The New Rangers

Chapter Twenty-Four

Will stared across his room blankly. He had no direction, no will to get up and do anything. The world seemed to have stopped with Alyss' death. There was a vague sort of anger in his peripheral, a hatred toward Morgan, but he couldn't seem to get beyond the fact that his wife was gone. Any moment he expected her to walk through the door, chiding him for lazing about when there were things that needed doing.

His gaze flicked to the closed door as if she would step through it. There was nothing but darkness, quiet, and a complete sense of loss. His eyes went back to the wall, he let the tears make silent trails down his cheeks.

The door opened, not slowly in respect of the grieving Ranger, but all at once so it bounced against the wall with a thumping sound. "I realize how aggrieved you are, Will, but we do have need of you and Alyss wouldn't want you wallowing in such a way. Araluen has need of your skills."

"Go away, Crowley, I'm not in the mood for your unflappable cheer," he grumbled while brushing away the tears that still clung to his face.

The Ranger Commandant dropped into the chair nearest Will with a sigh. "We all miss her. Alyss was undeniably a bright light that should never have been doused. However, you have the Corps counting on you, the kingdom, and a daughter who misses her mother as much as you do."

With a groan, Will covered his face with his hands. "I sunk into my grief without even a thought for Deva. What kind of father does that make me?"

Crowley chuckled quietly. "It makes you nothing more than a mortal man capable of being flawed. It's time to move forward. You know that."

Will sat back, staring at Crowley. What would any of them do without Crowley hanging about to dispense wisdom? He was undeniably perfect for the position he held. "Thank you, Crowley." He rose from his seat and started for the door.

"I wouldn't be too hard on yourself, Will." Crowley paused for a fraction of a second before he continued. "Or on Deva. Grief can make people act out of character."

He turned slowly to face Crowley. "And what precisely has my daughter done?"

Crowley waved a hand in the air indicating a very vague recollection of the events. "Can't quite recall at the moment."

Will spun and stalked from the room to find his daughter. He found her in short order, hanging about with Mitchell in the rear gardens. "Deva Jubilee Treaty, what on earth have you done now, young lady?"

Deva stared at her father wide-eyed and leaned slightly closer to Mitchell, hoping for some support from him. "What are you talking about?"

He came to a stop in front of the two of them, glowering darkly, arms folded over his chest. "Crowley mentioned something about you getting into mischief while I was ... indisposed."

She rolled her eyes. "It was nothing, Dad, honest. A slight misunderstanding, nothing more. Holly ..."

"Holly!" he roared. "I should have known she would be involved."

"Dad, stop it! We only went to try and find any information on Morgan. To try and discover if he's still holed up in the mountains or if he's on the move. We didn't go far."

Will deflated slightly. "And that's all?" She hesitated and Will's look darkened. "Deva."

"Okay, well, there may have been a tiny fire at the inn we stayed at. It wasn't our fault though! We were being followed and it was just the quickest way to cause a commotion so we could slip away!"

"You set fire to an inn!" he bellowed.

"To be fair, sir, Logan and I were also involved. You shouldn't blame only them," Mitchell added.