Will clung to Tug as he yelled, "Slide, Tug!" Tug locked his front knees, leaned back as far as possible without his tail hitting the ground, and slid down the stones and under the gate. He flattened himself to Tug's body as they cleared the portcullis by inches, gasping as he felt one of the spikes brush his back, and then slowed Tug down, murmuring, "Good boy, slow it down, it's all right."

Once Tug had slowed to a stop a few meters from the gate, he turned and looked back at the three Genovesans.

"You failed, Ranger! You never got to the rubies!" That was Mario, snarling through the bars of the portcullis. Guido shouted a string of profanities in Toscan and shook at the bars, his saliva splattering the ground. When Will didn't respond, Mario joined Guido in his impressive swearing. The other assassin, who Will didn't know, just glared ominously from behind the other two.

Will just turned his back and set Tug off in a slow canter toward the camp, ignoring all the jeers, shouts, and glares. "You did well, Tug. Really well. I'll give you a whole bucket of oats when we get back."

Of course. I deserve it. Tug rolled his eyes back at Will, who grunted tiredly in return. "You do."

As Will drew closer to the camp, he could make out the small party of people waiting for him a little ways out in front. Abelard and Halt were standing next to each other, with Pauline, Rodney, Gilan, the Baron... And Alyss. God... What am I going to say to her? Is she going to scream at me? If I'm lucky, maybe Halt hasn't even told her what happened... Yet.

He rode up to the small group and stiffly dismounted Tug, holding his ribs. Alyss ran up to him and threw herself into his arms. "Ouch. Ahhh... Ow. Don't squeeze too hard..." He gasped as Alyss squeezed his cracked ribs.

She immediately released him and said, "What happened to you? You're filthy!" She pulled a handkerchief out of her dress and tried to wipe his face off a little.

Will laughed softly and took the the cloth from her, wet it with a little water from his water skin, and wiped some of the dirt off his face. "Just got a little dusty, is all."

As he wiped his face, Alyss grabbed took his hands, palms up, and examined the rough bandages, asking softly, "And what about these, Will?"

He turned his hands over and grasped hers firmly. "I'm alright, Alyss... I'm alright." He gave her a we'll talk later look. She gazed up into his eyes, worry lines still wrinkling her face, and squeezed his hands gently before releasing them and she retreated to one side of the small welcoming party.

Will turned as Pauline came up to him. "Will, dear, you made it." He gave her a long hug, and she touched his side. "What happened here?"

He couldn't avoid such a direct question and muttered, "I... Got kicked." Will quickly glanced at Alyss, who was now glaring at him. He raised his eyebrows at her, but she just kept glowering. He tried to turn his attention back to Pauline. "What about you? You alright? Nothing broken?"

"Nothing broken," she reassured him, and, seeing the look Alyss was giving him, stepped back next to Halt again.

The Baron stepped up to Will, grabbed his hand, and shook it heartily. "It's good to see you safe, Will. You had us all very worried there."

"Thanks, my lord."

He turned to Gilan, who hugged him. "I thought you were a goner."

Will grinned at him. "I thought I was too." They both smiled.

Gilan continued. "Did you get the rubies?"

Will glanced quickly at Halt, who pursed his lips, then said haltingly, "Well, yes... In a manner of speaking."

"In a manner of speaking?" Gilan narrowed his eyes, but Will waved him off uncomfortably.

"I'll fill you in later."

Gilan suspiciously glanced at Halt, who was rolling his eyes.

Rodney also shook hands with him. "It was a pleasure to work with you. I've heard the stories about your missions, but now I have first hand experience."

Will smiled an embarrassed smile, his face pink. "I'm not sure if all those stories are completely accurate..."

"Oh, they are. They say you're as tall as a bear. What could be more true?" They both laughed.
Then Will turned to Halt and was instantly serious. "What happened to the portcullis? You said you were only going to fray it a little. And by a little, that meant enough time for me to get out."

Halt shrugged apologetically. "I did, exactly the right amount. I think it frayed faster than we anticipated. Did you manage to shoot any of them?"

"No, I was too busy trying to get away from them, and then under the gate. The three of them had caught up by the time I got on Tug and I had to keep moving. Thank goodness they tossed aside their crossbows earlier."

"Yes, and they also killed off some of their own. I found two of them dead in the hallway."

"So that's why only three of them were chasing me. The rest are dead. I'm assuming they were the ones who let me escape? "

"Yes, those two idiots. And did you tell Tug to slide, or did he figure it out for himself?"

"I told him to. Why does that even matter?"

"Ok, boys, let's slow down a little. None of the rest of us have any idea what is going on. Let's all go get cleaned up and figure out what's going on, alright? And Will, you should go get your side checked out." Pauline stopped the rapid fire questions between the two Rangers and sent them all off to rest. Halt grumbled something about dirt and went off toward the well to wash, taking Abelard and Pauline with him, and Gilan, Rodney, and the Baron went to the command tent.

That just left Alyss and Will. Alyss was still scowling as he walked up to her and took her hand. "I know I said we'd talk, but I need to get debriefed soon. Want to come to the med tent with me?"

She clenched and unclenched her jaw a few times before saying, "I suppose."

She let him guide her along as they started walking into the camp. Tug started to follow, but Will sent him off to follow Abelard and Halt. Then Will took her over to a grove of trees and they stopped in the shade. Will asked, "Alyss, what's wrong? Are you alright? Halt wouldn't tell me what happened to you two when the Genovesans came riding up with the other soldiers...weren't you on that road?"

Alyss squeezed his hand, and the scowl melted off her face. "Will, don't worry about me, I'm completely fine. And nothing's really wrong, I just..."

Will squeezed back. "What? It's obviously bothering you. You can tell me."

She looked up into his eyes, fingering the bandages on his hands. "I... Each time something happened, I expected to see you ride out on Tug. Every time I would get my hopes up, and then you wouldn't be there. And to make it worse, what everyone would come out saying... I mean, first all these soldiers came running out, talking in awe about the 'amazing things that Ranger Will did' and how 'he saved us all''. Then out came Pauline and the rest of them, and I actually ran out there looking around for you desperately... And you weren't there. To add to it all, no one would tell me anything. Then Pauline told me about what was really happening inside the castle..." Alyss's huge eyes were glistening with tears. She suddenly let go of his hands and turned away from him, hugging herself, saying softly, "She - she told me what you had done. That you had lied about your escape plan, and that you knew you weren't going to make it out...  I think that's when I got a little angry, because I thought you had forgotten me. And I just kept thinking, 'Well, what about everyone out here? We all wanted you to get out, why would you not even try? What about all those soldiers? They want their hero to make it. What about Pauline? Or Halt? Or... Me?'"

Will waited until she stopped speaking. Then he gently touched her shoulder, turned her around to face him, pulled her in close and hugged her for a long time. He whispered in her ear, "I did try to get out. You have no idea how tired I am from sprinting up and down stairs, desperately trying to find an escape route or at least a hiding place." He stroked her hair. "I thought about you, you know. I didn't forget you. I just needed to get those other people out first. It was my first priority, one that had to come before my life. It's part of my job." He squeezed her gently into an even tighter hug. "You don't need to worry, I'm perfectly alright."

Alyss buried her face in his cowl, breathing in his comforting scent of dirt, sweat, and pine needles. Then she leaned in and kissed him tenderly for a few fleeting moments, whispering, "I love you."

Will smiled. "I love you, too."

She kissed him more deeply, and Will leaned into the kiss, wrapping his arms around her waist. Then she leaned back a little and smiled. "That was our first real kiss since you got back."

"Is that so?" Will said softly. They kissed again.

"Yes. Remember?" Alyss ran her hands through Will's hair. "We didn't get to properly greet one another because of all the people. Then you had to go and get trapped in the castle with some assassins, and get kicked in the side... Speaking of which, you are not 'perfectly alright'. That's why we're stopping by the med tent, so they can give you a full check up."

Will pulled back and smiled as he recognized that Alyss was feeling better. "It's alright, I don't need all that. I was just thinking that they would check my ribs, maybe re bandage - "

"No. You're getting the full checkup." Alyss didn't even glance at Will, but the sudden steel in her voice warned Will that he might want to get the checkup.

"Alright, I'll - I'll get it..." he grumbled, and Alyss straightened her shoulders and smiled in satisfaction. "... On one condition." Alyss's shoulders slumped ever so slightly and she frowned at Will. "That after this we go and get a huge snack. I'm so hungry I could eat a horse." Alyss smiled again, sensing that Will was still further trying to cheer her up again. "When was the last time you ate a real meal?"

"Hmmm..." Will had to think about it. "Six this morning? Maybe earlier..."

"You mean to say you haven't eaten since breakfast?"

"Nope. Remember, I was going to eat lunch with you before all this happened."

"Very true. Well, it's about four o'clock. You're sure we shouldn't go and get that snack right now?" She smirked. "But hopefully you didn't mean your horse. I'm sure Tug wouldn't enjoy being eaten."

Will laughed. "He wouldn't taste very good, either. I can wait." Will took Alyss's hand and together they walked into the camp.

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

Ok, so that was really adorable. It always makes me feel so warm and fuzzy when I write stuff like that. I have one question though, does anyone know what Will and Alyss's ship name is? I don't even want to try to guess, because my ideas probably sound very bad. Sorry, Wilvanlyn shippers (see I told you they were awful), Willyss forevahhhh!!! (I don't even know if that's right... It's probably wrong. 😁) As usual, please vote and comment and tell me what you thought about this chapter! Thank you all so much for reading! ;)