IV:I

Leah’s Preparations

Leah found Skasca in the stables. He was leaning against his black stallion, Anden, slumping tiredly.

"Good morning, my love," she whispered. She pressed against his back and ran a hand down the side of his neck. He straightened, pulling her arms around his waist so they were embracing in a backward hug.

"Leah," he said, and though his tone was warm, Leah thought she heard an undercurrent of sadness in his voice. "I hope you haven't come to trouble me." Leah chuckled, and they shared a moment of serenity in the stables together.

"I do want something," she said, and she let him feel her smile against his ear. He stiffened and turned around, but he slid an arm around her waist and held her close.

"Always something," he rumbled. "The demands you put on me." He was joking, she hoped, but there was no way to be sure.

"Skasca, I'd like to go north to visit my family for a few months," she said, breathing deeply and forcing herself to meet his eyes. "It's been so long, and it's probably best that I leave as Cora bears her- your- child." Skasca frowned, and Leah felt a wrenching sensation in the pit of her stomach.

"You are one of my few pleasures, Leah," he said. "You would take that from me?"

"I would give you my life, Skasca," Leah said. "In fact, I already have, or haven't you noticed? It's just that I miss them, and I'd like to see them all again." Skasca's face softened and he buried his nose in her hair.

"How long will you be gone?" He asked.

"Eight months," Leah said, "or perhaps a year. I haven't thought long on this; I wanted to ask you first."

"A year," Skasca murmured. "So long. And yet I find that I can deny you nothing."

Except your hand in marriage, Leah thought, but she held her tongue. "You are so kind to me, Skasca," she said. "Thank you."

"When do you leave?"

"Within the week."

"I'll arrange your riding party."

"No, Skasca, don't," Leah said. "I want to arrange my own party. I'm finicky in my tastes as you'll recall, and besides, trust me. You'll never miss those whom I take with me." Skasca smiled.

"Ever my devious darling," he said. "You know that I don't believe you when you say that you're just going to visit your family."

"Skasca, I'm shocked," Leah teased, pulling out of his arms. "Shocked!" she said again as she walked out of the barn. His laugh followed her as she left the stable yard and walked a long, hot mile to the smithy.

Tornface was waiting for her there.
"It's ready," he said. "Ewen wants you to test it before you take it home."

"Good," Leah said, nodding her head in satisfaction. She pushed open the door to Ewen's cottage and walked in. It was dimly lit in the cottage, but cool, and Leah sighed with relief as she escaped in from the heat of the day.

"Some water, Leah?" Ewen asked.

"Thank you," Leah said. Ewen was a tall, rail thin youth, but he was as good a smithy as his father and his grandfather before him. "I hear you've finished my sword."

"I have, Leah, and I think you'll find it as beautiful as I do."

"I can't wait," Leah said, accepting a wooden cup of tepid water.

"And you don't have to," Tornface said from behind her. Leah felt the brush of steel against her neck. She stiffened.

"Bastard," she said.

"A sword such as this needs blood on its blade," Tornface said clinically. "If you're to be its master, the first blood should come from you."

"I don't think so," Leah said, and she threw the cup of water backward into his face, leaving her hands free to swing the daggers at her waist smoothly up to push the steel of the new sword away from her neck and up. She ducked down and stepped away, turning to face Tornface with a dagger in each hand. Ewen sat, cross-legged on a wooden chair to watch.

"Some things never change," he noted.

Tornface grinned at Leah. "This is a wonderful sword," he said. "I don't think I've ever held its equal. You've done some good work, Ewen." Ewen grinned and blushed a little, raising his own cup of water in a toast.

"I never got a sip of my water," Leah said, frustrated.

"If you want this sword," Tornface said, "you're going to have to take it from me."