Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction, made possible by the Ranger's Apprentice by John Flanagan. I have only borrowed his creation and I make no money. For this story I have used several other Rangers from the books, though I've also added my own. I do this only in the hope to entertain…
Author's Note: No harm shall come to the characters that can't be fixed with enough coffee…

Chapter 21

"Can't say anything's changed," Gilan mused as they approached the castle in Hogarth Fief and David could see that the guard who should have been standing at attention on the bridge over the moat, was in no way awake and alert.

"That's horrifying," Arald shook his head, giving the dozing guard a disgusted look.

The guard sat on an old crate, his back against the castle wall, snoring. He had not even noticed the many men who had come up to the bridge.

"Aside from the crate, that's about how I found the guard," Gilan grinned. "We had a bit of a disagreement about how a guard should conduct himself. He disagreed with me, and I kicked him into the moat…"

"Halt's been a terrible influence on you…" David gave his son a tiered look, noting how Gilan only smiled the wider for it.

"Perhaps, but it was quite satisfactory," he grinned. "You should try it father."

"Hmmph," David nudged his horse forward, once at four yards from the sleeping guard he drew in rein. "Attention!" the command was bellowed with every fiber of the Battlemaster's force and authority. The voice who'd made countless cadets quake and quiver over the years, and looking at the cadets they had with them, Gilan was pleased to see several of them give a start.

The guard leapt to his feet, nearly falling, as he flailed about himself. Gilan didn't recognize him, it was not the same one he had encountered, so he remained where he was, level with Arald, not far behind his father. Alert and ready in case the guard should try to attack his father. He doubted it, but one never knew.

"What the devil's going on?!" the man hollered, blinking as he tried to clear the cobwebs from his mind. "Who are you, what are you doing here?"

"I am Sir David. Supreme Battlemaster of Araluen," David told him coldly. "And I hereby charge you with dereliction of duty. Consider yourself under arrest."

"Now, hold on here," he paled, taking a step back. "You can't do that! How do I even know you're who you say you are? And I've not derelicted my duty…" he half whined, and Gilan winced at the poor formulation. "I've been here on guard, all day!" he finally squeaked as David stared him down.

"You were asleep, and failed to notice the approach of me and my men. An enemy force could have just walked in." Sir David's voice was cold and hard. "Your name, I will see to your punishment later."

"Now hold on here, I answer to the Baron, not to you!" the man objected in a shrill voice.

Gilan raised his eyebrow questioningly, and David sighed, contemplating his options. Then he waved his hand in a gesture to go ahead.

"I rather like this part," Gilan declared cheerfully, nudging his Battlehorse forward. "King's Ranger… The Supreme Battlemaster and I have some business with your Baron, so if you know what's good for you, I suggest you hand yourself over and don't make any fuss until we're ready to deal with you."

"You don't look like no Ranger," the man frowned, squinting. "Show me your oakleaf."

"Actually, where my oakleaf is, is something I want to ask your Baron," Gilan mused, even so he opened his shirt, showing the patch of pale skin, a perfect oakleaf where the sun had not touched the skin under it. "I don't suppose you'll be satisfied with this, will you?"

"Surrender your weapons!" the guard fumbled for his sword. He was able to get his hand on it, and Gilan waited patiently for him to clear the scabbard. As soon as he had, Gilan eased his foot out of the stirrup, and dealt a hard kick to his hand. With a cry of pain, he let go of the sword that sailed in an arc to land in the moat with a muted splash.

Thinking about what could make a sword float, for even a second, Gilan shuddered.

"My sword!" the guard cried, spinning around.

It was all too easy, Gilan mused, allowing himself a pleased smile before he nudged the massive stallion forward just a few feet so that he could put his booted foot right between the shoulder blades on the guard, pushing hard.

Just like the sword, he seemed to rest on the surface for a split second before he sank.
"Highly satisfactory," Gilan grinned at his father, as he nudged his horse back in position. "You really ought to try it Father."

"I doubt King Duncan would approve," David mused. "Though Crowley will no doubt applaud you…"

"King Duncan's a sensible man, I'm sure he'd understand," Gilan shrugged and David shook his head in mock exasperation.

As they moved forward, Gilan reached down a hand to pat the Battlehorse's neck. "You're not bad, you know. But Blaze has a flair you kind of lack…"

"He's a battlehorse," David mused. "He's not supposed to have flair. He's trained for battle."

"So is Blaze, if in a different way," Gilan mused as they continued.

They drew in rein in the yard, dismounting.

"I want two men to go to the stable," David stated as he dismounted. "If you find a Ranger pony there, secure her. Gilan, Sir Thomas, you're with me. Baron Arald, if you would also do me the honour?" David asked, and received a nod in turn. "The rest of you, go through the barracks, find out where the cadets are and secure them all in the courtyard. We need to figure out which ones are even worth keeping."

"Yes sir," they fanned out.

Arald noted that as they climbed the stairs to the Baron's office, Gilan hung back. He allowed Sir Thomas and Arald both to go ahead of him.

Turning his head, the Baron gave him a curious look, noting his wide, mischievous smile. Shrugging, he continued up the stairs, he knew it was not fear that had him holding back, most likely, he was looking to surprise them. Keeping out of sight at first so they would not instantly know he was there. Given his own rather generous bulk, it was unlikely anyone would see him unless they were expecting him. He had no doubt that David had noticed, and he seemed perfectly happy with letting his son do as he pleased.

The scene in the Baron's office was much like it had been when Gilan was first there. The Baron and the Battlemaster, sitting on opposite sides of the desk, devouring a lunch that made even Arald think they were overindulging.

If Gilan when he entered, had been an unknown, it was obvious that Sir David and Baron Arald both were very well known. Arald certainly knew the other man, though he had never much cared for him. He did not mind that he was not a knight, nor had ever jousted, not everyone could fight. That was not his problem, it was the way he had always snivelled and whined about everything, and never seemed interested in looking after the people in his Fief.

"S,Sir David?" The Battlemaster gasped.

"B,Baron Arald…" The Baron swallowed.

"Baron, Battlemaster," David nodded, his voice as cold as ice. "For dereliction of duty, for the failure of keeping your Battleschool to the level dictated by the King. For the attack on one of the King's Ranger's, and the attempted murder of the same, you are both to consider yourself apprehended and will be taken to the see King Duncan. Surrender, give me your word that you will not attempt anything, and you may do so out of chains…"

"Sir David, there must be some mistake…" the Battlemaster found his voice first.

"Sir Hendry," David replied. "My men are at this very minute going through this shambles of a Battleschool. Upon my arrival, I found one guard on the drawbridge, asleep. I have given order that everyone is gathered on the parade ground, he included, once he's managed to climb out of the moot. For dereliction of duty alone, you'd be lucky to get sentenced to life of hard labour. For attempting to kill a King's Ranger, you might very well hang…"

"Sir David, we would never!" Sir Hendry objected. "It's true we are a little more lax here, so far away from the Castle Araluen. We have to be, but I assure you that my cadets are all fine young men, expertly trained. And we would certainly never harm a King's Ranger…"

"What about the Ranger who was sent here to inspect you? Whom you claimed never to have arrived?" David demanded.

"He never arrived…" Sir Hendry pleaded. "We were completely unaware of it until our own Ranger voiced his concern, then we looked for him, and we found him, having been waylaid by bandits… I am sorry that he died, we did our best to care for him, before we had him taken to Castle Araluen…"

"He is not dead…" David growled.

"Hi," now Gilan stepped out from behind Arald. "Remember me? Admittedly, I only recently remembered myself. I do now though including a very nice, clear memory of getting pushed down your stairs…" He was smiling cheerfully as he said it, but Arald, glancing at him, saw his eyes were cold. For his gangly frame, Gilan could appear very frightening when he wanted to.

"That, that's impossible," Sir Hendry stammered, while the Baron suddenly looked very pale. "Sir David, you know the Rangers delve in black magic, you know what they do, you know you can't take the word of one of them over the word of your own Battlemaster?"

"You say I should take Ranger Gilan for a liar?" David demanded.

"Uh, yes sir…" Sir Hendry nodded, his head going up and down so fast his double chin wobbled. "They delve in black magic, everyone knows that. He must have done something, cast a spell on you to make you think he's telling you the truth…"

"I have never known any of our Rangers to show such lack of integrity!" David raged. "You on the other hand, have previously shown yourself lacking, and was allowed to keep your position only as a gesture of courtesy."

"B,but he's a Ranger, not even a knight…" Sir Hendry stammered. "He knows nothing about our code of valour… And he's far too young… He says himself he does not remember, he lost his memory. You can't take his word!"

"Ranger Gilan knows more about valour than you have ever shown!" this time it was Arald who stepped forward. "I have known him many years, and he's never been less than absolutely trustworthy!"

The two men were grasping at straws, it was clear, the panicked looks they shared. The way their eyes would dart to the window, and the stairs.

"This ends now," David declared, his voice a normal volume, but no less forceful. "Surrender your sword and come with us peacefully, and I might, just might take you back without chains."

"On the word of a Ranger?" Hendry stated scornfully. "Do you even know anything about him? They're not to be trusted, they deal in black magic!"

"I'm actually getting somewhat tired of that," Gilan mused.

"So am I, actually," David noted. "You will have to answer for yourself, to King Duncan," he nodded to the men he had with him. "Restrain them."

Battlemaster Hendry tried to resist, but was far too long gone to be able to offer more than a token of resistance. The Baron, didn't even try, he seemed to think that his best chance was to stand trembling, which did not help him at all.

"Hold on, just one thing," Gilan grabbed Hendry's arm. "What did you do with my horse, and what did you do with my sword?" his eyes were cold even if he did not raise his voice. David watched him intently, he could still see so much of his training, all those hours standing on the parade ground in the way he held himself. There were things the Ranger's training couldn't take out of him. There were other things to, things that he hadn't learned during drills. Gilan had always been more than most cadets, and not just because he was his son. Gilan had always been so much more clever than most of them, he had watched the instructors from the day he could walk, even before then, and he saw how they worked with the cadets. He knew how the cadets worked and he knew how the instructors worked. He had been a clever little blighter and he had figured out so many more things than David had realized back then.

Gilan had always had too much energy for his own good, putting him in training had been the only way for David to remain sane through his childhood, and even then it had not been enough to keep his son calm and out of trouble.

There were times he had contemplated shipping him off to their enemies, so certain the small child would wreck total havoc on them. Certainly, no one who did not know about his overenergetic nature would be able to handle him. It was a simple plan, let the boy be captured by accident, watch as they thought he was just a normal, quiet boy, and then move in and clean up the smoking ruins a few weeks later…

When Gilan was bored, he did not only work out how the Battleschool worked, he figured out how all the knights and the instructors worked as well and he knew how to utilize his skills. Now, David could see it so clearly, how he used the quiet, calm and controlled fury to intimidate rather than the loud, violent and vulgar.

Nothing pleased him more than to see Hendry swallow and quiver as he shied back. The man's eyes darted towards the corner of the room as he swallowed. Gilan stood firm, not budging even an inch, and David had to bite back a smile as the man seemed to shrink in on himself. His eyes were just about riveted on Gilan, only darting to the side as he swallowed. Following his eyes, David moved there, opening the cupboard there. He took out a wrapped bundle, a mottled cloak, a sword, and a bag.

Moving over himself, David fished his hand into the bag, "Given how you've both sworn over and over that Gilan never arrived, it's interesting that you have all his things here, including this…" he let a silver oakleaf dangle from his fingertips.

"We, uh, we…. We found those, in the woods, after we had sent him back. To get help, we found those, we did not know who they belonged to…" Hendry stammered.

"You claim a Ranger was attacked, and found just about naked on the road, and yet that when you found a Ranger cloak, oak leaf and sword nearby, you could not figure out to whom they belonged?" David gawked in disbelief.

"Rangers doesn't carry swords, couldn't be a Ranger." Hendry swallowed.
Gilan, taking the silver oak leaf from his father slipped it around his neck. Then took the

sword and wrapped the belt around his waist, frowning when he had to buckle it two notches tighter than normal. Halt was right then, he'd lost weight. He didn't always take the Ranger seriously when he said that. He always complained Gilan was too lanky… He drew the sword, a look of disgust on his face. "Couldn't even bother to care for it properly. Oil's all gone."

Normally, there would have been a thin protective layer of oil on the blade. It was obvious they had only stuffed it into the cupboard and not bothered about it at all.

"Now, what did you do to Blaze?" he demanded, holding the blade extended, the tip resting at the hollow point of Hendry's throat.

"We didn't do anything," he swallowed, trembling and David narrowed his eyes. Gilan was better at frightening people than he had suspected, but even so he figured one of his Battlemasters should be able to stand his ground against one scrawny Ranger. If he had a sword or not. "The Ranger never got here… I swear it. You can't trust the word of a Ranger, sir, they're liars, every one of them. Do you really think, that a man like that?" he spat towards Gilan, "would tell the truth? That some filthy Ranger who deals with black magic would be more trustworthy than one of your own men? You know nothing about him, nothing, he's lying, I swear it…"

David glared at him, furiously. "Ranger Gilan, aside from many times having proven his worth, is my son! Now, do you still wish to call him a liar?"

"Y, your son?" Hendry quaked, trembling, his face suddenly chalky white.

"My son." David confirmed. "And I believe he asked about his horse?"

"Your, your son?" Hendry swallowed convulsively.

"Go down to the stable," David told one of the soldiers. "See if the men there has found her. They kept the rest, so I doubt they would have got rid of the horse. At the very least, someone there should know what happened to it."

"If they've harmed her…" Gilan gritted his teeth.

"They will pay for that in addition to the other charges," David stated. "Attempted murder on one of the King's Rangers is a hanging offence."

"H, hanging?" the Baron looked about to faint, and actually wavered where he stood with his hands secured behind his back. "I'm, I'm a Baron, I can't be hung like some common criminal…"

"Might have to reinforce the scaffold, but I'd say it could be done," Baron Arald mused. Watching in disgust when both men paled. He would have to take the whole ugly business up at the council of Barons he knew. A Baron who dared attack about a King's Ranger was serious business. Very serious indeed.

TBC
The caffeine addicted Cricket wants to thank you all for reading...