Maddie settled Angie into her bed and sat beside the girl until she fell asleep. It took longer than she had expected, but finally Angie rolled onto her side and her breathing evened out. Will was waiting out in the hall, pacing and muttering to himself.
"How is she?" he asked as the door was pulled shut, leaving the apprentice to sleep.
"She's sleeping," Maddie offered her former mentor and uncle a wan smile. "I think she'll be fine now."
"Did she say anything?" he asked, looking past Maddie at the door. He should be in there, watching over her, ready to sooth her if she woke with nightmares; like he had with Maddie during her first year as an apprentice.
What had happened to her? He had so many questions, questions only Angie would be able to answer. He wanted those answers. He wanted to make someone pay for what they had done to her.
Maddie shook her head gently drawing Will from the door. "She's asleep, Uncle Will," she used the title to draw Will's attention; it was rare that she called him her uncle anymore. Will turned his worry stricken eyes from Angie's door to his former apprentice. "Waking her up to ask a bunch of questions won't help."
"I still think," Will started, but Maddie cut him off.
"She's fine, you took good care of her. You always take good care of your apprentices," she smiled at him trying to guide him from Angie's room. "Now let's go get some coffee."
Will nodded, giving the door one last look before walking down the hall. They had settled at the table in the room Will was sharing with Horace and Johnny when Horace entered carrying a heavy wooden practice sword.
Horace dropped the wooden sword on the table between Will and Maddie. The boy was still out and Horace was glad. He did not want the boy there just yet.
Will looked down at the practice weapon momentarily then up to Horace. "Are you wanting to practice something?"
"I found this on the green," Horace locked eyes with Will. "Does it look familiar?"
"Looks like the one Johnny's been using," Maddie picked the weapon up, holding in comfortably in her hands, Gilan had taught her swordsmanship upon her return to Castle Araluen after her graduation. "Maybe they had been practicing and he just left it there."
"Or maybe he was taunting someone and left the weapon behind." Will shook his head setting his coffee aside. It seemed like a reasonable course of action for the boy. It had been a few days since that first training session and Johnny was still acting exactly the same.
"Why would he just leave it behind?" Horace had a valid question.
Taunting someone was not a reason to leave the practice sword behind. Horace would know. He had done plenty of taunting growing up. But if they had been practicing and Johnny left to do something where the weapon would be a hindrance, then he could have asked Angie to take the weapon back to the palace. So the boy either had nothing to do with Angie or everything to do with it.
"You don't think something happened to him do you?" Maddie set the wooden sword on the table. Thinking back they had not seen Johnny since that morning when the two apprentices were released for a free day. Perhaps he was somewhere in Hallasholm in a condition similar to how they had found Angie.
Or worse, someone had over powered Johnny and Angie, left the girl and took the boy from Hallasholm completely. If that was the case he could be anywhere, there was no way to determine how many ships had sailed into and out of the capital that day. No one would even really know where the ships were going either, skirls and jarls rarely revealed their destinations.
"We know not everyone wants us here," Will crossed his arms looking down at the table. "And all that talk of a coup is no joking matter."
"There has been inner strife ever since Erak was elected Oberjarl, so many objected," Horace sank into his chair.
"And it's coming to a head," Maddie guessed. She knew Will and her father had an alternative reason for coming to Skandia, but they had not discussed it since they were trying to shelter the apprentices. Maddie knew she would learn about it when the time was right. "That's why we came?"
"Gilan received word from some of the archers stationed here, the fighting is the worst it has ever been," Horace sighed. "Cassandra and I decided it would be best to send someone to check things out."
"And the election of a new Oberjarl seemed like the perfect opportunity," Will added stroking his beard in thought. "But I never thought the rebels would attack children," he shook his head in exasperation. "What harm could they possible cause? They don't even know about the possible rebellion."
"We weren't exactly harmless as apprentices," Maddie nodded her agreement to the knight's statement.
"And it wasn't like you two knew what you were walking into every time," she added.
"We never knew what we were walking into, and we never just walked into it, we were usually thrown in head first," Horace sighed with a shake of his head.
"But we still caused problems," Will murmured just loud enough to be heard. "We caused a lot of problems."
Horace ran his fingers through his hair. "Perhaps they think taking them out will deter us from intervening."
"Well they're wrong," Will said grimly standing up.
The rebels were not going to get away with this attack on Angie and Johnny, if that was what happened. Will was going to find the boy, or track down the people responsible for his disappearance.
Will crossed the room for the door and threw it open. Horace and Maddie both watched waiting for him to throw over his shoulder that he would be back soon. They never heard it. Before he was even fully out the door the grim faced Ranger returned, hauling the battle school apprentice in by his upper arm.
"Well, he's not missing or injured," Maddie mouthed to her father as they came to their feet.
"I wish he was," Horace muttered back as Will drug the boy over to them.
Johnny was deposited in a chair at the table, the Rangers and the knight glaring down at him. He had a bad feeling that they knew about what had happened in the green. He had actually been expecting them to track him down sooner, but he was glad they had waited; he had worked out his excuses.
"I didn't mean it," he started. He figured that starting out with remorse would earn him more time to talk to them. "Things just kind of spiraled out of control, and I couldn't stop myself."
"Where have you been," Maddie asked in what Johnny determined was the tone of an angry mother.
"I was just out in the town," he said hesitantly, completely uncertain about what was happening.
"Doing what," Johnny shrank under the angry tone of the woman Ranger.
"I was talking to some of the seawolves out by the docks," he answered hesitantly trying to determine what this had to do with his argument, and hurtful comments, he had shared with Angie.
"Did you leave the city," Will asked with his arms crossed over his chest. For a short man he was intimidating.
"No," Johnny shook his head quickly. "I was at the dock with this guy named Stig, he was explaining the triangular sail plan on that tiny wolfship to me."
All three of the adults relaxed visibly. Johnny looked between the three of them carefully. Did they not know what he had done, or where they waiting on him to confess? He had already sort of confessed and they had ignored it. Something else must have happened.
"Is everything okay," he looked to Horace, who seemed to like him better than the Rangers.
"Yes," Will answered. Johnny turned his attention to the Ranger, who had somehow managed to get a wooden practice sword. "Now, would you care to explain why we found this in the green?"
There it was, the accusations were about to begin. Johnny had not realized until later that he had left the practice sword behind; it looked bad that he had just left it. And Angie had no doubt already spun some lie about him goading her into a fight. Now should he tell the truth and beg for mercy or lie?
Lying was always a good option.
"I don't know," he looked straight into the Ranger's eye. "I haven't been in the green since our training session this morning before breakfast."
"Would you like to rephrase that," Maddie crossed her arms looking down at Johnny. "Like, perhaps involving the fifth member of our group in some way?"
"I haven't seen her," he could not bring himself to look Maddie in the eye with that lie. "Not since this morning at breakfast."
"Fine," she turned from him and crossed the room.
As soon as Maddie was gone, Johnny really wished she had stayed. She was not exactly nice to him, but she was more likely to go easy on him. Johnny knew Horace and Will would be completely unfair in punishments. He looked between the two of them waiting for his sentencing.
"We don't appreciate being lied to," Will tapped the practice sword on the table. "I've never like liars, they always give me no end of trouble. Wouldn't you agree Horace?"
The old knight nodded, "And it's always such a hassle to deal with them; they always insist that they're being truthful."
They knew, Johnny knew now, they knew and were waiting on a confession. He had already lied, it would be idiotic to change his story, they would never trust him again. Not that they really trusted him to begin with. No, he had to stick with the original story.
"I haven't done anything," he forced himself to look both of them in the eye in turn. "I haven't seen Angie since this morning at breakfast."
"Then what did you not mean to do?"
Johnny stopped with his next comment caught in his throat. They had heard him, they had just ignored it before. "What?"
"The thing that just happened and spiraled out of control," Horace offered looking down his nose at Johnny
"When you just couldn't stop yourself," Will finished his eyes steeled.
Johnny looked between the two of them. He was cornered, they knew he had done something and he did not have a good story that did not in any way involve Angie. Think quick, the chided himself, his mouth gaping like a fish.
"Well," they asked together.
He had nothing, no lie, no excuse. Not even a heart-felt apology to offer. But he had to say something. Preferably something that would not result in undue punishment from the Ranger and knight.
"I," he began still looking between the two of them, silently begging one of them to show compassion toward him. "I was," he tried again, the words stumbling though his mind.
"Will, Horace," the door flew open suddenly, Maddie ran in gasping for breath. "Angie's gone!"