A Ranger From Adamnar

“That’s all the Ranger transfers,” Lord Cartyet said. “Now for the new Rangers. We have eight from Adamnar and four from Keslu, and…” he looked down at his scroll, “one from Casmin.”

“What’s Casmin stronghold sending us Rangers for?” Lord Herton asked. Casmin stronghold was on the northwest edge of the Southern Region, a full fifteen strongholds away.

“Drifter,” Lord Retak said and chuckled.

“That’s an awfully big drift,” Lord Chasimar said.

Lord Berol’s lords were assembled in his office for the posting of transfers and new Rangers. Lord Cartyet sat in a chair in front of his desk. Lord Chasimar paced the room, with her second in command, Lord Herton, crouched and leaning against a wall. Lord Retak sat in a chair opposite Lord Herton. Lord Waylan slept in the back of the room. Lord Berol required all his lords to be at this meeting but if Lord Waylan slept, that was his loss.

Lord Vistor leaned against a wall reading a scroll. He rarely got new Rangers, so after he got three of the transferring Rangers, he was done with the meeting and catching up on reports.

“I spoke with Lord Ejrin,” Lord Berol said. “There’s nothing bad on his record. He just wanted a change of scenery he says.”

“Ok, I’ll take him,” Lord Chasimar said. “What’s his name?”

“Ranger Scummer,” Lord Cartyet said.

Lord Chasimar stopped pacing and said with a glare “You’re not serious.” Both Lords Retak and Vistor tried to hide their laughter with coughs and quick hands over their mouths.

“Not running from anything, eh?” Lord Vistor asked.

Lord Chasimar ignored him. “Tell me he has another name,” she said to Lord Cartyet.

“Randy.”

Lord Berol started to laugh but quickly controlled it. Lord Chasimar glared at him. Even ever-serious Lord Cartyet was smiling. Lord Waylan did not wake up.

“All right, that’s quite enough,” Lord Cartyet said. “Keslu has four for us.” He looked down at the scroll again. “Nothing special. They all tested successfully on their first trial after about four or five years. Hmm, Gregory, you might be interested in this one.”

“What have you got?” Lord Retak asked.

“Ranger Ebinlow took all training rotations in fourth phase,” Lord Cartyet said. “Lord Garrity wrote he has a real gift for training.”

“Well,” Lord Retak said, looking over at the sleeping Lord Waylan, “If no one has any objections, I’ll take him.” Lord Waylan didn’t appear to have any. Lord Chasimar rolled her eyes. All the others from Keslu went to Lord Chasimar.

“That’s it for the Ranger transfers,” Lord Cartyet said. “We have eight new Rangers to post.” There was silence as all the lords waited for him to continue. “Nyle Lidin is first. Standard new Ranger. Nothing special to recommend him.”

“I’ll take him,” Lord Chasimar said. As she was in charge of seventy five percent of all Rangers in the stronghold, she got most everybody and always volunteered to take anyone who had nothing to recommend them. There was always room for one more Ranger on patrols.

Lord Cartyet went through Levon, Rose, and Nolan, assigning them to Lord Retak, Lord Chasimar and himself, respectively. He came next to Orman. “Orman is quite a good scout.”

“He’s got elven hearing,” Lord Herton said. He’d be very good on deep reconnaissance.”

“I think,” Lord Berol said, “that after a time on deep reconnaissance here, he should try a turn at the Garrison.”

“All right,” Lord Chasimar said. “I’ll assign him to Lord Jegeran.”

“Grace Carza requested to go to one of our outposts,” Lord Cartyet said. He turned his upper body to look at Lord Berol and said, “Lord Tumenick’s Outpost?” Lord Berol thought for a moment then nodded.

“Laren,” Lord Cartyet said. There was a moment’s pause.

“She would be a very good trainer, with some close supervision,” Lord Retak said. “She could really push the strong trainees to rise above themselves.”

“I believe she would also be good at operations,” Lord Chasimar said.

“I saw her Strategy elite rotation,” Lord Retak said. “She wasn’t that good.”

“Those two are different, though,” Lord Vistor said.

“Not only does her speed make her an obvious candidate for patrols, I think she would also work well in operations,” Lord Cartyet said.

“She did just spend three years as patrol leader,” Lord Berol said.

“I think she’s ready to start planning patrols,” Lord Chasimar said.

“I agree,” Lord Berol said. Laren was going to work for Lord Chasimar directly.

“That leaves Alana,” Lord Vistor said.

“I want Alana to come work for me,” Lord Retak said.

“You and everyone else here,” Lord Chasimar countered, working herself up for a fight.

“Alana would make an excellent trainer,” Lord Retak said.

“Her skills at fighting on the run are the best I’ve ever seen,” Lord Chasimar said. “In fact,” she continued looking at Lord Berol, “they’re the best you’ve seen in a trainee I’m sure.”

Lord Berol nodded silently.

Lord Cartyet said, “She was also an excellent attaché.”

“Don’t take offense,” Lord Retak said, “but it would be a real waste to have her as your attaché.”

“Actually, Greg,” Lord Berol said, “Aidan is referring to Lord Ejrin. After she heard about how Alana did for Lord Geron, she asked to have Alana posted to her.”

Lord Retak looked frustrated. “Why are we even talking about this, then?”

“Lord Ejrin told me the choice was mine to make,” Lord Berol said.

“She would do well wherever she was posted,” Lord Vistor said, “even with me, though I don’t think she would like that very much.” At Lord Chasimar’s grunt, he added, “Yes, I agree that’s preposterous.”

“She needs to be out patrolling,” Lord Chasimar said emphatically.

Lord Retak raised his voice, “You should have seen the effect she has on the other trainees. She really turned a lot of them around. Some might not have made it without her.”

“All the more reason,” Lord Chasimar countered, “to have her out on patrols and up to patrol leader as quickly as possible.”

Lord Retak said, “All the more reason, I think, to have her work with trainees now while it’s all still fresh.”

“She’s capable of so much more,” Lord Chasimar said. “She really needs…”

“I want her to work for me,” Lord Waylan said from the back of the room.

Everyone turned to look at him. There was a long silence. He didn’t say anything else. He just sat back in his chair and looked at Lord Berol.

“Well,” Lord Berol said, “That settles it. Alana works for Lord Waylan.”

Lord Chasimar’s jaw dropped. “That’s it?”

“Yes, Maralene, that’s it,” Lord Berol said.

Truly angry now, she turned to look at Lord Waylan, who stared impassively back at her. Having no target there for her ire, she turned back to Lord Berol and said sternly, “This is a serious waste of her talent. Are we done here then?” She did not wait for Lord Berol’s answer before leaving. Lord Herton got up from where he was crouched and followed her out.

“You could have been a little nicer Lord Waylan,” Lord Cartyet said.

“She’ll get over it,” Lord Waylan said, “or maybe she won’t. Whatever, I don’t care.”

At dinner that evening Waylan walked by Alana’s table. “Alana, you work for me now. Meet me at my number two ring at sunup.” He walked out of the dining hall without another word.

“I’m so sorry Alana,” Grace said. “He’s such a hard person to get along with.”

“If anyone can get along with him, it’ll be her,” Tulan added, and then asked, “Laren where are you going?”

“I’m working with Lord Chasimar. She wants me to shadow her,” Laren said.

“I thought you hated being an attaché,” Tulan said.

“I do,” Laren said. “I’m not going to do that. She’s going to show me how to set up, manage and lead patrols.”

“Wow,” Grace said. “That’s really good news. You’re going to start leading patrols right after becoming a Ranger.”

“I’ve been leading patrols for three years,” Laren countered. “That’s no more than any other Ranger has to do before leading.”

“And some less,” Tulan said, then quickly added, “I’m sorry Laren, I didn’t mean it that way.”

“Forget it,” Laren said. She looked at Alana and frowned. Alana was staring down at her food. “Hey, runt, it’s not a big deal.”

Alana looked up startled, and said, “No it’s not that. I don’t mind him. He’s mean but means well. It’s just that I never would have guessed I’d end up working for him. I just thought…” She didn’t finish her thought.

“You just thought,” Tulan finished for her, “that you’d end up somewhere spectacular working for some great High Ranger Lord.” He could tell from Alana’s blush that he’d hit the mark.

Alana wanted to make a good impression, so she arrived at the ring before sunup. When Waylan arrived she said, “Good morning Lord Waylan.”

“Don’t do that,” He replied as he stepped into the ring.

“What?” she asked.

“Don’t call me Lord Waylan. Just call me Waylan. If you call me Lord Waylan when we’re alone, you’ll accidentally call me that when students are around.

“I don’t understand,” she said.

“Would you have fought me so hard if you knew I was a fifth order Ranger Lord?” Waylan asked.

“I…”

“I didn’t think so,” Waylan cut her off. “Titles just get in the way. Now stretch and we’ll warm up.” Waylan’s idea of a warm up was Alana’s idea of a full day’s workout. Before the first group of Rangers showed up she was already wearing down. They were young Rangers, seven of them, and they were all eager to spar with Alana. Other than breaks for the four meals, Waylan worked hard all day and well into the night.

Alana was worn out about a third of the way through. After lunch she had a hard time keeping up. Waylan told her just to stand on the side of the ring for the rest of the day and watch. Waylan saw no less than a hundred students, most of whom were Rangers.

“I thought you just trained trainees,” Alana said.

“No, mostly I teach Rangers. There just aren’t that many trainees ready for real training,” Waylan said. “It just seemed that way to you when you were a trainee because four hours is about all a trainee can handle with me.”

It seemed like just about everyone was eager to spar with Alana, except most of the trainees and some of the new Rangers. It took a few weeks for Alana to catch up.

“You should be honored,” Lord Chasimar said. “Lord Waylan doesn’t usually take on apprentices.” Alana was in Lord Vistor’s office getting a list of Rangers who would be training with Waylan for the next month. Lord Chasimar was there to argue about reconnaissance patrol supplies. “He must really see something in you.”

“Apprentice?” Alana asked. “He doesn’t teach me anything.” Alana looked weary and a little crestfallen. Lord Chasimar furrowed her brow thoughtfully but said nothing of it.

“All of his apprentices,” Lord Chasimar continued, “have gone on to be great warriors. Lord Lof Vonas was one of his apprentices, as was Lord Geron.”

Alana was surprised. “How long has he been teaching?”

“I don’t know,” Lord Chasimar said. “I think only he knows. If he does tell you, I’d really like to know.” Alana got another faraway look. Lord Chasimar saw that and said, “Don’t worry Alana, he won’t monopolize your time forever if you don’t want it. Every Lord in this stronghold and several more outside it want you to work for them. Your options are many. All you have to do is…”

“Whatever Lord Waylan wants,” Lord Vistor said. Alana could hear the disdain in his voice.

After month of trying to keep up with Waylan, Alana was convinced the only thing keeping her out of the infirmary was Ben’s nightly massages. For many nights it was all she could do to crawl into bed. She still made a habit of getting up early and usually got to Waylan’s practice ring before he did. “Good morning Waylan,” Alana said and bowed her head slightly. She was cleaning the ring but stood up straight when he arrived.

“Knock it off,” Waylan said. “Stop treating me like a High Baron. You know we’d get along a lot better if you would just treat me like a normal person. You’re so wrapped up in titles and,” he added with raised eyebrows and a sneer, “proper places.”

“A normal person wouldn’t be such an ass,” Alana said in bitter frustration.

“Yeah, well, I’m always going to be an ass, so get over it,” Waylan said. “When you’re the best at something you can be an ass too.”

“Not likely,” Alana murmured.

“You will be someone great some day,” Waylan said.

“I meant the ass part,” Alana said.

“Well, you might just loosen up yet,” Waylan said and smiled for the first time Alana had ever seen. “Now it’s time for our next student.

“Student?” Alana asked. “Just one?

“Good morning Waylan,” Lord Berol said. “Good morning Alana.”

Alana’s eyes went wide. “Good morning Lord Berol.”

Lord Berol was armed with a long sword and a short sword, as was Waylan. Both Ranger lords got out their weapons and squared off without another word. Alana stood to the side and watched.

They sparred together for a long time before either got the upper hand. When it happened, it was Waylan who knocked Lord Berol to the ground. They stopped fighting immediately and Waylan reached down to help Lord Berol up. This went on for several rounds of sparring. Lord Berol was the best Ranger fighter Alana had seen since the Silver Arrow, except for Waylan. Once or twice it looked like Lord Berol might have gotten an upper hand, but Waylan was always quick to recover.

When they finally stopped after an hour of this, Alana couldn’t help but say, “Lord Berol you are a really good fighter.”

“Thank you, Alana,” he replied. “I hear you’re not so bad yourself.”

“Yeah, her only weakness is she only fights well when she’s angry,” Waylan said while inspecting the edge of his blade. “She can fight with the speed of a Novadi Warrior if you can just get her blood boiling.”

“I always did well in your class,” Alana said, a little hurt.

“Against trainees,” Waylan corrected her. “There’s no excuse for fighting that badly anymore.” He turned to face Lord Berol and asked, “Van, can you spar with her? She always loses her temper with me.” Alana glared at him.

“I can’t imagine why,” Lord Berol said. Alana and Lord Berol squared off. His long sword, short sword and greater size all outmatched her weapons and size. She held her long sword and short sword out in front of her. Lord Berol circled. He struck at her with such speed and force that she was knocked off her feet with one blow. Her long sword went spinning through the air to land a good ten feet away. Lord Berol reached down to help her up. Alana took the hand and then walked to go pick up her sword.

The fact that she saw the second attack coming was little consolation as she picked herself up off the ground.

“She’s also really hung up on titles,” Waylan interjected.

Lord Berol raised an eyebrow, “Is this true?” he asked Alana. “Are you not fighting me because this is my stronghold?”

“No, Lord Berol,” she said.

“There’s a difference between treating someone with respect in daily life,” Lord Berol said to her as he prepared himself for the next round, “and being cowed or awed by them in battle. When we’re sparring, you’d do well to take Waylan’s advice and treat me like you would a fellow Ranger. You can respect someone’s abilities without letting them get the better of you.”

Alana didn’t answer. She just held her weapons at the ready. For the third attack, as Lord Berol came at her, she attacked him back. Time slowed. She tried her best to parry his downward swinging long sword but couldn’t stop the force. She chose instead to cartwheel in the air using the force of the blow to propel her. Once Lord Berol was extended, she brought her short sword hilt down to his exposed neck. He attempted to move out of the way, but since his short sword was protecting his mid section and his momentum carried him past her, he was defeated.

Alana landed on her feet on the ground behind him. He turned quickly to make sure no new attack as coming. When he saw that she was back to defending he said, “That was amazing. You do fight with the speed of the Novadi. I’d heard it and now I’ve seen it, and had it used against me as well.”

“Thank you Lord Berol,” Alana said, relaxing slightly.

“I thought you said she always attacked a person’s midsection,” Lord Berol said to Waylan.

“Alana,” Waylan asked, “Why did you attack his neck?”

“That’s where his strike sent me. I just got lucky it was open.”

“No, it was slightly more than luck,” Lord Berol corrected her. “I was prepared for a certain attack and I made a serious mistake not allowing for the possibility that you might have another, or,” he continued, “in this case might have to use another. Let’s go again.”

Alana noticed that Lord Berol looked much more eager to fight her now. He didn’t attack so hastily again. They sparred for about a half hour before Alana couldn’t lift her sword anymore. Waylan and Lord Berol sparred for another hour and then it was time for lunch break. Alana noticed he also fought Waylan with more enthusiasm after his sparring with her.

“Alana, I’ve learned a very valuable lesson today.” Lord Berol said. “I thank you for that.” He nodded his head slightly. Alana bowed her head. He turned and left.

After he was gone, Alana asked Waylan, “What did he mean?”

“You’re the first one from Adamnar to beat him in sparring, other than me,” Waylan said. “I think he’s getting fat and lazy and I think you put a spark into him. Just as well,” Waylan continued as he finished cleaning his swords and began folding his cloth. “It’s about time he got his bored butt out of this stronghold and onto some real challenge.”

Usually Alana took the afternoon off right after lunch to rest up for the late afternoon classes. Today Waylan asked her to get lunch after the early afternoon class.

“What makes a Ranger a fighter?” Waylan asked her. He was kicking the rocks out of ring four. They worked the entire ring, back and forth, smoothing out the ground and searching for developing holes.

“The conviction to put her sword behind her cause,” Alana answered as she knelt down to check a large divot, about the size necessary to twist an ankle.

“What makes a fighter a Ranger?” Waylan asked as he picked up a small rock and hurled out of the ring, over the west wall.

“Fighters are Rangers when they care more about something other than themselves,” she answered. “More about everything, really.”

“So that takes care of Laren,” Waylan said, “but what about Cadius? Why isn’t he a Ranger?”

“He’s still trying to beat people into submission,” Alana said. “He thinks he can prove his worth by pulverizing trainees.”

“But what about me?” Waylan asked as they finished clearing the ring. “He can’t beat me. He’s seen defeat and learned from it.”

“He’s discounted you,” Alan said, and blushed slightly, thinking she’d gone too far.

“You’re right,” Waylan said. They walked back towards the gate as the first of the afternoon’s students began to approach. “So I need your help with him. I need you to do for him what you did for Laren.”

Alana didn’t know what to say. “Uh, yes Waylan,” she said finally. Every trainee that came into the ring gave her a long look. A few looked eager, but most just looked worried. Cadius looked strangely preoccupied.

“Ladder drills,” Waylan shouted. The trainees groaned. He turned to Alana and said quietly, “Right after Cadius goes by the head, get on the end of the stop side.”

“Yes Waylan,” she answered. Cadius would fight Alana after going through the entire line of seven other fighters.

Alana’s mind raced as she tried to think of how she could get through to Cadius. He had always been better than her at swordplay, he wasn’t going to take it well when she bested him. But she knew her friend well, he was a hard-headed as she was—maybe even more so. She would have to wear him down before he would listen. That would mean fighting him continuously, possibly for hours. How she going to do that? The answer came to her on a soft breeze from the west. The forest held the key. As a Ranger she could draw strength from it to keep her going.

“Switch,” Waylan shouted. Cadius moved off the head of the line back down to the end. Alana tapped the stable side head trainee and he stepped out. He was visibly grateful to not have to fight her. She hit very hard. The trainee facing her now looked a little sick.

“Begin,” Waylan said. He walked down the line. Alana’s sparring partner just stood there and the clash of wood on wood rang out again. Alana knocked his sword out of his hand, back handed him in the jaw, kicked him in the chest and knocked him to the ground. She held out her hand to help him up.

“Stop wasting my time Kared,” Waylan shouted back up the line at him.

“Yes Waylan,” Kared answered. He raised his sword again and stood waiting for Alana’s attack. Alana furrowed her brow. After another blink of an eye Kared was taking Alana’s helping hand again to get up off the ground.

“Switch,” Waylan said. Alana fought each trainee in line. She did her best to pound each one to the ground as quickly and as often as she could. They were not having a good day. The trainees on her side started taking it easy on the other side. All except the one fighting Cadius. Cadius was also pounding his opponent into the ground.

Alana overheard one of the trainees whisper to the girl standing next to him, “I knew Waylan was an ass, but I never knew Alana was an ass too.”

“She’s just showing off,” the other trainee replied.

Ten rounds later and Alana was facing Cadius.

“Be…,” Waylan began. Cadius barely got his guard up in time to meet Alana’s attack. She hit him as fast and as hard as she could with every ounce of her strength and the express intent of flattening him. She was not disappointed. The crack of her boots on his chest caused several of the other trainees to stop sparring. One was knocked hard in the head for his inattentiveness.

Alana walked over to him and held out her hand. He got up without taking it.

“Cheap shot,” Cadius mumbled. Alana stared at him impassively and stepped quickly back into line.

When Waylan again shouted to begin, Cadius met her attack a third of the way toward her. Alana knocked his sword out of hands and kicked him in the chest with such force his head whiplashed. He saw stars. He scrambled to get up from the ground and attacked Alana without waiting for Waylan’s signal. Alana spun in midair. His sword glanced off of her sword on her first spin. Her sword glanced off of his head on the second spin. She landed behind him and kicked out the backs of his legs, being careful only to make sure nothing broke, but quickly sending Cadius hard on to his face. Alana walked around in front of him and offered him a hand again.

Cadius saw stars again and his nose was bleeding. The wind had been knocked out of him in the last attack and he tried to fight through it. Now he was having trouble getting up.

He got up to his knees and wavered a little. He didn’t know where his sword was. Alana was standing right in front of him. He lunged to take her out at the knees. She jumped up to avoid his grip and came down on the back of his neck with the hilt of her sword, knocking him to the ground again.

She walked around in front of him again and held out her hand. He looked up, then his head lolled and his eyes half closed. He reached up and knocked her hand away. He slowly got up and looked around for his sword. As he walked towards it he noticed all the other trainees had stopped fighting. They were standing on the side of the ring, as was Waylan.

Cadius picked up his sword and turned to face Alana. She had never seen him look this way. She knew that if he were wielding steel right now he would try to kill her. She set her jaw, furrowed her brow, lowered her head slightly and knocked him down again.

Cadius didn’t even know how she crossed the distance between them. He hadn’t even seen her attack. She was just too fast. He ignored her hand again and got himself up.

For the next hour she didn’t knock him down again. She defended against him and prevented him from hitting her. She retreated around the ring. He continued to advance. He swung and he pounded. She parried and dodged and retreated. Fifty Rangers had come to the ring to watch the fight.

Cadius’s strength was gone and Alana looked like she wasn’t even fighting. He couldn’t imagine where she got the energy. For the few times he was able to hit her, he was certain he should have knocked her down, but she never faltered and never wavered.

After another half hour, Cadius couldn’t get up again. Alana stood over him with her hand outstretched. She saw that he was finished. She reached down, grabbed his forearm, slung it over her neck, and started to hoist him up.

“I…I’ll…never…take…your…help,” Cadius panted through his exhaustion.

“That’s why you’re not a Ranger, you big ox,” Alana said.

Cadius glared at her as she helped him up. He was twice her size and still she hefted him easily, then walked him over to a bench and sat him down. He was bruised everywhere and had a cracked rib. Alana healed him despite his continued attempts to push her hands away.

After she finished healing him, Alana crouched in front of Cadius and said. “Fighters are Rangers because they care,”

Cadius sat panting on the bench and looked at her like he’d never seen her before. Finally he shook his head, chuckled and said “I’m sorry I’m so pigheaded.”

“Well maybe there’s hope for you yet,” Alana said, grinning.

“Ranger Alana, take a walk with me.” Alana jumped at the sound of Lord Berol’s voice. She was certain he hadn’t been there a moment ago. He turned from the side of the ring and began walking towards the outer wall. Alana vaulted the ring fence and hurried to catch up to his quick strides.

Once they were well out of earshot of the crowd by the ring, Lord Berol turned to Alana and said, “Ranger you must be more careful.”

Alana looked at him blankly. “With my fighting, Lord Berol?”

“No, with your power.” He replied. “Where do you think you got the power for that great stamina you just displayed fighting that trainee?”

She didn’t have to think, she knew. “From the forest, my lord.”

“Yes,” he replied. “Except most Rangers can’t draw power from the forest at that intensity. But that’s not the problem. You were not hurting the forest and I understand that you have been in contact with the Heart so I’m sure there was no involuntary transfer. The problem is…” He began to pace as he spoke. “The problem is there are those who can feel the power. They can feel the rush of energy into you from your surroundings. With you it’s the strongest I’ve ever felt. Not all the people and creatures who can feel it are friendly.”

“I’m sorry, Lord Berol,” Alana said and looked down. “I’ve never thought about it before. I never thought anyone else would feel it.”

Lord Berol stopped pacing and turned to face her again. “Alana, I can’t teach you how to control this power. I can feel its presence and movement, much the same as a Novadi can, but I can’t control it. And quite frankly, your level of power is so far beyond mine that I don’t think I’m qualified to even describe it.” He got a strangely distracted expression that quickly disappeared.

“But what if I’m in combat and need to use it?” Alana said.

“Alana be reasonable,” Lord Berol retorted and furrowed his brow. “Surely you can see the difference between combat and training.”

“Yes Lord Berol.”

“Now get back to the ring,” he said. “I am going to try to find someone who can help you with this.”

“Yes Lord Berol.” Alana said. She bowed slightly, turned and jogged back to Waylan’s ring. It was still surrounded by no less than fifty Rangers talking animatedly about her sparring.

Later that night, as Alana was leaving the ring on her way to meet Ben, she heard Lord Berol’s voice raised in anger. Curious because she had never heard him yell before, she stopped to see if she could hear what he was saying.

“What the hell were you thinking?” Lord Berol demanded, “I know you felt it.”

To her surprise, Alana heard Waylan murmur something in response.

“She’s supposed to be in hiding,” Lord Berol retorted. “We’re supposed to be protecting her. What good will any of this do if she’s dead?”

Alana realized with dismay that they were talking about her. Once again she couldn’t hear Waylan’s reply, but whatever it was it enraged Lord Berol.

“I don’t give a damn what you think! There’s more to this than you and your needs and you know it. What am I supposed to say to Master Iliard if something happens to her? That Waylan was trying to teach a trainee a lesson? If you can’t look after the well-being of your apprentice, then you don’t deserve one.”

Alana was so engrossed in the argument that she nearly jumped out of her boots when she heard Ben say, “Hey, what’s going on? I thought you were going to meet me.” He turned his head to listen for a moment and then asked, “What’s Lord Berol yelling about?”

Feeling a little guilty for eavesdropping, she answered quietly, “I don’t know. Let’s get out of here.”

“Sure,” he replied as he took her hand. He looked at her face and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Alana answered with a shake of her head. “Let’s go.” She looked up at him and said, “Weren’t you going to show me that spot by the lake?”

Ben grinned and kissed her. “Yes I was. I think you’ll like it.”

Alana smiled and put her arms around his neck. “I’m sure I will,” she replied softly.