I do not own Ranger's Apprentice
"You will get your first sight of the city around this corner." Wolfpaw said after a while. Halt peered through the leaves. Suddenly it came into view. The city was completely in the trees with wooden bridges stretching from platform to platform, which were as wide as streets. The houses were either like tree houses on a grander scale or actually inside the trees themselves.
"It's beautiful." He said.
"It's even better in the evening with the lights." Wolfpaw said softly.
"I can see where the Faery rumour came from." Duncan said, "What with all these tree roads and houses. It's like pixie land."
"Follow me." Wolfpaw said. They walked out into the city. A crowd gathered as people noticed the newcomers. Wolfpaw caught Halt's look "They're curious." He explained, "We don't get many visitors."
"No wonder." Halt muttered, remembering the route they took to get there. A few in the crowd called out greetings to Wolfpaw but the rest were silent. That was what was bothering him, Halt realised. It was the quiet and stillness of the city, it seemed… strange not hear the usual bustle. They reached the centre of the city, a massive tree with two carved doors that were wide open, showing the room within. They entered as Wolfpaw called out
"The Arulean King and his retinue for the conference."
"Thank you Wolfpaw. Will you stay with us?" The voice came from the throne opposite the doors. The man there was dressed finely, with a long necklace with an emerald key hanging from it. A symbol of office, Halt supposed. He had a ferrety kind of face and brown hair and eyes. A light build, but not a warrior. Wolfpaw bowed
"With all due respect your majesty, I must decline. The Captain said he had orders for us upon our return."
"Hmm." The king said "I do not suppose you know if he will make it for the tournament tonight?"
"I will remind him of its import, your majesty." Wolfpaw said "By your leave."
"Hmm? Oh, yes yes. Go do whatever it is that needs doing." Wolfpaw turned on his heel and left, Frost following after him. The king sighed, running his had through his hair
"They will work themselves to death the lot of them. And my son is the worst." He said ruefully "But where are my manners? I am King Ajak of the Eternal Forest. We are honored to have such esteemed guests." Whilst the protocol was carried out, Halt moved closer to Gilan
"Staring out the door isn't going to make him come back you know." He muttered out of the corner of his mouth. Gilan immediately snapped his head back to look at the two kings
"Sorry." He replied, matching his tone to Halt's "It's just, we haven't seen each other in a while and I hoped to catch up."
"You will. I expect he'll come talk to you when there are less people around. If I remember him correctly from when he visited Redmond he was quite shy." Gilan nodded, cheering up. The kings finished talking and a servant showed them to their rooms. They were a lot like the Nihon-ja style, only with much more emphasis on nature. Green was the prominent colour in every room. As the king settled in his apartment Will, Gilan, Halt and Horace were shown to theirs. It was spacious and there was a beautiful view from the window. Halt lay down on one of the low beds with a sigh of satisfaction. Everyone jumped as someone knocked on the shutters of the large window. A Guard member was perched on one of the branches outside. He was very young, fifteen at most, and his mask was that of a falcon.
"Don't you people use the door?" Halt asked from the bed. The boy smiled
"Not much." He said cheerfully "This is for you guys." He handed over a letter before jumping backwards. Horace watched him slide down the rope with disbelief.
"Not even a little afraid." He marvelled.
"They grow up doing it." Gilan reminded him. He opened the letter and scanned its contents. "Seems there's a tournament tonight which is open to our participation, that'll be interesting with all the different fighting styles. The actual meeting starts tomorrow."
"You mean we get to fight?" Horace said eagerly. Halt rolled his eyes
"That's what open to our participation means Horace." He said. Gilan ignored him
"Yes, but I'd be a little cautious Horace. I never beat Wolfpaw and Prince Hayate is his mentor, not to mention the Captain of the Guard. Even with practice blades it'll hurt." Horace smiled
"Maybe. But it'll be fun."