John Flanagan: Oakleaf bearers

"I thought he couldn't stand Borsa," Will said, puzzled. But Halt merely nodded his head in acknowledgment of Erak's choice.

"Borsa's a good administrator, and that's what Erak's going to need. A good leader is someone who knows what he's bad at, and hires someone who's good at it to take care of it for him."

Will, Horace and Evanlyn had to think that through for a few seconds before they saw the logic in it. Horace, in fact, was still pondering it some time after the others had nodded and moved on to discuss other matters.

As Oberjarl, Erak would no longer be able to go on his annual raiding cruises at the helm of Wolfwind, and that fact tinged his sudden elevation with a certain amount of regret. But he announced that he would be making one last voyage before he handed the ship over to the care of Svengal, his longtime first mate.

"I'll be taking you lot back to Araluen," he announced. "Seems only fair, since I was the one responsible for your being here in the first place."

Will was quietly pleased with the news. Now that the time was almost here to return home, he realized that he would be sad to farewell the big, boisterous pirate. With some surprise, he recognized the fact that he had come to regard Erak as a good friend. Anything that delayed the moment of parting found favor in his eyes.

Spring had come, the geese were returning from the south and there were deer back in the hills, so there was plenty of fresh meat in place of the dried and salted provisions that had formed the bulk of the winter fare in Hallasholm.

When he saw the first hunting parties returning from the high reaches inland of the Skandian capital, Will remembered one debt he still owed. Early one morning, he slipped quietly away on Tug and headed up the trail that he and Evanlyn had followed so many months ago, in a freezing blizzard.

At the little cabin where they had sheltered through the winter, he found the uncomplaining, shaggy little pony who had saved his life. The patient creature had broken the light tether holding him in the lean-to stable behind the cabin, and was quietly cropping the new season's grass in the clearing when Will arrived.

Tug looked a little askance at his master when Will unfastened a small sack of oats, indicating that it was for the pony alone. Will consoled his horse with a quiet pat on the muzzle.

"He's earned it," he told Tug, and the Ranger horse shrugged-insofar as any horse is capable of shrugging. The nondescript pony may well have earned the sack of oats, but that didn't stop Tug's mouth from salivating at the sight and smell of them. When the pony had finished the oats, Will remounted Tug and, holding on to the lead rein, rode back down to Hallasholm, where he quietly returned the pony to Erak's stable.

The night before they were due to leave, Erak threw a farewell banquet in their honor. The Skandians were eager to show their appreciation of the efforts of the four Araluens in defending their land against the invaders. And with the shadow of the Vallasvow lifted from Evanlyn, they paid particular attention to her-repeatedly toasting her bravery and resourcefulness in continuing to direct the fire of the archers as their position was being overrun.

Halt, Borsa and Erak sat in a quiet huddle at the head table, discussing outstanding matters such as the repatriation of the slaves who had served in the archers' corps. Sadly, many of them hadn't survived the battle, but the promise of freedom had been made to their dependants as well, and the details had to be thrashed out. When the subject was finally closed, Halt judged the moment right and said quietly:

"So what will you do when the Temujai come back?"

There was a deafening moment of silence at the head table. Erak pushed his bench back and stared at the small, grim-faced man next to him.

"Come back? Why should they come back? We beat them, didn't we?"

But Halt shook his head slowly. "As a matter of fact," he said, "we didn't. We simply made it too costly for them to continue-this time."

Erak thought about what he had said and glanced at Borsa for his opinion. The hilfmann nodded, a little reluctantly.

"I think the Ranger is right, Oberjarl," he admitted. "We couldn't have held out much longer." Then he shifted his eyes to Halt's and asked him: "But why should they come back?"

Halt took a sip of the rich Skandian beer before he answered. "Because it's their way," he answered simply. "The Temujai don't think in terms of this season or this year, or next year. They think of the next ten or twenty years and they have a long-term plan to dominate this part of the world. They need your ships. So they'll be back."

Erak considered the point, twisting one end of his mustache in his fingers. "Then we'll beat them off again," he said.

"Without archers?" Halt asked quietly. "And without the element of surprise next time?"

Again there was a silence. Then Erak said, half hopefully, "You could help us train archers. You and the boy?" But Halt shook his head immediately. And very definitely.

"I'm not prepared to provide Skandia with such a potent weapon," he said. "Once you learned those skills, I'd never know when they might be turned against us in the future."

Erak had to admit the logic in the Ranger's statement. Skandia and Araluen were traditional enemies, after all. But Borsa, with his negotiator's ear, had caught an overtone in Halt's refusal.

"But you do have a suggestion?" he said keenly, and Halt almost smiled at him. He'd hoped the hilfmann would see where he was heading.

"I was thinking," he said, "that a force of, say, three hundred trained archers might be stationed here on a regular basis. They could spend the months of spring and summer here, then be rotated back home during the winter."

"Araluens?" Erak said, beginning to catch on. Halt nodded.

"We could supply you with an archery force that way. But if it ever came to hostilities between our countries, I'd feel a lot more secure knowing you wouldn't be turning them against us. We'd need to stipulate that in the treaty," he added casually.

Erak looked cautiously at his hilfmann now. The word treaty seemed to have appeared on the table in front of them without his seeing it arriving. Borsa caught his eye and shrugged thoughtfully.

"I'm proposing that we have a mutual defense treaty for a period of:" Halt seemed to think and Erak suddenly had the distinct impression that he had weighed every word he was going to say well in advance of this moment. "Five years, let's say. You get a viable force of archers-"

Erak decided it was time that someone else made the running. "And you get what?" he asked abruptly.

Halt smiled at him. "We get a peace treaty that says Skandia won't be launching any surprise attacks on our country during that period. And that in the event that hostilities become inevitable, our archers would be allowed free passage back home."

Erak shook his head abruptly. "I'll never convince my men not to raid," he said indignantly. "I'd be thrown out on my ear if I proposed that." But Halt held up a hand to calm him down.

"I'm not talking about individual raids," he said. "We can cope with them. I'm saying no more massed attacks, like the one with Morgarath."

There was another long pause while Erak considered the offer. The more he thought about it, the more attractive the idea seemed. As well as any of them, he knew how close they had come to being overwhelmed by the Temujai. Three hundred trained archers would provide a powerful defensive force to Skandia, particularly if they were deployed in the narrow passes and twisting defiles at the border. He realized, with a shock, that he was beginning to think like a tactician. Maybe he'd been spending too much time around the Ranger, he thought.

"You have the authority to sign a treaty like that?" he asked, and for the first time, Halt hesitated. In fact, he had no authority at all. As a member of the Rangers, he would have been empowered to sign, but he had been dismissed from the Corps when Duncan had banished him. He could brazen it out now, of course. He was reasonably sure that Crowley or Duncan himself would ratify such a treaty. But when that happened, Erak would know that he had acted falsely and he didn't think that was a good start to any relationship.