'I value ability above all else,' he said. 'Man or woman.'
She spread her hands in a small 'there you have it' gesture.
'Then value it in your daughter. She is an exceptional young woman. And she's not one to sit simpering by the fire while the menfolk do all the dangerous work. She's proved that already. She's already done more, seen more than most men will manage in their entire lives. The girl has a taste for adventure and you won't break her of it. Personally, when I see the character and courage of the person who will succeed you, I thank the good lord for it. You're a good King, your majesty. And she'll be a good Queen. But you have to give her the chance.'
King Duncan's shoulders slumped as he realised she was right. He allowed himself a tired grin in her direction., He spread his hands in a gesture of surrender and returned to the high-backed chair.
'What ever made me think you'd be on my side?' he asked her. Lady Pauline allowed herself a smile in return.
'We're re all on your side,' she replied. 'You were the only one out of step.' She paused, then urged him gently. 'Shall I call the others back in?'
He nodded. 'Why ask me? It's all of you who are making the decisions.'
The group filed back into the room, taking their former positions around the desk.
They cast curious glances at Lady Pauline, trying to gauge what had passed while they'd been waiting in the anteroom outside. But the diplomat was skilled in hiding her feelings and gave them no hint as to what had been decided.
Duncan sat, his elbows on the table, his head in his hands, while he marshalled his thoughts. When the usual shuffling and moving and settling into seats was done, he looked up at the group surrounding him.
'Very well,' he said at length, 'I've decided. Cassandra will carry out the negotiations with the Arridi.'
There was a quick intake of breath from his daughter, then she hurriedly rearranged her features, on the chance that he might change his mind. He glanced at her and nodded. Then he fixed his gaze straight in front of him again.
'Halt, you'll go with her as her chief adviser. Help her in the negotiations and protect her.'
'Yes, sir,' Halt said impassively.
'Will, you'll go too, of course,' the King said. 'You've kept her safe before. Do it again.'
'Yes, sir,' Will said, grinning broadly. He had assumed that he would accompany his mentor but one never knew. Then it got even better.
'Horace, just in case they can't manage it between them, you're going as Cassandra's personal bodyguard. Understand?'
'Yes, your majesty,' Horace said, and he and Will exchanged grins. Will mouthed the words 'like old times' and Horace nodded. Cassandra beamed at the two of them and moved a little closer to them. Off to one side, a frown touched Alyss's face.
'Right. Now, in addition to the three of you, I'll want to send a reasonable force as well. Say, twenty armed men from the Royal Guard.' The King paused as Halt raised a hand to interject. 'Yes?'
'Sir, we won't need them,' he began but the King interrupted him.
'This is not a matter of your ego, Halt. I'm not happy about sending my daughter on this mission in the first place and I do insist you need an adequate force to protect her. You three aren't enough in my estimation.'
'I agree, your majesty. But you're forgetting we'll have thirty fully armed Skandians with us as well. They're the best fighting men in the world.'
Horace couldn't help himself. He grunted in agreement, then hastily made a gesture of apology for interrupting. The King looked from Halt to Horace, then back to Halt again.
'You trust them?' he asked bluntly and Halt nodded.
'With my life, your majesty.'
Duncan fingered his chin thoughtfully. 'It's not your life I'm worried about.'
'I'd trust them with my life too, Dad,' Cassandra said firmly.
Halt added further reassurance.
"I'll have Svengal swear a helmsman's oath that he and his men will protect her. Once they've done that, you'd have to kill all thirty of them before you even got near Cassandra.'
Duncan drummed his fingers, considering. Eventually, he gave in. 'All right then. But I want to make sure.' He looked keenly around the room. 'Gilan, you'll go too.'
'Yes sir!' Gilan said eagerly. The prospect of a mission with Halt and Will was very appealing to him. But Crowley was frowning.
'That's highly unusual, your majesty,' he objected. 'You know the old saying: "one riot, one Ranger".'
The saying stemmed from a legendary event in the past. A minor fief had risen up against their cruel and avaricious lord, with hundreds of people surrounding his Manor house, threatening to burn it to the ground. The panicked nobleman's message for help was answered by the arrival of a single Ranger. Aghast, the nobleman confronted the solitary cowled figure.
'They sent one Ranger?' he said incredulously. 'One man?'
'How many riots do you have?' the Ranger replied.
On this occasion, however, Duncan was not inclined to be swayed by legend. 'I have a new saying,' he replied. 'One daughter, two Rangers.'
'Two and a half,' Will corrected him. The King couldn't help smiling at the eager young face before him.
'Don't sell yourself short,' he said. 'Two and three-quarters.'
Chapter 10
The following day, the three Rangers, accompanied by Horace and Svengal, were on the road, headed for Castle Araluen.
The others had watched with broad grins as Halt self-.consciously kissed his new wife goodbye. Lady Pauline took their separation philosophically. When she had accepted Halt's proposal, she had known that their life together would be interrupted by urgent missions and sudden departures. Still, she thought wryly, it might have been nice if this particular departure had been a little less sudden, a little less urgent.
Alyss had stood beside her, waving with her as the five mounted figures cantered down the winding road that led away from Castle Redmont. Pauline glanced sidelong at her protegee and couldn't resist the tiniest vestige of a smile at Alyss's set face.
'Why so glum?' she asked innocently. Alyss looked up at her, grimacing.
'He's going off with her again,' the young girl said. No need for Pauline to ask who she might mean. Alyss and Will had been seeing a lot of each other in the past year, she knew. They had become very close. Now it obviously bothered Alyss that Will was setting out on a mission with Cassandra once more. Alyss knew that the Ranger's apprentice and the Princess shared a special relationship. She just wasn't sure how special it might be.
'I've been trying to work out a reason for me to go along with them,' she added, a little disconsolately.
'To keep an eye on your investment?'
Alyss nodded. 'Exactly. I thought I could volunteer to go as a companion to her – and as a diplomatic adviser. I'm good at negotiations, you know.'
'That's true.' Pauline considered the idea. 'In fact, it might have been worth suggesting. I would have supported the idea. Why didn't you?'
Alyss looked away from her now, her eyes intent on the small group gradually dwindling from sight. At least, Pauline corrected, her eyes were intent on one member of the small group.
'Two reasons. I decided Will and Halt and the others didn't need the responsibility of another female to look after. If I were there, it would mean that much less protection for Cassandra. And she is the Crown Princess, after all.'
'And the other reason?' Pauline prompted her. Alyss grinned a little ruefully.
'I thought I might succumb to the temptation of hitting her over the head with an oar,' she said. 'Which would not have been a good career move.'
Pauline grinned in her turn. 'And she is the Crown Princess after all,' she parroted.
The riders had disappeared into the fringes of the forest. Pauline slipped her arm inside Alyss's and led her away from the battlements where they had been standing.