Ranger's Apprentice 12: The Royal Ranger Read Online Free PDF Page A

considered for the job, although he was younger than Gilan. But while he and Halt were highly respected, even revered, as individuals, it was widely recognised that they preferred to act independently and had a penchant for bending the rules when they saw fit. Gilan, on the other hand, was more disciplined and organised, and more suited to the task of commanding and controlling an elite and disparate group like the fifty Rangers of Araluen.
    ‘Do you suppose he’s going to ask you to go on another mission?’ Pauline asked, after they had ridden for a few minutes in silence. From time to time, even though he was retired, Halt agreed to undertake missions for Gilan.
    Halt considered the question now, but shook his head.
    ‘He would have said so in his letter,’ he replied. ‘He wouldn’t ask me to come all this way if there was a chance that I’d say no. Besides, if he wanted me to go on a mission, why would he ask you to come to Castle Araluen? I get the feeling it’s something personal.’
    ‘You don’t suppose Jenny’s finally agreed to marry him?’ Pauline said with a smile. It had been another surprise in the past few years when Jenny had decided that she had no wish to uproot herself and her thriving restaurant business from Redmont and follow Gilan to Castle Araluen. She loved him, they all knew. But she wanted to retain her individuality and her career.
    ‘We’ll do it one day,’ Jenny had told Gilan. ‘But at the moment you’re either completely tied up with Ranger business or away on a mission somewhere. I’ve no wish to be the Commandant’s wife.’
    Gilan had been a little stung by her frank words. ‘What if I meet someone else?’ he had said, somewhat archly.
    Jenny had shrugged. ‘Then you’re free to do as you please. But you won’t meet anyone as good as me.’
    She had been right. So they maintained their long-distance relationship, with Gilan taking any opportunity he could find to visit Redmont Fief and spend time with her. Each time they saw each other, he renewed his offer of marriage. And she renewed her postponement.
    ‘I don’t think so,’ Halt replied now to Pauline’s question. ‘You know Jenny. If she’d decided to marry him, she would have been bubbling over with excitement.’
    ‘True,’ Pauline agreed. She sighed quietly. ‘D’you think we set them all a bad example, waiting as long as we did?’
    ‘I don’t think it was a bad example,’ Halt told her. ‘Besides, the waiting kept you keen.’
    She twisted in her saddle to look at him. It was a long, hard look, and Halt realised that he would pay for that sally. Perhaps not today, or tomorrow. But one day – probably when he least expected it. Still, it would be worth it. He rarely scored a point in verbal battles with his wife. She had a lifetime of practice in the Diplomatic Service.
    They were close to the drawbridge now. It was lowered, as was the custom during daylight hours. Two sentries stood guard at the outer end. They came to attention and saluted the pair of riders. There was no need for Halt and Pauline to identify themselves. Their arrival was expected and they were widely recognised throughout the Kingdom, and particularly here in the capital.
    ‘Ranger Halt, Lady Pauline,’ said the more senior of the two. ‘Welcome to Castle Araluen.’
    He gestured to them to ride past, stepping aside to accentuate the invitation.
    Halt nodded to the two men.
    Pauline favoured the senior sentry with a beaming smile.
    ‘Thank you, Corporal.’ She leaned forward, looking more closely at the other man. ‘And is that you, Malcolm Landers? I recall you helped me with my horse last time I visited Araluen.’
    The man’s homely face broke into a delighted smile. ‘True enough, my lady. He cast a shoe, as I remember.’
    Halt shook his head slightly. His wife’s ability to remember names and faces, even those of ordinary soldiers and men at arms, was a source of wonder to him. More of that diplomat training,