Halt was busy arranging chairs inside the command tent for the big meeting when almost everyone came in at once:  Pauline, Rodney, Baron Arald, and Gilan.

"Will and Alyss are coming soon. I saw them exiting the med tent and heading for the food. They should be here any minute," Gilan said to Halt. He nodded, and guided his wife and her companions to their chairs in a half circle around the large table laden with maps, charts, and documents about the layout of Castle Redmont. As soon as everyone had settled into their chairs, there was a moment of content silence as the exhausted former hostages or, Pauline's case, rescuers, closed their eyes and rested for a few moments. Halt, who was still tired from his night chasing the Genovesan previously, sat down in a nearby chair and put his face in his hands, rubbing his eyes and sighing. Gilan paced around the back of the tent, muttering to himself under his breath. They remained like this for several minutes.

"Come on, Will, they're all waiting for us. Keeping wiping." Alyss's steely voice broke the silence outside the tent. Her hand poked through the flaps and held one aside, making room for the stooped figure of Will. He limped into the tent, one arm holding his ribs, the other clutching a wet cloth, which he was using to wipe off the remainder of the dirt from his face and hands. He had managed to clean his hands all the way off, but his face still had large smudges around his jaw and hairline. He stumbled around the chairs, his face pinched a little in pain. Alyss  steadied him by grabbing his arm, and asked softly, "Do you need anything else?"

Will smiled wanely, and murmured to her, "No, I think you've done all you can. Didn't help that the doctor had to reset my rib, so unfortunately there's more pain now than before."

Alyss looked at him for a moment longer, then gestured to the chair up in the front of the tent next to Halt. "Looks like Halt already thought of everything, as usual." She gave him a gentle nudge in that direction. He winced slightly, but smiled again and headed up to the chair. Then he slowly, painfully, lowered himself into the chair just in front of the table, next to where Halt was now standing. Alyss dropped a loaf of bread with ham in the middle and a skin of water into Will's lap, whispering, "You really should eat when you have chance." It was phrased as a suggestion, but Will recognized the underlying hardness. He raised an eyebrow at her, and bit into the bread and ham and took a sip of water. Alyss reached into a pocket of her gown and pulled out two white tablets about the size of a berry and put them on the table next to Will. "Here's the painkillers from the doctor."

"Oh... I forgot about those. Thanks." His voice was flat and utterly unenthusiastic, almost sarcastic. But Alyss watched serenely as he popped the pills into his mouth and his face puckered up as he gulped the pills down. "Ugh. Those taste like vomit."

Alyss arched her eyebrows at him. "Don't be coarse. That's what they always taste like."

Will glanced surreptitiously around the tent. Pauline and Gilan had been watching the entire exchange with poorly hidden grins on their faces, and Arald and Rodney were whispering softly to one another. Halt had an eyebrow raised and was looking back and forth between Will and Alyss. Will shifted in his chair so that he was facing more toward Halt, and Alyss pulled up a chair between Will and Pauline, who smiled warmly at her and shifted hers over to make room. She murmured something in Alyss's ear, which made her smile. Once everyone had finally settled, Halt asked, "Rodney, anything you want to say before we start?"

Rodney nodded. "I just wanted to let you all know that we have gone from a hostage crisis situation to an official seige operation. That means that we will try to wait these assassins out and catch them when they try to make a move."

He nodded at Halt, who turned to Will. "Thanks, Rodney. Now, I think we should just cut to the chase. Will, whenever you're ready." He went over and sat down in a chair next to Will's.

Will stood slowly, trying not to wince, and he walked over the table full of maps. "I suppose I'll just start from the very beginning. Pauline, Rodney, feel free to add anything." Will continued on as he quickly summarized what had gone on inside the castle from then the portcullises first closed all the way until he slid out from under the gate. No one interrupted him, not even Pauline, who had nothing to add. He left out only a small part of his and Halt's escape plan. Once he had finished, he leaned against the table and held his ribs, taking a drink of water. There was a long silence as everyone in the tent absorbed everything Will had just said.

Gilan broke the silence. "That's quite a tale," he said softly.

"Agreed," muttered the Baron, who was staring at the floor, chewing on his lip.

"Can it first be stated that none of that was my idea? Absolutely, positively, none of it," Halt said, pointedly staring at Will, who rolled his eyes.

Gilan's brow was wrinkled in thought. "It was a pretty... Unorthodox plan. Definitely not the sort of plan which one would use in any normal situation, but..."

"But?" Will asked. Halt had smiled victoriously as heard Gilan's first few words, but the grin had faded, and Will took advantage.

"Well... I mean... It worked, didn't it?" Gilan started out hopefully. "I mean... you did it. You got everyone out, including, eventually, yourself. And I know that all of you in this room care about Will. But think about it logically for a second. Will took an oath when he joined the Corps: to defend and protect this kingdom with his life. Here he upheld that very oath. I know that you all are at least a little upset that Will would risk his life in such a way - myself included, no doubt - but we can't forget that he did the right thing." He turned and smiled at Will. "You could say that he is either stupid or incredibly brave. And I think we all know he's not stupid."

Rodney and the Baron both nodded thoughtfully, agreeing with what Gilan had said. Pauline smiled as Gilan expressed what she had understood from the beginning, and Halt and Alyss had the grace to look a little chastised as they realized that what Gilan had said was right.

"I suppose... that's all very true. It makes sense. But that doesn't mean that I feel any better about the fact that you almost died several times today." Alyss reached over and took Will's hand. "I don't think I have to say this, but I will anyway:  never do that again. Please, for my sanity."

Will smiled and squeezed her hand, then glanced at Halt, recognizing that he had said that very thing just a few minutes earlier in the wine cellar. "Don't you worry, I don't think I'll be doing something like that for a while now. I've had my fill of sprinting upstairs for a long, long time."

"One thing I still don't quite believe... So there were seven Genovesans in the castle at first, right? You sent us that message," Gilan said.

Will nodded. "Yes, there were seven."

"But then when you were running away the first time, only... Five followed you?"

"Yes, two of them stayed behind to guard the prisoners."

"So - " Gilan leaned forward, his face unbelieving. "So you... Shot one of them, and then he bled out. And the other..."

Rodney piped up. "I killed him. Broadsword versus knife. Wins every time."

Gilan raised his eyebrows. "Well done. Those are formidable, dangerous people. So - just to be clear - now there are five left."

"Yes," Will agreed.

"Then, when you, Halt, were running down the hallway towards the stables, you found two of them lying dead on the ground with their own knives sticking out of their chests?"

"That's right. They had been stabbed multiple times." Halt pursed his lips as he thought back to that moment.

"So... Now there's three left. And currently, from the last time we saw them, there are still three left?"

Will and Halt both nodded in unison.

Gilan broke into a huge grin. "I'm just admiring you and Will's newest skill. You managed to cut the number of dangerous assassins more than in half in under two hours. Why didn't you use this amazingly useful skill when you were chasing the Genovesans after Clonmel?"

"Well, it was mostly Will's skill that cut them down. He was the one who shot one, and then caused the other two to be killed by their own leader. I just sort of tagged along." Halt was now joining in on the fun.

Will sat up straight with a lot of dignity and said, "It's just a talent I have honed after years of dealing with them."

Gilan smirked. "And how would one 'hone' this sort of natural talent?"

Halt narrowed his eyes at Will, and mouthed, Five Genovesans... Will scowled at him in response, but Halt had already turned back and was addressing Gilan. "This 'honing' requires a lot of near fatal encounters, as well as a death wish - "

Will, who was still glaring at Halt, cut in. " ...But if you avoid or survive enough of them, you develop the skill."

"Skill? Hah. How about luck?" Halt said wryly, raising both eyebrows, and the whole tent laughed. "You missed a bit of dirt... Right there." Halt leaned over and poked Will's red face wolfishly. "Speaking of dirt, I don't think I've ever seen you as dirty as your were when I first came upon you in the wine cellar. When I first saw you I mistook you for a rather large dust bunny."

"I think anyone who went through that secret tunnel got all dirty. I was forced to go through it multiple times. How did you ever find that thing anyway, Pauline?" Will asked. Alyss grinned and handed Will his wet cloth, which he took and started to wipe off his face again.

Pauline smiled. "What, you think I spend all my time just sitting behind a desk doing paperwork? No, in my younger years, I explored. I found that passageway when I had just started working here."

Halt nudged her playfully as Rodney chuckled and said, "And how long ago was that, exactly?"

"Too long ago, I'm afraid. I may have lost count by now." Pauline joined in his laughter.

Alyss smiled and leaned against Will's arm, holding his hand. Even Halt was grinning as relief swept over the whole group as they realized they had nearly succeeded with their task. Only Gilan sat down off to one side. He let them laugh for a little longer, then asked abruptly, "Will, you never told us about how you plan to get the rubies out. What were you thinking? Or did you already get them?"

Will grinned widely, put down his cloth, and turned to Halt and gestured for him to explain. Halt said, "See, this is the insane part. His whole escape plan revolved around the one simple, timeless idea of - "

Halt stopped suddenly. "Did you hear that?" He murmured softly to Will.

Will, who had risen to his feet in the middle of Halt's comment, nodded. "It's... Rumbling?"

They all stood and were very quiet. Then it happened. A constant and steady slight shaking of the ground next to the drawbridge that only happened when...

They all knew at once what was happening. Gilan said it. "I think the portcullis is opening again."

*******************

Ooooohhh, what's gonna happen... You'll find out next update, which will most likely be the climax of the whole story! So be ready for intense stuff. Please vote and comment and let me know how you liked this part! Thanks so much for reading and have a peaceful day... ;)