The Siege of Macindaw (ranger's Apprentice, #6)

The sixth installment in John Flanagan's Ranger's Apprentice series picks up directly from the previous book. In the medieval kingdom of Araluen, Will Treaty, a young Ranger (one of Araluen's covert scouts and royal law officers), faces a crisis in the remote northern territory of Norgate Fief. His friend Alyss, a Courier in the kingdom's Diplomatic Service, is imprisoned in Castle Macindaw's tower by Keren, a renegade knight who seized the castle by poisoning its lord, Syron. Keren conspires with the Scotti, warriors from the neighboring country of Picta, and uses a blue gemstone to mesmerize Alyss and extract information. Will has taken refuge in the dense Grimsdell Wood with Malcolm, a healer whose fearsome reputation as the sorcerer Malkallam is a carefully maintained illusion protecting a community of outcasts. Orman, the castle lord who was also poisoned by Keren, is recovering under Malcolm's care alongside his loyal secretary, Xander.

Will's first priority is assembling a fighting force. Malcolm's forest observers report a crew of Skandians, Viking-like seafaring warriors, shipwrecked nearby. Their captain, Gundar Hardstriker, and 25 men are stranded after their ship's keel broke in a storm. Will offers 70 gold royals for their help assaulting Macindaw, and Gundar agrees, partly from a sense of debt: A criminal named John Buttle, whom Will had given Gundar as a slave for transport to Skandia, killed two Skandians and escaped during the shipwreck. Buttle has since joined Keren as garrison commander.

Will's old friend Sir Horace, known as the Oakleaf Knight, an honorific from his earlier military service, arrives in Norgate Fief under a false name. Halt, Will's Ranger mentor, and Crowley, the Ranger Corps Commandant, sent Horace north to help. Will tracks Horace to a local inn, and the two friends, who grew up together as wards of Castle Redmont, reunite. Horace delivers Will's original longbow from Halt and receives a full briefing.

Alyss has been signaling nightly from her tower using the Courier's code, a grid-based lamp system. Will establishes contact by hiding his signal among colored lights Malcolm's people display in the forest, mimicking Grimsdell's eerie phenomena. He fires a message arrow through her window carrying written instructions and a stellatite pebble, a small black stone that can counter the gemstone's mesmeric hold when its holder focuses on a positive image. When Keren next interrogates her, Alyss clutches the stellatite and pictures Will's face. Her mind clears. She maintains the appearance of being entranced while lying to Keren for the first time. Keren unwittingly reveals that a Scotti general named MacHaddish will arrive within days, confirming his military alliance. Alyss signals this intelligence to Will.

At Healer's Clearing, Horace takes command of the Skandians, earning their respect by physically subduing a veteran who challenges him. A sobering problem emerges: Standard siege doctrine requires a three-to-one advantage over defenders. Macindaw's garrison numbers around 35, but Will and Horace have only 27 fighters. They observe General MacHaddish and eight Scotti warriors entering Macindaw, then ambush the group on its return. The plan goes wrong when MacHaddish charges instead of surrendering. In the chaotic fight, Will wounds the general and the Skandians overwhelm most of the Scotti, but MacHaddish escapes. Will pursues, catches him, and nearly loses a knife fight before Horace arrives and knocks the general unconscious.

Malcolm interrogates MacHaddish using an elaborate nighttime performance in his sorcerer persona, projecting the image of Serthrek'nish, a soul-devouring demon from Scotti superstition. MacHaddish's cultural fears overwhelm him, and he reveals the full plan: 200 Scotti warriors will invade through the border passes in three weeks to occupy Macindaw permanently. Will and Horace recognize that if the Scotti establish themselves in Norgate, it could trigger a prolonged war. They must take the castle before the invasion arrives.

During her captivity, Alyss continues gathering intelligence. Keren visits seeking companionship and reveals that Lord Syron has died, making any return to loyalty impossible. He proposes marriage, arguing it would protect Alyss from enslavement by the Scotti. Alyss rejects him, declaring she could never marry a traitor. Throughout her imprisonment, Alyss has also been using a bottle of acid left from Will's earlier rescue attempt to secretly corrode the iron bars on her window.

Will devises a plan compensating for their small numbers. Malcolm will project terrifying illusions onto artificial fog near the south wall, drawing the garrison's attention, while the real attack comes from the west, where the forest grows closest to the castle. Will designs a wheeled cart with a sloping roof; he and Horace will hide beneath it near the wall during the afternoon, then collapse a wheel so the cart appears to be an abandoned wreck. After dark, when Malcolm's display draws the defenders south, they will sprint to the wall with a scaling ladder. Xander is sent to Castle Norgate with a sealed report requesting a relief force.

After days of preparation, the assault begins. The cart endures crossbow fire, its water-soaked planks deflecting the bolts, and Keren dismisses it as a failed diversion. After dark, Malcolm launches his full display of projected figures, demon faces, and explosive rockets. The garrison panics. Horace vaults over the ramparts and holds the walkway while Will provides covering fire. The Skandians swarm up ladders behind them, routing defenders along the west wall. Horace defeats Buttle in a swordfight; when Buttle attempts a treacherous final attack after being spared, Gundar kills him with a thrown battleax. Will spots Keren heading into the keep and races after him, knowing Keren is going for Alyss.

Will fights up the tower staircase and finds Alyss holding Keren's sword at eye level, the blue gemstone mesmerizing her. Without the stellatite, knocked from her sleeve when Keren grabbed her, Alyss is under his full control. Keren orders her to kill Will, and she advances with the sword. Will cannot shoot Keren, who has commanded Alyss to kill Will if Keren is harmed. The standoff breaks when Will tells Alyss he loves her and always has. The declaration shatters Keren's hold, and Alyss throws the sword away, collapsing in horror. Keren seizes the blade and attacks Will, disarming him of his saxe knife, a short fighting blade, and cornering him. Alyss recovers, grabs the hidden acid bottle, and throws its contents into Keren's face. Blinded, Keren stumbles backward into the window. The iron bars, weakened by weeks of acid corrosion, give way, and Keren falls to his death.

Keren's men surrender. Alyss spends days in shock; Malcolm warns she may not remember what was said during her entrancement. When Will visits, neither speaks openly. Will fears Alyss does not return his love, and Alyss is unsure whether Will's declaration was real. MacHaddish is released after being shown the garrisoned castle, a warning against invasion. A relief force arrives from Castle Norgate, led by Sir Doric, the fief's battlemaster, and Meralon, the local Ranger. They question Will's arrangements until Horace invokes his authority as a knight of the Royal Guard.

Will, Horace, and Alyss ride south together, then part at a fork in the road. Will reports to Halt at the Ranger Gathering Ground; Halt senses Will's sadness but can only offer quiet comfort. Will returns alone to Seacliff Fief. Among his mail he finds a mandola, a stringed instrument, from Orman and a letter from Alyss. She describes a recurring dream of the tower scene and writes that Horace told her the dream may be a memory. Following Horace's advice to stop overthinking, she declares her love. Will abandons any plan to write a reply, grabs his saddlebags, and rides for Castle Redmont. The unfamiliar sensation warming him, he realizes, is happiness.