The end...? (Ranger's apprentice/ Brotherband fan-fiction)

Chapter 9

Groaning, Horace regained consciousness. He opened his eyes and noticed he was lying in a small, dimly lit space. Slowly, he pushed himself to sit up, only to immediately lie back down as he felt a massive headache throbbing behind his eyes.
"I would take it easy for a while, if I were you," a voice said matter of factly. Horace reached for his sword in a reflex, but it was no longer tied to his waist. He tried to look around to find it, frustration rising in his chest.
"Easy, easy! I put your sword down here beside you." the same voice hastily told him, the sound of footsteps echoing through the room. "Though I'd appreciate if you wouldn't use it. Try to sit up very carefully." Horace followed the voice's instructions and was then able to see he was in some kind of shed, between a bunch of straw bales. A guy, presumably the owner of the voice, was standing besides him. It was the same guy he had seen the previous night.
Horace swallowed. The previous night. What had happened exactly? He had arrived at the inn with his friends, the had received dinner and drinks and then... He frowned and nearly got overwhelmed with panic. He didn't remember! The guy apparently noticed something was wrong.

"What's going on?" he asked worriedly. Horace simply shook his head. This couldn't be true! He didn't have a clue about what had happened the night before! He decided to put his dignity aside for a moment and asked the guy to fresh up his memory. An apologetic smile was his answer.
"Well, I arrived only at the point you started to lose consciousness, but as far as I could tell, you consumed quite a lot of the local beer," he answered. "And when people are not used to that stuff... Let's say it has side effects." Horace rubbed his hand over his face.
"Oh, great," he mumbled. "Simply fantastic." The guy chuckled and handed him a jug filled with water.
"Here, drink," he said in a friendly voice. "I'll help." Horace took the jug and took a sip. The chilled water refreshed him immediately.
"This isn't local water, is it?" he asked quasi-suspicious. The guy laughed.
"Don't worry, you only need to stay clear of the beer!" he reassured him. "My name is Eden, by the way." He extended his hand for Horace to shake it and after a slight hesitation that is what the knight did.

"I am Horace," he replied, ignoring the need to stay anonymous; the village he and his friends were in was remote anyways. A moment of silence stretched on as Horace continued drinking.
"You arrived here with company yesterday, am I right?" Eden asked thoughtfully. Horace choked on the water and started coughing, startled by the statement, spraying water all around. His friends! Where were they?! What had happened to them?! Where was he himself?!

"Woah, woah, take it easy!" Eden exclaimed equally startled, raising his hands in defense. He wiped the water off his face, as Horace mumbled a shameful apology.
"Yes, I got here with friends," he then answered. Silence fell again, as both of them felt somewhat uncomfortable. Then Horace sighed.
"Where am I?" he asked in a defeated voice. Eden shrugged.
"In a shed behind the inn," he clarified. "Nobody comes in here besides me, so if the innkeeper feels like punishing you for demolishing his property, you'll be safe here for a while." Horace sent him a thankful look, but before he could reply, an angry male's voice called out in the distance.
"Eden?! Where are you?!" Eden flinched.
"I have to go. I'll be back later," he said, getting on his feet and hurrying over to the door. "Stay here!" he called over his shoulder, then he'd disappeared.
"As if I have much of a choice," he muttered, but only the straw bales were around to hear him.
He rubbed his head again, to no avail trying to reduce his headache. He drank the last sip and regretfully held the jug upside down to get down to the last drip. The fresh water had given him some respite for a while, but the effect wore out quickly. He put the now useless jug to the side and got to his feet. Looking around in the shed for a bit wouldn't hurt anyone, he figured. There wasn't much to see, though. Straw bales were stacked alongside the walls of the no more than four meters broad shed and some personal belongings were neatly put aside in one of the corners. Horace figured they were Eden's. Besides that, the shed was empty.
When half an hour had passed, Horace decided to lie back down again, to try and sleep off his hangover. As soon as he had found a moderately comfortable spot on the straw covered floor, he closed his eyes. He fell asleep with easy.
The sound of talking people approaching woke him up and he quickly hid between two of the straw bales, afraid that Eden had been wrong and other people did come here to look for him after all. He was relieved to recognize Eden's voice amongst the others, after the door was pushed open.
"Uh, Horace? Where are you?" the guy asked sheepishly. Horace left his hiding place with a similarly sheepish expression on his face.
"I was afraid someone else was coming," he apologized. Eden chuckled and gestured for someone to come inside.
"Come on in," he said. "It's allright."
A grin broke through on Horace's face as he saw his friends come in one by one. Cassandra embraced him and mumbled something about him never doing something like this to her again; she had been worried sick. Alyss met his gaze, shaking her head, a hint of a smile on her lips. Much to his surprise Horace noticed that the sky was darkening already.
"How long have I been asleep in here?" he asked bewildered. Eden shrugged and closed the door behind him.
"Apparently quite some time," he answered. "Sorry for not returning sooner. The innkeeper wouldn't let me go." He grimaced, attracting a laugh from the knight.
"Don't worry about it. It's not like I noticed," he remarked. "What's up with this innkeeper guy anyway?" Eden wouldn't met his gaze. It was clear to Horace that something was bothering him. He sat down on a straw bale and gestured for the rest of the company to do the same.
"You can trust us, Eden," he said. "That's the least we owe you." Eden smiled weakly and sat down as well.
"Well, uh, I don't really know how to start. It's kind of complicated actually," he said, avoiding the topic. Horace shrugged.
"Start however you think it easiest. You'll hear it if we don't understand," he suggested. Eden chuckled.
"Very well, then," he started, before taking a deep breath. "I think it all started about two years ago. I was fifteen years old back then. I met this girl and well... I actually immediately fell in love with her." Eden grinned weakly. "I met her more and more often and our relationship grew stronger and more serious. I knew my father would never agree with what we had, because she was way 'below my class'. I thought it was nonsense, because I loved her. Still do, by the way. I decided to ask my brother for advice. He isn't actually my brother, but he might as well be. He said father would probably have her arrested and locked up, or worse, so that confirmed my suspicions on father's disapproval... I didn't know what to do and then my brother suggested that I could run away with her, get away from all the expectations and restrictions. I would have to leave everything I had behind, then. He said he would make sure that father would not come looking for us. I told my lover about this plan, and she agreed it would be the best. We grabbed some essential stuff and left our hometown." Eden fell silent and Horace used the moment to process the story he had just heard. Eden was so young and yet he had such a touching story already. For a moment he forgot that he had gone through a lot at that age too, such as defeating Morgarath.
"After a few days we arrived here," Eden continued. "We stayed in the inn for some time, while we made plans for continuing our journey. One night I had my own experience with the local beer," he sent Horace a meaningful look, "and then the innkeeper found out we were runaways and..." Eden was interrupted by the door that was pushed open. Startled, the company looked up at the unexpected visitor. Their gazes fell upon a girl about sixteen years of age, wearing a stained brown dress. Her strawberry blond hair fell in curls over her shoulders; she answered the startled gazes with grey eyes filled with surprise.
Eden relaxed as he saw her, so Horace assumed this was the girl he had been talking about and relaxed as well.
"Celia! You startled us!" Eden exclaimed, laughing. Celia answered his smile and stepped inside.
"You know each other?" Duncan asked. Eden nodded.
"This is the girl I was talking about," he clarified. Secretly, Horace felt proud of himself for figuring this out already. Celia rolled her eyes.
"Were you gossiping about me again?" she teased. Eden sent her a quasi-indignant look.
"Of course! That's my main purpose in life!" he replied. Celia laughed. Horace shook his head, chuckling. He liked these two.

"Alright, let's move on," Eden continued. "Where was I? Oh yes, so the innkeeper found out and since then he has been blackmailing us. We have to work in the inn for him, doing all kinds of jobs, otherwise he'll send word to my father." Eden sighed. "That is more or less why we are still here." Silence fell for a moment.

"And what brings you guys here?" Celia asked curiously. "You are not from around here, are you?" Horace shook his head.
"No, we are from Araluen," he replied. Pauline sent him a look warning, but he ignored her. Eden looked up in surprise.

"Araluen?" he asked, exchanging looks with Celia.. "That's where we were planning on going!"
"Really?"
"Yes, we would be free from the innkeeper there," he pronounced 'innkeeper' in a voice of anger and disgust, "and we could start again," Eden explained. Horace let out a scornful laugh.
"If I were you I would wait for a while. Araluen is being attacked by murderous Scoti at the moment," he remarked. Eden stared at him.
"Are you serious? Why would they do that?" he asked thoughtfully. Horace shrugged and saw his friends looking uncomfortably at their shoes; he was giving away quite a bit of information about them.

"Well, that is the question," he muttered. "We were arrested during our flight from the country. After a while we were released again, but I suspect they will gladly lock us up again if they get the chance." Eden and Celia took a moment to process this. Horace felt quite mean; they looked as if he'd just crushed their dreams. He wanted to do something to brighten their day again. A mischievous grin spread across his face: he knew how to do it.
"Say, we're planning on seeking refuge in Skandia, for Araluen has a treaty with the Skandians after all. How about you guys join us? You don't have to say anything to the innkeeper and by the time he finds out, you will be far beyond your father's reach. Plus, you won't have to travel alone," he suggested. He saw Eden and Celia exchanging looks of hesitation. "We could probably find you a place to start over as well. We know some powerful Araluens, who have the power and the means to help you." He could see Cassandra rolling her eyes and Alyss and Pauline covering their smiles with their hands from the corner of his eyes. Eden sent Horace an attentive glance.
"Would you really do that for us?" he asked, obviously touched. Horace nodded.
"Of course! Otherwise I wouldn't have suggested it," he exclaimed, grinning at his new friend. Eden mimicked his expression.

"In that case, we'd love to join you! Don't we, Celia?" he said. Celia nodded so quickly that it seemed to Horace that he head might fall off. He chuckled."Well then, that's a deal!" he said. "What is going to be our plan?" A heated discussion erupted between all the people present and after half an hour, a plan had formed. They would leave two days later. Eden and Celia would collect some provisions from the inn in the meantime. Duncan, Cassandra, Alyss and Pauline would continue their stay in the inn as if nothing had changed, making sure to stay clear of the local beer of course. Horace reluctantly stayed in the shed; the innkeeper was furious and was in no mood to face Horace again. After talking through the all details, Celia guided the others back to the inn. Eden stayed behind for a while longer. "Thank you, for everything," he said, before making his way back to the inn as well. Horace tried to make himself comfortable on the straw again. He fell asleep with a smile on his face.