Gilan's thin wails cut through the air as he clung to his father, the surrounding troops shifting uncomfortably as they tried to give the man some privacy with his family. Lysette was softly trying to pull the boy off, but David himself seemed reluctant to let go as he hugged his boy, burying his face in the soft blonde hair.
"Dad, please! Please don't go!" Gilan managed to gasp out through his sobs. David met his son's eyes, soothingly running his thumb over the boy's cheek as he attempted to wipe away the stream of tears.
"I'll be back, Gilly," David tried to reassure his child, his tone thick with emotion. "I promise, I promise I'll be back."
Gilan whimpered again and gave his father one last desperate squeeze before his mother finally managed to gently disentangle him. Lysette then spoke, and despite her best efforts, she was unable to completely mask her sadness and fear at her husband's leaving. "I expect you home soon, my love. Your son wants his fishing trip; please don't disappoint him." Please come home safe or I won't be able to bear it.
David nodded as he kissed her. "Of course. I can't deny a boy his fishing trip, can I?" You know I will, please don't worry too much.
It was with a somewhat solemn air that the troops made their way down the castle path. Halt, riding next to David, noticed his friend's slumped posture and distant look, but elected not to comment. The knight would say his piece when he was ready.
"We recently lost a knight in a skirmish," David said finally, knowing Halt was waiting for an explanation. "He was a good man - and a good friend. Gilan plays with his two daughters..." he trailed off before finishing in a soft tone, "It's been hard on everyone."
"I see," Halt answered quietly, a wave of understanding washing over him. Gilan's meltdown suddenly made sense - he was just a child who was terribly afraid and faced with the possibility that his father could also leave and never come home.
With a sideways glance at his friend, the Ranger continued, "We'll get you home, David."
David, sensing the unspoken promise, allowed himself a smile.
David wearily scrubbed his face with both hands, idly noticing the rough stubble that was growing. It had been days since he had taken the time to shave.
Lying before the man was Gilan, gasping shallowly through chapped lips, his flushed, wane face a visible testament to the sickness that had taken hold of nearly half the children in the castle. David had hardly left the boy's side, sick with worry over his son. Lysette was in a nearby fief visiting friends, though a messenger had been sent to fetch her.
It had started out as a persistent, bothersome, but not overly concerning cough. The cough had grown into lethargy - then came the fever.
The fever that kept climbing.
David stroked Gilan's hand, willing those clear blue eyes to open, desperate to hear his son's cheerful voice. The healers had gravely expressed the need of a certain herb - not terribly rare, but one that wasn't native to Caraway or the immediate surrounding fiefs. Though they hadn't said it outright, the implications were clear; without this herb, the sick children throughout the castle wouldn't be much longer for this world.
The fact made David want to kick, to scream, to fight something. What cruel power had decided to give him his sweet, precious boy, only to take him this soon?
Just when David had nearly given into despair, Halt had arrived. It was for a routine meeting, as both men were influential advisers to the King. However, due to recent events, it had completely slipped the Battlemaster's mind.
Halt, upon learning about the situation, immediately volunteered to fetch the herb. Naturally, men had already been sent to retrieve it, but the Ranger reasoned that even meeting them midway would be beneficial. Abelard would run all day and half the night if Halt asked him to, so it was at that ground eating lope that the pair had left Caraway Castle.
So now they played the waiting game, the healers trying to make their charges comfortable, David watching every shallow rise and fall of his unconscious child's chest.
The knight was so intent on his task that he had startled when the ward's doors burst open to reveal an excited sentry. "He's back! The Ranger Halt is back!"
And several hours later, when Gilan had creaked open tired but lucid eyes, David unashamedly wept.
Gilan bit his lip in concentration as he slowly reached for the next hold. Far below him, he could hear the sentries shouting angrily - something that he was currently deciding to ignore. The boy was almost to the top of the massive tower - he didn't dare look down now in case he lost his nerve. At this point, his only option was to go up; going down would be far more difficult and he would be much more likely to fall on the way.
Far down in the courtyard, Sir David irritably strode across the cobblestones, trailed by the Ranger Halt. They had been in the midst of a meeting with Baron Fergus, but the commotion from the courtyard had been enough to make David check what the trouble was.
"Rowan!" The tall Battlemaster called crisply. "What's the trouble?"
Said sentry turned and hastily saluted, though his face was painted with exasperation and annoyance. "Sir. Gilan's climbing the tower; he finally managed to sneak past us." The man winced, realizing how that made him and his men sound. He would be reprimanded for this incident, Rowan thought gloomily.
David froze at his words, then whirled to face the tower. There, barely distinguishable from the top of the battlements, was a slightly built figure, waving enthusiastically.
David blanched.
"Gilan!" He bellowed, his voice trained to carry across the battlefield being used now to reach the top of the castle. Rowan smirked. He liked Gilan, but he was currently quite irritated with the boy for getting past him. It was nice to know that the sentry wouldn't be the only one in trouble.
Halt, an expert climber himself, eyed the tower and raised an eyebrow. "He climbed the tower freehand?" The Ranger inquired, a touch impressed.
"The whole thing," another guard chimed in response. "He's not the fastest climber, but he's got enough spunk to get it done." A moment passed before the guard muttered under his breath, "And enough stupidity." At David's slightly baleful glance, the guard hastily added, "Uh, I mean no offense, sir."
At the top of the tower, Gilan waved again, calling down as he did so. "Dad! Look!"
"Gilan! Come down, now!" David shouted once more, trying to sound stern in spite of his racing heart. A moment passed before he hurriedly added, "Use the stairs!" Gilan made a positive gesture and disappeared from view. It would be several minutes before he made it to ground level, David knew.
Halt watched the distant figure disappear, a new light of approval in his eyes. "Well, that's not half bad."
David glared at him. "You're a Ranger - of course you would think that. What if he had slipped, fallen?" Without waiting for an answer, he rounded on Rowan, who snapped back to attention. "You said he sneaked past you? How? You're supposed to be on alert for any disturbances!"
Rowan shifted uncomfortably. "Well, uh, sir..." He really didn't have a suitable excuse, lamely continuing, "He's sneaky."
Halt internally smirked at the exchange and again studied the tower. Not bad at all.
"Wow," Gilan breathed, stroking his pony as it sensed his excitement and began to jig.
"After the meeting, we can go explore the village," David said, smiling at his son as the boy stared wide eyed at the grandeur that was Castle Redmont. Gilan had visited with his father several times before, but this was the first time that he was old enough to truly appreciate it. "I might even be able to convince Arald to take us on a hunt tomorrow."
Gilan's head whipped from the castle to his father, a wide grin lighting up his face. "Really?"
"No promises, but Arald isn't one to turn down a chance to get out of the office," David answered knowingly before turning to focus on the road again as they approached the castle gates. The sentries, recognizing the knight on approach, nodded and stepped aside, allowing the two horses to enter the courtyard. Dismounting, a stablehand immediately stepped forward, offering to take the two horses. Sir David considered for a moment, glancing at Gilan. His son was looking sideways at him - David knew that Gilan was more than capable of looking after their horses - in fact, the boy enjoyed it. David nodded at his son before turning back to the stablehand. "Thank you, but my son will look after our mounts."
Gilan, holding the reins of his smaller saddle horse in his right hand, accepted the reins of his father's battlehorse in his left. David affectionately scrunched his son's hair, then the boy began to lead the horses toward the stables. "When you're done, ask one of the castle staff to escort you to our chambers. I'll be there after the meeting," the knight called, and Gilan nodded his understanding. Satisfied, David turned and entered the castle.
Gilan led the two horses into the stabling area and into the empty stalls that the stablehand directed him to. Stripping the saddles, Gilan gave them each a rubdown before refreshing the water buckets and pouring them both a measure of oats. Satisfied that they were settled, he withdrew two apples from his tunic pocket. He set one in the grain bin of his father's horse, but he fed the other to his own pony by hand, the animal crunching appreciatively into the sweet fruit. Affectionately rubbing his horse's forehead, Gilan's hand went into his pocket one more time to retrieve two sugar cubes. After they were swept up by a velvety tongue, Gilan glanced around them before hurriedly kissing the pony's soft nose.
As the boy exited the stall, several shouts and a frightened squeal caught his attention. The noise seemed to be coming from one of the side corrals. The scene horrified him - a group of boys, enthusiastically beating on a dusty, knock kneed filly.
The filly flinched as another rock struck her side. Her eyes rolling white, she instinctively lurched forward, smacking her chest into the wooden fence she was cornered against. The boys laughed again as they gathered more rocks, clearly enjoying her terror.
At this moment, Gilan forgot that he was slender and slight and willowy. He overlooked the fact that these boys all appeared older than him. He didn't pause to think that perhaps he should go fetch someone better equipped to handle these fops.
At this moment, all Gilan knew was that this poor filly needed someone on her side, and she needed it now.
"Leave her alone!"
The boys turned at the yell, one immediately hitting the dirt as Gilan barreled into him with every ounce of strength he had. Grunting, the boy shoved Gilan off of him into the waiting arms of his friends. Gilan was sparely built, but he was fast, landing several solid punches before they managed to restrain him. One of the receivers whimpered as he held his smarting nose - the kid might look slight, but he sure packed a punch, he thought painfully.
"Leave her alone," Gilan said again, glaring at the group. The ringleader of the bunch laughed.
"Or what? You're out of your league here, pal." With a sly look to his friends, he hefted the rock he was holding. "Maybe you want to take the rocks for her?"
A quiet, accented voice made them all freeze. "What do we have here?"
The ringleader paled as he recognized the voice of the local Ranger. "We, we, were just playing, sir," he mumbled, staring at the ground as he dropped the rock.
"I think some of us would argue against that," the Ranger replied. Without waiting for an answer, he continued, his tone turning deadly serious. "This time, I'll let you run along home. But, next time I catch you beating on horses or young boys, we're going to have a discussion. And believe me when I say, that you do not want to have that discussion."
Wordlessly, the boys ran. Halt turned back to Gilan. "You'd best run along as well."
Gilan, having grown up with Rangers and not having the same fear of them that many people had, nodded. Halt's dark eyes studied the boy a moment longer before he turned and left in a whirl of that mysterious mottled cloak.
The Battlemaster's son watched the fabled Ranger until he was out of sight, his mind whirring. Shaking himself, Gilan turned back to the filly and withdrew two more sugar cubes.
Despite the mini brawl, the feeling of her softly lipping them out of his hand had the boy smiling the rest of the afternoon.
*Notes: Lysette is the name I have chosen for David's wife, which you'll find is consistent with any previous works of mine with her in them.
The new Royal Ranger book came out in the U.S. today. It was a pretty darn good read - Maddie is fleshed out more as a character, which I found very enjoyable and good on Flanagan's part.
R&R?
-TrustTheCloak