The Fires of Esus - Ranger's Apprentice

Epilogue

2 years later...

Halt strolled leisurely down the hall, his cloak swinging behind him jauntily. The familiar weight of his bow and quiver was missing, stowed away in a chest in his and Pauline's room. It had been several months since Halt had needed them, and he was sure they had gathered a fair amount of dust in there by now.

Having been retired for almost five years, he found his bow gathered dust most of the time. And it no longer bothered him.

He turned the corner and started down another long passageway, and laughing and shrieking could already be heard from the open door at the end. Light spilled out of the doorframe, making the darkened hallway glow brighter as he got closer. When Halt was still several meters away from the door, a tiny hand reached out from behind the frame, followed by a small head covered in dark curls.

"Olivia, what are you doing?" Halt smiled widely, covering the last few meters with long strides and crouched down next to the baby crawling on the floor. "Are you trying to escape?"

Olivia's gummy smile made Halt's grow even bigger. That was another thing that had changed - Halt no longer had to grudgingly allow his smiles to creep across his face. He didn't have to force them, or be scolded by Pauline when his lips wouldn't even twitch upwards for days on end.

He smiled every day now, willingly. Several times a day if he was spending it with Pauline, Will, Alyss, and Olivia.

The baby babbled something incoherent back at him, and he only nodded and smiled as if he understood. "I know you weren't trying to escape, you were just glad to see me, right? Are you ready to go home? Your mother's almost ready to go."

"Mama!" she cried, reaching out to the doorframe beside her and pushed herself up on to her feet, wobbling and clutching the frame to stay upright.

Halt, still kneeling, looked over her shoulder to see one of the Ward's nurses smiling down at him. "She's been waiting for you all day, Ranger Halt."

"Of course she has," he said, rising from his crouch and taking the bag the nurse handed him. As he slung it over his shoulder, he gently pried Olivia's hand off the door frame and gripped it tightly in his own. "Can you say thank you to Nurse Rowan?"

Olivia let off a stream of nonsense, with a few words vaguely resembling 'thank you'.

The nurse only smiled and murmured, "You're welcome, Olivia. See you next time!"

Halt patiently led her down the hall, walking slowly to let the baby's short legs keep up. "Your walking is getting better every day, Liv. If you keep practicing, you'll be running on your own in no time."

"Yah!" she said. Her legs were still unsteady underneath her, and Halt had to lift her back up onto her feet multiple times to keep her from face planting. But, just like her father and mother, Olivia wasn't one to give up. She slowly walked down the long hallways with Halt at her side without a single noise of complaint, focused entirely on her legs underneath her, her round face puckered with determination.

After Halt had to carry her up the stairs, which were still too challenging for her, the pair had finally reached the Courier's wing. As they turned the corner they saw Alyss down the hall, locking the door to her office with a file of paper in her hands, her bags slung over her shoulder.

"Mama!" Olivia called, and tried to pull her hand out of Halt's, but he held firm.

Alyss's face turned to them as her daughter called to her, and a weary, worried expression melted away to reveal a smile. "Hello, darling. Hello, Halt. Thank you for getting her."