The Surprise Siege - Ranger's Apprentice

Debriefing

Halt was busy arranging chairs inside the command tent for the big meeting when almost everyone came in at once:  Pauline, Rodney, Baron Arald, and Gilan.

"Will and Alyss are coming soon. I saw them exiting the med tent and heading for the food. They should be here any minute," Gilan said to Halt. He nodded, and guided his wife and her companions to their chairs in a half circle around the large table laden with maps, charts, and documents about the layout of Castle Redmont. As soon as everyone had settled into their chairs, there was a moment of content silence as the exhausted former hostages or, Pauline's case, rescuers, closed their eyes and rested for a few moments. Halt, who was still tired from his night chasing the Genovesan previously, sat down in a nearby chair and put his face in his hands, rubbing his eyes and sighing. Gilan paced around the back of the tent, muttering to himself under his breath. They remained like this for several minutes.

"Come on, Will, they're all waiting for us. Keeping wiping." Alyss's steely voice broke the silence outside the tent. Her hand poked through the flaps and held one aside, making room for the stooped figure of Will. He limped into the tent, one arm holding his ribs, the other clutching a wet cloth, which he was using to wipe off the remainder of the dirt from his face and hands. He had managed to clean his hands all the way off, but his face still had large smudges around his jaw and hairline. He stumbled around the chairs, his face pinched a little in pain. Alyss  steadied him by grabbing his arm, and asked softly, "Do you need anything else?"

Will smiled wanely, and murmured to her, "No, I think you've done all you can. Didn't help that the doctor had to reset my rib, so unfortunately there's more pain now than before."

Alyss looked at him for a moment longer, then gestured to the chair up in the front of the tent next to Halt. "Looks like Halt already thought of everything, as usual." She gave him a gentle nudge in that direction. He winced slightly, but smiled again and headed up to the chair. Then he slowly, painfully, lowered himself into the chair just in front of the table, next to where Halt was now standing. Alyss dropped a loaf of bread with ham in the middle and a skin of water into Will's lap, whispering, "You really should eat when you have chance." It was phrased as a suggestion, but Will recognized the underlying hardness. He raised an eyebrow at her, and bit into the bread and ham and took a sip of water. Alyss reached into a pocket of her gown and pulled out two white tablets about the size of a berry and put them on the table next to Will. "Here's the painkillers from the doctor."

"Oh... I forgot about those. Thanks." His voice was flat and utterly unenthusiastic, almost sarcastic. But Alyss watched serenely as he popped the pills into his mouth and his face puckered up as he gulped the pills down. "Ugh. Those taste like vomit."

Alyss arched her eyebrows at him. "Don't be coarse. That's what they always taste like."

Will glanced surreptitiously around the tent. Pauline and Gilan had been watching the entire exchange with poorly hidden grins on their faces, and Arald and Rodney were whispering softly to one another. Halt had an eyebrow raised and was looking back and forth between Will and Alyss. Will shifted in his chair so that he was facing more toward Halt, and Alyss pulled up a chair between Will and Pauline, who smiled warmly at her and shifted hers over to make room. She murmured something in Alyss's ear, which made her smile. Once everyone had finally settled, Halt asked, "Rodney, anything you want to say before we start?"

Rodney nodded. "I just wanted to let you all know that we have gone from a hostage crisis situation to an official seige operation. That means that we will try to wait these assassins out and catch them when they try to make a move."

He nodded at Halt, who turned to Will. "Thanks, Rodney. Now, I think we should just cut to the chase. Will, whenever you're ready." He went over and sat down in a chair next to Will's.