Chapter 6

"Where have you been?" Halt asked irritably. Even though he didn't show he had been deeply worried for the past two hours. He had just got Will back, it would have tugged at his heart almost broken it in fact if Will had been lost or hurt in any sort of way.

I've got to stop getting so damn sentimental. It's worrying.

"I just decided to hang out a bit." Will said quieter than his usual boisterous manner. The tone and the slightest slump of his shoulders alerted Halt that something was wrong but he never showed it because as ever his face was a blank canvas. If he needed support or help he would have come to me himself Halt thought gruffly.

"Well I've got to go and assess the Skandians prowess in battle so that we can win this bloody war and head home." He said as grim faced as ever.

"Have fun, I hope the Skandians show and tell you everything you need to know including how loud they belch, how many scars they have and how much they love to fart." Will jibed in a mock cheery manner and grinned lopsidedly when seeing Halt raise his eyebrow in turn. He was in truth hiding the grimace that was about to show on his face when he realised what Will had told him, mock cheerfulness as it may be was a pretty accurate version of what Skandians liked to do when they weren't practising.

"I'm going to have the time of my life." He replied his face totally deadpan. Anyone other than Will would have been fooled into thinking that Halt actually wanted to go there, but during Will's time in the never ending woods surrounding Redmont castle, bathed in the sun's light while sending a constant stream of arrows towards the wooden targets, he had come to learn and love the grizzled old ranger that was thought of as a father therefore knowing a lot more about him than he realised.

"Yup I'm pretty sure you are." He replied in an easy manner.

"You know, there once was a time when you came to do everything I said and had a certain level of deference towards me, I wonder what has happened to it now." He mused to Will.

"Realised you were a little bantam in a green cloak with a girl's heart." Will replied while shrugging. Halt harrumphed noisily and walked away quickly trying to escape the area around Will so as not to be able to hear any more snide replies. Will laughed gently at Halt's injured manner and scooted off towards his sleeping dormitories.

Once having done all his nightly rituals before going to bed, he clambered inside the thick linen covers exhausted. He was awfully glad that Skandians had the brain to produce the linen extra thick otherwise he could have died from the bitter winds that sailed through the night. Even in the middle of Spring the nights were still icy cold and he shuddered to think what would have happened to him were they not there. That set him to a recollection of memories about the dusty, dilapidated wooden hut in which he knew the yard slaves were sleeping in. He sighed deeply, wondering about what his life would have been like had he not escaped. Had Evanlyn not helped him escape he corrected wisely. Even as his thoughts rested on her a soft hand rapped on his door. He sat up a little groggily and made his way silently to the door. He opened the door slightly not trusting who might have knocked as previous thoughts about his time in slavery were still racing through his mind. As soon as he opened it however a small but firm hand pushed it open even wider and Evanlyn squeezed through the tiny gap while Will made sure he didn't exclaim his surprise too loudly.

"Evanlyn what are you doing here?" Will knew nearly everyone was asleep and so whispered, he didn't want to wake them. He knew from personal experience that Skandians weren't too lenient if they were deprived of sleep. His sleeping quarters were simple but spacious. Skandians didn't often get many guests so any extra rooms given were quite big. Evanlyn herself had her own sleeping quarters as Skandians still wished to give her privacy. Will had kept his wooden shutter open because cold as it may be he was a ranger after all if still an apprentice and he never slept a night with his shutter closed. The cold air was refreshing and his eyes could see Evanlyn as the moon's light caught on her features and made her look even prettier than before.

"Will I had a nightmare." She said feeling a little foolish. After she said those words Will noticed how red rimmed her eyes were, and the sheen of sweat that was still gathered on her forehead.

"I'm sorry you had a nightmare Evanlyn but…" He raised his shoulders a little trying not to be selfish but his gesture said how does this concern me? She recognised the gesture and uttered two unbearable words.

"About Skandia." Immediately from under the moonlight she saw his expression change to concern as he made his way through the darkness to her and wrapped her soothingly in his arms. She had made herself promise not to show any signs of weakness. Not to cry, but as soon as he gently kept her in his embrace and rested his chin on top of her head she felt the hot prickly tears slowly pour out, each one betraying her. They could have stayed in that position for the rest of the night but a while later Will pulled away and led her to his bed. She sat down quietly still hiccoughing from her tears as he sat down next to her on the edge of his bed.

"I know how you feel Evanlyn don't worry we've got each other. We can help each other get through this one small step at a time." Somehow he said the exact words she wanted to hear and his voice while not a croon was unintentionally seductive to her as he said those next words. "You and me that's all that counts. We can get through this. Together." Will looked at her and saw her wipe her tear stained cheeks as she nodded with conviction at his words. He felt a wet tingle on his jerkin and saw a massive wet patch on his chest where she had been crying. She noticed too because when she saw him look down she said.

"Sorry Will I didn't mean to ruin your jerkin-"

"You have nothing to apologise for Evanlyn none of this is your fault you didn't ask for it and neither did I." She looked up at his face as his low voice said those words fiercely. His serious brown eyes bored into her vivid green ones and he nodded at her softly. "Did you want to tell me about your nightmare?" He prodded her in the direction she least wanted to go in but she knew it was better to get it off her chest and she couldn't see who else would be better suited to listening than Will. He propped himself on the bed in a half sitting half lying position and had a look of sympathy on his face. She knew that from his expression he wasn't going to interrupt her or ask her any questions he was solely going to listen and she was glad. It was hard enough opening up her nightmares to him. Her nightmare first began with everything she had been through in Skandia. In the slaves kitchen doing work day after day grindingly while Slagor would come and visit her night after night no one there to hear her screams. Then it changed to her seeing Will and how horrible and lifeless he looked. She dreamt of him as a zombie like creature with no memory about to kill her as the Oberjarl laughed cruelly in the background yelling abuse and finding out her true identity. Will listened intently as she confessed her recurring nightmare silent tears now coming out without her knowing. After a long time he said.

"I didn't know how scary I must have been. Like the living dead." He said to her in empathy.

"You have no idea" she said to him quietly.

"I get dreams like that too Evanlyn but there's nothing I can do about it when I wake up in the middle of the night with sweat pouring down my face mixed in with tears at the sight of what I had to witness and go through." She saw his eyes take a glazed look as he was remembering what happened in his own nightmare. His voice was soft but distant.

"Will can I sleep with you tonight? It's just that I'd feel better knowing someone was there by my side if I have that dream again." She looked up to him hoping against hope he would say yes. A long time after he did and she got under the covers next to him while keeping her distance. Will kept his distance as well so no one got the wrong impression and gradually the both of them fell asleep in fitful bursts and each time any one of them woke the other would croon words of comfort till they both went back to sleep. They stayed like that until dawn, the first rays of sun falling on them.