The Ruins of Gorlan- Character Reaction

EPILOGUE

"Here, Will. It's your turn." Will took the book as they sat down.

"The last chapter," he said before beginning to read.

LATER THAT AFTERNOON, AFTER ALL THE NOISE AND CELEBRATIONS had died down, Will sat alone on the tiny verandah of Halt's small cottage. In his hand, he held a small bronze amulet, shaped like an oak leaf, with a steel chain threaded through a ring at the top. Will smiled, unconsciously fingering the silver oakleaf laying on his neck.

"It's our symbol," his teacher had explained as he handed it to him after the events at the castle. "The Rangers' equivalent of a coat of arms."

Then he fumbled inside his own collar and produced an identically shaped oak leaf, on a chain around his neck. The shape was identical, but the color was different. The oak leaf Halt wore was made of silver. How much longer until it's gold, Halt thought.

"Bronze is the apprentice color," Halt told him. "When you finish your learning, you'll receive a silver oak leaf like this one. We all wear them in the Ranger Corps, either silver or bronze." He looked away from the boy for a few minutes, then added, his voice a little husky,"Strictly speaking, you shouldn't receive it until you've passed your first Assessment. But I doubt anyone will argue about it, the way things have turned out."

Everyone nodded agreement. Will had more than proved he had the skill to be a Ranger.

Now the curiously shaped piece of metal gleamed dully in Will's hand as he thought of the decision he'd made. It seemed so strange to him that he had voluntarily given up the one thing that he had spent most of his life hoping for: the chance to go through Battleschool and take his place as a knight in Castle Redmont's army. Will chuckled softly.

He twirled the bronze oak leaf on its chain around his index finger, letting it wind right up to the finger, then spiral loose again. He sighed deeply. Life could be so complicated. Deep within himself, he felt he had made the right decision. And yet, way down deeper still, there was a tiny thread of doubt.

"That was a rather big decision," Gilan acknowledged. Will nodded.

With a start, he realized that there was someone standing beside him. It was Halt, he recognized as he turned quickly. The Ranger stooped and sat beside the boy on the rough pine planking of the narrow verandah. Before them, the low sun of the late afternoon filtered through the luminous green leaves of the forest, the light seeming to dance and gyrate as the light breeze stirred the leaves.

"A big day," he said softly, and Will nodded. Will nodded now; that decision had been more than a little nerve-racking.

"And a big decision that you made," the Ranger said, after several more minutes' silence between them. This time, Will turned to face him.

"Halt, did I make the right decision?" he asked finally, the anguish clear in his voice. Halt placed his elbows on his knees and leaned forward a little, squinting into the dappled glare through the trees.

"As far as I'm concerned, yes. I chose you as an apprentice and I can see all the potential you have in that role. I've even come to almost enjoy having you around and getting under my feet," he added, with the barest hint of a smile. Halt smiled again. "But my feelings, my wishes, aren't important in this. The right decision for you is the one you want most."

"Halt's Wisdom again," Gilan quipped.

"I always wanted to become a knight," Will said, then realized, with a sense of surprise, that he'd phrased the statement in the past tense. And yet he knew that a part of him still wanted it.