The Sorcerer of the North- Character Reaction

21

"Here you go." Horace picked up the book and offered it to Will, a smirk stamped upon his face. "So is this where we get to see you and Alyss being awkward towards each other?"

"Is this the part where I knock your coffee out of your hand?" Will replied, plucking the book out of the warrior's hand. Horace rolled his eyes, but the smirk didn't leave his face as they sat down again.

Alyss swept toward the gray-gowned castle lord, ignoring Will, Will began.

"Good choice," Halt said. Will glared at him.

"Lord Orman," she said, "it is so good of you to shelter me for these next few weeks!" She held out her hand, palm downward, to Orman, leaving him in no doubt as to whom she considered to be more senior in rank. Erak snickered.

Orman grudgingly bent over the hand and brushed his lips to it. "Weeks, my lady?" he said. "I thought it was a matter of a few days? A week at most?"

"But surely not!" Alyss recoiled a little at his gaucherie. "The roads to my fiance's castle are thick with snow and I have heard that there are wolves and bears in this countryside!

"Like the Kyofu?" Cassandra asked slyly. Alyss smirked.

I cannot possibly progress further until the roads clear- anxious as I am to be with my beloved Lord Farrell. Crowley and Halt raised an eyebrow. Surely, Lord Orman, you would not begrudge me the hospitality promised by your poor dear father."

"Smart," Baron Arald remarked.

Orman was trapped. It was interesting, Will thought, how the noble pecking order worked. Sour and ill-mannered as he might be, and a potential murderer to boot—Everyone laughed, and Will grinned—Orman was overwhelmed by Alyss's presumption of superior rank.

"Of course not, Lady Gwendolyn! he said. It was a mere inquiry, nothing more."

But Gwendolyn had already dismissed him and was staring at Will as if he were some kind of inferior insect. Horace and Gilan sniggered.

"And whom do we have here?" she asked, arching one eyebrow.

"A jongleur, my lady, arrived only a day ago himself."

"Does this jongleur have a name?" she replied, her gaze fixing on Will. He
hesitated. It was Orman's place to introduce him. Someone of common rank could not initiate a conversation with a noblewoman such as Gwendolyn. As he watched the byplay between the two, Will was immensely impressed by her ability to play the role she had taken. Alyss smiled at him.

"Will Barton, my lady," said Orman. By having him introduce Will to her, she had reinforced her superior rank once again. Will bowed deeply.

"At your service, my lady," he said. Alyss studied him thoughtfully, one elbow cupped in her hand while her long, elegant fingers stroked her cheek.

"Are you a skilled performer, Will Barton?" Halt very deliberately kept quiet.

Will glanced sidelong at Orman. "I am a simple entertainer, my lady," he said.

Orman shook his head disparagingly. "Folk songs and country ditties are his limit, I'm afraid, my lady. Hardly what you would call one of the higher rank."

Halt lost the deadpan look and frowned. "I'd like to see you play one," he said. Will raised an eyebrow.

"I don't think you would."

"You're right," the older Ranger agreed. "I wouldn't."

"Folk songs?" Alyss said, and broke into a shrill little laugh. Alyss winced. "What fun! Very well, jongleur, you may attend me in my suite in an hour's time. Perhaps your ditties can help me forget the misery of separation from my beloved." She made a face. She glanced at Orman. "I trust you have no objection, Orman?"