“No. To you they are Baron Arald and Lady Sandra. And you’d better get used to it,” he said.
Maddie cocked her head at him, a puzzled smile on her face.
“Uncle Will, I’ve always called them Arald and Sandra. You probably don’t understand that. But as princess, I outrank them.”
Will took a deep breath. He looked briefly at the servant girl and saw the tension in her posture. He let the breath out and then said in a reasonable tone: “Maddie, dismount, would you, and step this way?” He indicated that he wanted her to join him on the verandah of the cabin. She nodded and dismounted smoothly, passing her bridle to the servant girl.
“Hold on to Sundancer for me, would you, Rose-Jean?” she said. Then she walked across the small clearing and stepped up onto the verandah. Will took her elbow and led her a few paces further away.
“I must say, Uncle Will, you are behaving quite strangely. I’ve never seen you this way,” Maddie said.
When they were out of the servant’s earshot, Will said quietly, “Maddie, there are several facts that you need to get used to. You are not here for a glorified holiday—”
“Oh, I know that!” she interrupted, with a dismissive gesture. “Mother and Father have some crazy notion that I’m supposed to learn—”
“Be quiet!” Will snapped. As before, he kept his voice low but there was no mistaking the intensity of his tone. Madelyn actually recoiled a half pace. Nobody had ever spoken to her that way in her life. Well, perhaps her parents had, but certainly nobody of any lesser rank.
“Uncle Will—” she began haughtily, but Will made a chopping gesture with his right hand that cut her off before she could say any more.
“Forget Uncle Will. Whether you realise it or not, you are now a member of the Ranger Corps and I am your mentor. As Rangers, we refer to each other by our first names. So you will call me Will—nothing more than that. I am not your uncle. I am not your godfather. I am your mentor and your instructor. You are my pupil and my apprentice. I will call you Maddie or Madelyn. We have no special relationship other than mentor and apprentice. Do you understand?”
Now Maddie’s brows came together in a stubborn knot and she glared at the grey-bearded figure before her.
“I think you’re presuming a little here, Unc… Will,” she corrected herself. “Let’s not forget that I am the Royal Princess of Araluen.”
“And let’s not forget that I am a King’s Ranger,” Will said evenly. He saw the brief light of puzzlement in her eyes and elaborated. “I answer only to the King, or his representative. Nobody else. In this case, that’s your mother.
“Although we rarely make a point of it, technically, I outrank everyone but the King or his representative. That means barons, their wives, knights… and royal princesses.”
“That can’t be right!” Maddie protested. “I’ve never heard of such a thing!”
“As I said, we don’t often make a point of it. But you can believe that I am right. What’s more, your mother and father have given me full authority over you while you’re undergoing your training. So your rank here means nothing to me, or to anyone else.”
Maddie’s confident air began to desert her. She knew that Rangers did wield enormous, and often undefined, power and authority in the Kingdom. And while she wasn’t entirely sure that what Will had said was true, neither was she sure that it wasn’t.
“Now,” Will continued, in a more conciliatory tone, “you will be staying here with me during your training, not in the castle. But your maid will not. Rangers don’t have maids. And Rangers’ apprentices definitely don’t have them.”
He left Maddie with her jaw hanging open and stepped back down the verandah to speak to Rose-Jean.
“Rose-Jean,” he said, “Madelyn will be living here in the cabin while she trains as a Ranger. Unfortunately, as you can see, we’re rather cramped for space. Would you mind riding back to the castle and telling the Baron’s seneschal that you will need accommodation there until such time as we can have you escorted back to Castle Araluen?”
Rose-Jean looked to her mistress, not sure how to react. If she obeyed the Ranger, she knew she risked Madelyn’s anger. But she also knew that no wise person disregarded the instructions of a Ranger—especially such a senior one as the famous Will Treaty. Will sensed her dilemma and stepped forward, taking the bridle to Maddie’s horse from her unresisting hand.
“It’s all right, Rose-Jean,” he said soothingly. “Just ride up to the castle. There’s a good girl.”
“Rose-Jean—” Maddie began.
“Be quiet!” Will snapped, without turning to look at her. Then he gestured for the servant girl to leave. Coming to a decision, Rose-Jean wheeled her horse and trotted back up the path towards the castle. The pack horse watched her go, uncertain whether to follow. Then, in the absence of any definite instructions, it lowered its head and began to crop the short grass at the edge of the clearing.
Will proffered Sundancer’s bridle to a very surprised and deflated princess.
“Put your horse in the stable behind the cabin,” he said. “I’ll take care of your pack horse.”
Then, as Madelyn moved forward to take the bridle from his hand, he added, “But this will be the last time I do.”
Twelve
Once the horses were settled in the stable, Will showed Madelyn the small room that would be hers. Remembering his own first day, he had placed a vase of bright wildflowers in the room, just as Halt had done for him, so many years before. But it was going to take more than a bunch of flowers to help Maddie recover from the state of shock and hurt that had overcome her upon her arrival.
She went into the room and shut the door behind her. In his day it had been no more than a curtain, but he had decided that Madelyn might need a more substantial form of privacy while she was with him and had asked Redmont’s carpenters to fit the door before her arrival.
He looked at the closed door, wondering whether to summon her out of the room. But he decided that she’d had enough surprises for one day and let her have a few hours to mull things over.
He prepared dinner—a savoury stew of chicken and potatoes—and as darkness fell, he lit lanterns in the main room of the cabin, and prepared a fire.
The warm, yellow light of the lanterns and the flickering flames of the fire cast a cheerful aura round the room. When he felt she’d had enough time to brood, he rapped gently on the door.
“Maddie,” he said. “Dinner.”
In her room, hunger competed against pride and hurt feelings. After several minutes, hunger won and the door opened. She emerged with as much dignity as she could muster, taking her seat at the table while he served her.
She ate hungrily, noting with surprise how delicious the meal was. She had no idea that Will could cook so well. But the mood between them was still strained, and their conversation was limited to necessities—such as the occasional request for salt or bread to be passed. When she finished, she rose from the table.
“I’m going to my room,” she said. For a moment, she had considered asking permission, but stubbornly discarded the idea.
Will met her gaze, seeing the anger still there. Give her time, he thought, and nodded assent.
“Good idea. Tomorrow will be a big day.”
Maddie lay wide awake on the small bed for hours, listening to the night sounds of the forest around her, and fighting back the tears that threatened to claim her. This was all so different to what she had thought it would be. Will—her loving Uncle Will for so many years—was being grim and distant. His disapproval of her was obvious.