The Search for Will

Chapter 6

     Halt had been about to ask yet another question. But this made him stop in his inquiry. He furrowed his brow. That's strange. I wonder...

     "What's your father's name?"

     "Daniel."

     His suspicions were confirmed. But just in case. "What fief are you from?"

     "Technically Aspienne, but I haven't lived there long."

     Halt didn't quite know what to do. It was unexpected that this family had more than one son. "Do you have any more siblings I should know about?"

     "No. Just me and Will. My younger sister went missing three years ago. Her name was Evanlyn."

     Halt hadn't even been in Araulen three years ago. He had no idea what had become of her, that she had been sold on the black market to become a servant girl in the Castle of Araulen. Duncan didn't know about it either. If he had known of the market for children right under his own nose, he would've done something about it. But Evanlyn was hopelessly subjected to life as a servant to his daughter Cassandra, where she would die in the north before the discovery of Morgarath's bridge. She had red hair, and no one in the family knew where it came from. But she had her father's telltale green eyes too. Luckily she also knew how to stay happy.

     Halt finally came to a decision about what to do. "Come with me."

     Cole walked behind Halt right past the guards. He stuck out his tongue at Matthew before he left. That long staring contest, and this mysterious Ranger had won it for him. He had to gloat. Then he turned his attention to the inside of Castle Redmont.

     It was like nothing he had ever seen before. It had a spiraling tower right in the middle of a huge open area, with staircases on the edges of the wall of stone around him. There were flags held high around, and doors awaited exploration everywhere. He knew it was probably nothing compared to Castle Araulen, but he instantly fell in love with Castle Redmont. It seemed homey. And Cole needed a home right now, not a foreign, shining, neat and tidy, unwelcoming, busy castle like Araulen. Halt led him to a side door below a set of stone stairs, up stairs on the inside (Cole could not fathom why there would be two staircases leading up), and down a hallway. Here they turned left, then right, and a door stood just ten feet away.

     Halt knocked.

     "Who is it?"

     "Halt. And ...a visitor."

     "All right then. Come in."

     Halt opened the door and walked inside, not bothering to hold it open for his lesser companion. Cole caught the door before it slammed on him and looked inside. He gaped at the furnishings. He would've expected something more decorative and expensive. Instead it was relatively simple. Not that this was a bad thing. Cole thought he preferred it. Who wouldn't? Baron Arald cleared his throat.

     Cole looked at him. He had never met a baron before. He didn't know what to say. His cheeks grew red. "Um...hi." Arald raised and eyebrow at that. "Sir Baron of Arald. I mean, Baron Arald of Redmont Cast-fief." He rushed all the words out at the end, and looked up again as he heard a warm chuckle. Normally Cole would've been delighted to make another laugh, but now he felt only embarrassment.

     "Sorry," he mumbled sheepishly. Baron Arald smiled.

     "Don't be. I love a good laugh." Cole couldn't tell if he thought the Baron was very mean or very kind. He decided very kind as he thought of his sister. He must share some of the kindness, of course. No one could be Maria's sister and be mean at the same time. Cole wondered what to do now. He didn't know why the Ranger had brought him here. There was a short pause.

     "Well, anyway, if you were wondering, I brought him here because he's Will's brother."

      Cole looked up at that. How did he know about Will? Baron Arald sensed the confusion he was feeling. "All right," he said. "Let's sit."

    Cole uncomfortably sat down in a wooden chair around a table. Baron Arald and Halt took two of the others. Just one was left empty. They both looked at each other, then looked at him. "Well, this is getting kind of complicated, isn't it? What do we do?"

     "I don't know. I haven't had time to think about it yet."

     "Can you just tell me your name?" Cole blurted out unexpectedly. They both seemed to realize he was sitting there looking at them. The Ranger looked uncomfortable. He didn't like telling people his name.

     "His name is Halt. And I'm Baron Arald, which you know already." Halt glared at him for giving it away. Arald didn't seem to notice. "In case you're wondering-"

     "-I am wondering"

     "Yes, thank you, but Halt here found your brother and brought him to be raised here as an orphan so he could become a-"

     "WHOA, whoa, whoa, that's enough. Don't want to give anything away now, it's not for sure and Cole will be sure to tell him and Will will be terrified."

     Baron Arald smiled at the use of 'will' three times in a sentence. "If you say so. But Halt found Will and now he is here along with a few other orphans in the Ward. Now you show up saying he's your brother, but I don't know if I should keep you too or let you both go. The obvious choice would be to keep you both, but do you want that? I mean, there goes all your freedom, and probably a lot of friends as well, and the beds aren't that comfortable-"

     "Are you just going to sit here and ramble on about how horrible the Ward is? Because there is virtually nothing wrong with the Ward. It's pretty much perfect. He wants to stay. He doesn't have a home, or parents, and his brother is here, who he's been looking for for a long time. The only problem with him staying in the Ward is there is no one his age, and no one to watch him because they are understaffed. But that's hardly a problem at all!"

     The Baron smiled again as Halt said 'for for'. He agreed. The Ward was perfect. It would suit him. He turned his attention to Cole. "Well, what do you think?"

     Cole smiled in answer. He couldn't wait to see Will again. He was so glad he was alive.