Burning Bridge (2 page)

I
T WAS CLOSE TO MIDNIGHT WHEN THE SINGLE RIDER REINED
in his horse outside the small cottage set in the trees below Castle Redmont. The laden pack pony trailing behind the saddle horse ambled to a halt as well. The rider, a tall man who moved with the easy grace of youth, swung down from the saddle and stepped up onto the narrow verandah, stooping to avoid the low-lying eaves. From the lean-to stable at the side of the house came the sound of a gentle nickering and his own horse’s head rose as he answered the greeting.

The rider had raised his fist to knock at the door when he saw a light come on behind the curtained windows. He hesitated. The light moved across the room and, a second or so later, the door opened before him.

“Gilan,” Halt said, without any note of surprise in his voice. “What are you doing here?”

The young Ranger laughed incredulously as he faced his former teacher. “How do you do it, Halt?” he asked. “How could you possibly know it was me arriving in the middle of the night, before you’d even opened the door?”

Halt shrugged, gesturing for Gilan to enter the house. He closed the door behind him and moved to the neat little kitchen, opening the damping vent on the stove and sending new life flaring into the wood coals inside. He tossed a handful of kindling into the stove and set a copper kettle on the hot plate over the fire chamber, shaking it first to make sure there was plenty of water in it.

“I heard your horse some minutes ago,” he finally said. “Then, when I heard Abelard call a greeting, I knew it had to be a Ranger horse.” He shrugged again. Simple when you explained it, the gesture said. Gilan laughed again in reply.

“Well, that narrowed it down to fifty people, didn’t it?” he said. Halt cocked his head to one side with a pitying look.

“Gilan, I must have heard you stumbling up that front step a thousand times when you were studying with me,” he said. “Give me credit for recognizing that sound once more.”

The younger Ranger spread his hands in a gesture of defeat. He unclasped his cloak and hung it over the back of a chair, moving a little closer to the stove. It was a chilly night and he watched Halt measuring coffee into a pot with some anticipation. The door to the rear room of the house opened and Will entered the small living room, his clothes pulled on hastily over his nightshirt, his hair still tousled from sleep.

“Evening, Gilan,” he said casually. “What brings you here?”

Gilan looked from one to the other in something like despair. “Isn’t anybody surprised when I turn up in the middle of the night?” he asked, of no one in particular. Halt, busy by the stove, turned away to hide a grin. A few minutes earlier, he’d heard Will moving hurriedly to the window as the horses drew closer to the cottage. Obviously, his apprentice had overheard Halt’s exchange with Gilan and was doing his best to emulate his own casual approach to the unexpected arrival. However, knowing Will as he did, Halt was sure that the boy was burning with curiosity over the reason for Gilan’s sudden appearance. He decided he’d call his bluff.

“It’s late, Will,” he said. “You may as well go back to bed. We have a busy day tomorrow.”

Instantly, Will’s nonchalant expression was replaced by a stricken look. The suggestion from his master was tantamount to an order. All thought of appearing casual departed instantly.

“Oh, please, Halt!” the boy exclaimed. “I want to know what’s going on!”

Halt and Gilan exchanged a quick grin. Will was actually hopping from one foot to another as he waited for Halt to rescind the suggestion that he should go to bed. The grizzled Ranger kept a straight face as he set three steaming mugs of coffee on the kitchen table.

“Just as well I made three cups then, isn’t it?” he said and Will realized that he’d been having his leg pulled. He shrugged, grinning, and sat down with his two seniors.

“Very well, Gilan, before my apprentice explodes with curiosity, what is the reason for this unexpected visit?”

“Well, it has to do with those battle plans you discovered last week. Now that we know what Morgarath has in mind, the King wants the army ready on the Plains of Uthal before the dark of the next moon. That’s when Morgarath plans to break out through Three Step Pass.”

The captured document had told them a great deal. Morgarath’s plan called for five hundred Skandian mercenaries to make their way through the swamps of the fenlands and attack the Araluen garrison at Three Step Pass. With the Pass undefended, Morgarath’s main army of Wargals would be able to break out and deploy into battle order on the Plains.

“So Duncan plans to beat him to the punch,” Halt said, nodding slowly. “Good thinking. That way we control the battlefield.”

Will nodded in his turn and said in an equally grave voice, “And we’ll keep Morgarath’s army bottled up in the Pass.”

Gilan turned slightly to hide a grin. He wondered if he had tried to copy Halt’s mannerisms when he was an apprentice, and decided that he probably had.

“On the contrary,” he said, “once the army’s in place, Duncan plans to withdraw the garrison, then fall back to prepared positions and let Morgarath out onto the Plains.”

“Let him out?” Will’s voice went up in pitch with surprise. “Is the King crazy? Why would…”

He realized that both Rangers were looking at him, Halt with one eyebrow raised and Gilan with a quizzical smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

“I mean…” He hesitated, not sure if questioning the King’s sanity might constitute treason. “No offense or anything like that. It’s just—”

“Oh, I’m sure the King wouldn’t be offended to hear that a lowly apprentice Ranger thought he was crazy,” said Halt. “Kings usually love to hear that sort of thing.”

“But Halt…to let him out, after all these years? It seems…” He was about to say “crazy” again, but thought better of it. He thought suddenly of his recent encounter with the Wargals. The idea of thousands of those vile beasts streaming unopposed out of the Pass made his blood run cold.

It was Halt who answered first. “That’s just the point, Will—
after all these years.
We’ve spent sixteen years looking over our shoulders at Morgarath, wondering what he’s up to. In that time, we’ve had many of our forces tied up patrolling the base of the cliffs and keeping watch over Three Step. And he’s been free to strike at us any time he likes. The Kalkara were the latest example, as you know only too well.”

Gilan glanced admiringly at his former teacher. Halt had instantly seen the reasoning behind the King’s plan. Not for the first time, he understood why Halt was one of the King’s most respected advisers.

“Halt’s right, Will,” he said. “And there’s another reason. After sixteen years of relative peace, people are growing complacent. Not the Rangers, of course, but the village people who provide men-at-arms for our army, and even some of the barons and Battlemasters in remote fiefs to the north.”

“You’ve seen for yourself how reluctant some people are to leave their farms and go to war,” Halt put in. Will nodded. He and Halt had spent the past week traveling to outlying villages in Redmont Fief to raise the levies of men who would make up the bulk of the army. On more than one occasion, they had been met with outright hostility—hostility that melted away as Halt exerted the full force of his personality and reputation.

“As far as King Duncan is concerned, now is the time to settle this,” Gilan continued. “We’re as strong as we’ll ever be and any delay will only weaken us. This is the best opportunity we’ll have to get rid of Morgarath once and for all.”

“All of which still begs my original question,” Halt said. “What brings you here in the middle of the night?”

“Orders from Crowley,” Gilan said crisply. He placed a written dispatch on the table and Halt, after an inquiring look at Gilan, unrolled it and read it. Crowley was the Commandant of the Rangers, Will knew, the most senior of all the fifty Rangers in the Corps. Halt read, then rolled the orders closed again.

“So you’re taking dispatches to King Swyddned of the Celts,” he said. “I assume you’re invoking the mutual defense treaty that Duncan signed with him some years ago?”

Gilan nodded, sipping appreciatively at the fragrant coffee. “The King feels we’re going to need all the troops we can muster.”

Halt nodded thoughtfully. “I can’t fault his thinking there,” he said softly. “But…?” He spread his hands in a questioning gesture. If Gilan were taking dispatches to Celtica, the sooner he got on with it the better, the gesture seemed to say.

“Well,” said Gilan, “it’s an official embassy to
Celtica.
” He laid a little stress on the last word and suddenly Halt nodded his understanding.

“Of course,” he said. “The old Celtic tradition.”

“Superstition, more like it,” Gilan answered, shaking his head. “It’s a ridiculous waste of time as far as I’m concerned.”

“Of course it is,” Halt replied. “But the Celts insist on it, so what can you do?”

Will looked from Halt to Gilan and back again. The two Rangers seemed to understand what they were talking about. To Will, they might as well have been speaking Espanard.

“It’s all very well in normal times,” Gilan said. “But with all these preparations for war, we’re stretched thin in every area. We simply don’t have the people to spare. So Crowley thought…”

“I think I’m ahead of you,” said Halt, and finally, Will could bear it no longer.

“Well, I’m way behind you!” he burst out. “What on earth are you two talking about? You are speaking Araluen, aren’t you, and not some strange foreign tongue that just sounds like it, but makes no sense at all?”

H
ALT TURNED SLOWLY TO FACE HIS IMPULSIVE YOUNG APPRENTICE
, and raised his eyebrows at the outburst. Will, subsiding, muttered, “Sorry, Halt,” and the older Ranger nodded.

“I should think so. It’s more than obvious that Gilan is asking if I’ll release you to accompany him to Celtica.”

Gilan nodded confirmation of the fact and Will frowned, puzzled by the sudden turn of events. “Me?” he said incredulously. “Why me? What can I do in Celtica?”

The moment the words had left his mouth, he regretted them. He should have learned by now never to give Halt that sort of opening. Halt pursed his lips as he considered the question.

“Ask interminable questions, interrupt your betters and forget to do your chores, I suppose. The real question is, Can you be spared from duty here? And the answer to that is ‘Definitely.’”

“Then why…” Will gave up. They would either explain or they wouldn’t. And no amount of asking would make Halt deliver that explanation a second sooner than he chose to. In fact, he was beginning to think that the more questions he asked, the more Halt actually enjoyed keeping him dangling. It was Gilan who took pity on him, perhaps remembering how closemouthed Halt could be when he chose.

“I need you to make up the numbers, Will,” he said. “Tradition-ally, the Celts insist that an official embassy be made up of three people. And to be honest, Halt’s right. You’re one who can be spared from the main effort here in Araluen.” He grinned a little ruefully. “If it makes you feel any better, I’ve been given the mission because I’m the most junior Ranger in the Corps.”

“But why three people?” Will asked, seeing that Gilan at least seemed disposed to answer questions. “Can’t one deliver the message?”

Gilan sighed. “As we were saying, it’s a superstition among the Celts. It goes back to the old days of the Celtic Council, when the Celts, the Scotti and the Hibernians were one alliance. They were ruled then by a triumvirate.”

“The point is,” Halt interrupted, “of course Gilan can take the message to them. But if he’s a sole messenger, they’ll keep him waiting and fob him off for days, or even weeks, while they dither over form and protocol. And we don’t have that sort of time to waste. There’s an old Celtic saying that covers it:
One man may be deceit. Two can be conspiracy. Three is the number I trust.
”

“So you’re sending me because you can do without me?” Will said, somewhat insulted by the thought.

Halt decided that it was time to massage Will’s young ego a little—but only a little. “Well, we can, as a matter of fact. But you can’t send just anyone on these embassies. The three members have to have some sort of official status or position in the world. They can’t be simple men-at-arms, for example.”

“And you, Will,” Gilan added, “are a member of the Ranger Corps. That will carry a certain amount of weight with the Celts.”

“I’m only an apprentice,” Will said, and was surprised when both men shook their heads in disagreement.

“You wear the oak leaf,” Halt told him firmly. “Bronze or silver, it doesn’t matter. You’re one of us.”

Will brightened visibly at his teacher’s statement. “Well,” he said, “when you put it like that, I’d be delighted to join you, Gilan.”

Halt regarded him dryly. It was obviously time for the ego-stroking to end, he thought. Deliberately, he turned to Gilan.

“So,” he said, “can you think of anyone else who’s totally unnecessary to be the third member?”

Gilan shrugged, smiling as he saw Will subside. “That’s the other reason Crowley sent me here,” he said. “Since Redmont is one of the larger fiefs, he thought you might be able to spare someone else from here. Any suggestions?”

Halt rubbed his chin thoughtfully, an idea forming. “I think we might have just the person you need,” he said. He turned to Will. “Perhaps you’d better get some sleep. I’ll give Gilan a hand with the horses and then we’ll go up to the castle.”

Will nodded. Now that Halt mentioned sleep, he felt an irresistible urge to yawn. He rose and headed for his small room.

“See you in the morning, Gilan.”

“Bright and early.” Gilan smiled, and Will rolled his eyes in mock horror.

“I knew you’d say that,” he replied.

Halt and Gilan bedded the two horses down and strolled through the fields toward Castle Redmont in companionable silence. Gilan, attuned to his old teacher’s ways, sensed that Halt had something he wanted to discuss, and before too long, the older Ranger broke the silence.

“This embassy to Celtica could be just what Will needs,” he said. “I’m a little worried about him.”

Gilan frowned. He liked the irrepressible young apprentice. “What’s the problem?” he asked.

“He had a bad time of it when we ran into those Wargals last week,” Halt said. “He thinks he’s lost his nerve.”

“And has he?”

Halt shook his head decisively. “Of course not. He’s got more courage than most grown men. But when the Wargals charged us, he rushed his shot and missed.”

Gilan shrugged. “No shame in that, is there? After all, he’s not yet sixteen. He didn’t run, I take it?”

“No. Not at all. He stood his ground. Even got another shot away. Then Tug took a hand and backed the Wargal off so I could finish it. He’s a good horse, that one.”

“He has a good master,” Gilan said, and Halt nodded.

“That’s true. Still, I think a few weeks away from all of these war preparations will be good for the boy. It might get his mind off his troubles if he spends some time with you and Horace.”

“Horace?” Gilan asked.

“He’s the third member I’m suggesting. One of the Battleschool apprentices and a friend of Will’s.” Halt thought for a few moments, then nodded to himself. “Yes. A few weeks with people closer to his own age will do him good. After all, folk do say I can be a little grim from time to time.”

“You, Halt? Grim? Who could say such a thing?” Gilan said. Halt glanced at him suspiciously. Gilan was, all too obviously, just managing to keep a straight face.

“You know, Gilan,” he said, “sarcasm isn’t the lowest form of wit. It’s not even wit at all.”

Even though it was after midnight, the lights were still burning in Baron Arald’s office when Halt and Gilan reached the castle. The Baron and Sir Rodney, Redmont’s Battlemaster, had a lot of planning to do, preparing for the march to the Plains of Uthal, where they would join the rest of the kingdom’s army. When Halt explained Gilan’s need, Sir Rodney was quick to see where the Ranger’s thinking was headed.

“Horace?” he said to Halt.

The small, bearded Ranger nodded almost imperceptibly.

“Yes, it’s not a bad idea at all,” the Battlemaster continued, pacing the room as he thought it over. “He has the sort of status you need for the task—he’s a Battleschool member, even if he is only a trainee. We can spare him from the force leaving here at the end of the week and…”

At this he paused and looked meaningfully at Gilan. “You might even find he’s a useful person to have along.”

The younger Ranger looked at him curiously and Sir Rodney elaborated: “He’s one of my best trainees—a real natural with a sword. He’s already better than most members of the Battleschool. But he does tend to be a bit formal and inflexible in his approach to life. Perhaps an assignment with two undisciplined Rangers might teach him to loosen up a little.”

He smiled briefly to show that he meant no offense by the joke, then glanced at the sword Gilan wore at his hip. It was an unusual weapon for a Ranger. “You’re the one who studied with MacNeil, is that right?”

Gilan nodded. “The Swordmaster. Yes, that was me.”

“Hmmm,” muttered Sir Rodney, regarding the tall young Ranger with new interest. “Well, you might see your way clear to giving Horace a few pointers while you’re on the road. I’d take it as a favor and you’ll find he’s a quick learner.”

“I’d be glad to,” Gilan replied. He thought that he’d like to see this apprentice warrior. He knew from his time at Redmont as Halt’s apprentice that Sir Rodney wasn’t given to overstating praise for any of the students in the Battleschool.

“Well, that’s settled then,” Baron Arald said, anxious to get back to planning the thousand and one details of the march to Uthal. “What time will you be leaving, Gilan?”

“As soon after sunup as I can, sir,” Gilan replied.

“I’ll have Horace report to you before first light,” Rodney told him and Gilan nodded, sensing that the meeting was over. The Baron’s next words confirmed it for him.

“Now, if you two will excuse us, we’ll get back to the relatively simple business of planning a war,” he said.