Ranger's Apprentice: Alex + The Burning Bridge (Discontinued)

Sir Montague of Cobram Keep

Sir Montague kept Alyss waiting for over an hour before deciding to receive her.

Halt and Alyss waited in the anteroom to Montague's office. Halt stood to one side, leaning impassively on his longbow. Montague was an oaf, he thought. As a Courier on official business Alyss should have been greeted without delay. Obviously aware of her youth, the Master of Cobram Keep was attempting to assert his own importance by treating her as an everyday messenger.

He watched the girl approvingly as she sat, straight-backed and erect, in one of the hard chairs in the anteroom. She appeared calm and unflustered in spite of the insult she was being offered. She had changed from her riding clothes when they were a few kilometers from the castle and she was now dressed in the simple but elegant white gown of a Courier. The bronze laurel branch pin, the symbol of her authority, fastened a short blue cape at her right shoulder.

For his part, Halt had left his distinctive mottled Ranger's cloak folded on the pommel of Abelard's saddle. His longbow and quiver, however, he retained. He never went anywhere without them.

Alyss glanced up at him and he nodded, almost imperceptibly, to her. Don't let him make you angry. She returned the nod, acknowledging the message. Her hands, which were clenched into fists on her knees, slowly relaxed as she took several deep breaths. 

This girl is very good, Halt thought.

Montague's secretary had obviously been well briefed by his maser. After peremptorily waving Alyss to a chair and leaving Halt to stand, he had busied himself with paperwork, and resolutely ignored them, rising several times to take items in to the inner office. Finally, at the sound of a bell tinkling from beyond the door, he looked up and gestured toward the office. 

"You can go in now." he said disinterestedly. Alyss frowned slightly. Protocol dictated that a Courier should be properly  announced, but the man obviously had no intention of doing so. She rose gracefully and moved toward the door, Halt following. That got the secretary's attention.

"You can wait here, forester," he said rudely. Without the cloak, there was little to distinguish Halt from a yeoman. He was dressed in simple brown leggings, soft leather boots, and a green surcoat. The double knife scabbard had apparently escape the secretary's notice. Or perhaps he didn't realize its significance.

"He's with me." Alyss said. The unmistakable tone of authority in her voice stopped the man cold. He hesitated, then rose from behind the desk and moved toward Halt.

"Very well. But you'd better leave that bow with me," he said, without quite certainty that he had displayed earlier. He held out his hand for the bow, then met Halt's eyes. He saw a something very dangerous there and he actually flinched. 

"All right, all right. Keep it if you must," he muttered. He backed away, more than a little flustered, retreating behind the secure bulk of his desk. Halt opened the door for Alyss, then followed her as she entered the office.

Montague of Cobram was seated at a large oaken table that served as a desk. He was studying a letter and didn't look up from it as Alyss approached. Halt was willing to bet that the letter was about something totally unimportant. The man was playing silly mind games, he thought.

But Alyss was up to the challenge. She stepped forward and produced a heavy scroll from her sleeve, slapping it briskly down onto the table before Montague. He started in surprise, looking up. Halt hid a smile.

"Alyss Mainwaring, Sir Montague, Courier from Redmont Castle. My credentials."

Montague wasn't just an oaf, Halt thought. He was a fop as well. His satin doublet was formed in alternating quarters of scarlet and gold. His reddish blond hair was left in overlong curls, framing a somewhat chubby face with slight bulging blue eyes and a petulant mouth. He was of average height, but of some what more than average weight. He would be passably handsome, Halt supposed, if he could shed a few kilos in weight, but the man obviously liked to indulge himself. He recovered now from his momentary surprise and leaned back in his chair adopting a languid, slightly disapproving tone.