This is one of the oneshots I mentioned in the summary. It's sort of (but not really) a 'what would happen if…?' from my oneshot Scarred. You should definitely read that one first (or just skip this chapter). I have included a small excerpt from Scarred just to show you where we are.

You can interpret the chapter title however you want.

Rating: T
For: Violence and one near-death situation... And a little bit of blood. If you've read Scarred already, you should know this.

He had saved Will, of course. He still remembered the look of relief on Will's face as they had convinced that poor excuse for a human being Egon to let go of him. He remembered gently untying his hands and cleaning his face—and, most of all, he remembered the way Will had clung to him for most of the rest of the night, refusing to let go.

—Excerpt from Scarred.

"You want me to let him go, then?" Egon sneered. "Fine then. Here you go." He kicked Will's legs out from under him, letting go of his arm at the same time. With his arms bound tightly behind him, he fell hard on the ground, gasping at the unexpected pain.

Halt stepped forwards quickly, rushing to his apprentice's aid. He helped Will up, feeling his sigh of relief as he realized he was safe. Halt turned him around gently. "Let's see about untying these," he said softly. He set to work on Will's bonds, wincing slightly as he saw how tightly the knots had been tied, how cruelly the rope dug into his skin.

The rope eventually fell to the ground. Will turned around to face Halt. "Thanks," he said softly. Halt nodded, then looked up.

Egon was standing a few feet away, smirking. Halt looked at him warily.

"This is all very touching," he said, "But I'm afraid that you'll have to see the Oberjarl now, which means that I get to take those two," he said, gesturing to Will and Evanlyn, who had, like Horace, dismounted minutes before.

Halt stepped slightly in front of Will. The message was clear: Go away if you know what's good for you.

Erak cleared his throat. "Halt, he does have to take them. It's the law." Halt turned around to glare at him. Erak explained. "Slaves have to be taken in separately. That's the law. I can't do anything about it."

Halt turned to glare at him. They stayed that way for several seconds—Erak, apologetic, yet stubborn; Halt, unwilling to allow a repeat of a few minutes ago.

That, unfortunately, was his mistake.

By turning, he left Will unprotected. Egon, seeing his chance, lunged at Will, grabbing his wrist and pulling him away from the group—and the only people who had a chance to protect him.

Egon held Will up against his chest, that dreaded knife at his throat once more. "Right," he snarled, "The girl can come over now, or the boy can die. You pick." Halt was frozen in place. Horace moved protectively in front of Evanlyn.

Egon smirked. "All right then." He moved the knife slightly, and Will cried out in surprise and pain. Egon moved the knife to allow the Araluens to see the thin red line on Will's throat.

"He's not dead yet. Bring the girl over."

No one moved. Egon brought the knife up to its former position threateningly. And then Halt remembered the way Egon had called Will 'it' earlier that morning, and realized that he would do it. Will was nothing to him. He felt fear stab at his heart—

And then Evanlyn broke free of Horace and ran forwards. "Don't kill him!" she screamed.

"Evanlyn!" Horace yelled. Evanlyn stopped next to Will, breathing hard.

"You shouldn't have done that," he said quietly, so that only the three of them could hear.

Evanlyn looked into his eyes. Green met brown. His eyes looked just as they had on the night they had burned the bridge. He had been willing to be either captured or killed to remove the threat it posed. Will had been ready to take the risk. She had known it then, and she knew it now.

Evanlyn shook her head.

"And just let you die? After all I've done to keep you alive?" She remembered the days in the mountains, spent caring for Will—the boy that used to be an apprentice Ranger, a powerful weapon, reduced to the shell of a person who didn't even know his own name. She shook her head again.

Egon chuckled. "Well, that problem's solved." He grabbed Will's arm with one hand and Evanlyn's with the other. Evanlyn winced at his tight grip. Will, she noticed, was staring straight ahead, determinedly not looking behind him.

He never did.

Erm, if you didn't get that last bit, it does say in the books that Will never looks behind him during a farewell of any sort (except for that one time, I think, in book 9).

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