Free Siege of Macindaw by John Flanagan Page A

the ruff of fur around her throat seemed to be twice its normal size.
    The young Ranger rose hurriedly and stepped forward to prevent any unfortunate misunderstanding.
    "It's all right, Trobar," he said quietly. "They're friends." Then, in a louder voice, he called across the clearing, "Gundar Hardstriker, welcome to Healer's Clearing."
    He came up with the name on the spot, thinking that such an unthreatening name might serve to relax the situation. As he spoke and the Skandians recognized him, he could see the tension in them drop away a little. Trobar, for his part, stopped his advance across the clearing and stepped to one side. Will went forward to greet the Skandian crew. Horace followed, a pace or two behind him.
    "I take it these are our men?" he said mildly.
    Will glanced back over his shoulder. "Your men," he amended. "You'll command them, not me."
    Horace grinned at him, not taken in for a second by that ploy. "I'll command them," he said, "as long as we do exactly what you tell us to do, right?"
    He had experience with Rangers and how they operated. They claimed to be nothing more than advisers who stayed in the background. Yet he knew they were experts at manipulating any situation. He had seen Halt do it with the Skandians five years ago. Will's mentor was a master of the art of commanding while not seeming to. Horace had no doubt that his apprentice had learned the skill as well.
    Will had the grace to smile at the comment."Yes. Something like that," he admitted.
    Gundar had stepped forward a few paces as the two Araluens approached. He made the peace sign.
    "Good pastnoon, Will Treaty," he said. "This is a strange place you've brought us to."
    Will nodded."Strange, Gundar, but not unfriendly. Nobody here wishes you ill."
    "Unless it's that idiot secretary," Horace put in, in an u ndertone.
    "Shut up," Will told him in the same tone, then, speaking more loudly, he said, "Gundar, meet my friend, Sir Horace."
    Horace and Gundar shook hands, each studying the other, each liking what he saw.
    Horace was young, Gundar saw. But his face bore the signs of experience in combat – the scar and the slightly broken nose. Yet there weren't so many as to suggest that he was continually on the receiving end. Gundar subscribed to the view that a face covered in battle scars usually belonged to a man who didn't know how to duck.
    Horace, for his part, saw a typical Skandian: powerful, fearless, experienced, a man who handled his massive battleax with practiced ease and who met your gaze frankly while giving you a handshake that could crack walnuts. With twenty-five men like this, he thought, he could probably just knock the castle down.
    "Sir Horace is the commander for the assault?" Gundar asked, and Will nodded.
    " That's right. Even a small army like ours needs a general, and Horace is trained for the job."
    Gundar shrugged, content with the arrangement. "That's agreeable," he said.
    In Gundar's view, a commander was really nothing more than an entrepreneur. He could worry about all the minor points like tactics and strategy. Skandians weren't interested in niceties like that. A commander's chief task, so far as Gundar was concerned, was to supply opportunities for Skandians to hit people.
    Yet acceptance was not total. Inevitably, there was one Skandian who looked at Horace and saw only his youth. In typical Skandian fashion, he wasted no time making his views known.
    "It may be agreeable to you, Gundar," he said in a loud voice, "but I'm not taking orders from a boy who's still wet behind the ears."
    Will heard Horace give vent to a small sigh – there were equal amounts of exasperation and boredom in the sound. Quietly, Will hid a smile. Horace had plenty of experience in dealing with this particular situation.
    A less confident man than Horace might have blustered and shouted and attempted to enforce his authority on the Skandian. Which, of course, would have been the wrong approach entirely. Skandians placed little