{Ranger's Apprentice} "A Mission to Skandia"

Chapter 4: Taking Council

"Neville and Theodoric, did you know that the two most famous Ranger in the entire kingdom of Araluen just arrived here in this castle?" Alaric, a young knight with dark brown and hair and exquisitely blue eyes burst excitedly into the resting area of the Araluan Battle school.

His two best friends, who, like him, had the special privilege of being the personal students of the country's best knight, Horace Altman, looked up with no small interest at his words.

"Didn't Master Altman say that one of us will be chosen to accompany them in their mission?" Neville said.

"Yeah," Theodoric said. "It's that famous thing called the Special Task Group from many years ago, when Altman hadn't settled down here. They say that now this mission is actually for the Task Group, it's just that Altman no longer have the time to go with them, so they need another knight."

"I wonder which of us it will be," said Alaric.

As if in answer to their conversation, the door of that area opened again with a clang, and several figures stepped into the room. The leading figure, unmistakably, was Horace Altman, their mentor. Following him were two grey-green cloaked men who were shorter in stature and smaller in build, who yet walked with a dignity and authority that said there was no crossing either of them.

"Right here, my good Rangers. Alaric, Neville, and Theodoric. They've been each been training with me for at least three years at this point. There should be no concern in terms of their prowess and swordsmanship, I hope. As for anything else you may want to know, just ask me. Come here lads, let the Rangers see you."

"Sirs!" The three young men sprang up and stood to attention at once.

Even though Rangers didn't stand too much on protocol and ranking themselves, the two of them both nodded in approval and recognition of Horace's training for the three men.

"Relax." Halt said. Then, turning to Horace, he said, "Which one of them is the eldest?"

"Theodoric is a few months older than the others, but all three of them are pretty close I believe. Same year, at least." The three young knights in training nodded dutifully.

Halt nodded and exchanged a glance with Will. "I mean," Will said, "It doesn't necessarily have to depend on any factor at all. We just need a fifth member, and Horace just wants us to help give his students more field experience, so I was thinking that we could just randomly pick one? How about...which one is the youngest?"

"That would be me, sir." Alaric took a small step forward.

"We'll take the youngest, then." Halt said.

Horace nodded. "Alright. Alaric, you're the lucky one chosen to skip a few weeks of training then." At this, the two older boys gave a few soft groans. "No groaning from you two. Remember what I said? The one chosen may not always be the luckiest one. They'll be facing real danger out there, and I can promise you, it won't be fun. Alaric, the Skandian duty ship will be around for two more days only. On the morning of the third day, I want you to be ready at the dock an hour before dawn. Neville and Theodoric, you get that day, you know, the day two days from now, you get that day off, you can rest."

"But that's not fair!" Said Alaric.

Horace turned a stony look on him. "Life is seldom fair." Then, with a wave at the two Rangers, he led them out of the room, once again shutting the door with a clang.

>>>———>

"My lords, the Temuj is refusing to talk." A soldier who had been tasked with the interrogation reported. Duncan, Cassandra, Crowley, Lady Pauline, Alyss, Horace, and the two Rangers from Redmont were sitting, rather crowded, in one of the rooms of Duncan's suite, waiting for this news and planning the upcoming course.

"My lord, shall I take a hand?" Halt asked quietly, looking to the King.

The King shook his head. "As we have already established, it cannot be a coincidence that we receive news of unrest in Skandia at the same time our two foremost Rangers are attacked by the Temujai. However, the mission must proceed whether with the information from this man or without. If there is no way for us to control this lack of information on his part, I think we should let that be for now and focus on the preparations for you journey."

Halt scowled a bit at this, but said nothing when he noticed the meaningful look from Lady Pauline. The king nodded at the soldier, who then quickly left the room.

"So from where we stand now, the four of you, coming from Redmont, will set out on the third day from now, with the young knight Alaric, on the Skandian duty ship, and you will see what is threatening the treaty in Skandia. The two beautiful diplomats, if there is some way you could help with the treaty, do so; and if the Temujai prove a problem, you, the two Rangers, may help the Skandians with your battle skills as you see fit. As for the knight, he is still young, so I believe that Horace's main intention is to let him receive some field experience. I assume that these two senior Rangers will see to that?"

Will grinned. "Aye, leave that to us, my lord."

Cassandra cocked an eyebrow and this, but said nothing out loud.

"That's all settled then. Anything to add, Corps Commandant?" The King said to Crowley with an almost mischievous grin.

Crowley shook his head heavily. "I don't have much power over these particular two Rangers."

Halt leaned back and pretended to think for a minute. "You're right, you don't have much power over us. Commandant none the less though." Then, he suddenly leaned forward again and added, "Oh, there is one thing. Do we get coffee after the meeting?"

Alyss rolled her eyes, a thing most couriers never lowered their dignity enough to do. "Ah, Rangers. They never change, do they?"

"These two are from the wrong clan, miss." Crowley put in. "Not so with me. I, in any case, would not ever put in honey to spoil that wonderful taste of coffee. Trust me, Rangers can be different sometimes too. And I, for one, am different in the good way."

Will shrugged. "Same thing as Halt always says, you've got to try it one day, Crowley."