The Battle for Skandia- Character Reaction

11

"Hal, it's your turn." The skirl took the offered book and flipped through the pages. He was more than a little interested in this particular book. Tales had been told of the battle, but they were tales only; this was the truth.

AFTER THE EVENING MEAL, HALT CALLED THE SMALL GROUP together. The wind had risen with the onset of night and it whistled eerily through the branches of the pines. It was a clear night, and the half-moon shone brilliantly above them as they huddled in their cloaks around the remnants of the fire.

"Well, now that that's out of the way, perhaps you could stop with the descriptions?" Horace offered. Will and Halt rolled their eyes.

"You have no sense of storytelling," the older Ranger said. Horace shrugged.

"Will and I were talking earlier," he told them. "And I've decided that, since our discussion concerns all of us, it's only fair to tell you what I've been thinking."

"Wow, Halt being fair." Gilan tapped the table. "I never thought I'd see the day." He grinned as Halt glared at him.

Horace and Evanlyn exchanged puzzled looks. They had both simply assumed that the master and the apprentice were catching up on lost time together. Now, it appeared, there was something else to consider.

"First and foremost," Halt continued, seeing he had their undivided attention, "my aim is to get you, Will, and the Pr—" He hesitated, stopping before he used Evanlyn's title. They had all agreed that it would be safer for her to continue under her assumed name until they returned home. Cassandra snorted. He corrected himself. "Will and Evanlyn, and Horace, of course, across the border and out of Skandia. As escaped prisoners, you're in considerable danger if the Skandians recapture you. And, as we all know, that danger is even greater for Evanlyn."

Cassandra let out a breath. "Well, it wasn't intended to work out the way it did, but it did work you." Will snickered.

The three listeners nodded. Will had told Halt and Horace about the risk to Evanlyn should Ragnak ever discover her real identity as King Duncan's daughter. The Oberjarl had sworn a blood vow to the Vallas, the trio of savage gods who ruled the Skandian religion, in which he promised death to any relative of the Araluen King.

"Why anyone would make that is beyond me," Halt muttered, shaking his head.

"On the other hand," Halt said, "I am deeply worried about the presence of the Temujai here on the borders of Skandia. They haven't come this far west in twenty years—and the last time they did, they put the entire western world at risk." Halt sighed.

Now he really had their attention, he saw. Horace and Evanlyn sat up straighter and leaned a little closer to him. He saw the puzzled look on the young warrior's face in the firelight.

"Surely, Halt, you're exaggerating?" Horace asked.

"I wish," Horace said. The others nodded heartfelt agreement.

Will looked sideways at his friend. "That's what I thought too," he said quietly, "but apparently not."

Halt shook his head firmly. "I wish I were," he said. "But if the Temujai are moving in force, it's a threat to all our countries, Araluen included."

"Nice to know we're so loved," Gilan said cheerfully.

"What happened last time, Halt?" It was Evanlyn who spoke now, her voice uncertain, the concern obvious in it. "Were you there? Did you fight them?"

Will and Gilan exchanged a glance, grinning. Halt rolled his eyes.

"I fought with them and, eventually, against them," he said flatly. "There were things we wanted to learn from them and I was sent to do so."