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

Chapter 17

Horace cheerfully returned to the room he shared with Cassandra. He had just went out for a beer with Erak, Svengal and several other old friends. It was getting rather late, so he was surprised to see light still shining under the door to Eden and Celia's room. He knocked on the door, curious to find what was keeping them up at this hour of the night. Eden's muffled voice told him to come in. Horace opened the door, to see Eden sitting in the scarcely furnished room, staring blankly off into the distance. A dim light lit the room, originating from the fireplace. Eden was sitting at the table, which was positioned against the wall, a sad expression on his face.
"What's wrong?" Horace asked his friend, taking the initiative to take place across from him. Nervously, Eden glanced over to Celia, who was peacefully sleeping in the bed in the corner of the room.
"Well..." he started, avoiding Horace's gaze. He sighed, gathering his courage to then admit: "We don't feel comfortable here. We don't belong here. I mean, you guys all know each other and we are just tagging along. We don't have anything to say in the matter, because we have no clue what the matter is about. We don't even know who this 'Will' guy is, and to be honest, Erak gives me the creeps. We are not important." Eden looked up hesitantly, afraid Horace would be angry.
Horace got to his feet, and got to the other side of the table in a split second, inches away from Eden. The boy involuntarily backed up, as far as that was possible while seated, his eyes wide. Horace grabbed hold of his shoulders, moving even closer.
"Don't you ever say something like that again!" he exclaimed. "You and Celia are two remarkable people. It doesn't matter whether or not you know Will. You can get to know him later! You guys are irreplaceable, unique!" He let go of his young friend and sat back down. "Listen," he continued in a more reasonable voice. "You are not here as prisoners. You are guests, friends. If you really don't feel comfortable here, you can get up and leave and nobody will stop you. But I hope we will be able to return to Araluen soon and it would be a lot more fun with my two new friends alongside me. We will find a way to make you comfortable in this group. Don't give up hope just yet." Eden met his gaze for a moment. Then he smiled.
"You are right," he sighed. "I am making a scene over nothing."
A friendly silence stretched on for a while, as they sat across for a moment.
"I think I'm going to get some sleep," Horace then said, as he was starting to feel affected by the long day. "It's late. Maybe you should try to rest as well." Eden nodded, as Horace walked over to the door.
"Good night!" he called out after him. Horace looked over his shoulder, nodded in acknowledgement and left the room. Without getting distracted any further, he covered the remaining distance to his room. Before his head hit the pillow, he had fallen asleep, a smile on his face.

Cassandra woke him up the following morning. He realized immediately that he might have had a little bit too much to drink the night before.
"Ugh... Cass... Go away..." he mumbled, pulling the pillow over his head. Unfortunately, Cassandra did not feel like leaving. She put down her elbows on his back, leaning her head on her hands.
"Come on, breakfast is ready!" she exclaimed cheerfully. Horace groaned from underneath the pillow. Breakfast did sound good though... Sadly it meant he needed to get out of bed. Cassandra managed to pull the pillow away from him and he started to hit the air around him, hoping that the bright light streaming in through the window would leave him alone. Cassandra laughed, rolling back to her side of the bed.
Horace was starting to properly wake up, and was able to acknowledge the humour of the situation.
"Oh, so you find that funny, now, do you?" he asked, a mischievous grin appearing on his face, as he dove towards her to start tickling her. Cassandra screamed and jumped out of bed. Horace laughed as he followed her. For a while they chased each other as little children, until someone knocked on their door.
"Say, are you guys alright in there?" Erak's amused voice asked. The two of them didn't answer, dropping down on the bed, laughing. The sound of footsteps echoing away notified Horace that Erak had left them.
"What did you say about breakfast?" he asked, turning to his wife. She rolled her eyes, poking his side.
"Only one way to find out, don't you think?" she answered, a mischievous look in her eyes. He met her gaze with an innocent expression on his face.
"Tickling fight?" he suggested. She jumped back up again, backing away from him.
"Oh, don't you dare..." she exclaimed. He grinned, but didn't bother getting out of bed again. His head was still bothering him from the night before, which annoyed him.
"It is time for coffee," he stated. He got up to get dressed.
Cassandra raised an eyebrow.
"Coffee? That's what you're thinking about right now?" she asked, also starting to gather her clothes. He nodded in acknowledgement. "Will the second," Cassandra mumbled jokingly. Unfortunately that reminded both of them of their missing friend and daughter. The situation changed from cheerful to sad immediately.
"We should go do something," Horace stated. "Something to distract us and make the waiting more bearable." The princess nodded pensively.
"Yes, but what?" she wondered.

Not much later they had joined Erak, Duncan Pauline, Alyss, Eden and Celia for breakfast. The situation was gloomy and silence reigned, as everyone had now fully realized that Will and Evanlyn really weren't there. Erak had tried to make some old sailors' jokes to lift everyone's spirit, but it hadn't worked, so eventually he had decided to remain silent as well.
All of a sudden the door flew open, and Horace dropped his sandwich in surprise. Frowning, he watched as the guilty person, a messenger, nervously hurried towards Erak to tell him that 'it was happening again'. Erak cursed, wiped his mouth on his sleeve and got to his feet. The messenger had already left. "What is going on?" Pauline asked in a business like voice, the way a courier tends to speak. Erak cursed a second time, much to Pauline's dismay.
"Those damned Araluen archers..." the Skandian grumbled. Then he realized the Araluen king was sitting next to him. "They were very handy, that isn't the problem," he quickly added. "It's just that they don't have a lot to do, you know, 'cause Skandia is no longer at war. Now they're testing my patience all the time: instead of keeping order or practicing, they are bothering people. If war was to break out right now, they would be useless!" To add more power to his words, he cursed again. Then he hurried away in the direction from which the messenger had come. 

Horace exchanged looks with Cassandra. He now knew what they could do.

Horace walked alongside Cassandra to the field on which Will had trained the slaves to be archers in exchange for their freedom. It immediately got to his attention that Erak had not exaggerated about the archers' behaviour: the seemed to be holding some kind of party. Even at that early hour they busied themselves with singing all kinds of known and unknown song, not to mention the amount of alcoholic drinks they consumed. Erak, fuming with rage, tried to get the partying archers to get back in line, but it was to no avail. The oberjarl barely got their attention. Eventually he stomped back towards the center of Hallasholm.
"So, already drinking early in the morning?" Horace called out to the archers, as soon as Cassandra and he got within hearing distance. The archers cheered, raising their mugs into the air. Horace chuckled.
"Aren't you guys forgetting something? Something concerning bows, for example..." he asked, sending a meaningful glance to the weapons scattered around the side of the field.
The comment earned him some sceptical glances. An indignant muttering arose from the hundreds of partying people. Backs were turned towards him and the party continued uninterruptedly, as if nothing had be said. Horace could understand Erak's frustration. He couldn't stand the thought of having to deal with this time and again.
"Tsk, Horace, you are doing it all wrong!" a voice said behind him, which reminded him of an old teacher back in the ward, which didn't make him particularly happy.
"Celia!" he exclaimed in surprise, a he realized it had been her voice. Grinning, she came to stand beside him.
"Watch and learn!" was her short reply, before moving into the partying crowd. Not much later, her strawberry blond curls appeared above the archers, as she had climbed on top of a wine barrel. She remained standing there in silence for a minute or so, her hands graciously folded on top of each other, a solemn expression on her face. A chill went down Horace's spine, as more unpleasant memories of his old teacher came back to him.

It didn't take long before the noises of the party died down and all faces were turned to Celia. The straightened her back and coughed to clear her voice.
"Good, now I have your attention..." she started sweetly. "What do you think you're doing?!" Even Horace was startled by the sudden sharpness in her voice. The archers flinched, as if they were little children who were being scolded for being naughty.

"Clean up this mess and get your asses practicing!" she continued. Much to Horace's surprise, the men actually started cleaning up. One of them offered Celia a hand to help her get off the barrel, which she accepted with a haughty expression on her face. She started encouraging, scolding and motivating the archers all around her."Wow," someone besides Horace mumbled. He realized it was Eden. "I've never seen her like this." Together, they watched as the normally sweet and shy girl exercised her role as commander, their mouths hanging open. Cassandra stepped up to help her structure the reorganization. Barely an hour later, the archers were once again lined up in Will's old order, with Cassandra and Celia behind them to shout out orders. Horace shook his head in amazement and sent Eden a questioning look. The boy shrugged, deeply impressed. Horace grinned, realizing something all of a sudden."See? I told you you'd find your places here!" he remarked, pointing at Celia, who was standing with her hands on her hips, shouting some more commands. "And all thanks to me!" Eden rolled his eyes."Oh, shut up, you."