The Spell of Rosette - Kim Falconer [96]
‘Bethsay Matosh?’
Rosette regretted her slip the moment she spoke. She had kept the secret so well.
‘It’s true, then,’ he said. ‘You’re not a de Santo. You’re not even a Rosette, are you?’
Her eyes refilled with tears. When she closed them they overflowed, washing down her face. ‘I am now.’
Maudi, I thought you were going to sleep.
She hugged Drayco to her. Dray, I think Nell might be my mother.
Of course she is.
Rosette grabbed her familiar’s head and stared into his orange eyes. What?
She’s your mother, or sister. You have the same blood.
How can you tell?
I can smell it.
And the Sword Master. Did you know about him too?
No, Maudi. That was a surprise.
She let out a breath that she hadn’t realised she’d been holding and wiped her face on the furs. A mask hid her feelings, covering her turbulence with a seamless calm.
‘So, Sword Master,’ she said, her voice in perfect control. ‘This must mean I have a good chance of getting the apprenticeship. A blood-tie counts for much, does it not?’
He studied her features closely. ‘I don’t know why I didn’t see it before. You look just like her, save for the eyes. They’re like my mother’s.’
Rosette lifted her chin and looked past him. ‘The apprenticeship?’ she asked again.
He looked directly at her, forcing her to connect. ‘I think we can say the apprenticeship is yours, Rosette.’ Her face remained smooth, unchanged.
‘It’s about time.’
Jarrod dismounted and led the copper-red mare to the edge of the stream. The water flowed around chunks of ice and jutting boulders. They were back in the cold and he didn’t like it one bit. He also thought it might have been a mistake to have rushed off without getting further supplies. He had grain for Wren but only dried meat and frozen mulled wine left for himself. He would need to make a fire tonight.
He pulled Wren’s head out of the stream. ‘Ten sips at a time, girl,’ he said, keeping her head up when she tried to drink again. ‘You’re lathered and that water’s ice-cold. I can’t have you foundering on me.’
He looked up at the mountain pass. There was a blizzard raging up there. The golden rays of sunset streaked across the dark clouds making it look like a battle of the sky gods. If Rosette and the Sword Master were up there now, their chances of survival were on the edge.
He scouted for a place to camp that wasn’t packed with snowdrifts or soaked with brown slush. How people made a life in these regions, he had no idea. He scanned the undulating hills, realising that no-one did. The place was barren, empty. He led the mare along the face of a steep cliff before finding a sheltered gorge. The rocks were almost warm to the touch from the day’s sun, and the wind didn’t reach it at all. Wren nudged his back, prompting him to enter, clearly liking the choice.
He marvelled at his horse’s endurance. He had ridden almost non-stop for two days and until now she’d shown no signs of fatigue. He unsaddled her and filled her feedbag to the brim. Slipping the silver bit from her mouth he replaced it with the burlap bag and she dived savagely into the hay cubes and grain.
‘You’re one strong companion,’ he crooned as he curried her thick winter coat, steam rising where the saddle had been. ‘Thank you, milady.’
Picking up each hoof, he checked for stones or loose nails and ran his hand down her legs, feeling for swollen tendons. Nothing. She’d be fit and sound, ready to climb the pass tomorrow—if the storm cleared.
Jarrod made a fire with what fuel he could find. Fortunately, the little gorge had trapped a great deal of driftwood from previous floods. They’d lodged in the shrubs and rocks and the twisted shapes were dry and combustible. In moments he had a comfortable blaze going, placing his little pot of dried beef soup on the coals that were already burning red. He flipped open his book—a novel about leviathan sea creatures said to dwell in the southern seas—reading aloud to the mare as he melted drinking water and mulled wine. When the sun had well and truly set, he wrapped himself in furs and fell asleep. Nell would find