Free The Battle for Skandia by John Flanagan Page B

new worry gnawing at the back of his mind, but for the moment, that could wait while he enjoyed the reunion.
    â€œDo you think you could persuade that horse of yours to stay with the other horses for a minute or two?” he said with mock severity. “Otherwise he’ll wind up believing that he’s one of us.”
    â€œHe’s been driving Halt crazy since we first found your tracks,” Horace put in. “He must have picked up your scent and known it was you we were following, although Halt didn’t realize it.”
    At that, Halt raised an eyebrow. “Halt didn’t realize it?” he repeated. “And I suppose you did?”
    Horace shrugged. “I’m just a warrior,” he replied. “I’m not supposed to be a thinker. I leave that to you Rangers.”
    â€œI must admit it had me puzzled,” Halt said. “I’ve never seen a Ranger horse behave like that. Even when I ordered him to calm down and be silent, I could tell there was something on his mind. When you first stepped out of the trees to shoot, I thought he was going to take off after you.”
    Will continued to rub the shaggy head as it leaned down to him. He smiled broadly around the campsite. Now that Halt was here and he was surrounded by his closest friends, he felt safe and secure once more—a sensation he hadn’t enjoyed in over a year. He smiled at the Ranger, relieved that Halt had been pleased with his actions. Evanlyn had described their journey across the Stormwhite Sea, and the series of events that had led to their arrival at Hallasholm.
    Horace had looked at Will with open admiration as she described the way he had humbled the wolfship captain Slagor in the drafty, smoky cabin on the barren island where they had sheltered from the Stormwhite’s worst excesses. Halt had merely studied his apprentice with a keen glance and nodded once. That single movement meant more to Will than volumes of praise from anyone else—particularly since he wasn’t terribly proud of the way things had turned out at Hallasholm, and his subsequent addiction to warmweed. He had been fearful that Halt would disapprove, but when Evanlyn had spoken of her near despair when she had found him in the yard slaves’ compound, mindless and unthinking, the Ranger had merely nodded once more and uttered a curse under his breath at people who would inflict such a substance on others. His eyes had met Will’s anxious gaze across the fire and Will had seen a deep, deep sadness there.
    â€œI’m sorry you had to go through that,” his master said softly, and Will knew that everything would be all right.
    Eventually, they had talked their fill. There would be details that could be filled in over the coming weeks, and there were items that they had forgotten. But in general terms, they were up to date with one another.
    There was, however, one aspect of Halt’s story that hadn’t been revealed. Neither Will nor Evanlyn had learned of Halt’s banishment, or his expulsion from the Ranger Corps.
    As the shadows lengthened, Halt moved once more to the spot where their captive was tied hand and foot. He loosened the bonds for a few minutes, first the hands, then the feet, retying the hands before he released the second set of bonds. The Temujai warrior grunted a brief appreciation of the temporary relief. Halt had already done this several times during the afternoon, ensuring that the man wasn’t permanently disabled by the restriction of the flow of blood to his hands and feet.
    It also gave him an opportunity to make sure the man’s bonds were tight and that he hadn’t managed to loosen them or wriggle free. Knowing he would receive no reply, Halt asked the man for his name and his military unit. Although he spoke the Temujai tongue with reasonable fluency, having spent several years among the People, as they called themselves, he saw no reason to apprise the prisoner of