The Royal Ranger

Nine

Maddie stood, nervously facing Cassandra and Horace. Halt and Gilan had left her when they reached the door to the royal apartment.

“This is between you and your parents,” Halt told her. “We’ll talk to you afterwards.”

Now she stood in silence, waiting for them to say something. Usually, she reflected gloomily, they were all too ready to talk—listing her long array of crimes. But now they seemed reluctant to begin. An uncertain look passed between them, as if each one was waiting for the other to start. The tension was getting too much for her to bear. She decided to take the bull by the horns. If it was going to be bad news—and she assumed it was—best to get it over with as quickly as possible.

“Halt said you had something to tell me,” she said.

There was another of those quick glances between them, then her father cleared his throat.

“Ah… ah-hum… well, your mother and I want to talk to you. About your future.”

Maddie’s heart sank into her boots. If it was going to be an official talk about her future, she knew what it would entail. More restrictions. More rules. Less freedom. There would be long dissertations about her duty as the second in line to the throne after her mother. There would be instructions as to what she could and couldn’t do. And there would be more of the latter than the former—by far. Her future was not a subject she wanted to discuss with her parents. But it was obvious she had no choice. She waited and now Cassandra spoke.

“Maddie, we can’t have you running wild, doing as you choose and taking risks the way you have been doing.” Maddie’s mouth set in a thin line. She realised that she’d finally pushed her parents too far and now they wouldn’t back off. It was too late to make the sort of abject—and totally false—apology that had got her out of trouble in the past. She’d gone to that well too often, and now their patience was at an end.

“You need order and discipline in your life. You need a sense of purpose.” That was her father.

Her shoulders dropped in despair. Order, discipline and purpose, she thought. Could it get any worse than this?

She thought frantically. Was there nothing she could do to stave this off? Was there no subterfuge she could attempt? She had to try.

“Mum, Dad, I know I’ve been behaving terribly and I can see how I’ve upset you. But I—”

Her mother stopped her with an impatient gesture.

“It’s too late for that, Maddie. We’ve given you one chance after another and you’ve continued to do as you please and flout our authority. Well, our patience is finally at an end. Our minds are made up.”

And that was that, Maddie thought. She knew her mother well enough to know that Cassandra had a will of iron and would not be deterred from a path once she had chosen it. Maddie took a deep breath and waited for the worst.

“We’ve decided,” Horace said, “to send you to Will as an apprentice.”

Maddie’s heart leapt. She kept her eyes cast down, not wanting them to see the sudden light of pleasure that she knew would be all too obvious. Waiting a few seconds until she had herself under control, she looked up at them, suddenly fearful that she had mistaken what Horace had said.

“Will?” she said tentatively. “You mean Uncle Will?”

Will was her godfather. He’d been her sponsor at her naming day and had sworn to act in place of her parents if ever that became necessary. She loved Will. When she was a child, she had often visited him at Redmont Fief, staying in his warm little cabin and going on hunting and camping trips into the forest with him. Will was fun. Will had a mischievous sense of humour that matched her own.

Of course, she thought, he’d been fairly serious since Alyss’s death. She had seen him once or twice since then and he’d been grim and humourless. But that was only to be expected. He’d get over that soon enough. She realised her mother was replying to the question she had asked.

“Yes. Will. Your godfather. We’re going to ask him to take you on as an apprentice and train you as a Ranger.”

“But… I’m a girl,” Maddie said uncertainly.

Her mother regarded her dryly. “Sometimes I’ve wondered if you were aware of that,” she said.

Maddie waved the sarcasm aside. “I mean… there are no girl Rangers. There never have been… have there?” She frowned, trying to think if she’d ever heard of such a thing. Then she shook her head. She was sure there never had been a girl Ranger before.

“You’ll be the first,” her father confirmed.

“And I’ll be living with Uncle Will? At Redmont?” she said. They both nodded, and she couldn’t help the huge smile spreading across her face.

Castle Redmont was far less stuffy and formal than Araluen. Baron Arald and his wife, Sandra, were genial hosts and they’d always treated her with affection. Not only that, she thought, she would outrank everyone at Redmont—even Baron Arald. There would be nobody there who could tell her how to behave or what to do. This was wonderful news!

“I’d go easy on the Uncle Will if I were you,” Horace said in a warning tone. “You’ll be his apprentice, you know.”

“Yes. Yes,” she said excitedly, her mind racing. She could see a future of hunting parties and dances and picnics at Castle Redmont, with her at the centre of things, ordering people to do her wishes, rather than being ordered about by her parents.

Of course, she’d have to be careful that she didn’t overdo it. If word got back to them that she was enjoying herself too much, they were liable to cancel the whole idea.

“Life as an apprentice won’t be easy,” her mother said, eyeing her carefully.

Maddie rapidly composed her features so that she looked suitably chastened. “I know. But I’ll do my best.”

Inwardly, she was exultant. Will loved her. He doted on her. She could twist him around her little finger. She had always been able to. Why should things be different now?

“So… you’re willing to take this on?” Cassandra said, and Maddie lowered her gaze, nodding submissively.

“I’ll do my best,” she said. “I want you to be proud of me.”

Gilan and Halt rode up to the little cabin in the trees below Castle Redmont. As they approached the cabin, they could see a curl of wood smoke from the chimney. Tug, in his stable behind the cabin, neighed a greeting to Blaze and Abelard. They responded.

“Well, at least he’s home,” Gilan said.

As he spoke, the door to the cabin opened and Will stepped out onto the small verandah. He nodded to his two old friends.

“Halt. Gilan,” he said.

Halt’s heart sank a little at Will’s unemotional tone. Previously, their arrival at the cabin would have been an occasion for happy greetings, jokes and cheerful insults. Now Will simply leaned against a verandah post and watched them as they dismounted.

Halt stepped towards the two steps leading up to the verandah, then paused.

“May we come in?” he said pointedly. Will’s offhanded manner deserved some form of reproach.

“Of course.” Will stood aside and motioned for them to enter the cabin.

Halt took off his cloak and looked around the familiar space. He frowned slightly. There were unwashed dishes on the kitchen bench and two of the chairs were pulled out from the plain pine table, sitting at random angles. The fireplace was full of dead ashes and needed a good cleanout. Will’s cloak was tossed carelessly over the back of one of the armchairs that flanked the fireplace. Looking through the open door into Will’s bedroom, formerly his own, Halt could see that the bed was unmade.

Will noticed the direction of his gaze and moved to close the bedroom door.

“Haven’t got round to cleaning up today,” he mumbled.

Halt raised an eyebrow. “Or yesterday, apparently.” At least, he thought, his former apprentice had the grace to look a little embarrassed.

“Sit down,” Will said, turning towards the small kitchen alcove. “I’ll make some coffee.”

Halt and Gilan exchanged a glance as they sat in the armchairs by the fire. Gilan shook his head sadly. Obviously, Halt thought, their minds were running along similar lines.

Will adjusted the draught on the pot belly stove in the kitchen then opened the firebox door and tossed in a few small sticks to get the flames going properly. He shook the kettle. There was a vague splashing sound.

“I’ll get some water,” he said and headed for the door. The pump was in the yard outside. Again his friends exchanged a look. Normal routine would be to fetch fresh water first thing in the morning.

“He just doesn’t seem to care about anything,” Gilan said once Will was outside.

Halt nodded, his brows coming together in a frown. “Then it’s up to us to shake him out of it.”

The door opened and Will returned with the full kettle. He set it on the hotplate, then busied himself getting cups, coffee and the coffee pot ready.

“I know why you’re here,” he said.

Halt shrugged. “Maybe you don’t,” he replied.

“You’re going to tell me to snap out of it and pull myself together,” Will said. “Well, I’m sorry the place is a mess. I’m sorry I’m a mess.” Now that he mentioned the fact, Halt noticed that his clothes were crumpled and stained and his hair and beard were long and uncut. “But I don’t care about all that. All I care about is seeing Jory Ruhl on the end of a noose.”

“I can understand that,” Gilan said. “But the Corps needs you.”

“The Corps may just have to do without me until I’m ready,” Will said petulantly. “I have more important matters to attend to.”