John Flanagan - The Emperor of Nihon-Ja

Horace looked at his companion with new respect. 'You see?' he said. 'That's what you're good at. Thinking. Coming up with ideas. Let me tell you, if you can get word to Will and Halt, you'll be doing much more good than if you simply stayed here with us.'

'And got in the way?' George said, grinning now. Horace returned the grin.

'Exactly.' He offered his hand to George, who took it and gripped it warmly. Before he released his own grip, Horace added, 'One other thing. I will never forget that you offered to stay here, George. It took a lot more courage for you to offer that than it took me. I appreciate it and, when I get home, I'll be letting people know about it.'

George finally reclaimed his hand and made a small self-deprecating gesture, although Horace's words had warmed his heart.

'Well…you know. It wasn't much. I mean…we were wardmates, weren't we? That's what wardmates do for each other. They stick together. No big deal.'

'Very big deal,' Horace said firmly. 'And I won't forget it.'

Toscana 'Then I'm coming with you!' Will said impulsively.

Halt smiled to himself at the instant response. He had expected no less of his former apprentice. Horace, after all, was Will's best friend. They had grown up together, fought side by side and saved each other's lives on numerous occasions.

Evanlyn favoured Will with a warm smile as well. 'I was sure you'd say that,' she said. 'My father gave me permission to ask for your help on this mission but I told him there'd be no need to ask. Thanks, Will. I'll feel a lot more confident with you by my side.'

'Of course, I'll come too,' Halt said, then added with a raised eyebrow, 'That's if I'm needed?'

'Lady Pauline said you'd say that,' Evanlyn told him. 'She said you should go with her blessing.'

Will glanced quickly at his mentor, not sure how Halt would react to the assumption that he needed Lady Pauline's permission to join the expedition. The Halt he knew of old would have come up with some pithy reply to the effect that he was quite capable of making his own decisions, thank you very much. He was a little surprised to see Halt smile fondly at Evanlyn's words.

'Well, that's a relief,' Halt said, without the slightest trace of irony.

Now it was Will's turn to raise an eyebrow – an expression he had studiously copied from Halt over the years. Things had changed, he thought.

Alyss cleared her throat nervously and they turned to look at her. There was a bright spot of colour in each of her cheeks.

'I'd like to come too,' she said. 'Horace is one of my oldest friends. He helped Will rescue me from Castle Macindaw and I owe him for that. Besides, you'll need someone who can speak Nihon-Jan.'

The words were phrased as a suggestion. But her tone left no doubt that they were a firm statement of intent. She wasn't asking permission. She was telling Evanlyn that she wasn't letting her go swanning off to the other side of the world with Will. Not this time.

'Yes, Lady Pauline said you'd say that, too,' Evanlyn said dryly. She wished she could reassure the tall girl that she had no designs on Will, other than friendship. She could see that Alyss could be a valuable friend and ally to her – not just in this case but in the years to come – and she wished there was some way she could break down the barrier between them. Maybe this journey might give her the opportunity.

Halt thought it might be best if he stepped in. 'It sounds like a good idea to me,' he said. 'Alyss is a handy person to have around.'

Alyss remained flushed. She had been prepared to argue the point and hadn't expected Evanlyn to give in so easily. At the back of her mind, a small doubt formed. Maybe she had been judging Evanlyn too harshly. But she forgot the thought as Will asked her a question.

'Do you speak Nihon-Jan? When did you learn?'

She shrugged, feeling her pulse settle back to normal now that there was no longer any question about her accompanying the party.

'I've been studying the language for a year or so,' she replied. 'Mostly using George's translations. I'm not fluent but I can get by.'

Will raised both eyebrows. 'Well, you learn a new thing every day,' he said reflectively.

'In your case, that's no exaggeration,' Halt said, completely straight-faced.

Will pursed his lips in annoyance. He'd have to learn not to give Halt openings like that, he thought. Then another question occurred to his grasshopper mind and he turned to Evanlyn.

'How do we get there? How did you get here, by the way?'

He heard Halt's deep sigh and knew he'd done it again.

'Do you ever,' the older Ranger said with great deliberation, 'manage to ask just one question at a time? Or does it always have to be multiple choice with you?'

Will looked at him in surprise. 'Do I do that?' he asked. 'Are you sure?'

Halt said nothing. He raised his hands in a 'See what I mean?' gesture and appealed to the others in the room. Selethen was amused by the byplay between the two. And, since the enjoyment of this sort of obscure, trivial debate was very much part of the Arridi character, he couldn't help himself. He had to join in.

'Halt,' he said, 'I could be wrong, but I think you were just guilty of the same fault. I'm sure I heard you ask two questions just then.'

'Thank you for pointing that out, Lord Selethen,' Halt said with icy formality.

Will grinned at the Wakir, who gravely inclined his head to Halt. Then Will remembered that Evanlyn hadn't answered either of his questions.

'So how did you get here?' he reminded her.

'I used the Skandian duty ship,' she told him.

The treaty between Araluen and Skandia had been in force for some years now and was regularly updated. One of the latest clauses stationed a Skandian wolfship each year at a base on the coast of Araluen, with its crew at the disposal of the Araluan King. Since wolfships were among the fastest craft in the world, it was a valuable addition. In return, King Duncan paid a fee to Skandia and granted favourable trading terms to other wolfships seeking to buy water, firewood and provisions. In reply to other nations like Iberion and Gallica, who complained that Duncan was helping the Skandians to raid their coastlines, the King merely shrugged.

'No system is perfect,' he'd say. 'And besides, they could always pay the Skandians not to raid.'

Which was, of course, true.

'I imagine we'll take the wolfship on to Nihon-Ja?' Halt said.

Evanlyn nodded. 'My father has given permission for that. It'll be faster than any commercial vessel we could charter. And besides, Gundar is eager to see Nihon-Ja. He'd be the first Skandian to visit there.'

'Gundar?' Will said. It was a fairly common name among Skandians, he knew, but he couldn't help hoping that it was an old friend. Evanlyn was already nodding.

'Yes. It's Gundar Hardstriker's ship. He's eager to see you and Alyss again and he has a crewman who said nothing would stop him from rescuing the General. I assume he means Horace?'

Will and Alyss exchanged amused glances. 'Yes. That's what Gundar's crew call Horace. Sounds as if Nils is still with him,' Will said.

'He'll be a handy person to have along,' Alyss put in, recalling Nils Ropehander's massive build and ferocious skill with a battleaxe.

'Any Skandian is handy to have around if there's a fight in the offing,' Halt said. Then, changing the subject, he turned to Evanlyn. 'Is there any need for you to present yourself to the Toscan Emperor's court? Do you have any official duties to attend to?'

Evanlyn shook her head. 'Officially, I'm not here. That's why I'm travelling as the Lady Evanlyn. So no, I'm free to come and go.'

'Then I suggest we do go, and as soon as possible. We've already made our official goodbyes. We'll get a good night's sleep and get down to the docks first thing in the morning.'