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“Don’t you dare.”
Will’s not risking whispering, but he tries horse-speak on Halt: yes, I do dare, he says with his eyes. Will’s wary about the fact that Halt clearly thinks this is a bad idea, but he can’t for the life of him figure out why his mentor is so opposed. Will’s a good climber, and if they can’t get the jump on this band, they’ll move out from this keep they’re holed up in. What was a simple problem for two Rangers could easily turn into a kingdom-wide issue, and no one has the time to spare for that. Will votes to have Halt stay up here where he could pick off men from a better vantage point while smaller, quicker Will slips down the wall to get in the main entrance and work back up to Halt from there. He knows his is the riskier role, but as much as he admires and respects Halt, he can’t figure a way for Halt to get down the wall unnoticed. He tries to convey this with a shrug of his hands.
And they’re really running out of time to make a decision.
Halt’s looking at him with an indecipherable expression – to Will’s disappointment. He’d thought that after the last couple years at Halt’s side he would’ve been able to figure out most of Halt’s facial communications, but clearly the older man still has some secrets.
Will, no, Halt mouths.
Will, yes, Will mouths back.
Suddenly, there’s the sound of shuffling and skittering below, a sign that that the bandits are on the move. Will turns in exasperation to Halt a final time – he feels so sure that this plan is solid, that it’ll work.
But Halt is clearly gearing up to say no again, and Will can’t let that fly.
He vaults over the side of the keep wall.
Obviously, he slides about halfway down, searching frantically for a handhold or foothold. The wall is a smooth drop down, specifically designed to deter anyone trying to climb it, so Will knew that this wasn’t going to be easy, but he could do it. Admittedly, though, he thinks as his hands and knees scrape viciously against the stone, this is a lot harder than climbing Baron Arald’s tower.
Eventually, though, his fingers slip into a crevice, the force of the stop almost yanking him off balance. He careens wildly for a moment, before reasserting his handhold and softly pressing the balls of his feet against the wall. Okay. All good!
His heart kind of feels like it’s going to beat out of his chest, but he figures that’s normal. He glances back up the wall, finding Halt’s figure leaning over the wall with some trouble. Wow. I must’ve fallen farther than I thought. It looks way higher from down here at the bottom. He can barely make out his teacher’s face, but he thinks he sees a deep frown of concern. He pulls a hand off the wall to wave at Halt and show him he’s okay. Halt immediately gestures for him to put his hand down. The older Ranger lingers for a moment longer before tearing himself away from the ledge. Will hopes that means he’s finally agreed to the plan. If not, Will’s going to have some trouble down here.
He fell so far that there’s not really that much left of the climb before he drops in front of the main door of the keep. The door is cracked open, because while the bandits are many, they aren’t very smart. He slips quietly inside, calculating the amount of men in the room with the number he figures must be outside, and how long it’ll take Halt to finish them off…
Will moves around the room, too determined and quick for any of the men to be much of a problem. He takes a swipe of a knife across the cheek, though, as he turns to hit one of the men, and a pretty brutal kick to the stomach as he picks off the last couple of men before the door out into the courtyard. All in all, though, he’s feeling pretty satisfied when he opens the door to enter the middle of the keep. He’s too well-trained, though, to not stay alert as he re-emerges into the quiet of the night, leaving the groaning bandits behind him.
Sure enough, as soon as he steps out fully, a shadow comes at him rapidly from the left. Despite his speed, Will disarms him fairly easily, kneeling next to him and tying his hands behind his back while the man is still dazed. By the time Will’s standing up, another shadow comes down from the tower – but this one, he recognizes.
“That worked well,” Will said, grinning. He gestures to the fallen men in the courtyard, struck with large black arrows. Halt makes no further movement towards him, though, leaning against the tower base with his arms crossed, face mostly hidden by the cowl of his cloak. Will’s grin falters a little.
“Halt?”
“Will,” the older Ranger starts. “That wall was not scalable.”
Will frowns. I made it down, didn’t I? That fits the definition of ‘scalable.’ Something tells me Halt wouldn’t be interested in that as an answer, though.
He feels strangely unseated. He doesn’t quite know what the right thing to say is, and it bothers him the same way not knowing Halt’s expression earlier bothered him. These days, Will likes to think that he and Halt are close, and the fact that he can’t get a read on what Halt wants from him here makes him feel thrown.
Just when he’s decided to try and open his mouth to say something, Halt abruptly pushes himself away from the tower and makes his way over to Will, eyes scanning over the cut dripping blood on his cheek and the way he’s holding himself so as to not aggravate his ribs.
“Are you alright?” Halt asks, face still impassive. Will nods in confusion.
“You?”
“Fine. Let’s go.” Halt moves past him, not knocking their shoulders together, but almost.
--
Will walks Tug behind Abelard, staring at his mentor’s back. They’re almost two hours away from the keep now, having taken care of the bandits. They’ll go back to Araluen first to report to Crowley, then head home to Redmont. The idea of several more days of this stilted silence is unbearable. And Will might be more than halfway through his apprenticeship, but he wouldn’t be Will if he held his tongue all the time.
“So… are you going to tell me what I did wrong?” He finally asks into the quiet. It’s the only reason he can think of for Halt’s mulishness. Will made some sort of bad call at the keep and Halt is waiting for him to figure out what it was, as has been his teaching tactic lately. But Will runs through the options in his head just like he did on the top of the wall, and just keeps coming to the same plan he went with. He needs Halt to tell him, and the thought brings him a little shame.
“What?” Halt asks, turning around slightly in the saddle. There’s a furrow of genuine question in his brow.
“What do you mean, ‘what?’” Will responds incredulously, and then regrets his wording when Halt fixes him with a look. “Uh, I mean…”
He takes a deep breath. Better to just be truthful about it.
“Halt, I don’t know what I should have done differently at the keep. I’ve gone over the other options a million times, and I –“
“The plan was fine.”
Will gapes. “What?”
“Will.”
“Sorry!” He says. “Just, if there was nothing wrong with it, why are you so… quiet?”
“I’m not allowed to ride my horse in peace?”
“Well, it’s a different kind of quiet, Halt.” Will sticks to his point stubbornly.
Halt seems to be considering something.
“You’re right,” he finally says, and pauses again. “The plan was tactically sound, it just scared the hell out of me.”
Will almost says ‘what’ again, and then thinks better of it. He urges Tug forward so he’s riding right at Halt’s side. His mentor sits normally in the saddle, but avoids eye contact with Will and his hands clench a little tighter than usual on the reins.
“The plan went well. And I looked at the wall too, at first. I just didn’t think it was feasible to climb down, so I removed it as an option. When you jumped over –“ Halt cuts himself off. His voice doesn’t crack or fade out, he just snaps off the end of the thought as if he won’t even let himself think it. But Will can finish it for him.
You thought I fell. When you looked over the edge you thought I could be dead at the bottom.
Halt. I’m sorry.
He opens his mouth to say it, but Halt is moving on.
“I admit now that you made an accurate assessment of your own skills and mine. The plan was successful and you did well. And I’m sorry that I assumed you couldn’t climb it.”
“No!” Will says. He hates it when Halt apologizes for things. “I’m sorry, for… worrying you. I could’ve been clearer, I just didn’t think there was time.”
Halt’s shaking his head. “And there wasn’t. But maybe when we get home we’ll go over that climbing of yours a bit more. Even though that ability was what led me to see your potential to begin with, I haven’t been able to give you enough chances to practice.”
“It’s okay,” Will says, still feeling like what Halt’s saying is too close to an apology. Halt finally turns to him and raises an eyebrow.
“I’d rather be on the same page about what you can do, so I don’t think you’ve fallen over a hundred feet again. Besides, it’s my job.”
Will can’t tell if Halt means his job is to train Will or worry about Will. He gets the sense that Halt means both, especially when his teacher reaches over to clap a hand fondly on his shoulder. He grins back, and the exchange makes him feel more settled than he has in days.