Halt's Ranger Apprentices- John Flanagan Ranger Apprentice fan-fiction

CHAPTER TEN

Duncan had resorted to wine for the rest of the evening, and he only spoke of pointless things to Halt who played along tentatively, while only sneaking in grim glances at Squirt who sat silently playing with a thread on her clothing. 

The moon was at its highest of the night when she announced her leave, and walked groggily to bed. 

Duncan watched as she left, staring at the door even after she passed through it to her her room. He didn't have to look at his old friend to know that his next words would drip with venom. 

"You do you understand, that when I hear a promise from someone I trust, I expect them to keep it." Duncan stared at his perhaps tenth or even eleventh glass of wine that he had downed tonight. His eyes became bleary and unfocused even more with each time he refilled his glass. 

"There was once a boy who fell in love," Duncan spoke softer than he had ever realised he could speak, he was surprised that Halt could hear him. Halt neared as he began talking, his brain not completely comprehending what he was saying exactly, just that the hurt that grew inside him tonight had no started to pound inside his chest with the best of his pulse. 

"Duncan, we don't have to talk about-" Duncan raised his scarred hand, proving to anyone that he had seen many battles. 

"There was once a boy who fell in love," Duncan said more firmly, showing Halt he wanted to talk about it. "He fell for her mesmerising eyes, her contagious smile and the brightness of every word that she spoke." Halt looked down from his gaze on his old friend that now had a pained expression swallowing his features. 

"And then she died." Duncan continued, the remorse showering those four words. "Because the boy was forced to rule alone as a man. But he did not only lose the one he had loved so deeply, but he was the one that had put everything to crumble around him.

"He was the reason she would no longer touch her lips to his, he was the reason she would no longer rest her eyes on the world, because in the commotion in the moments before her death, the fire that burnt his flesh distracted him from her for the split second it took for him to strike her. 

"It was only when he had stopped the flame that he realised that he had left his love as an easy target for the ones who were firing the arrows." Halt stared at his own battle-scarred hands as he listened to every word for the first time. The real story. "And now the man lives with his mistakes of letting the last memory he had of her go, and it is too late to turn back." Duncan finally lifts his gaze from the glass, Halt sensing it lifts his simultaneously. 

The two friends keep steady eye contact, the gloom enjoying the waltz in both their eyes. "There once was a boy," Duncan repeated battling his voice from quaking. "He fell in love, he lost her, he lost his daughter, he became a man, then a King, and he tried to convince himself it was the right thing to do. And now he must live with himself and his mistakes and in the process prevent hurting anybody else." Duncan said no more as he lifted his eyes to heaven gulped the last bit of fluid in the glass and stood to his feet. 

"My guards will be expecting me by now." Duncan strode to the doorway intending that to be the last say in the matter that revolved around Squirt. Instead Halt stood to his feet, making Duncan's footsteps falter.

"Not saying anything will hurt her more, it will hurt me more," Halt the added with a dark grimness that left a sour taste in his mouth, "it already has hurt me. Do you have any idea what it feels like to neglect myself from Squirt, just so I can keep it all a secret? She's noticing and she's started asking questions, Duncan. Tell her or I will." Halt said with more confidence than he really had. Although, he'd never care to admit that.

Duncan said nothing, nor even looked at Halt in the eyes when he left, the door squeaking the only sound on the room, leaving only the dimness of the pale moonlight shining through the winder and door cracks. 

Halt sat alone that night, on his wooden chair sipping on the wine, letting his thoughts attack his mind.