Ranger of Kings (William of Alamore Series Book 1)

by C. J. R. Isely

  Richard nodded. “Heart of a knight, and unfortunately a bit of the head of one,” he ran his hand over his beard, grimacing. “Still, I think there are a few things that we can do to get you started. Do you think you can ride?”

  “Yes,” Will said, without hesitation.

  “Hold on a minute!” Rowan protested, throwing his hands in the air. “Visra is one of the most difficult horses!”

  Colin snorted, trying to stifle his laugh. “For you! He doesn’t like you, Rowan, but he’s always been pretty solid for Will.”

  “He’s thrown Will more times than either of our horses have even thought about trying to throw us,” Rowan turned to Sir Richard, “Will is going to get himself killed on that horse if he’s not strong enough yet.”

  “Visra will be fine, he’s not an idiot. He knows when he needs to listen,” Will argued. He was already imagining himself in the freedom of the saddle, the freezing air stinging his eyes and his heart soaring with every stride of the bay’s canter.

  Sir Richard ran a hand over his beard thoughtfully. “If you think you can ride, Will, I will have you join Haru, Robin, Ross, Rockwood and myself in two days for a short journey to Finnwick.”

  “Finnwick, Sir?” Will asked, standing as well. His heart was hammering in his ears. He was going to get to start training more seriously again. “Isn’t that a small Alamore castle?”

  “It’s on Alamore land, but historically neutral. They are close enough to the Thornten line, and far enough from Alamore, that they have had to be. Their advantage is that they raise the greatest horses I’ve ever laid eyes on. They sell to Alamore and Thornten and advise both on purchases of stallions and mares elsewhere, to improve the lines,” Richard sighed heavily. “I know Earl Kenta well, or I should, because he’s my cousin. It’s time they drew firm lines to stand with Alamore or against us, unfortunately. It’ll be harder on them no matter. If they stand with us, they openly denounce Thornten and open themselves for attack. To continue how they are now, they denounce us and stand against us for attack. We just have to hope Kenta doesn’t have the same money mindset that my mother’s brother had,” he started toward the door. He hesitated, his hand resting on the door handle. “I recommend you rise with the others tomorrow and get two days of real training in. I want to make sure that you aren’t going to slow us down,” with that, he opened the door, leaving the three squires alone.

  Will could feel Rowan’s glower even before he turned to face his friend. “What?”

  “You are being stupid,” Rowan said, bluntly. “Plain old stupid.”

  “Give him a break, Rowan, he doesn’t want to wait around the castle forever to heal,” Colin said, rolling up the map in front of him.

  “Forget healing!” Rowan burst out. “What about Marl and King Tollien, Will? What about all that the Ranger told you? They are going to want you dead and you’re risking everything to ride to some castle, that may not even be on our side, because you’re bored? Are you serious?”

  Will’s face grew hot. “I am not,” he said, fighting to keep his tone even, “trying to be stupid. But I am not going to live in fear in this castle. Marl isn’t going away, Rowan. I either start to train again or I live in shelter my entire life.”

  Will could see Colin chewing on his lip nervously out of the corner of his eye. Still, he didn’t look away from Rowan’s scorching glower. “We watched you be nearly beat to death with the flat of a blade, something you haven’t even fully healed from. What would you do if that was me or Colin?”

  Will’s mind flashed to the dread of seeing blood dripping down Rowan’s face after the fight with Vonnic. He pushed the memory away and set his jaw. “You can’t spend your life protecting me, so I better learn how to fight.”

  “He’s right,” Colin said, finally breaking his silence. He stood, running a hand through his golden hair. “Will’s best chances are being able to defend himself. What we can do is make sure that tomorrow, you practice with us and you’re ready to get out again. Plus, we will be going with you to Finnwick, because our knights are going. We can keep an eye out.”

  Will’s throat tightened and he forced himself to swallow and nod. He didn’t trust his voice suddenly. He had lived with Marl for years, loved him as a father, and yet now, for the first time, he knew there were others in the world who cared if he lived or died.

  “If we are doing this, we should go practice some tonight,” Rowan said resignedly.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Two days later, when Sir Rockwood came in to wake Will, Rowan, Colin, Haru, and Robin – who had finally been given permission to stay in the squire chambers – Will’s body ached. For the past two days, he had trained with the others, trying his hardest to catch up on sword tactics, hand to hand combat with and without a dagger, archery, and riding. Visra had, thankfully, behaved for the majority of the riding, only protesting by prancing and throwing his head when Will forced him to stay at a controlled gait.

  The five squires dressed quietly in the near darkness, trying their hardest not to wake the others before shuffling, yawning, into the dining hall. A few soldiers and visiting knights were seated at the long tables and, at the main knights’ table, King Revlan and King Giltor sat with a huddle of their knights. Will could see Sir Dannix, Treck’s knight, on Giltor’s right side, his expression one of displeasure.

  “What do you reckon they’re discussing?” Rowan asked, craning his neck as they sat down.

  “No idea, and doubt we will find out,” Colin said, fighting to hide his yawn behind his hand. “I mean, Giltor and the King have been in more meetings lately than I think the King ever has been before. I can’t remember him being absent from the dining hall or the training grounds more often in past than he has of late.”

  “True,” Rowan huffed. “You’d think they’d let us in a bit. I’m the one who found that Tunnel entrance, after all…”

  “You are?” Robin asked, clearly interested.

  Rowan threw him a suspicious look. “Yes, I am.”

  Robin nodded, thoughtfully. “Interesting. I heard that they hadn’t used that entrance in ages, that it was essentially forgotten before then.”

  “I don’t know,” Rowan admitted. “But that’d make sense since they weren’t using it.”

  “After all that Airagon was saying the other day, about the tunnel construction.” Haru said, sliding onto the bench between Rowan and Robin, where Rowan had made sure to leave a large space, “it sounds like there is an entire spiderweb of tunnels. I don’t even know how we are going to go about closing them or stopping them.”

  “I have an idea of what’s been discussed,” Robin said, quietly.

  “Why does he get to know when he’s not even from Alamore?” Rowan asked Haru pointedly.

  “If you think for one second that I am playing moderator for you to act like a child, Rowan, you’re dead wrong. Ask him yourself,” Haru snarled.

  “It’s fine, Haru,” said Robin. He glanced across the table at Will then turned to Rowan. “Essentially, I had certain insights that were helpful and I negotiated information for integration.”

  “Betrayal, you mean,” Rowan snapped.

  Robin raised his eyebrows. “Would you have stayed loyal to a King whose ethics were steadily going downhill until you could not believe in their rule any longer? At some point, you pick between loyalty to a man in a castle and loyalty to what you know is the right.”

  Rowan scowled at his plate. “Still sounds a lot like betrayal.”

  “Well, it’s benefiting us so grow up a bit and realize that people change sides for their own reasons,” Haru snapped. “I don’t know if I can tolerate riding with the two of you this early in the morning.”

  “What have they been discussing as a tactic for the tunnels?” Colin asked, forcing the conversation back to the subject at hand.

  Will watched Robin’s eyes dart toward the high table, where the knights and the two Kings were still deeply engrossed in their conversation.

&nb
sp; “From what I’ve heard,” he said, his voice soft, “with the information I had, we are going to focus on closing only certain branches that we know the whereabouts of. Between what I know and what Airagon knows, the tunnel to Thornten would be the vital one to close at this time. It’s the shortest distance for them to cover and it’s nearly complete. It already has entrances on Thornten land, just none inside the walls yet.”

  “And how do you suppose they plan to do that?” Will could tell that Rowan was trying his hardest to sound disinterested.

  Robin leaned in closer to the center of the table and met Will’s eyes. “Have you seen the Ranger of late?”

  ***

  Visra pinned his ears and blew out a cloud of white steam when Will tightened the girth. “Get over yourself,” Will told the horse.

  “That horse is awful,” Rowan said, walking past with his horse and Rockwood’s sorrel in tow.

  “He can be, for sure,” Will admitted. Visra, seeming to know he was the subject of their conversation, stamped a hoof in irritation.

  “Are all of you ready to ride?” called Sir Rockwood, entering the barn. “We are going to have a bit of extra company today. Will, would you mind throwing a saddle on Talloe?”

  “Talloe?” Will stared. “The King is coming too?”

  “No, I just wanted to make you work extra because it seems like a good exercise,” the knight said and smiled broadly. “Just get the horse saddled and leave the thinking to me until you are awake.”

  Will left Visra tied in the barn alleyway as he haltered the large blue roan stallion and began grooming the horse down.

  “We also will have a couple of people from Shadow Dale with us,” Rockwood said. Will glanced up, noticing the strained jaunty note in Rockwood’s speech. The knight’s smile now seemed forced. “So, let’s try to behave, Rowan.”

  “I feel rather singled out when you do that,” Rowan complained, handing his knight the reins to his own horse.

  “As you very well should,” the knight quipped back.

  Will only had time to start pondering who from Shadow Dale would be going with them before Treck appeared, his hair still a mess from sleeping, leading three horses. One was his slight grey, who pranced and gnawed on the side of his bit, one was a thick muscled black horse with large white socks and the last was pure white, his mane in long braids down his neck. Behind the squire strode in Sir Dannix, King Revlan, and King Giltor.

  King Revlan, spotting Will lifting the saddle onto Talloe’s back came toward him, patting him on the shoulder with a heavy hand. “I am sorry I did not get a chance to visit with you in the healing chambers,” the King said, in a low voice. “I’m afraid that we have been extremely busy since Robin joined us.”

  Will felt his face redden. “It’s fine, Sir,” he muttered. He didn’t want to admit that he had never questioned why the King hadn’t come to see him. He wouldn’t expect a King to visit an injured squire.

  The King’s grey eyes looked down into his appraisingly. “You’re doing impressively well considering the extent of your injuries. Are you ready for this ride today?”

  “Yes, Sir,” Will said, forcing himself not to look away from the steely gaze.

  “So that must be the squire I’ve heard so much about!” King Giltor called and Will turned. The King of Shadow Dale was leading the white horse now across the alleyway of the barn, to where they stood. He was shorter than King Revlan, but broad-shouldered with a well-groomed beard and his nearly shoulder-length hair was combed back, away from his young face. His bright green eyes seemed to pierce through Will. Will shifted uncomfortably.

  “You’re Marl’s son,” the man’s voice held an inflection that stung like a sharp blade.

  Will stared defiantly back at the King of Shadow Dale. This man knew the truth about Marl, he knew what Will was. There was no doubt in Will’s mind that Giltor knew and didn’t trust him for it. “I prefer not to associate with that man,” Will said, fighting to keep his voice from turning into a snarl.

  “Smart choice, boy,” King Giltor said, his wide smile not reaching his eyes.

  “Come, Giltor, we can get mounted up and leave the walls before daybreak,” the King of Alamore ordered, grabbing Talloe’s lead line. “I’ll bridle this horse, Will. Get your Visra ready to ride,” he shot Will a silencing look and put a hand on Giltor’s shoulder, guiding him from the barn.

  “Good to know I’m not the only one that Giltor hates,” a voice said, making Will turn.

  Robin was leaning on the stall door, holding the reins to the packhorse that he had saddled for himself. He raised his eyebrows. “Not much fun to be hated for what your bloodlines are expected to be, is it?” he turned, without another word, and led his horse after the King.

  Will watched him go, his stomach twisting into a knot. He hadn’t considered what Robin said before now. Tollien, who had guided Robin for years, had been as much a father to Robin as Marl had been to himself. And, like Will and Marl, he felt betrayed by Tollien. He closed his eyes, breathing deeply.

  “We could always slap that pack nag on the ass and make it run off with him,” Rowan said, making Will open his eyes. His best friend was standing next to him, a sincere look on his face.

  Will grimaced. “He’s got a point, Rowan.”

  “Yeah,” Colin said, leading his horse toward them, “he kind of does.”

  “So, are we making the horse run or…?” Rowan looked between them. “You two never answered that.”

  “Colin, hurry up,” Ross barked from the entrance.

  Colin jumped, pulled Strider into a trot, and jogged out the door. “I guess we should go too, before the grouch knight comes after us,” Rowan grumbled, pulling his horse’s reins. Will nodded agreement and followed suit.

  ***

  The air was bitter cold as the sun finally broke through the sky to the east. Red and yellow light mixed and shone off the fresh snow, reflecting and shining like gold. The horses broke through the thin layer of ice on the drifts, the heat from their bodies rising and drifting away over the party.

  Rowan, Colin, Will, and Treck were in the center of the group, with the Kings, Rockwood and Ross leading, Sir Richard, Haru, and Robin bringing up the back. Will’s fingers ached in his gloves and his nose burned. Thinking of the castle, though, and the hours he had been stuck inside the walls, he happily accepted his current discomfort. At least he had the freedom to bring Visra out now, to feel the air without the sight of the walls around him.

  “You know, if this weather was decent, we probably could have made it by now,” Colin pondered aloud.

  “If the weather was decent, I wouldn’t care if we had or not,” Rowan said broodingly.

  “I’m serious!” said Colin. “It’s not that far from Finnwick to Alamore. It’s closer than Lonnac for sure! It’s not far from Lonric, is it, Rowan?”

  “No,” Rowan admitted, “but it doesn’t mean this ride doesn’t suck. I hate the cold.”

  “This isn’t that bad,” Treck said, grinning at Will.

  “Shut up, Treck,” Rowan snapped and Will and Treck burst into laughter. “Shut up the both of you. Will, you are a disgrace,” Rowan leaned off the side of his saddle, grabbing a handful of snow.

  “Don’t you dare!” Will warned. He reined Visra in just in time for the snowball to fly past his face, catching Treck squarely in the throat.

  “Oh, you are going down!” Treck kicked the grey’s sides, causing the horse to leap into the air, ahead of the group, while he leaned down to grab at the snow. Soon Treck and Rowan were cantering in circles, pelting one another with snowballs while Colin and Will roared with laughter.

  “Glad to see they’re so mature,” Sir Richard said, wryly, as they caught up with Will and Colin.

  “Gives you a lot of faith in the future Lord of Lonric, doesn’t it?” Colin asked the knight.

  Sir Richard chuckled, running his hand over his beard. “He is so unlike his father at times that it is astounding,” he shook his head.
“You, on the other hand, Colin, are the spitting image of your father.”

  Will watched Colin duck his head for a moment, a strange mixture of pain and pride on his face. Wanting to divert the subject for Colin’s sake, Will asked. “What is Earl Kenta like?”

  Richard blew out a long sigh. “Powerful, but in a quiet way. He’s not unreasonable but he’s not much of one to be pushed into his opinion,” his eyes drifted to the two Kings riding ahead and he lowered his voice. “I would not have personally invited King Giltor as he is the type of personality to clash with Kenta. He’s used to getting his way. Shadow Dale’s smaller castles need the kingdom or they’d fall into a civil war at any time. Giltor uses force to keep that from happening, whereas here,” he gestured to the open land of the path ahead and trees to either side, “our King lets the smaller castles run their lands as long as they are within the law. He is much more of the mindset of freewill than most Kings are.”