The Spell of Rosette - Kim Falconer [82]
‘Clay.’ An’ Lawrence touched his shoulder. ‘You’ll not be banished if you keep your side of the bargain, just a little bit longer. We need you. Rosette needs you. This can turn out well, but not if you take off now.’
‘I don’t understand why.’
‘You aren’t meant to.’ An’ Lawrence grabbed him by the shoulders, forcing him to look up. ‘This is bigger than your desires, Clay. Bigger than mine. Please. Stick with it.’
Clay nodded reluctantly.
‘Good.’ The Sword Master let go of Clay. ‘You’re still bound to me, don’t forget,’ he added.
Clay’s eyes looked past the Sword Master to the fire. ‘How could I?’ He strummed a convoluted rhythm before breaking into a lightning-fast picking pattern.
‘Fantastic new tune,’ An’ Lawrence said. ‘Not quite a ballad though, is it?’
‘Not quite.’ He finished the tune with a crescendo of chords and slipped off his stool. ‘Are we done?’ he asked. ‘I need to sleep.’
‘Yes. We can talk more tomorrow.’
Clay headed for the door. As he pulled it open, he turned back. ‘There’s one other thing, Sword Master.’
‘What’s that?’
‘If she really is Kalindi Matosh, she didn’t learn the sword from big brothers.’
He raised his brow. ‘Why not?’
‘Because she didn’t have any.’
Sitting on the top step of her porch, Rosette tossed her boots into the box by the door. She let out a soft groan as she rubbed her feet, peeling off her socks. She lifted her leather bodice over her head and added it to the wash. Her arms ached. Her legs throbbed and her bare belly was caked with rivulets of grime and sweat.
Drayco crinkled his black nose at her, sniffing.
‘That bad?’ she asked.
Worse!
‘I’ll bathe soon.’
Why not now?
‘Clothes first.’
She wanted nothing more than to soak away the aches and pains of the day, but her chores called and there would be no scrimping. There was something else on her mind that kept her feeling giddy, even with the exhaustion.
A smile lifted dirt smudges on her face as she filled a basin from the wooden rain barrel. Her skills were improving rapidly. That fact delighted her. After so much time spent in the mundane arts of ritual spellcasting, the sword training offered a sense of satisfaction—something new for her at Treeon. She was getting good, dangerously good.
She felt certain her progress had pleased the Sword Master too. She could see it in his stance, his gaze, and especially in the diminishing number of times he’d shaken his head or stormed out of the training ring muttering under his breath. Yes, An’ Lawrence was impressed, finally. But what else? She felt a struggle going on inside him that she didn’t understand. What did he hide?
Her admiration for him had not diminished in the last few weeks of training. It was not wearing off with familiarity, nor was it being set aside for more immediate things like defending herself from his blade. Sometimes getting to know a person made them seem more ordinary. It could dim the spark, or even extinguish it altogether, but this wasn’t the case with An’ Lawrence. If anything, her respect for him had heightened. Nell had said he was the best and she was right.
Still, she wondered what it was the man kept so tightly hidden. It felt like a barricade, shored up whenever she got too close.
Rosette brushed her cheek with her shoulder as she scrubbed the clothes. Her skin was itchy and damp in the fresh autumn night, but soon she would be in the baths, then sleep until dawn. Tomorrow would start the final week of preparation. She and An’ Lawrence would exchange practice staffs and swords for live blades. The thud of wood would turn to the clash of steel on steel. She shivered. How would her boosts of energy conduct through such a medium? Like lightning, she suspected.
Now to the pools? Drayco lifted his paw to her thigh as she leaned against the porch railing, wringing out the laundry.
Rosette turned to her friend. ‘Sorry, my lovely. I was lost in thought.’
And? he prompted her.
‘And I just wanted to know if you had any information regarding our travels? You seem pretty cosy with Scylla these days. Has she said anything?