Ranger's Apprentice 12: The Royal Ranger (53 page)

‘Don’t die, Maddie. Don’t die, Maddie. Please don’t die, Maddie.’

The words ran together and tumbled over one another until they became a meaningless blur. But still she lay there, white faced. Will had seen death many times before, on a dozen different battlefields, and he knew that this was how it looked.

Dawn began to streak the eastern sky over the sea. He could hear birds moving and calling, fluttering through the low bushes and long grass, rustling the branches and leaves as they hunted unwary insects. The day was a normal day, just like the day before. But it would always be different because he would remember this day as the day he lost Maddie.

‘I’m hungry. What’s for breakfast?’ she said.

His head jerked up and he looked at her. Her eyes were open and she was smiling at him. It was a weak smile, but a smile nonetheless. He felt his heart lurch wildly inside his chest, with hope and relief and joy.

‘What’s for breakfast?’ he repeated numbly. ‘After all that you’ve put me through, that’s all you can say?’

She shrugged, then winced as the movement caused her pain.

‘What can I tell you? I’m my father’s daughter.’

He began to laugh. And somewhere, the laughter turned to tears and he was sobbing uncontrollably – immense sobs that racked his entire body and floods of tears that coursed down his cheeks. And he knew the tears were the ones he had never been able to shed for Alyss. They were for her. And they were for Maddie. And they were for him.

Most of all for him.

And as the sun rose behind him, he remained bent over Maddie, sobbing, the tears falling onto her cheeks below him until she patted his hand awkwardly and comforted him.

‘It’s all right, Will. It’s all right now.’

It was full daylight when Tim Stoker found them. He had left the cave to come in search of them. He had found the bodies of the two men Maddie had overtaken the night before and equipped himself with the spear that one of them had dropped.

He stood before them, armed with the oversized weapon that was way too large for him.

‘Will Treaty,’ he said, ‘is Ranger Maddie all right?’ He was doubtful because, if she was, he had no idea why the bearded Ranger would be leaning over her, weeping softly.

Will looked up at the worried young face and smiled. It occurred to him that he hadn’t smiled – really smiled – in a long, long time.

‘She’s fine. Who are you?’

‘I’m Tim. So can you take us home now?’

BILAN FOLDED THE
parchment and placed it back in a leather folder. He looked up at the assembled faces, the sea of grey and green cloaks that surrounded him. There was an eagerness about them all, he could see. The Gathering was nearly over for this year and it was almost time for the feasting and tale telling and singing that would mark the end of the assembly.

‘That’s just about all the appointments and promotions for this year,’ he said, and an expectant buzz ran through the assembled Rangers.

‘But before we get to the feasting –’ he indicated the long table set out under the trees, laden with food and drink ‘– there is one more item of business.’

Another buzz ran through the group, this one not quite so expectant. It had more of a sense of
what now?
about it. He held up his hands apologetically.

‘It’s only going to take a few minutes,’ he said, ‘then you can all get busy stuffing yourself with too much food.’

A small ripple of amusement ran through them and they settled back. They knew Gilan wasn’t one of those speakers who would say, ‘I’ll keep this short,’ and then drone on for an hour or more.

‘And it has to do with the reason why our two honoured guests are here with us today,’ he added, nodding in the direction of Cassandra and Horace, seated at the front of the group.

That caused a stir of interest. The assembled Rangers had wondered why the crown princess and the champion knight of the realm had arrived earlier that morning for the final day of the Gathering. It was highly unusual for outsiders to be included – even royal outsiders. Heads turned to study the couple. Cassandra smiled graciously. Horace flushed and lowered his head. He still wasn’t at home with public appearances.

‘As you know,’ Gilan went on, ‘when the Corps takes on an apprentice, that title is given as a courtesy until the satisfactory completion of the first twelve months of training. At that point, the bronze oakleaf is awarded and the title Ranger’s apprentice becomes official.’

They nodded. They all knew that.

‘But today, we have among us a first-year apprentice who, after only nine months of training, has already proved worthy of the official title and the award of the bronze oak-leaf. She is also, coincidentally, our first female recruit and has proved that the right girl is more than capable of serving in our Corps and carrying out all the duties expected of a Ranger.’

Now,
that
got a reaction. Most of them had heard rumours that a girl had been recruited, although they had no idea who had been appointed as her mentor. Gilan and Halt had decided that it might be best not to let out information about Maddie, in case the experiment didn’t work out.

Some of the Rangers seated at the rear of the audience stood and peered around, hoping to get a view of the first female Ranger. But of course Maddie was sitting with her cowl up and was indistinguishable from all the other cowled figures around her.

‘In the course of the last nine months, she has passed every test set by her mentor – an extremely hard judge, if I might say – and has introduced a new weapon to the Corps. I suggest you might ask her to demonstrate this when the official side of things is over.’

‘Which will be when?’ a lugubrious voice called from the middle of the crowd and everyone laughed.

Gilan nodded good-naturedly in the direction of the speaker. ‘Not long to go. But to continue. Not only has this recruit shown her ability in training, she has proved her worth and her courage in the field as well. Six months ago, she undertook a mission with Will Treaty – whose name you may be familiar with – to break up a slaving ring on the east coast and return ten kidnapped children to their homes.’

Now more and more heads were turning, seeking the whereabouts of the new Ranger.

‘And in the process,’ Gilan continued, ‘she saved Will’s life. Something that has been done by very few people in the past.’ He nodded towards a silver-haired figure in the
third row. ‘Halt is one of those, of course. And the other two are the girl’s parents . . .’

He paused dramatically. There was a lot of the ham about Gilan. ‘And they are . . . Princess Cassandra and Sir Horace, the Oakleaf Knight, the Sunrise Warrior and champion knight of the realm.’

Now the Rangers were all on their feet, understanding why Cassandra and Horace were present, wanting to see this girl who had done so much in such a short time. Someone in the rear ranks began to clap, then they were all applauding, and shouting out to Gilan.

‘Let’s see her!’

‘Where is she?’

Gilan smiled and beckoned to Maddie. She rose, throwing back the cowl of her cloak, and made her way to the podium where he stood. She was still limping slightly, he noticed. She would probably have that limp for the rest of her life.

As she turned to face the members of the Corps, the clapping changed to cheering and whistling. She looked around the sea of faces, picking out some she knew. Will, of course, had both fingers in his mouth and was emitting a piercing whistle, and contriving to grin hugely at the same time. Halt was standing, nodding slightly and smiling. For Halt, that was the equivalent of bugles and drums. Lady Pauline was also present, a concession to Halt’s prestige and position as a senior figure in the Corps. She was whistling as well, Maddie saw with surprise.

As for her mother and father, they were beaming with pride. Maddie waved coyly to them and was shocked when her mother suddenly leapt to her feet and pumped
her fist in the air, emitting a cry that sounded something like:

‘Wooph! Wooph! Wooph!’

Horace stared at his wife, somewhat nonplussed. She grinned at him and pumped her fist even harder.

‘Wooph! Wooph! Wooph!’

‘Congratulations, Maddie. How does it feel to be a pioneer?’ Gilan said softly in her ear.

She felt him placing the chain over her head. She reached up and took the bronze oakleaf pendant between finger and thumb, holding it out so she could see it. Her eyes misted with tears of pride.

‘And now let’s eat!’ Gilan shouted, and the cheering redoubled.

They had feasted. They had laughed. They had drunk toasts to fallen members of the Corps – Liam among those named. They had sung, concluding with the traditional Ranger song that ended every gathering –
Cabin in the Trees.
Maddie joined in on the song, thinking how appropriate it was to the Ranger life, thinking of the little cabin she had shared with Will for the past nine months.

Now she stood in a small circle of those closest to her: Cassandra and Horace, Halt and Pauline, Gilan and, of course, Will. She kept reaching up and touching the tiny bronze oakleaf around her neck. Gilan and Will understood how she felt. They had shared that sense of disbelief and joy when they had been awarded their oakleaves, bronze and silver.

Horace enveloped his daughter in a bear hug. ‘I’m proud of you,’ he said. ‘So proud.’

There was a catch in his voice and, when he released her, he turned away so that the others wouldn’t see him wiping away a tear. She patted his shoulder.

Then her mother hugged her as well. But when she released her, Cassandra produced a rolled parchment from within her sleeve. ‘This is for you,’ she said and handed it to Maddie.

The new Ranger’s apprentice looked at it curiously. It looked very official, she thought.

‘What is it?’

Cassandra smiled at her. ‘It’s your reinstatement. Officially, you are once again a royal princess of Araluen. You’ve earned it,’ she added.

Maddie hesitated, looking quickly at Will. He looked away. This was her decision and he wasn’t going to influence her.

‘Well, that’s wonderful, and I’m very grateful. Very grateful indeed . . . but . . . could it wait a while?’ she said.

Her mother looked at her, confused. ‘Wait a while? What for? You’ve proved you’re worthy of it. You don’t have to do any more. It’s time for you to come home.’

‘But . . . I’d rather finish my training as a Ranger,’ Maddie blurted out.

Halt and Gilan turned away to hide their grins. Cassandra glared accusingly at Will.

‘This is your fault!’ she shouted at him. ‘I might have known it!’ She turned back to Maddie. ‘But that’ll be another four years!’ she said, her voice rising in disbelief and anguish.

Maddie nodded, chewing her lip nervously. ‘It’ll be over before you know it,’ she said. ‘And I’ll visit you often.’

Cassandra, for one of the rare times in her life, was speechless. She looked around the faces of the group. Suddenly, she had a sense of
déjà vu
as her memory took her back to a day many years ago. She was a young girl, standing on a balcony at Castle Araluen, Horace beside her, as they watched Will riding away with Halt. He had just chosen life as a Ranger over life at the Araluen royal court. Now it was happening again.

‘I’ve been here before,’ she finally managed to say.

Horace nodded, knowing what she was thinking. ‘And I told you then, Rangers are different from the rest of us. I was right then. And I’m right now.’

Cassandra opened her mouth and shut it again several times. Finally, she appealed to Horace, whose strength and common sense had supported her on so many occasions through their life.

‘What should I say?’ she asked.

He smiled at her, then at Maddie.

‘Say yes,’ he told her.

John Flanagan’s bestselling
Ranger’s Apprentice
adventure series originally comprised twenty short stories, which John wrote to encourage his twelve-year-old son, Michael, to enjoy reading. The series has come a long way since then. Now sold to more than twenty countries, the series has sold over four million copies, regularly appears on the
New York Times
Bestseller List and has been shortlisted for children’s book awards in Australia and overseas. John, a former television and advertising writer, lives with his wife, Leonie, in the Sydney beachside suburb of Manly. He is currently writing further titles in the
Ranger’s Apprentice
and
Brotherband
series.