belongs to."

Putting two and two together, Horace quickly turned to Sir Rodney.

"I'm sorry, sir!" he exclaimed, watching the Battlemaster's expression turn into a smile.

"It's alright," he assured him, then turned to the Ranger. "Halt, will this apology be sufficient to you?"

The Ranger nodded.

"Very well, I shall help him. Go rejoin your group, boy," he said, ushering Horace out of the door. Not wanting to spend any more minutes with the Ranger, Horace took to running and he met up with the group just as Mistress Aggie started looking for him.

"Where have you been, Horace?" she asked sternly, worry evident in her face.

The boy blushed in embarrassment of being scolded in front of the others and a knight, but then replied: "I… I got a bit lost." He hoped that this would be a sufficient answer.

Mistress Aggie took his hand, determined not to let him out of her sight again. Horace resigned himself to his fate. All that mattered was that he got to visit a real battleschool and also secure a tree for them.

Sir Karel came up to them.

"I hope you enjoyed the visit," he said, even though he was mainly talking to Will and Horace, who had definitely seemed to enjoy the visit more than Alyss and George did, though all the children nodded politely and let out more or less excited exclamations that they did enjoy it.

When going back to castle Redmont, Will leaned to Horace.

"What were you really doing back there? You disappeared for like twenty minutes!" he said, sounding a bit upset that Horace had sneaked off without him. The taller boy leaned back to him and whispered back: "I secured us a tree."

Will's eyes widened. "You did? Then where's the tree?"

Horace looked at him. He hated to admit something like this, but it was inevitable; Will would otherwise make fun of him.

"I couldn't carry it so Sir Rodney got Ranger Halt to do it," he replied. Will took a step back.

"Ranger Halt?! You mean, with magic?" Horace shrugged.

"I don't want to know. I was terrified as it was," he said, jumping over a puddle.

Will threw his head back.

"Maaaan, I can't believe you had a private conversation with Sir Rodney! The next time we're doing this, I want to be in charge of the tree!"

The two continued bickering until they reached the ward. There, they stopped dead in their tracks. In the middle of the courtyard, there stood the tree, already secured in place.

"The tree!" Alyss called, excited. Horace attempted to look proud.

"I got us the tree," he said, looking very satisfied with himself.

"How?" George asked. "You were with us the whole time."

Suddenly, Horace looked less proud.

"Well, I got a bit of help," he admitted, not wanting to say who exactly had helped him. Only Will would ever know.

"That's okay," Alyss said, running up to the tree. "It's so nice!" she called back to them. Horace called back over half the courtyard: "You're welcome!" Then, turning to Will, he asked: "Wanna get beaten at another snowball fight?"

Will grinned at him.

"You bet! But the only one beaten here will be you!"

The two boys kept bickering back and forth as they ran off to have yet another snowball fight, forgetting all about the tree and the plans.