The Sorcerer of the North- Character Reaction

10

"Chief, it's your turn." Erak took the book next, flipping through the pages.

Will reined Tug in and looked around the almost deserted Gathering Ground. It was strange to see it so empty, he thought. There was a melancholy feeling to it. Both Halt and Crowley frowned.

Normally, the lightly wooded meadow would be filled with the small green tents of the fifty active members of the Ranger Corps as they came together for their annual Gathering. There would be cooking fires, the clank and rattle of weapons practice overlaid by the buzz of a dozen or more conversations and sudden bursts of laughter as old friends called greetings to new arrivals riding in.

"I hope this won't give anything away," Crowley muttered.

Today, the campsites between the trees were bare. There were only two tents pitched, at the far end of the field, where the large command tent was normally placed. Halt and Crowley were already here, he realized.

Halt raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Another week had passed since Alyss's visit to Seacliff Fief. The elegant Courier had given him his final instructions, telling him to wait for two days after her departure, then to leave quietly, without letting anyone know he was going, and to make his way to the fathering Ground, where Halt and Crowley would explain his assignment. As she was leaving, she placed her hands upon his shoulders and looked deep into his eyes. Halt cleared his throat, and Will glared at him. She was taller than Will by half a head and she had always liked the fact that this didn't bother him In truth, most people were taller than Will—Horace snickered—so it wasn't an issue with him. In his turn, he admired the way Alyss never tried to stoop or conceal her height. She stood proudly, with a firm, straight carriage that gave grace to all her movements.

As their gazes met, he saw the light of sadness in her eyes. Then she leaned forward and her lips touched his-light as a butterfly's wings and amazingly soft to the touch. They remained so for many seconds, then Alyss finally stepped back. She smiled sadly at him, sorry to be leaving so soon after seeing him again.

"Take care, Will," she said. He nodded. There was a huskiness in his throat and he didn't trust himself to speak immediately. Eventually he managed to reply.

"And you."

"That's a whole new level of obliviousness," Halt muttered. Will rolled his eyes.

"Like you have any room to talk."

He had watched her ride away with her two-man escort until the trees hid her from sight. And he had remained watching for some time after that.

Now, here he was, ready to find out more about this assignment-anxious and uncertain, and just a little saddened by the thought of his last moments with Alyss and the sight of the empty Gathering Ground. Then the uncertainty was dispelled and the melancholy lifted as he saw a familiar stocky figure moving near one of the tents.

"I wonder who that could be?" Crowley asked with mock confusion. "I wouldn't know. I'm too long in the tooth to notice." Will reddened, and mumbled something under his breath.

"Halt!" he cried out gladly, and a slight pressure with his knees set Tug galloping through the deserted Gathering site. The dog caught by surprise, barked once, then shot in pursuit like an arrow from a bow. The Rangers snickered.

The grim-faced Ranger straightened from the fire at the sound of his former student's voice. He stood, hands on hips and a frown 0n his face as Will and Tug careered toward him. Will snorted. But inside, there was a lightening of his heart that he never failed to feel when in Will's company.