The Ruins of Gorlan- Character Reaction

31

"Here, Pauline." The Head Courier accepted the book from Rodney, flipping the pages until she found the right one.

THE INN AT WENSLEY VILLAGE WAS FULL OF MUSIC AND laughter and noise. Will sat at a table with Horace, Alyss and Jenny, while the innkeeper plied them with a succulent dinner of roast goose and farm fresh vegetables, followed by a delicious blueberry pie whose flaky pastry won even Jenny's approval. Gilan grinned down at her; she returned the smile.

It had been Horace's idea to celebrate Will's return to Castle Redmont with a feast. The two girls had agreed immediately, eager for a break in their day- to-day lives, which now seemed rather humdrum compared to the events that Will had been part of.

"Just a bit?" Horace asked. Will chuckled.

Naturally, word of the battle with the Kalkara had gone around the village like wildfire—an appropriate simile, Will thought as it occurred to him. As he entered the inn with his friends that evening, an expectant hush had fallen over the room and every eye had turned toward him. He was grateful for the deep cowl on his cloak, which concealed his rapidly reddening features. His three companions sensed his embarrassment. Jenny, as ever, was the quickest to react, and to break the silence that filled the inn.

"Thanks for that," he told the chef. She beamed at him.

"I will say, that's one good thing about the cloak," Gilan commented. Crowley raised an eyebrow.

"One good thing?"

"Come on, you solemn lot!" she cried to the musicians by the fireplace. "Let's have some music in here! And some chatter if you please!" She added the second suggestion with a meaningful glance at the other occupants in the room.

The musicians took their cue from her. Jenny was a difficult person to refuse. They quickly struck up a popular local folk tune and the sound filled the room. The other villagers gradually realized that their attention was making Will uncomfortable. They remembered their manners and began talking among themselves again, only occasionally casting glances his way, marveling that one so apparently young could have been part of such momentous events.

Will bit his lip in embarrassment. He hated to have other people talk about him in whispers.

The four former wardmates took their seats at a table at the back of the room, where they could talk without interruption.  "Thank God for that," Will muttered.

"George sent his apologies," Alyss said as they took their seats. "He's snowed under with paperwork—the entire Scribeschool is working day and night."

Will nodded his understanding. The impending war with Morgarath, and the need to mobilize troops and call in old alliances, must have created a mountain of paperwork.

"I still think we should just throw the paperwork at them," Rodney said.

So much had happened in the ten days since the battle with the Kalkara.

Making camp by the ruins, Rodney and Will had tended to the wounds of Baron Arald and Halt, finally settling the two men into a restful sleep. The following morning saw the arrival of a leg-weary Gilan, riding a sway- backed plow horse. The tall Ranger gratefully reclaimed Blaze. Then, after being reassured that his former master was in no danger, he set off almost immediately for his own fief, after Will promised to return the plow horse to its owner.

Later in the day, Will, Halt, Rodney and Arald had returned to Castle Redmont, where they were all plunged into the nonstop activity of preparing the castle's fighting men for war. There were a thousand and one details to be handled, messages to be delivered and summonses sent out. With Halt still recuperating from his wound, a great deal of this work had fallen to Will.