𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑎 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑒𝑓 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 | 𝐆𝐈𝐋𝐀𝐍 𝐃𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐃𝐒𝐎𝐍

12 ⋆✶⋆ The Traveling Company

Halt and Gilan walked in silence through the fields in the direction of the castle. The atmosphere was so tense that you could cut it with a knife. Both Rangers had stayed silent most of the walk, but Halt decided that he eventually had to talk to his former apprentice.

He sighed loudly to get Gilan's attention. The tall Ranger knew his friend well enough to know what he was doing and raised an eyebrow at him.

"You know the Ranger's corps' rules, right?" Halt asked Gilan.

"Yes." The tall Ranger simply answered. He had to learn them while being Halt's apprentice and after a long night of studying he had never forgotten them.

"But have I ever told you about this special new rule that was installed when your apprentice joined the corps?" Halt had a small smirk plastered on his face as he said this.

"Probably, but I might've ignored it." Gilan replied dryly. Halt had indeed told him when he took on his apprentice that he wasn't allowed to date her, but he did it anyway.

"Well then let me remind you: dating your apprentice is now off limits."

"Ah, what a surprise." He rolled his eyes under the hood of his cloak at his former teacher.

"I have my suspicions that you're breaking this rule." Halt said after a long pause. The grey Ranger looked at Gilan penetratingly. He really didn't want this young man to date the thief who had escaped his grasp for so long. Though he would never say it out loud, Halt knew that the reason he didn't like the girl was because she had outsmarted him so many times. And she'd charmed him just as well as any other man.

"Of course not, I've learned from my master how not to break rules." Gilan kept a straight face, but inside he was very satisfied with his own response. Halt was known for not always being the best rule-follower when it came to the Araluanian laws.

The grey-bearded man shot Gilan a glare that would've killed him on the spot had it been real. Knowing that he couldn't come back from this reply, he grumbled a bit and then changed the subject.

"Such an official trip to Celtica, could be exactly what Will needs right now." he said. "I'm starting to worry about that boy."

Gilan frowned. He had a soft spot for the difficult to keep in line Ranger's apprentice. "What seems to be the problem?"

"When we engaged those ugly Wargals last week, he'd lost it. Now he thinks he'll be afraid of everything, a coward."

"And is that true?"

Halt confidently shook his head no. "Of course not. He has more courage than most adults I know. But you know, when the Wargals attacked us he tried to shoot too fast and then he shot wrong."

Gilan shrugged. "That's nothing to be ashamed of, right? God, the boy isn't even sixteen yet. My apprentice still can't shoot properly and she's in her third year. He didn't run, did he?"

"No, not at all. He stayed at his post. He was even able to shoot a second arrow. But then Tug attacked the Wargal and I could finish the job. That's a great horse, that Tug."

"He also has a great owner," Gilan answered, and Halt nodded.

"That's true. But I still think that a few weeks away from all the preparations for the war will do him good. He'll have time to think about other things, with you and Horace."

"Horace?!" Gilan asked.

"He's the third companion, I figured. He's a student at the battle school and a good friend of Will." Halt thought a bit further and then nodded to himself. "Yes, A few weeks with his peers, that'll be good for him. It's not for nothing that people sometimes say that I can be a bit strict."