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

Chapter 7

Bewildered, Horace followed his friends. They let them go? Just like that? Why would that man do that?! Obviously, he wasn’t interested in Araluen, then he would never have made this decision. Halt and the man clearly had a history, nothing needed to be said about that. But something was not right. Horace couldn’t make out what and it annoyed him extremely. The guards led them down a long, tortuous road and then pushed them through some gates, off of the terrain. Then they turned around and marched back. Astonished, Horace shook his head. They didn’t seem to see any danger in the Araluans.
“What do we do now?” Cassandra ask after a moment of hesitation. Horace noticed everyone looked at him, an expectant look on their faces. With Will and Halt out of their little group, he apparently was in charge. Yay.
“We can’t just leave Halt here,” he said determinedly. “We need a plan to get in, get Halt and get out.” He folded his arms over his chest. He had given them the plan, they could do the thinking work. Alyss shook her head.
“No,” she said. “There’s something we don’t know about this. Halt obviously knew exactly what that man wanted. You’ve seen Halt’s behaviour for yourself when we were in the cell. This is clearly all about Halt, otherwise he would never have let us go. Halt can take care of himself perfectly fine. It sounds harsh, but it’s true. He is a ranger. I have no doubt he would have been long if it weren’t for us being with him.” Horace frowned. She had a point, but what did they need to do then? They could hardly sit here and wait for Halt, could they?
“I believe it’d be best if we go to Skandia, as Will proposed,” Duncan suggested. “Will is probably already on his way there. I agree that Halt can take care of himself just fine; he’ll be following us soon, I’m sure of that. Maybe he’d even arrive in Skandia before we do!” Horace nodded slowly. That was a good idea. The he could let Will do the thinking again; this was giving him too much of a head ache.
“So, what do we do? Are we going to Skandia?” he asked. He received three positive answers. The only one not to say something was Pauline. She stared off into the distance, not a sign of any emotion on her face. Horace felt a wave of guilt hit him. How could he ask her to abandon her husband like this?
“Pauline?” Duncan said softly. Horace was relieved he didn’t have to persuade Pauline himself. “Halt will be fine. You know him, right?” Pauline smiled slightly, but the corners of her mouth were shivering.
“Yes, let’s hope I do by now,” she answered silently. Alyss smiled at her encouragingly. Pauline straightened her back and nodded. “You are right,” she continued with a strong voice. “We need to go to Skandia.”
                              And that’s exactly what they were going to do. At least, Horace hoped it would be as simple as that. Sadly, things rarely happen the way you hope them to happen. The Scoti might have set them free, but they were far from safe: there were soldiers from Picta throughout the entire kingdom and there was nothing keeping them from killing the Araluans on sight. Besides, Horace had no idea where on earth they were, which didn’t really make it easier to get to Skandia…
Horace tried to cover as much land as possible during the last hours of daylight; the sooner they got to the country in the north, the better. The others followed him silently. Nobody really cared for the idea to leave Halt and none of them had much faith left in what the future might bring. Horace tried to think as little as possible about what they were going to do once they reached Skandia. The Scoti wouldn’t magically disappear. And this handful of companions wouldn’t make a difference against the thousands of invading soldiers. He sighed. How on earth had they gotten themselves into this situation? He remembered the afternoon, only a week ago, when he had gone picnicking in the palace gardens with Cassandra and Evanlyn. Now Evanlyn was who knows where and Cassandra burst out crying every few minutes or so. It was one hopeless mess. Horace straightened his back. He was not going to give up. Ever.

“No,” the king said gruffly. Evan froze. This couldn’t be happening. He needed the Scoti.
“This also provides you with advantages!” he tried. “Possibly even a treaty! That would save us many raids and thus costs.” The king stared threateningly at him.
“As I said before: no!” he snapped. Evan tried to hide his frustration. Why did that man need to be so terribly stubborn?! It already cost him years to only try and persuade him to attack Araluen. The leader of the Scoti hadn’t had a single need to attack his neighbouring country, which had made it necessary for Evan to waste precious years. “The only thing this will provide me with is more costs! Give me one reason why I should send a fleet of expensive ships to Skandia! Skandia! The only thing that country knows is barbarians. There is nothing to win out of an attack.” The king crossed his arms and leaned backwards. From his higher position on his throne, he looked expectantly at Evan. Evan rapidly summarized everything he knew about Skandia, hoping to find an acceptable excuse for his mission. He needed to convince the old nitwit in front of him, or all these years of work would have been in vain.
“The Skandians have enormous halls, filled with all of the treasures they collected during their years of raiding other countries,” Evan remembered. “Including you son’s shield…” Satisfied with his achievement, Evan watched as the old man flinched, thinking of his only son. The boy had been kidnapped by a group of rebels in their own country. At least, that was what the king thought. Coincidentally, Evan knew what really happened. He had been part of the court for so long now, that the prince practically grew up with him around. He trusted Evan as a brother, what gave Evan the necessary extra leverage over the royal family of Picta. The boy had fallen in love with a girl from a lower class and they had run away together. Evan had covered for him, on condition that he would play along.
“Alright,” the king said defeated, resting his head in his hands. “I’ll send a fleet. But if this ends up a failure, you’ll pay the price!” Evan smiled. Finally! This time it would work!
“Of course,” he answered, before bowing to the king. “Naturally, I’ll accompany the fleet, to make sure everything happens according to the plan.” The king made a vague gesture, shooing him off, his other hand still covering his eyes.
“Fine,” sounded the muffled voice of the man. “Make sure you’ll return with my son’s shield!” Evan didn’t answer anymore and left the throne room.
                “Sir!” a guard called. Evan gestured to the man to say what he had on his mind. “The prisoner has escaped!” Evan cursed.
“Well, what are you still doing here then? Make sure he gets behind bars again!” he ordered. The guard nodded and ran off, shouting orders to his fellow guards. Evan frowned. Halt had already told him everything he wanted to hear, but he wasn’t finished with him just yet. Halt had caused all these rotten years of loneliness and he was going to pay. But first Evan would go and get Will. That was his priority. Then he would no longer need the Scoti and he could return to his old life. Evan smiled. He had nearly reached his goal.