"Well, that was fun," Berwick commented.
Egon raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm not sure we share the same definition of fun."
"Oh, come on," Pritchard chimed in. "Seeing Stilson blow steam out of his ears like that? That was fun."
Egon shook his head. "No, it wasn't fun." Pritchard looked about to object, when he continued. "It was priceless." A slow smile spread over his face. "Absolutely priceless."
Pritchard and Berwick seemed to consider it for a moment, then they both nodded.
"Okay, yeah, have to give you that; it really was priceless. The others will be sorry they missed it," Berwick said with a grin.
"Most definitely."
They were sitting in the Commandant's office, which they had gone straight to after they had left the hall. Stilson had glared at them, huffed and gone his own way, and Crowley had briefly considered sending someone after him, but decided against it for now. Stilson would show his hand soon enough, and the guards knew to alert them if he tried to leave the castle. Right now he needed to see if there were any evidence of betrayal against the crown from Stilson's side. Even if there wasn't and Stilson just turned out to be easily manipulated and duped, he doubted he would keep him on despite how few they were. They had no use for a Ranger who was weak of mind and Stilson had never been a good Ranger, only just passing his exams. No, one way or another Stilson was going. It was just a matter of how and why.
"What do you think?" Berwick asked him.
"Huh?" Crowley answered, his mind somewhere else.
"Was the look on Stilson's face just fun or was it priceless?" he pressed.
Crowley waved a hand vaguely around. "Both. But the real question is what are we going to do with him?"
Berwick sighed realising that Crowley had gone all serious and wouldn't be up for discussing it now. Later, but not now. He forced himself back to the matter at hand; the question of Stilson's possible betrayal and what evidence there might be of it.
"I suggest we get Duncan to banish him. Would serve him right," Pritchard put in.
Crowley looked at him with an exasperated expression. "You know very well we can't do that until we have concrete proof of betrayal against the crown. Being a fool isn't grounds for banishment. And we really don't want to go the route Morgarath took to get rid of the Rangers," he said pointedly.
Pritchard shrugged, but didn't say anything.
"Looking through all of this will take time," Egon commented. "Stilson wasn't exactly the most organised or neat type, was he?" He made a hand gesture to the piles around the office and the general untidiness of it.
"You've got that right," Berwick agreed. "Just looking through it will take days, even if we only skim read."
"And we surely won't find a folder or pile named 'Morgarath's plans' anywhere in this mess." Pritchard looked around disapprovingly. "I guess the real question is; what are we going to do about him while we search through this mess?"
They all considered the question.
"We will need to keep an eye on him. Make sure he doesn't try to take out his frustrations on the King or Duncan," Crowley said.
"Or us," Berwick chimed in.
Crowley smiled at him. "Oh, I do hope that he will try and take it out on us. We all know any one of us can beat him in a fight. The trouble comes if he doesn't go for the direct route, but tries something subtle."
The others offered their agreement and Crowley turned speculative again. "I think he's most likely to take his frustrations out on either Pritchard or myself. That frees you two up to go shadowing him around and keeping tabs on him, while he keeps tabs on us."
"Sounds like fun," said Berwick.
"Agreed. Stilson has a fight to pick with you for taking his job and generally he just doesn't like Pritchard –"
"One doesn't understand why," Pritchard interjected.
"– so it makes sense to have Berwick and myself be the ones to keep tabs on him and make sure he doesn't try anything," Egon finished.
Berwick nodded. "And stop him if he does try something."
"Just don't stop him too soon; if he tries something we want to catch him in the act and we want it to stick. There must not be any doubt of his intentions." Crowley bore his gaze into theirs. "Don't interfere in his doings until there's solid proof of wrongdoing."
They nodded their understanding.
"So, those two get to shadow Stilson around, and you have to look through this mess. Any plans for me?" Pritchard asked.
Crowley smiled at him. "Yes, you get to help me look through this mess."
Pritchard slumped a bit in his chair in defeat, and Berwick and Egon grinned at each other.
"We'll leave you two to it then," Egon said rising.
Berwick nodded. "Have fun." He waved a hand in goodbye.
When they were gone Pritchard looked at Crowley. "You couldn't have found something more interesting for me?"
"Sure, I could," Crowley said with a smile. "But then I'd have to look through all of this myself and that would be no fun at all."
Pritchard shook his head ruefully. "Well then, hand me that stack of papers."
§
It was around midnight before Crowley called a halt to their search through the stacks of paper. His back was sore from sitting still for too long, bend over the desk, and now he stretched trying to get the kinks out again.
He looked at the remaining piles disconsolately. "This will take days to get done. And that's without adding the new work to be done on reforming the Ranger Corps."
Pritchard nodded while he finished skimming the paper he was currently reading. He put it down with a sigh. "Do you really want just the two of us sitting in here all day for the next many days?"
Crowley shock his head. "No, we have other things do to, too, but I don't want to leave the office unattended either. You never know if Stilson might go back in for something."
Pritchard looked at him plainly. "Don't tell me you plan on sleeping in here."
But again Crowley shook his head. "Why do you think I sent Egon and Berwick to shadow him? They can stop him if he tries to enter. I'm mostly worried he might send a servant, so we need to stay on our toes." Crowley yawned. "For now I'll just set up a little trap so we can see it if anyone has gone in during the night."
Pritchard grinned. "Good idea. Let's get it set up, then find those nice, soft beds, there are sure to be here."
Crowley returned the grin. "I have looked forward to those."
§
Egon had volunteered for the first shift. He and Berwick had quickly found out where Stilson's quarters were and after they had both scouted this part of the castle they had decided on a roster. The King's chamberlain had worked quickly to set up four rooms for the Rangers, and Egon and Berwick had inspected them in turn. He looked forward to sleeping in a real bed tonight and hoped Berwick wouldn't oversleep because of the nice bed.
He shifted on his feet to keep the blood flowing. He was hidden in one of the castle's many crenellations right next to a suit of armour and the shadows made him virtually invisible. Earlier in the evening quite a few servants had passed right by him, but by now no one had walked past for some time. He had a good view of the corridor from here right up to and past the door to Stilson's quarters a few meters further down. He and Berwick had both agreed on this place as a good hiding place to keep watch. Of course, they would have to work on something different once it got light again. They could probably stay hidden from a general passer by, but Stilson was Ranger trained and sure to notice them, even if neither of them held his skills in any particular regard. And of course, Stilson knew the layout of the castle better than any of them.
Shadowing Stilson in this castle will be a challenge. Sooner or later he's bound to notice or figure it out if he hasn't already done so. If he's at least a little intelligent he probably suspects we are keeping watch of him, he thought.
Egon stifled a yawn. He had watched the light from the moon moving over the floor and walls completely changing the angle it now fell in on and he had had some long and boring days while riding north. And he simply wasn't all that young any more, and surely it must soon be time for Berwick to come.
He heard the faintest whisper of sound and immediately scanned the whole hallway to locate it. It could just be a mouse scurrying about; he had already spotted one of those earlier, but this hadn't sounded quite like that. His eyes darted from side to side while he stood completely still.
Then a hand touched his arm. It was only Egon's many years of experience that kept him from tensing up and moving. Instead he turned his head to look at Berwick, who had just appeared next to him. He nodded at him, but kept silent. Without saying a word Egon glided out from his hiding place and Berwick took up position there in his place. They had already planned how to do it all, so there was no need to speak.
Then Egon ghosted down the hallway towards his own room with its soft bed. Berwick marvelled at how Egon simply vanished from his sight within a couple of meters and moved without the slightest sound. He's definitely earned every recommendation he has, Berwick mused. Then he pushed thoughts of Egon's skills out of his mind and settled in for what would most likely be three very boring hours watching the dark grey hallway.
Berwick was right. Aside from another couple of mice scurrying about the most exiting thing that happened during his shift was when a castle cat came in pursuit of one of the mice. Neither mouse nor cat paid him any attention. Eventually Egon went on shift again and Berwick went back to catch a couple of hours more sleep.
§
He met up with Crowley and Pritchard in the office around mid morning.
"Found anything of interest?" he said as way of greeting.
Crowley shook his head. "Not really. Would have been nice if we had."
Pritchard greeted him without looking up from what he was reading. "You have anything of interest to share?"
Berwick scratched his cheek. "Well, the most excitement I got tonight was seeing one of the castle cats chase a castle mouse. I think the mouse got away."
Crowley grinned at him. "We might be stuck with this job, but at least we get lots of uninterrupted sleep. By the way, Egon said the same as you. Except he didn't report any cat chases."
"Stilson hasn't left his rooms?" Berwick's eyebrows went up. That didn't sound right.
Crowley waved a hand. "Oh, he did leave them, but not until well past sunrise. Either he likes to sleep in or he's been fuming or planning in his rooms. Egon said he went to the dinning hall to eat. Had lots of eggs and coffee."
"Yeah, the breakfast was quite good," Berwick agreed.
"Egon also said that," Pritchard commented. "And I agree; excellent breakfast."
"So what now? I know you'll be in here going through all this and Egon and I will be keeping tabs on Stilson, but other than that?"
Crowley looked thoughtfully ahead of him. "Well, hopefully we will find something here to tie him to Morgarath and his plans, or you and Egon will catch him doing something unacceptable, but we can't wait forever for him to make a move. So we might need to provoke him a little."
"More than losing his position of Commandant will do?"
"Yes. You did notice how he carefully avoided telling Duncan whether he would follow my orders or not yesterday?"
Berwick nodded. They had all noticed it.
"Well, I'm working on reforming the corps, so I think I shall have to involve Stilson a little in the process," Crowley said with a smile.
Berwick raised an eyebrow. "You would trust him to do what you say or actually help you?"
Crowley shook his head. "Not in the slightest. But it might shake him up enough that he shows his true colours."
Berwick nodded. Stilson would definitely feel provoked if Crowley started giving him orders and telling him what to do. "When do you plan on starting?"
"I already have. I'll send for Stilson after lunch and then we'll see what happens."
§
"What do you want?" The words were curt and not remotely friendly.
"And hello to you, too," Crowley responded.
Stilson had spoken the moment he had opened the door and seen Crowley behind the desk. His desk, as far as Stilson was concerned. He scowled at him, not bothering to hide his dislike now that Duncan wasn't around any more.
Crowley waved a hand at a chair in front of him. "Take a seat." He kept his tone light, waiting to see whether Stilson would refuse even that simple order or not.
He continued scowling at him as he looked around and saw that Crowley had already been through a lot of his paper piles, but he walked forward and sat down in the offered chair, glaring daggers at Crowley.
"Great, now to business. I've been charged with reforming the Ranger Corps, but it would certainly be faster if you cooperate with me and help out." Crowley paused, but Stilson just looked at him, tight-lipped, and not saying a word. "So I would like to know how your filing system works." Crowley waved a hand around taking in the cabinets and the piles on the tables and floor.
Stilson raised an eyebrow. "If you are so great a Commandant, then surely you can figure it out yourself," came the curt reply. "If not, then maybe you shouldn't be the Commandant."
"Oh, I'll figure it out, but it would be faster if you simply told me how your system is set up."
For a moment they just looked each other in the eye. Then Stilson snorted.
"Figure it out yourself, Crowley." The tone was barely civil and he practically sneered as he said Crowley's name.
Crowley raised an eyebrow. It was clear Stilson wasn't going to be cooperative, but he had to try and he wanted to see how he would react to different requests and orders. So far Crowley had kept it to polite requests, but he wasn't done yet.
"Where do you keep the dossiers on the different Rangers?" Crowley had in fact found them earlier that morning, he just wanted to see if Stilson would reply.
Stilson merely pointed at the cabinet to the left of Crowley.
"And where is the evidence kept used to convict the former Rangers of treason and other crimes?"
Stilson just looked at him in contempt. "You think you can just make all that go away and reinstate all of them?" He snorted. "There were plenty of evidence against them."
"I'm not asking about what evidence there were, just were you keep it," Crowley said feeling his patience being strained. He was getting tired of Stilson's behaviour really quickly.
"Go find it yourself."
"Stilson, do I need to remind you that the King and Prince Regent has appointed me Commandant and that Prince Duncan has ordered you to cooperate with me?"
"You're unfit for the position. Just because you have managed to convince the King and Prince you should be Commandant doesn't mean it's right." Stilson didn't make any attempt to disguise his contempt for Crowley.
Tall words coming from an incompetent fool like you, Crowley thought. "Where do you keep the files?" Crowley said looking Stilson straight in the eye. The previous light tone was gone.
Stilson just glared at him, crossing his arms in protest. He wasn't about to let Crowley of all people win a staring contest.
"Last chance, Stilson. Either you cooperate or I'll kick you out."
"You can't kick me out," he protested. "I've been a Ranger way longer than you."
"Funny, that didn't seem to be an issue when you got all the others convicted and banned from the country."
"You can't kick me out, you don't have the mandate. I haven't broken any laws."
"Actually, I can and I do. I've been given the mandate to reform the Ranger Corps and that means I can kick out anyone, who doesn't live up to our new standard or who won't follow orders. That includes you." Crowley gave him a hard look. "And whether you have broken any laws or not, I'll leave to the King and Prince to determine."
Stilson started sputtering his protests, but Crowley waved them aside. "Save your breath, Stilson. I want to know whether you will fall in line and follow orders or not. So what will it be?"
Stilson's look was one of pure hatred. He absolutely hated this usurper right now and how he was sitting in his chair, behind his desk, thinking he could simply take over his job.
"No."
"No what?" Crowley demanded.
"No, I refuse to take orders from you. I'll only take orders from the King."
Crowley gave him a hard look. "Hand it over."
"Hand what over?" Stilson shot back.
Crowley held out a hand. "The oakleaf. Hand it over. Now."
"What?!"
"You heard me. If you refuse to follow my orders, then I have no use for you in the Corps. So hand it over."
For a moment Stilson just stared at Crowley. Then he almost tore it off and threw it at his open hand while rising from the chair looking like a thundercloud.
Crowley just caught the silver oakleaf and placed it on the desk under his hand. "Now get out. Hand in your Ranger's equipment within the next hour."
"Fine," Stilson said through gritted teeth. He turned and marched to the door. Before he left Crowley shot a final warning at him.
"And don't leave the castle, Stilson. Until I know whether or not you deliberately tried to discredit the other Rangers and get them arrested and banned from Araluen you are to stay put."
Stilson just shot him a look of hatred from the door before walking out and slamming it behind him.
"Well, that was fun," Pritchard said as Crowley slumped in his chair. Pritchard stood up from his hiding place behind one of the big chairs with a table next to it. Thanks to the many paper piles it had been simple enough to create the hiding place for him though it had been cramped.
Crowley rubbed his eyes and looked at the silver oakleaf in his hand. "I'm not sure I would use that word for it." He looked at Pritchard. "But there's no doubt he'll target me if he decides to do something stupid now."
Pritchard nodded his agreement. "Yes, you have made sure of that. Now it just remains to be seen if he really is that stupid."