Chapter 9
"You're not serious?" Jenny squealed.
"Jenny if I really did jump off a cliff do you think I would be sitting here today?" Will asked with an air of impatience. He wanted to continue with the book.
"Oh-right-yes of course." She mumbled hastily. Will softened.
"So how did you defeat the axman?" Horace asked with evident curiosity.
"Aah Horace that's a story for another time." Will said with an intelligent nod of the head. He looked at Pauline and gestured him reading the book.
"Are you sure Will?" She asked politely. She knew it would be hard to read about his own life and down right weird at the same time. Will sighed.
"Yes I'm sure. It was bound to happen at some point." Will held the book and beamed. It seemed the beginning of the chapter was not to be about him as expected and he couldn't wait to hear what the others had been up to in his absence.
BARON ARALD SHOVED THE HEAVY PARCHMENT SCROLL TO one side and looked up at Lady Pauline in exasperation.
"Pauline, do you understand what this idiot is getting at?" he asked. The head of Castle Redmont's Diplomatic Corps nodded.
"Brilliant a couple of lines in and we already have the Baron cursing at some one. I'm beginning to love this more and more." Said Gilan with a smile fixed upon his face. The Baron blushed a beetroot red while others around the table laughed.
"Who were you cursing anyways?" Will asked. He had always known the Baron to be a kind man so whoever he was cursing must have done something very wrong.
"In principle, I do, my lord," she said. Arald made a frustrated gesture.
"Ha I could just imagine the Baron huffing in anger and Pauline's calm face." Will chortled. His remark on Arald's huffing gained him a frosty disapproval and immediately he carried on reading.
"Then in principle, please explain it to me," he said, adding in an undertone, "as if I don't have enough on my plate planning for war without this sort of nonsense."
Lady Pauline suppressed a smile. Arald had a well-known dislike of legal documents with their whereifs, wheretofores and notwithstandings.
"How can any one have the patience for legal documents?" Duncan asked across the room in exasperation.
"Aye aye" chorused round the room from the men's lips. The Couriers how ever frowned.
"I'd rather bash and whack some bad people than read through legal documents." Horace said.
"Well that is why supposedly you are called a bash and whacker." Halt replied smoothly.
"Well when was the last time Rangers had to do any paper work?" Horace retorted, unable to think of a good enough come back so instead diverting the attention. Halt's eyebrows raised.
"Surprisingly us Rangers get a lot more paper work than you think isn't that right Will." He said calmly while successfully hiding his smile. Will groaned loudly. Alyss who was sitting next to him jerked at the unexpected sound.
"What is it?" She half snapped, still recovering from the shock.
"Halt has a huge report on the Outsiders that I still haven't finished." Will explained.
"What do you mean you haven't finished it's Halt's report isn't it?" Cassandra asked feeling pity for the man before her.
"Yes but I'm the one who has to complete it because Halt orders me to." Will who was looking down missed the warning look in his mentors eyes as he said those words, and now Halt was looking fearfully at Pauline beside him who's face was strangely smooth.
"Well Halt hasn't told me this before." Pauline said calmly. Though those around her knew Halt was in big trouble.
"I-" Halt stammered.
"You'll be doing the report first thing back at Redmont and no excuses." A threatening look had passed her eye as she saw her husband trying to interrupt her. Halt complied meekly. There was nothing much else he could say so he made do with the dirtiest look he could muster, in Will's direction. Will was now squirming in his seat evidently regretting that he had opened his mouth.
"Sir Montague of Cobram Keep is obliged to supply a draft of four knights and thirty men-at-arms when called upon," she began.
"And I take it he is refusing todo so?" said the Baron wearily.
"Not exactly, sir," she replied. "He is willing to supply the men. He is unwilling to place them, or himself, under your command."
"What!?" The King barked. "How can that be? You can't run a kingdom like that." He looked set to go and put Montague in order when he realised that this was a book and these events had happened quite a while ago. He sat back down rather foolishly.
"That's exactly what I said." Arald sighed.
"Well then this Montague bloke must be a bit of a tosser." Will said casually.
"Oh he certainly was when Halt was finished with him." Alyss smiled warmly. Halt had to resist the temptation to smile back and though his face was still devoid of emotion, his lips were tilted to a smile still.
Arald frowned. There was no trace of his customary good humor evident at that statement.
"But he is under my command," he said. "Cobram Keep is within the boundaries of Redmont Fief and I am his lord. And commander."
Pauline nodded agreement. "Correct, my lord. But he does have a case. A very tenuous one, I must say, but a case nonetheless."
Arald's face, already flushed with annoyance, became a little redder. "How can he have a case?" he demanded. "His castle is within my boundaries. I am the lord of Redmont Fief. He is my tenant. I am his commander. End of story. Ipso facto. Case-o closed-o."
"Case o closed o?" Duncan asked on the verge of laughing.
"Well I mean that was the only thing I could say really." The Baron shrugged and looked at everyone as if to see if any of them had heard of the phrase as well but none of them seemed to and nearly all of them were going to go into hysterics. To avoid this Arald signalled to Will to continue reading.
"As he sees it, my lord, the whole thing hinges on a treaty signed by his great-great-grand uncle and the present king's great-great-grandfather, when Cobram Keep became part of the Kingdom of Araluen — and the Fief of Redmont. At that time, Cobram Keep was allowed to retain a certain level of independence."
"That's ridiculous! You can't run a kingdom like that! What was Duncan's great-great-whatever-he-was thinking?"
"Excuse me?" Duncan had spoken again thoroughly offended.
"Sorry sir but it's just a figure of speech just like when earlier on in the book Will said he thought you were crazy." Arald defended himself. Will looked taken aback at his reference and was about to glare daggers at the Baron when he realised that it wouldn't be prudent to do so.
"It was a gesture only, my lord. The said independence would apply only to certain matters of civil administration — the right to perform and register marriages, for example — not military matters."
"Well then!" Arald exclaimed, throwing his arms wide. "If that's the case, where is the problem?"
"The intent is obvious, my lord, in context. But this treaty was drawn up by lawyers, so there is a certain ambiguity in the wording."
"Ambiguity is always certain when lawyers are involved," Arald said. His face brightened. He rather liked that piece of wordplay. It struck him as quite droll. He looked hopefully for a smile from Lady Pauline, but in vain. Deciding she must have missed it, he began again.
"I can not believe you didn't get the joke." Arald exclaimed.
"Oh I got the joke I just didn't find it funny." Pauline said in the kindest possible way you could say those words. Will burst out laughing which got him another glare from the Baron and an elbow to the ribcage from Alyss. He stopped after that deciding that having a sense of humour was less important than keeping his bones in working order.
"You see, you said 'a certain ambiguity' and I said, 'Ambiguity is always certain when'—"
"Yes, yes, my lord. Quite so," Pauline said, cutting him off. Arald looked disappointed. She continued: "Nigel and I have gone through the treaty, and the letter, and Nigel has drafted a reply. He has found seventeen points of law where Montague has grossly misrepresented the intent of the treaty. In short, he has destroyed Montague's case most comprehensively."
"The Scribes always were good at doing that." Horace said. Will nodded in agreement.
"Remember George and how he wouldn't shut up?" Will laughed as he remembered those earlier days while he was in his first year of apprenticeship. The ward mates laughed at the memories of their long forgotten friend. He was so busy at the scribe school where he now had a permanent job that he had never gotten to see them.
"He's good at that," Arald said, smiling once again. This time, Pauline smiled with him.
"None better, my lord," she said.
"So what's our next move?" the Baron asked. Pauline proffered the letter she had mentioned, but he waved it away. If Nigel and Pauline were happy with it, he knew it would be water tight. Pauline nodded. She appreciated the trust he placed in her.
"Oh that's really sweet." Gilan said sincerely. Everyone looked at him oddly and he blushed. "I mean the fact that he puts his trust in her I mean it's sweet isn't it?"
"Are you a man or not?" Will asked astonished. At that Gilan blushed harder wishing he had never opened his mouth. He mumbled incoherently and only Jenny took pity on him, besides she liked a guy that could appreciate good moments and this was a good moment.
"Very well, my lord. We'll do a final draft and I thought I might have one of my students deliver it."
She replaced the draft letter in a thin leather folder, and withdrew another document, laying it on the table in front of her and smoothing it out so that it lay flat.
"Now, my lord, there is another matter we must discuss…"
She saw the pained expression on the Baron's face. She knew he didn't want to discuss it.
"What was the case?" Cassandra asked now curious. Will and Horace also wanted to know why the baron would not want to deal with a serious case.
"Yeah what was the case?" Will asked.
"Ask Halt he should know." Duncan smirked while Halt looked casually down at the table. He still hadn't told Will how bad tempered he was when Will was gone. First off he didn't want Will to think that he was mother henning him and now that he remembered his ill tempered times he was more than a little embarrassed about them. Still it couldn't be changed.
"You're talking about this brouhaha with Halt, I suppose? I really don't have the time,"he said, making dismissive gestures at her.
"What brouhaha was this?" Will asked extremely amused. He liked the word the Baron had used. He wasn't the only one.
"Yes what brouhaha is the Baron talking about?" Horace asked feigning innocence. Both he and Will shared a glance at each other.
"Oh please not again I had enough of that from Pauline." Arald moaned. Pauline coughed as a way of hiding a laugh that would have escaped her. It was, Will thought not the most tactful way to disguise her laugh, then yet again she may not have been trying to hide it.
"Nonetheless, my lord, it is a brouhaha that we must make time for." She tapped the document with one forefinger. "This is a summary of the brouhaha in question, my lord."
Will laughed again then stopped. Surely he wouldn't get poked in the ribs or evil eyed for laughing at this would he? But he was safe. Cassandra and Horace both joined him and Pauline gave a little smile.
Arald glanced up at her. She seemed to be quite fond of that word, he thought. Or she was gently making fun of his choice of it in the first place. But Lady Pauline's face gave nothing away. She continued: "If you care to look through it?"
He reached for it reluctantly. Pauline had known that he would try to avoid the subject. It was distasteful for all of them, but unfortunately, it had to be resolved. At that moment, there was a heavy-handed knock at the door to the Baron's office and, grateful for any interruption, he hastily called, "Come in!"
"I never realised my hot temper had such an effect." Halt mused.
"It affected us alright, you were as bad as a provoked tiger." Arald said shaking his head at Halt's foolishness. Halt raised his eyebrows.
"How could you not think your temper doesn't have any effect? Have you not seen the state you turn men into with your short fuse?" Will muttered then continued reading so as to avoid Halt's gaze whom he was sure was giving him another one of his infamous glares.
She frowned at the distraction. It was Sir Rodney, head of the Redmont Battleschool. He threw the door open and entered with a little more than his usual energy. He was talking before he had even crossed the threshold.
"Of course that has always been Rodney's ways." Arald laughed.
"Booming in every direction." Horace laughed.
"My lord, you're simply going to have to do something about Halt!" he said. Then, noticing Lady Pauline, he made a small gesture of apology. "Oh, sorry, Pauline, didn't see you there."
Lady Pauline inclined her head in acknowledgment of the apology. The department heads at Redmont were all good friends. There was no petty jealousy between them, none of the manoeuvring for influence and favour that plagued some fiefs.
"Obviously not why should we? We are after all good friends, honestly who wrote this book?" Arald shook his head again.
"Well there are many fiefs where the heads of department don't get along too well." Will said. Only Alyss and Horace were thinking along the same lines as him. Orman and Keren.
"It never occurred to me before that there ever used to be jealousy between departments because it never happened here." Cassandra added.
"You're very lucky that we all have an understanding relationship between one another." Duncan told her.
The Baron sighed deeply. "What has he done now?" he asked.
"Do I sense another brouhaha in the making?" Lady Pauline said innocently and he glanced suspiciously at her. She seemed not to notice.
"I do like that phrase I had forgotten it." Pauline said. Halt looked at her with worry on his face. If she liked a phrase or any piece of wording chances were she'd practise them in front of her 'special mirror' until she mastered the use correctly. He would have to yet again get used to sleepless nights as he endured her crazy habit.
"Well, one of my fourth-year apprentices was stupid enough to make a remark about Will and Horace being sent off on a soft assignment. Said that's all they were good for."
Horace frowned in anger at this, Will however laughed again, apparently seeing the funny side in being insulted.
"Oh, dear," said Lady Pauline. "I do hope he didn't make this remark in Halt's hearing?"
"Unfortunately, yes," said Rodney. "He's not a bad lad. All muscle and bone, mind you, and a good deal of that between his ears. But he was feeling his oats a little and told Halt to mind his own business." He paused, then added, by way of explanation, "Everyone's a little jumpy, what with all the preparations for war."
"That doesn't excuse what the silly brat said." Halt muttered darkly.
"Well what did you end up doing to him Halt?" Will asked positively. He didn't like being taken fun out of and he was certain his mentor had done something to teach the apprentice a lesson.
"You'll see." Halt smiled wolfishly.
"So how is the lad?" Arald asked. Rodney shrugged.
"The infirmary says there's no lasting damage. He'll be back on duty in a few days‟ time. But the point is, I can't have Halt going around damaging my apprentices. I'm going to need them soon."
"THE INFIRMARY?" Will howled with laughter and Horace laughed too. "What did you do to the poor lad?" He was still laughing when Halt shrugged nonchalantly.
Arald toyed with one of the quill pens on his desk. "He's definitely been difficult these past few days," he said. "It's like having a bear with a sore head around the castle. In fact, I think I might prefer a bear with a sore head. It would be less disruptive."
"Oh dear why were you being so disruptive Halt?" Cassandra asked mockingly. Halt glared.
"Yeah why were you being so disruptive? What happened to make you feel that way." Will was serious now. If Halt had been injured while he'd gone and not told him…
"It's none of your business." Halt snapped wishing the chapter were over.
"Now now Halt I think it is their business since your anger is to do with them." Gilan smiled.
"To do with us? What did we do to make Halt angry with us?" Will asked clearly worried.
"Read on and all shall be revealed." Alyss said mystically while Will groaned again. Why was it she could never give him a straight answer. Even when he proposed to her she played around with him. Did she actually enjoy making him squirm?
"We were about to discuss Halt's behaviour as you arrived," Lady Pauline said, taking the opportunity to return the conversation to the case in hand. "There's been a complaint about him from Sir Digby of Barga."
"Digby? Oh not that trumpet headed fool. What does he have to complain about? It
seems that's all he ever does." Duncan said angrily.
"Digby?" Rodney said, a frown touching his face. "Didn't he try to short change us on his draft of men?"
"Exactly," said the Baron. "We're having a lot of that going on at the moment. So I sent Halt to straighten matters out. Thought it might be a good idea to give him something to keep him busy."
"It might have worked if I hadn't been so bad tempered." Halt said sympathetically.
"Well obviously something went wrong with that." Horace said casually.
"What did you do this time Halt? Shoot an arrow into his calf like Alda?" Will asked innocently.
"I only do that with idiotic apprentices remember the night you spent up a tree?" Halt shot back. He was pleased to see Will blush while Alyss repressed a smile and Cassandra laughed out loud, disbanding all diplomacy.
"When was this?" She asked. Will ignored her. It didn't matter, she thought to herself, Alyss was bound to tell her anyways. Will continued with the chapter to distract the audience who like Cassandra wanted to know why he was given this punishment.
"So what's Digby got to complain about?" Rodney asked. It was obvious from his tone that he felt no sympathy for the recalcitrant commander of Barga Hold.
"Hear hear." Duncan said emphatically.
The Baron gestured for Lady Pauline to explain.
"Apparently," she said, "Halt threw him into the moat."
"YOU WHAT?" Will said too stunned to laugh.
"I threw him into a moat." Halt replied.
"Why?"
"Stop asking so many questions." Halt said irritably.
"It's because he was missing you." Pauline told Will to his great embarrassment.
"Oh right well… I mean that's O.K Halt I missed you too I guess-"
"Will?"
"Yes Halt?"
"Shut up."
"O.K."