"So what's going on?" Will asked, "Is it about the war?" Halt thought a moment. It was sort of related to the war, but not directly.
"Not exactly." Halt said, "I was thinking about it, and-"
"Always a dangerous pass time." Will broke in, grinning from ear to ear. He had said exactly what Halt usually did when Will told him he was thinking about something. Halt smiled against himself, then returned to his usual stoic mood.
"I figured you should be around someone closer to your own age more often. You may be a ranger apprentice, but you're still a boy. You should have a friend, provided they're trust worthy." Halt paused, unsure of how to word the next part. Will was confused as to why Halt seemed to be having trouble getting his words straight. Halt never did that. He always spoke in a straightforward manner, but it seemed that he was now beating around the brush so to speak. "I'm going to take in a second apprentice." Halt said, slowly. A look of confusion fleeted Will's face, but it was quickly replaced with a slowly widening grin.
"That's what you were sweating about?" Will said, laughing lightly. "The mighty Halt, worrying about telling his apprentice that he's going to take on another one?" When Halt though about it, it was somewhat ridiculous, but then again, he hadn't told a key detail yet.
"I just didn't know how you would take to the idea." Halt said, "I didn't want to upset you."
"Why would you think that would upset me?" Will asked, genuinely curious, "More than that, when did you start caring?"
Halt glanced towards his feet, "I don't know..." Next thing Halt knew Will was gone.
He glanced around, clearly alarmed. "Will?" He said, "Will, where are you? I'm sorry!" He was audibly more anxious the second time. Will dropped down from his position in a tree directly above Halt. He smirked at the relieved look on Halt's face.
Halt realized he had been tricked into showing just how nervous he had been about this whole deal. Will knew better than to tease Halt about it. Halt would undoubtedly deny it, but he had gotten quite attached to Will, and one of his top priorities was Will's well being.
"So who is he? This new apprentice?" Will asked, changing the subject. Halt hesitated.
"Her name is Ryvira." Will laughed.
"See! I told Gilan you had a sense of humor!" He exclaimed. His laughing died down after a moment when Halt didn't speak. "Wait, you're not kidding, are you?" He drew out. Halt remained silent. Will wanted to list out all the reasons why they should not have girl rangers and convince Halt not to take her, but he restrained himself, and forced himself to think more logically. Will had hidden it for Halt's sake, knowing he was worried about his reaction, but Will wasn't too keen on having another apprentice around. He didn't want to have to share Halt with someone else. He knew it would be this way with anyone, even if it had been Horace, and the new apprentice being a girl only worsened the matter. He subconsciously gauged Halt's feeling about this, thinking about how Halt had seemed to be a little more bright these past few days. Will thought he must have been planning it, talking to the king about it. From what Will could gather, Halt himself was fond of the idea.
He was looking forward to it.
Will thought for a moment, wording his response.
"Well," He said slowly, "it can't be too bad, can it?" Halt could hear the hesitation in Will's voice, but by all appearances Will wasn't against the idea. Will on the other hand, was trying to base his response on his mentor's facial expressions. Halt was always quite stoic, but in the months Will had been with him, he had learned how to distinguish subtle tell tale signs in Halt's body language. The last thing wanted to do was upset Halt. Halt rarely ever seemed pleased with anything, including Will, and Will sure didn't want to ruin his mood. The thought of making their party of two into three however, that disturbed him. He dared not show it though, Halt seemed to be set on the idea.
Will had been expecting something of the sort, having over heard enough pieces of conversations to put together that Halt had been considering it. Still, it hadn't seemed real until now.
"I'm sure we'd all get used to it..." Will said, trailing off toward the end.
"Well, since you don't seem to be opposed to the idea," Halt said, back to his usual self, "You get to help me train her. I've never trained a girl before and-" Halt hesitated.
"You want me to make sure you're not too hard on her." Will nodded.
"Something like that." Halt said, "We go tomorrow. Be ready early."
"You want me to go with you?" Will asked.
Halt nodded sternly, "I want you presented to her as a authoritative figure. In case of my absence, you're to be in charge."
Will had mixed feelings about that. The idea of having to depend on his own skills while exciting and intriguing, was also quite frightening. He was however, happy that Halt thought him good enough to be able to help him teach.
"Yes Halt." Will nodded.
"Remember how I acted when you first came?" Halt asked. Will nodded but then stopped, "I knew you did that on purpose!"
"Yes, I did." Halt said, "I wanted to put you in your place, and it worked. Now you get to be on the fun side of it."
"You want me to act like that?" Will asked.
"I want to make sure she knows you know what you're doing." Halt said.
"Do I?" Will said, hesitantly.
"Yes, Will, you do." Halt said. "You've got all the basics down. You're starting to get into the more advanced techniques." Will smiled slightly, and he stared off into the distance for a moment. He frowned.
"Halt?" Will asked. Halt raised an eyebrow, signalling for him to continue. "What's her horse's name?" Will asked.
"Marie." Halt answered, "Code word is runner. Which reminds me, you're going to take her to the Young Bob's."
"Where will you be?" Will asked.
"Gilan's" Halt answered, "I just want to give you a little status boost."
"Why is it so important that she know I have more training?" Will asked, "I mean, I've only had a few more months..."
"I'm going to honest with you." Halt said, looking to his apprentice. "You've learned more in seven months than most learn in a year." Halt said, "But don't get your ego up. You're still less than a fifth as good as a ranger." Will thought about that a moment.
"Well, I have had the best teacher." He shrugged, "Want some coffee? I made some earlier. It should still be warm."
"No, we need to get to bed." Halt said, putting emphasis on 'we.'
"Alright..." Will sighed. He had been hoping for another cup.