Chapter 15

Gilan the cat

The inn that Crowley and Pauline were staying at, was a small place, comfortable but small. Its fireplace held none of the warmth for them that it held for others, all Crowley and Pauline were worried about were their missing friends. Crowley had his eyes on a map that was sitting on the table in the middle of his room. It showed many places that Halt, Will and the others could be but as where to start Crowley was not sure. He wondered where he and Pauline should try to find Gilan and Horace for it looked like they had gone missing too.

Just then he heard a knock at the door to his room and Pauline walked in with four young men. They looked like they had fallen off a cliff twice and been through every thorn bush they could find, two of them were very thin, and fear showed in their eyes. Three he knew, one he did not but that did not matter only that they had found one of the missing rangers.

"Will it's good to see you again" said Crowley moving forward to shake the boy's hand, only to look confused when Will made a small noise of pain and quickly moved back behind the unknown man in the room.

"Crowley do not take it to heart. Will does not like people to touch him any more. In all the time he has been with me, he has barely spoken and he only sleeps with Arretez's arms around him" said Gilan looking at the boy shaking behind Arretez then continuing "from what I got out of the two of them our Halt is dead and Arretez here saved Will's life".

Crowley closed his eyes as he felt a cold hand of pain clutch his heart. That his best friend was gone. Pauline herself was in shock that a man she cared about for so long was now gone but her main worry was for the boy, who now had his head buried in Arretez's shoulder to hide the pain of loosing some one he loved.

"Will my "Cara de mo chroi" its alright" said the soft voice of Arretez as he stoked Will down his back, but suddenly Will broke away and curled up in the corner of the room with his arms over his head trying to turn off the memories.

"Its my fault. Its my fault. If I had not got caught then all of this would not have happened. They would not have...and he would not have..."Will sobbed out his voice breaking with pain of what had happened to him and his friends.

Arretez knelt down and took Will into his arms and the boy started to cry. Arretez murmured soft words in Gaelic to try and calm Will down, but his eyes had gone glassily as the memories not just of the crossing but of the time away from Halt, the coldness of the floor, the coppery taste of blood in his mouth and how much his body had hurt after.

Gilan watched the two of them from across the room, they were still dealing with so much. Too much and he knew that it would take all the understanding and love that he and Halt had to give to heal that boy's heart and then he said to the others that they should leave the two of them alone to sort out themselves.

Halt finally got through to Will a few minutes after Gilan, Horace, Crowley and Pauline had left. Will curled into Halt, the feelings that he had been feeling for some time, ever since they had got into this mess came out.

"Will its not your fault that this happened. I should have found a way to get us away earlier, if I had, you would not have suffered what that slaver did to you" Halt said holding the boy he loved closer to him, just to feel him breathing.

"I know Halt and you should not blame yourself either. I guess things happen and there is always the what ifs... I think maybe we should just move forward"said Will snuggling into Halt more. His mind calming down more.

"That's a good idea and when we go to this new country of Chase's then I propose that it is a new start for the two of us as well. We wont forget what happened, we will just put it behind us" Halt said softly. They could now hear the others talking outside.

"Crowley that's what happened. You saw how Will was, Arretez is the only one that can get through to him" that was obviously Gilan.

"I understand that but do not know if I can trust the man. I must think of Will and what Halt would have wanted for him" while Crowley was saying this Will just looked at Halt with an eyebrow raised, Crowley was being a bit protective.

"That's why I asked to stay with Will, you know that Arretez will want to go home and Will being how he is, he will follow"Gilan continued to tell them.

"You know he is right Crowley and before you say anything and while I don't like it, I think Gilan looking out for Will is what Halt would have wanted plus he can always save Will if things get out of hand with Arretez" said Pauline. She was obviously pulling in her years of diplomatic service.

"Alright, I will give but Gilan the first sign that, that man is hurting Will, you get yourself and that boy away from there. I don't even care if you have to knock him out to get him away, just do it. We will deal with the emotional problems after"said a now defeated Crowley.

"So your not planning on hurting me, are you Halt?"said a chucking Will.

"No, I might get a little frisky from time to time but I know I will not be the only one doing that, huh my Cara de mo chroi"said Halt moving his hands down Will's chest to prove his point.

Will was starting to grow very hard and as Halt started to rub that area, Will was trying to stop the moan of desire that was building in his chest from coming out.

Will asked now before things started to get to far and they both flashed their friends that were sure to come inside soon. "What does "Cara de mo chroi" mean, Halt?"

"It means friend of my heart. I would have said lover of my heart but I know Pauline would have picked up on that and I think that information is more than they need to know right now" Halt said continuing his movements and earning a shaking moan from Will as he came.

An: "Cara de mo chroi" really does mean "friend of my heart" and it is Gaelic. more soon.