“All right. Alternate between the two and we’ll see how fast you are,” he told her. “But remember, fast is no good if you aren’t accurate. If you’ve got a big, nasty Iberian pirate coming at you with a cutlass, it’s no good missing him five times in rapid succession. Better to hit him once, slowly.”
She smiled at him. “Point taken.” She set her feet, reached into the ammunition pouch and loaded a shot into the sling. Once again, she let it swing slowly back and forth for a few seconds.
“Begin!” Halt called. Gilan’s lips moved as he began silently counting off the seconds.
She let fly with the shot and, before it struck the target, she was loading another into the sling. This time, she didn’t bother with those short preliminary swings but brought her arm up and over almost immediately. As she released, they heard the CLANG of her first shot hitting home. Then she was reloading and snapping her arm up and over once more, aiming at the first target again.
CLANG! CLANG!… CLANG! CLANG!
“Stop shooting!” Halt called as Gilan threw up his hand. She had managed to get six shots away in the minute he had counted to himself, although the fourth projectile had missed its target.
“Five out of six,” he commented thoughtfully. “Not bad at all.”
Maddie turned and confronted the two Rangers, her feet set apart, her hands on her hips.
“Care to tell me what this is all about?” she challenged, looking from one to the other. As Halt opened his mouth to reply, she waved a hand to stop him.
“And don’t tell me some fairy story about Gilan assessing the sling as a new weapon. If you were merely interested in the sling, why would you care how fast I can shoot?”
Gilan and Halt exchanged a quick look. It wasn’t wasted on Maddie. But neither said anything.
“It’s pretty obvious that you’re testing me, not the weapon. The question is, why?”
“Maybe that’s something your parents should discuss with you,” Halt said finally.
Maddie sighed deeply. “Mum and Dad? All they’re interested in is keeping me cooped up. You know I’m confined to quarters for another week, don’t you?”
A smile touched the corners of Halt’s mouth. “I’d heard some rumour to that effect. And of course, there’s no good reason why they’ve done that, is there?”
Maddie rolled her eyes and sighed resignedly. “Oh, all right. Maybe I did sneak out and go hunting once or twice…”
Halt raised an eyebrow and she amended the statement.
“Five or six times then. And maybe I was just a little cheeky when they talked to me about it.”
The eyebrow, which had just returned to its normal position, went up again.
“All right, maybe I was a little more than that,” she admitted.
“They’re only doing what they think is best for you, Maddie,” Halt told her gently. She dropped her eyes and scuffed her boot in the sand of the practice yard.
“I kno-ow,” she said unhappily. “But do they have to treat me like a precious princess all the time?”
“Well, you are a princess—and you are precious to them,” Halt said. “And to all of us, as a matter of fact.”
He liked Maddie. Over the years, they had formed a close bond. Gilan was aware of this. That’s why he had decided to stay out of this discussion and leave it to Halt.
In spite of herself, Maddie smiled faintly. “You always manage to tie me up in knots.”
Halt took her hand. “All I’m saying is that they care about you. They don’t mean to be so over-protective, but it’s hard for them to let go of the reins. They know it too. But believe me, they are trying, and they’ve had an idea.”
“Which you won’t tell me about?”
“No. It’s not up to me to do that. You should hear it from them.”
Maddie took a deep breath. “Then let’s go back to the keep and they can tell me,” she said. “Assuming I passed whatever test you just set me?”
Halt looked at Gilan. “I think she passed, don’t you?”
Gilan smiled at the young princess. “Oh yes. I think so.”
Nine
Maddie stood, nervously facing Cassandra and Horace. Halt and Gilan had left her when they reached the door to the royal apartment.
“This is between you and your parents,” Halt told her. “We’ll talk to you afterwards.”
Now she stood in silence, waiting for them to say something. Usually, she reflected gloomily, they were all too ready to talk—listing her long array of crimes. But now they seemed reluctant to begin. An uncertain look passed between them, as if each one was waiting for the other to start. The tension was getting too much for her to bear. She decided to take the bull by the horns. If it was going to be bad news—and she assumed it was—best to get it over with as quickly as possible.
“Halt said you had something to tell me,” she said.
There was another of those quick glances between them, then her father cleared his throat.
“Ah… ah-hum… well, your mother and I want to talk to you. About your future.”
Maddie’s heart sank into her boots. If it was going to be an official talk about her future, she knew what it would entail. More restrictions. More rules. Less freedom. There would be long dissertations about her duty as the second in line to the throne after her mother. There would be instructions as to what she could and couldn’t do. And there would be more of the latter than the former—by far. Her future was not a subject she wanted to discuss with her parents. But it was obvious she had no choice. She waited and now Cassandra spoke.
“Maddie, we can’t have you running wild, doing as you choose and taking risks the way you have been doing.” Maddie’s mouth set in a thin line. She realised that she’d finally pushed her parents too far and now they wouldn’t back off. It was too late to make the sort of abject—and totally false—apology that had got her out of trouble in the past. She’d gone to that well too often, and now their patience was at an end.
“You need order and discipline in your life. You need a sense of purpose.” That was her father.
Her shoulders dropped in despair. Order, discipline and purpose, she thought. Could it get any worse than this?
She thought frantically. Was there nothing she could do to stave this off? Was there no subterfuge she could attempt? She had to try.
“Mum, Dad, I know I’ve been behaving terribly and I can see how I’ve upset you. But I—”
Her mother stopped her with an impatient gesture.
“It’s too late for that, Maddie. We’ve given you one chance after another and you’ve continued to do as you please and flout our authority. Well, our patience is finally at an end. Our minds are made up.”
And that was that, Maddie thought. She knew her mother well enough to know that Cassandra had a will of iron and would not be deterred from a path once she had chosen it. Maddie took a deep breath and waited for the worst.
“We’ve decided,” Horace said, “to send you to Will as an apprentice.”
Maddie’s heart leapt. She kept her eyes cast down, not wanting them to see the sudden light of pleasure that she knew would be all too obvious. Waiting a few seconds until she had herself under control, she looked up at them, suddenly fearful that she had mistaken what Horace had said.
“Will?” she said tentatively. “You mean Uncle Will?”
Will was her godfather. He’d been her sponsor at her naming day and had sworn to act in place of her parents if ever that became necessary. She loved Will. When she was a child, she had often visited him at Redmont Fief, staying in his warm little cabin and going on hunting and camping trips into the forest with him. Will was fun. Will had a mischievous sense of humour that matched her own.