An Unstable Relationship

Chapter Ten

       "What are you eating?"  Alyss heard a cheery, familiar voice call out.  She looked up from Fox's neck to see an approaching Will and Tug.  The girl then looked down again to her hands which had little beads of honey stuck to them.  Alyss had been famished by the time she had left the inn and had decided to explore the streets of Riverton for a little bit longer.  While out and about, she and Fox had stumbled upon a little storefront bakery that had looked too irresistible to pass up.  She had no regrets about it; the little shop really did have the best pastries she had ever tasted.

       "Oh, um nothing?"  Alyss replied unconvincingly, quickly swallowing the last bite of the delicious treat before he could see anymore. 

       "Hey wait!  Did you get food without me?"  Will sounded incredulous.  And appalled.  "But...but...food!"  He stuttered.  Alyss rolled her eyes, Will may not have been a teenage boy anymore, but he sure ate like one.

       "Whether or not I have food is not the matter at hand."  She told him, artfully changing the conversation topic.  "I found out more information about where Jacob and the bandits are hiding.  As it turns out, you were wrong about them not using the ranger cabin anymore."

       Will's ears perked up.  "Really?  They're there?  Well, where is the cabin?"

       "The man I spoke to said that they had been living in the cabin but that they had several other bolt holes as well."  She racked her brain for a moment.  "And the way too the cabin is a little road off the west side of the castle." 

       "Great!  Let's get going and catch us some rangers!"  The ranger said enthusiastically before pausing.  "Well that's something I never thought I'd say."  He announced contemplatively.  Alyss spared him a little laugh and started toward the castle.

       "So how did your meeting with the baron go?"  The courier questioned, eager to hear his findings. 

       "Oh, you know, I went in, I went out, I arrested him, and then it was all over."  Will disclosed nonchalantly, as if taking tied up barons to jail was a usual affair.  Alyss, however, did not find it as humdrum as her partner apparently did. 

       "Really?  You found him guilty?"  She exclaimed, glad that one problem had been taken care of. 

       "Of course I did!"  Will scoffed.  "What else could I have found him as?" 

       Alyss just stopped confusedly, altogether afraid that Will was too wrapped up in his own sentence to realize the ridiculousness of what he had said. 

       "Um innocent?"  She prompted.  "You could have found him innocent."

       Will let that run through his mind for a minute before uttering a low "oh." 

       "Yep."  Alyss said, popping the 'p' and watching amusedly as realization dawned on him. 

       "Can you not tell Halt I said that?"  An embarrassed ranger asked her.  "If you do I'll never hear the end of it." 

       Alyss just gave a brief nod, trying to contain her laughter. 

       The pair rode on, leaving the heart of Riverton behind and heading for the westernmost wall of Castle Trelleth. 

       "The innkeeper told that we would see a faint trail if we kept a close watch."  Alyss informed Will helpfully as they neared the corner of the large stone fortress.

       "I'm still surprised that they would be staying in so obvious a place."  Will returned uneasily.  "I figured a ranger would be smarter about hiding."