The Burning Bridge- Character Reaction

26

"Here, my lord." Halt handed the book to Duncan, eager to give it away. The King took it and began reading.

GILAN WATCHED IMPATIENTLY AS THE COMPANY OF CAVALRYMEN remounted after a fifteen-minute break. He was itching to be away, but he knew that both horses and men needed rest if they were to continue at the killing pace he had set them. They had been traveling for half a day and he estimated that they should meet Will's party sometime in the early afternoon.

Will grimaced as Gilan looked away. "Sometimes, I think whoever wrote this enjoys this torture," Halt grumbled.

Checking that all the troopers were mounted, he turned to the captain beside him.

"All right, Captain," he said. "Let's get them moving."

The captain had actually drawn breath to bellow his command when there was a call from the lead troop.

"Horseman coming!"

"Hello, Horace," Gilan said gloomily. Will, sensing his misery, tried to lighten the mood.

"So, I see Tug didn't buck you off this time," he said. Horace laughed, while the rest grinned. 

An expectant buzz ran through the cavalrymen. Most of them had no idea what their mission was about. They'd been roused out of bed in the early dawn and told to mount and ride. Gilan stood in his stirrups, shading his eyes against the midday glare, and peered in the direction the trooper had indicated.

They hadn't reached the Celtic border yet, and here the terrain was open grasslands, with occasional thickets of trees. To the southwest, Gilan's keen eyes could make out a small cloud of dust, with a galloping figure at the head of it.

"Is Tug faster than Kicker?" Will asked, with an air that said he already knew the answer. Horace gave him an aggrieved look.

"You can't compare a Ranger horse to a Battlehorse," he said. Crowley grinned.

"Got that right. It wouldn't be fair to the slow battle horses." The knights in the room turned a glare on him, and he laughed.

"Whoever he is, he's in a hurry," the captain observed. Then the forward scout called more information.

"Three horsemen!" came the shout. But already Gilan could see that the report wasn't quite correct. There were three horses, but only one rider. He experienced a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Gilan looked at the ground.

"Should we send out an intercept party, sir?" the captain asked him. In times like these, it wasn't always wise to let a stranger ride full pelt into the middle of a group. But now that the rider was closer, Gilan could recognize him. More to the point, he could recognize the horse he was riding: small, shaggy, barrel-chested. It was Will's horse, Tug. But it wasn't Will riding him.

"I'm glad I didn't give you my cloak," Will said sarcastically. "Gilan would have lost you if that was around you." Halt snickered, while Gilan gave him a confused look.

"What do you mean, I would lose him?" he asked, a bit indignantly. Horace huffed, while the other two Rangers grinned.

"Horace had quite the time wearing a cloak that one time," Will said. The knight rolled his eyes. "He seemed to think we couldn't find him." Gilan snorted in amusement.

The lead troop had already fanned out to stop the rider's progress. Gilan said quietly to the captain: "Tell them to let him through."

The captain repeated the order with considerably more volume and the troopers separated, leaving a path for Horace. He saw the small group of officers around the company banner and headed for them, bringing the shaggy little Ranger horse to a halt in front of them. The other horses, which Gilan now recognized as Horace's and the pack pony that Evanlyn had ridden, were following Tug on a lead rope.