This series takes place before the eleventh book! :)

Also, I don't own the books only the reaction. You get the memo.

So, Evanlyn- sorry, Cassandra - is still only the girlfriend of Horace 'cause they haven't married yet and same goes for Will and Alyss.

Thanks for reading!
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Will had been sitting at his table drinking coffee and reading through reports about bandits when he heard Tug give a warning signal.

Someone was here.

Will quickly stood up and grabbed his bow and quiver. He then opened the door and looked around.

A servant from Redmont rode into the clearing with a small scroll of parchment in his hands. He looked very uncomfortable and tired.

'What's wrong?' Will asked the servant.

The servant hesitated before giving Will the scroll of parchment. As soon as the scroll of Parchment touched Will's hand, the servant let go. He seemed eager to get away from the Ranger.

Will opened the scroll of parchment and saw that King Duncan had sent him a letter. He started to read.

Dear Will,

Your presence is requested at my castle immediately. Sorry for the short notice.

-King Duncan.

Will raised his eyebrow at the letter in surprise before quickly closing it. He quickly thanked the servant and started to get his things ready for a trip to Redmont.

(LINEBREAK. P.S. I am aware of how much this sucks. Don't worry.)

After making sure that Tug would be looked after properly by the castle's stablemaster, Will was directed towards a room by one of the Baron's servants.

He walked in to find all of his friends seated around a large, round table. These people were Evanlyn, Duncan, Horace, Halt, Crowley, Baron Arald, Lady Pauline, Sir Rodney, Gilan, Alyss, Jenny and. . . George?

Will smiled as he saw the painfully thin boy. It was a pleasant surprise. Everyone smiled at the Ranger that had just arrived into the room. There was a peaceful quiet for a second before-

'What is wrong? What do you need us for, King Duncan? Am I in trouble? I swear, it was Halt! What did he do this time?'

Everyone groaned as a flood of questions came from Will's mouth. Halt gave a small 'Hey!' at what Will had said.

King Duncan held up a hand to stop the questions that were erupting like a volcano out of the man's mouth. He smiled as he saw Will flush slightly in realisation.

'Hello Will,' he said with a smile.

Will looked embarrassed for a second before a smile broke out on his face. 'It's so nice to see you all. But still, Why are we all here? What is it?'

Gilan, Horace, George, and Jenny all burst into laughter. The others all just looked really amused. Will frowned. What had he done?

King Duncan then started talking, and the laughter stopped almost immediately.

'Come, sit,' he told Will. 'We're going to be here for a while.'  As if to explain, Duncan pointed towards the ten books sitting in the middle of the table. Will looked over and read all of the titles he could see. His heart sank.

This was about him.

'These books appeared this morning. No one could tell me where they came from, but the attached note said to gather you here to read them,' Baron Arald told Will.

'Isn't that risky? Why would you do what the random note says?' Will asked.

Halt sighed and shook his head. Why couldn't Will just ask one question?

The Baron shrugged. 'It's a time of peace. Besides, it's just a bunch of books.

Will shrugged and sat down in between Halt and Alyss. He smiled at George again.

'Hi, George,' he said. 'I haven't seen you for a while.'

George also smiled. 'I have been so buried under paperwork that I have hardly seen any other scribes.'

There was a large sigh from Crowley, Duncan, Rodney, and Arald. They all knew the pains of Paperwork.

'Nigel let me off, though, when he saw that I was invited by the King to read these. . . books,' George continued with a smile.

Will nodded in understanding.

'Whose reading first?' Will asked.

Halt suddenly leapt from his chair and grabbed the book. He chucked it at Will who caught it a centimetre away from his face. He glared at Halt who was climbing back into his chair next to Pauline and Will.

'You asked the question so that means you get to read,' he said.

Will sighed and started to read.