Briar handed them the rings, which Patient had lovingly carved out of hardwood into the form of a stylised falcon and eagle, with matching garnets like the one in Hope’s bracelet forming the eyes. They slipped them on each other’s left hands, the hand of the heart, and kissed, keeping it seemly in front of the scholar even though they longed for each other.
A couple more hymns followed, to which Hope was all but oblivious, and Briar had to take her friend by the arm to get her into position for the procession. Patient’s family and friends, his neighbours, fellow craftspeople and old military comrades, lined up on one side of a track marked out with flowers, and the gnomes, Rosie and a medication-calmed Dignified on the other. The newly oathbound couple walked down it, accepting congratulations first from their oathmate’s side, and then, turning round and coming back, from their own side. Briar and Productive walked behind carrying a symbolic arch that represented a new beginning for the pair.
They spent several days after the ceremony in the beautiful Valley of Uld, which involved a certain amount of walking, and Patient’s leg was stiff and aching in a gentle, steady rhythm when they finally walked through the door of the cottage. Their cottage, now, not just his. Even as he slumped into a chair near the door to rest his leg, that thought made him smile.
“I could really do with a soak in your bathtub back in Illene right now,” he said.
“Funny you should say that,” said Hope. She had an odd look on her face, almost a smirk.
“Why?”
“Come and look.”
He heaved himself to his feet and hobbled to her. She took his hand and led him to the bathroom door.
He looked at her, puzzled. She gestured at the door.
He opened it, expecting to see his cramped, dark little bathroom — and blinked as the light flooded out of the spacious, modern room. An enormous tub steamed at the back, between three walls made largely of translucent glass bricks. After a moment of confusion, he realised that the back wall had been removed and the room pushed out onto part of the back porch.
“What the… How?”
“You gave me a key,” she said.
“And?”
“And I talked to the gnomes, and they knew some people who could install a heat gate in the kitchen range at short notice and…” she gestured largely, “do this. As a surprise for you.”
He took his new oathmate tenderly in his arms. “Three things,” he said.
“Yes?”
“First, next time you renovate our cottage, please ask.”
“Sorry.”
“Second, thank you, it’s wonderful.”
He felt her relax under his hands.
“And thirdly, why are we still out here wearing these clothes when there’s a wonderful hot bath right there?”
Relaxed and warm, some time later, they dried each other tenderly and enjoyed a deep kiss with no risk of oathconflict reaction.
“Do you want to see my surprise now?” he said.
“It’s in the bedroom?”
“Yes.”
“That’s exactly the kind of surprise I’m in the mood for.”
He smiled, and led her down the short hall.
She gasped as he opened the door of the main bedroom to reveal the enormous bed.
“My grandfather carved the headboard for his oathmate,” he said. “My father carved the footboard likewise. And I carved the canopy.”
“It’s beautiful,” she said, almost whispering, raising her hand as if to trace the leaves and vines of the carving.
“You want to try it out?”
“Oh, yes,” she breathed.
More Gryphon Clerks
Hope and the Patient Man is the third of a series of books in the same setting. The first, Realmgolds, tells the story of Realmgold Victory, her ally Determined, Realmgold of Denning, and the Unification War from their perspective. It covers a subset of the timeline of Hope and the Clever Man, the second book, and you can start with either one.
Hope and the Clever Man tells the beginning of Hope’s story, continued in this volume: her early teaching from Sincerity, her unfortunate affair with Faithful, the curse, the beginning of her friendship with Briar, the development of the farspeaker technology, and Hope, Briar and Bucket’s role in the emancipation of the gnomes.
You can get the other books in the series from Amazon (the link should take you to your nearest Amazon store):
Realmgolds
Hope and the Clever Man
Future books will follow Bucket and Briar as they become involved in a political campaign for the new Representative Assembly and face organised crime, corruption and the opposition of other gnomes; and Gizmo and his team at the Institute as they race to solve the mystery of an ancient elven material, while dealing with prejudice and academic rivalry.
To find out more, to sign up for notifications of new books coming out, and to get free access to short fiction in the Gryphon Clerks setting, go to:
http://csidemedia.com/gryphonclerks
Acknowledgements
As always, my thanks to everyone who helped, especially the following:
My excellent beta readers, Richard Abbott, Andy Brokaw, Erin Eymard, and Brian Rush. Richard was especially detailed in his feedback, and it was extremely useful. (Yes, the same betas helped me with both this and the previous volume.)
A special acknowledgement to Gregory Lynn, who not only digs my stuff but groks it.
My developmental editor, Kathleen Dale, strengthened the story again. It’s what she does. She had an even better idea, but I didn’t feel I was good enough to implement it yet. Maybe someday.
My cover designer, Chris Howard, made another beautiful cover that captures the connection between the main characters.
Thanks, too, to everyone who reviewed the previous books. Please consider leaving a review for Hope and the Patient Man on Goodreads, Amazon or wherever else you post reviews. Thanks!
About the Author
Mike Reeves-McMillan has a black belt, which holds up his trousers. He's not sure why authors make such a big deal of these, but they are certainly convenient, trouserwise.
For someone with an English degree, he's spent a surprising amount of time wearing a hard hat. He's also studied ritualmaking, hypnotherapy and health science.
He writes strange worlds that people want to live in. Mike himself lives in Auckland, New Zealand, surrounded by trees.
He blogs at http://csidemedia.com/gryphonclerks.
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