The Ranger and the Thief (Book two of The Ranger and the Thief series)

Chapter Eleven

    Bente walked along the shore of the harbour with her sister, Alina, holding her hand. Alina was almost seven years old, and was quite the talker. Bente was daydreaming about what her children would look like if she married Willy, when a young page ran up to them.

"Your aunt wants you and your sister to meet her in the great hall." He said. She didn't have time to ask why, because he ran away.

"Why does Auntie want us at the great hall?" Alina asked Bente. Bente shrugged and led her sister to where they were suppose to meet their aunt.

    "Ah! Here She is." Aunt Lyla said when Bente pushed open the doors to the grand hall. Bente rose an eyebrow when she saw Oberjarl Erak looking at her as well as another man and a seventeen year old boy. Lyla took Bente by the arm and led her over to the three men.

"Bente, this is Lord Flinchshire, Earl of the Flinchshire Estate in Celtica." Erak said. Bente bowed her head in the stiff looking mans direction.

"This is my son, Preston." Lord Flinchshire said gesturing to the boy. They both acknowledged each other with a nod of their heads. The four others turned to Bente.

"Sir Preston is your betrothal." Lyla said.

***

     "They call that a sword?" Hal asked doubtfully, examining the blade that had been issued to Willy. Since Willy was smaller then the average Skandian, They figured he wouldn't be able to handle the large battle axe. The same problem that his uncle Hal had come across during his own training.

"It's all I got, Uncle Hal." Willy said. Hal rolled his eyes.

"No it's not. I'll find you a proper sword. Even if it means taking from the Oberjarls store myself." He said, looking at the slab of metal in disgust. Willy smiled a bit and sheathed his sword.

"I must get going, Uncle Hal." Willy said. Hal nodded and waved him off. Willy then began the short journey back to his crews camp site. His crew was crowded around the schedual by the fire.

"From what I've heard, they start with the tug of war." Quint said. Kerk shook his head.

"No no, the mountain run." He said. They began to bicker over it just as Willy approached.

"If you don't shut up, You'll both be sleeping out in the rain tonight." Willy snapped. The two boys closed their mouths. "They pick it randomly. So neither of you are right." They sat down and the crew sat in silence.

"We start drills tomorrow, so let's all get a good night sleep. We're gonna need it. Make sure you take care of your weapons first, I'm going to do a weapons check before bed, so make sure they are spotless." Willy said. The boys nodded and stood, mumbled as they trudged to their shelter. They had finished constructing the shelter that afternoon. It was a raised platform with a slanted canvas roof held up by a rope strung between two trees.  They had used four saplings as frame work to hold up the canvas walls and they covered the roof in branches to make it more water proof.

   Each of the boys sat on their bed rolls and began to care for their weapons. Willy sat down next to Quint, who was running a whetstone across his axe blade. Willy pulled out his own sword.

"Willy? Do you think we have a chance at beating Tristan and Flynn?" Quint asked. Willy paused for a moment.

"Yes. It's not how many men we've got, it's the strength and knowledge that will be the backbone of our crew, as well as good team work. Tristan cannot talk without yelling at people, which is not a good leadership skill. He will crumble the fastest of them all." Willy said. Quint bit his lip and nodded.

"Are you sure?" He asked. Willy nodded.

"I know this Quint. I've known him longer then you. Trust me on this." He said.

***

  The next morning the Hounds woke before Hal came running into their camp, banging a pot with a spoon. He was surprised to see the boys already up and dressed with their bed rolls rolled.

"Oh. Um...Well, breakfast is ready, so head down when you can." He said. Willy smiled.

"Would you like us to sleep in tomorrow so you can wake us?" Willy teased his uncle. Hal glared at him.

"Well it's not fun anymore!" He said. Willy simply chuckled and formed his crew in two lines, as they walked single file into the dining tent. Nobody was in there yet, so they helped themselves to as much food as they liked. Hal had followed them in and would occasionally pass by, stealing bits of eggs and bacon off of Willy's plate, much to his nephews dislike. By the time the other teams and Sigurd entered, the Hounds were just finishing up their breakfast and laughing along with Hal.

"Hal!" Sigurd said. Hal rose an eyebrow and followed Sigurd out of the tent.

"I think we might have gotten Hal into trouble."Kerk chuckled. Willy smirked as Hal came back in and rolled his eyes at Willy, gesturing to Sigurd.

"Oh, Uncle Hal can handle himself."

   Hal took the Hounds after breakfast down the field a little ways to begin their training. It began with them running the perimeter of the training field, and at the sound of Hals whistle, they would drop and give twenty push-ups. Hal sat down in the grass and watched as the Hounds ran the field. Willy and Quint were ahead of them all, since they were the most fit. Poor Javat was stumbling all over the place and Boyd was keeping him steady. Hal raised the whistle to his lips and let out three peeps and the boys moaned, dropping to the ground. After another horrific hour, Hal began the weapons training. This part, he and the boys hated most. It did not train them to attack an oncoming enemy, but a post. The boys were each stationed at their own post and they whacked it silly until their weapons were nicked.

"You boys are done. Fix your weapons and get to bed." Hal said. The boys mumbled and followed Willy back to their campsite.

***

Sorry it's been a while! Like it? Next chapter will have more of MJ and a lot more of Bente! Love you all!

~Avis