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

Chapter 13: Breaking Apart

"That sounded urgent." Pauline stated quietly.

Halt nodded reluctantly. "I should probably go. See what they're up to."

"Maybe, by some chance, you won't even need to go out there alone for Will," Pauline's voice held an almost playful tone.

Halt shook his head in mock disapproval, then turned and left the room without another word, leaving Pauline behind with a strange sense of hollowness. It wasn't as if Halt had never left her alone, in fact, they had been brutally separated for more than enough times in the course of time in which they had been married, yet still every time Pauline felt as if a part of her was torn away whenever she sees Halt walking away from her, for whatever purpose.

>>>———>

"What's going on?" Halt asked upon bursting suddenly into the great hall.

Several faces swung around to look at him. Every one of them held grim expressions, yet none of them looked as though they would willingly meet his gaze.

"Well, you took your time, Halt." Erak said rather awkwardly, after a considerably lengthy silence.

Halt waved one arm vaguely. "Oh, I had other business. Now will you lot of suspicious looking people please explain to me exactly what has happened?"

"Halt, it's bad. Very, very bad." Alaric said.

"Explain."

"Well, apparently, there's been an attack on one of the more northerly towns. Not a single man survived. They were completely swept off, especially with most of the men here to answer the call for arms," Erak said.

Halt frowned at this. "That's not all, I assume?"

Alaric shook his head. "Not all. What is, as a matter of fact, the rest of our information, is that that town was completely taken by Araluans."

Halt raised an incredulous eyebrow towards the young knight. "Araluans? How do you mean?"

"It's the archers you gave us, Ranger." Borsa said, a calculating look on his face.

Irritated, Halt shot him a glare and said, "Well, as hilfmann, you were one of the many who asked for this treaty in the first place. And besides, can't you see I'm trying to help you with the situation?"

"Helping us? From what I've seen, you were up and away, locked in your room for the better part of this morning, while I myself and our Oberjarl's been dealing with all this!" Elderly though he already was, on the very brink of retirement, Borsa still possessed a great amount of energy, and now used it to the very limit, so that his face puffed red with anger.

"Then what do you think I've been doing all these past few days? I should have gone a long time ago to find Will, indeed, he may well be in grave danger even now as we speak, and yet all along I had chosen to do what I can for Skandia first, putting it even above the life of my old apprentice." In sharp contrast Borsa's sudden outburst, Halt's voice was dangerously low. Almost threateningly, he took two steps towards the hilfmann.

Borsa snorted. "What is war if some lives are not risked? Your Will—"

He did not get any farther. The low warning of Halt's voice bursted into raw strength with great fierceness. Moving faster than the eye could follow, Halt had crossed the rest of the distance between himself and Borsa, and had his hands wrapped firmly about his throat, on the edge of strangling him alive right then and there.

"That is enough!" Erak said sharply. "Halt, let him go, I beg of you."

Very slowly, taking more time than was ever need, Halt relaxed his iron grip, allowing the old man to take a few quick, quivering breaths. Walking over quickly, Alaric laid a hand on Halt's shoulder, which was shaking severely. As the Ranger turned at last to give him a grateful look, the knight realized with a start that the look in those dark eyes reflected not anger but a much more painful look of worry, or even grief, to a certain extent.