Heart of Steel

by Samantha M. Derr

  Their road kept them well away from the faeryfens, but not so far they couldn't smell them. They made Izzy's skin crawl. The scent of rot was heavy in the air. The roadside trees were shrubby and stunted, and no farmers tried to cultivate the land. There were fen-folk living out in the murky waterways, but they were suspicious of outsiders and unfriendly, and Izzy would count herself lucky they never met any. She would be glad when they were well out of those lands.

  Lee felt otherwise. "I hope we get to see Kelpies." She sighed. "They're the most beautiful horses, and there's nowhere in the kingdom with more of them!" She looked out into the dark, toward the fens.

  "Pray you don't," Izzy contradicted. "Kelpies might look like horses, but they're not." She'd seen one up close, just once, and the only thing about it that looked like a horse was the glamour it wore. Without that, it was a nightmare. "You'd be lucky to get away alive."

  "What's the point of being a knight if not grand adventures?" Lee argued. Izzy opened her mouth, but Lee answered before Izzy could. "Protecting people, yes, I know."

  "There's plenty of adventures in that," Izzy said. Lee would figure out soon enough that there was enough danger in the world without seeking out more. Izzy could remember being that young and hot-blooded too, though, and couldn't begrudge Lee her enthusiasm.

  Izzy let her attention drift as Lee and Tom chattered about whether a Kelpie could breed with a regular horse and if the resulting crossbreed would be a good warhorse. She walked the perimeter Tom had set, eyes turned into the darkness until the fire-blindness cleared. The moon was waxing and the scrubby fenlands were bathed in pale gray. Points of light danced in the foggy distance: fireflies, fen-folk's fishing lights, or creatures magical—Izzy couldn't tell.

  Tom declared supper done, and Izzy returned to the fire. Martel finished doing Lady Siofra's braids. They were thicker than the last ones she'd had, fewer of them, but gleaming and smooth where her old ones had grown fuzzy from travel and wear.

  "Thank you, Martel," Lady Siofra said, tying them in a knot at the back of her neck. "That feels so much better."

  "My pleasure, dear," Martel promised. "I used to braid my girls' hair. I miss it sometimes, though I prefer my own short." She touched her own hair, graying curls clinging close to her head with the ends teased out into points like a dandelion's mane.

  Lady Siofra hugged her and accepted a bowl of stew from Tom. It was thickened with lentils tonight, hearty and satisfying in Izzy's belly. Just the thing to chase off the chilly fog that was rising off the faeryfens.

  "Better sleep in the wagon tonight," Izzy commented as everyone finished eating. She didn't like the feel of the place and the weather, and she'd sleep better knowing everyone was close together, even with their wards in place.

  "It won't rain, but we'd get soaked by dew out in this," Tom agreed.

  Early mornings and long days meant no one wanted to stay up late. Martel doused the fire while Tom washed dishes, and Lee checked the horses one last time. Izzy waited for her to return, then collected her where she was gazing wistfully toward the fens and their inevitable kelpies. Lee sighed like her heart was breaking, but followed when Izzy tugged her toward bed.

  Izzy would be more than glad when they were past that temptation.

  *~*~*

  The next day the road was again flanked by good farmland and well managed forests. The worry in Izzy's stomach eased, and even the placid oxen seemed in better spirits on the firmer road.

  They passed through a village, a handful of cottages clustered around a well and hardly worth naming. Lady Siofra walked on her own feet and even struck up a conversation with a dairymaid while the animals were being watered. She ripened a patch of strawberries in trade for a small bottle of milk. She wrapped the bottle in a dampened dock leaf to keep it cool and stowed it with a pleased smile.

  It was good to see her gaining confidence, though a sleepy village was not nearly as stressful as the noble courts Lady Siofra would end up needing to navigate. A step at a time, though, and this was a good first step. Their company moved on through the afternoon.

  "There's the border of County Quicksilver," Martel pointed out. It was firmly demarcated, meadows and farmland cut off at the edge of the forest. "No more hunting for us without a new writ. We'll be deep under the trees by nightfall. That'll be nice for your ladyship, won't it?"

  Lady Siofra stopped where she'd run into the borders of a meadow after an herb, planting both feet as she lifted her head. She looked toward the forest, and then back at the company.

  "We need to stop here for the night," she said.

  "We can make a few more miles," Izzy contradicted. "You wanted to meet your friend at Quicksilver Hall, didn't you?" She'd be glad for a day of rest herself, once they were in a civilized place and welcomed as guests. Delays now would mean longer on the road.

  "No. It is necessary that we stop here." The wildflowers were fading from Lady Siofra's hair, but her tone was firm.

  "Come on, we're going," Izzy ordered. Why was a Forestyne refusing to enter the forest? It made no sense at all, and she had no patience for this delay. Martel had begun slowing the oxen, despite Izzy gesturing her impatiently to continue.

  "Stop the wagon, Martel," Lady Siofra ordered with a noblewoman's imperious tone. "Tom, set up my tent. Please." She tacked the polite word awkwardly on the end, as though it would excuse the inconvenience.

  Even Lee looked back and forth between them, torn between opposing orders. Izzy was the knight in charge of this company, but Lady Siofra outranked her. Izzy gritted her teeth and cursed under her breath before she gave the order to stop.

  Lady Siofra stood in the meadow, toes digging into the dirt as she watched them pull the wagon off the road and set up camp. Izzy passed her mare's reins to Lee and went to try and talk some sense into her.

  "There are comfortable wayfarers' points in the forest," Izzy said. "We should make for one tonight."

  "We can continue on in the morning." Lady Siofra's chin set stubbornly and there were tiny purple-green leaves in her hair.

  "This is a waste. I was tasked with taking you home. With all respect, your ladyship, I have no time for fanciful whims and—" Izzy was cut off by a rustling hiss like a thousand blades being sharpened. All the hair stood up on the back of her neck as every blade of grass in the meadow swayed, edges slicing against each other and the legs of her armor.

  Lady Siofra's eyes blazed, nightshade blooming vivid purple through her braids, deadly poison. Beyond the meadow, trees shuddered and creaked, limbs tossing as though they would seize and tear apart anyone who came within reach—or uproot themselves to go hunting. Birds launched themselves screaming from the branches.

  Thin vines sprouted around Lady Siofra's toes, growing up her legs to root her in place, and Izzy stumbled back as thornier ones tried to do the same to her. Every instinct was screaming to run, to draw her sword and fight, but there was nothing to strike and nowhere safe. Every plant as far as she could see was responding to Lady Siofra's anger.

  "Goddess preserve us!" Martel cried out, trying to calm the oxen while Lee hung on to Boots and Thunder.

  Lady Siofra's attention snapped toward Martel, her eyes widened and then closed as she lifted her head toward the sky and slowly drew her hands in toward her heart. Stillness rolled inward in waves, the opposite of a pebble dropped in water, all drawn back into Lady Siofra.

  There was dead silence as the crying birds settled. Lady Siofra took a long breath before she dropped her hands and opened her eyes.

  "You were hired to guard my travel, Ser Isolde," Lady Siofra said, voice painfully even through her teeth, "and I will travel no more today." She spun on her heel, vines dropping, and walked away from the company.

  Izzy retreated to the wagon to help soothe the terrified animals. A few brave crickets began chirping again.

  "How did she reach that far?" Martel whispered to Tom. "No one has that much power and range. No one."

  Lady Siofra had said her moth
er couldn't train her. The word choice suddenly struck Izzy's mind. Not that she wouldn't, or didn't want to, that she could not do it. Five years with the Forestyne to learn control, deep in the forest with other green sorceresses where she could harm no one. She had just awakened over an acre of plants to battle, and it had not tired her. She was still standing, with no sign of fatigue.

  Raw power didn't change the fact that Lady Siofra was wasting their time. Izzy grumbled and turned away from Lady Siofra, though it made the back of her neck prickle.

  "Your Ladyship," Tom's tone was cautious, conciliatory. "It may storm tonight—not the best for tent camping."

  "Set it up regardless," Lady Siofra said, quietly. "Thank you."

  Camp was tense that evening. Tom caught a few beautiful trout in the little stream at the bottom of the meadow, and Martel fried them up golden and flaky over the fire, but even good food could not lighten the mood. Poison nightshade berries glinted in Lady Siofra's braids, and she and Izzy faced away from one another. Lee and Martel tried telling stories, but they fell flat and cold silence reigned.

  Izzy was in no mood for sleep as night fell. The weather Tom had predicted rolled in, light squalls of wind and rain, but Izzy wrapped up in her oilskin cloak and climbed onto the top of the wagon to keep watch. The moon was full, shining down bright between clouds, and set the raindrops on the treacherous meadow grasses glittering like stars.

  Motion caught Izzy's attention: Lady Siofra stepping out of her tent with something in her hands. She went to the wards' edge and stood quietly, facing the moon, until the clouds parted and it lit her in brilliance. Lady Siofra lifted her left hand, a bowl in her palm that gleamed like silver. She raised her right hand above, poured a stream of milk into the basin, then dropped the bottle and reached into her dress to pull out a necklace. A silver moon pendant.

  Oh.

  There was nothing this could be but a rededication to the moon. Izzy dragged her eyes away, giving Lady Siofra privacy as she lay the pendant in the milk and raised it to the sky. Her voice was a quiet murmur out in the dark, speaking the traditional words. Izzy quickly climbed down and into the wagon.

  Izzy had not been invited to share in this, and it was cruel to intrude. It was a private ritual, and she had already seen too much. She worried briefly about leaving Lady Siofra unguarded outside, but dismissed it as she settled into her hammock. Lady Siofra was still inside the wards, and with her magic strength there wasn't much that could threaten her.

  She hardly needed a knight to guard her way home. Izzy's presence was more for appearances than she was strictly comfortable with.

  The indistinct sound of Lady Siofra's voice faded away, ritual complete, and Izzy found herself mouthing a reflexive thanks to the Goddess though she had not been a part of the ritual and prayer. Rain drifted through, and eventually Izzy slept.

  The company was still on edge the next morning. Lady Siofra was keeping her distance from everyone. Tom, Martel, and Lee stayed quiet, glancing frequently between her and Izzy.

  This was Izzy's mistake to fix. She held her hand out for Lady Siofra's portion of bread and cheese and quince preserves along with her own, and Martel sighed with relief.

  "Lady Siofra, I owe you an apology," Izzy said, offering the plate to her. Lady Siofra's eyes were red, as though she'd been crying. She accepted the plate with a slight nod, and Izzy continued. "If I'd known you needed the moonlight for a rededication, I wouldn't have argued."

  "That should not matter," Lady Siofra said. Her chin trembled slightly, but she steeled it. "I said it was necessary. That should have been enough. I know my own needs, and I deserve respect."

  Izzy bowed her head, nodding. She hadn't been seeing Lady Siofra as a competent person; she'd dismissed her simply for her light heart and love of flowers. "You are right. I apologize."

  Lady Siofra took a bite of her breakfast, and Izzy took one of her own, and the silence grew back between them as they ate. It was a more comfortable silence, at least.

  The chain of Lady Siofra's moon pendant was visible at the neck of her dress. Izzy had assumed it was some pretty vanity and given it no thought.

  "You know, the Knights of the Winter Star take women of choice and women of birth equally," Izzy said. "There's no difference. We're all women together." Plenty of her sister-knights were women of choice and wore moon pendants like Lady Siofra did, rededicating them and themselves to the full moon every month. An enchanted pendant and the right ritual, and their bodies softened to more closely match their hearts rather than remaining like those of men. The order even hired sorceresses to craft them and provided them to any Knight who needed one, and gave them for free to women of choice who could not afford to buy their own. The Knights of the Winter Star served and protected women, all women alike.

  Lady Siofra smiled softly. "I know," she said. "Why do you think my mother asked a knight of your order to see me home?"

  *~*~*

  The woods of County Quicksilver were pleasant enough. Lady Siofra seemed to enjoy the days they spent traveling through. It made Izzy's skin crawl when Siofra had a tree reach down and sweep her up into the canopy to gather some rare medicinal moss, but thankfully she only did that once. Her satchel was starting to bulge, full of useful herbs fit for a true Forestyne.

  The town of Stone's Throw was a bustling place not far from Quicksilver Hall, and Siofra fell back from the wagon as they approached, looking toward Izzy. "May I ride with you again?" she asked.

  Izzy wordlessly held out a hand to help her up. Things were still a little stiff between them after their argument, but they were mending. It was a relief that Siofra asked. She settled in behind Izzy, and they rode through the town. They had no reason to stop, not with their destination so close.

  "Should we send word ahead?" Izzy asked, glancing back at Lady Siofra, allowing her to be part of this decision.

  "Jocosa knows to expect me this spring, but yes, we should," Siofra said.

  "Where do I hire a runner?" Izzy asked a few young people who'd stopped their business to stare at them. She pulled a silver coin from her purse. "I need a runner to Quicksilver Hall."

  Several of them jumped up, clamoring that they could do it fastest. Izzy chose a girl with long legs and a competitive glint in her eye. "You. Take word that Lady Siofra of Greatbriar and entourage are on their way." Izzy flipped the coin to her, and the girl snatched it and tore away like there was a fire on her heels.

  Siofra did not dismount when they were through the town. She was undoing her braids behind Izzy, finger-combing her hair into a big mane of curls with tiny flower buds hidden inside.

  "Do I look... presentable?" she asked. "I've been traveling, and I'm only wearing a Forestyne's shift."

  "You're beautiful," Izzy promised. The simplest of clothes couldn't disguise it. "And you are a Forestyne." She squeezed Siofra's hand, grinning as she uttered Siofra's often used phrase.

  Lady Siofra smiled and ducked her head a bit at that, flower buds blushing pink in her hair.

  *~*~*

  Izzy rode ahead of the wagon, abreast with Lee carrying the standards. People were running back and forth on the outer walls and shouting when they saw Greatbriar's colors flying above the pennant of the Winter Star. The gates were open wide, and a woman in a long lavender gown stood between them.

  "Jocosa!" Siofra called out, jumping down from the mare and running to her.

  "Siofra!" Countess Jocosa shouted back, starting forward. She nearly tripped on her skirts, then abandoned all decorum and picked them up to run herself. They fell into each other's arms, laughing and kissing cheeks. Lady Siofra's hair burst into bloom, all pale pink and white blossoms. They were talking over each other. Jocosa accused Siofra of growing too tall and being away too long, while Siofra exclaimed about how wonderful Jocosa and her house and her whole county were.

  Izzy and Lee stopped their horses, giving them space. Lee grinned hugely, while Izzy tried to keep a serious expression befitting a knight. Lady Siofra had
said that Countess Jocosa was a great friend, and she clearly had not exaggerated.

  "Welcome," Jocosa finally stepped back from Siofra, wiping happy tears from her round cheeks and looking up to Lee and Izzy. "Please, be welcome in my home. Come inside." She took Siofra's hand and led her through the gates, and they followed into the courtyard. Footmen were standing ready to take charge of the horses when they dismounted, and Izzy nodded her thanks.

  "'Cosa, meet my knights," Siofra introduced, smiling and squeezing Jocosa's hand. "Ser Isolde—Izzy—and her squire Lee."

  "We thank you for your hospitality, your ladyship." Izzy put her hand on her heart and bowed politely, a motion that was then mimicked by Lee at her side.

  "Knights of the Winter Star," Jocosa nodded back, nearly a curtsy. "I have such respect for your order. I am always safe on my pilgrimage to the blue shrine of the Goddess's mercy with your knights guarding the road. I always thought, if I ever have a daughter who's drawn to knighthood, the Winter Star will be the place to send her."

  "Thank you," Izzy accepted the compliment. "We do what we can." She'd guarded the way to the blue shrine a few times herself, and other shrines and temples, though traveling was more to her liking.

  "Come along, you must try the baths Siofra—this castle is built on a hot springs!" Jocosa urged them all after her, tugging Siofra along by the hand. "It's just the thing to soak away your travels. Then we will feast! And my dear Count has already been banished from my rooms. You and Isolde will sleep with me and my maidens tonight! Lee can stay with my nieces, girls your own age, you will adore each other I'm sure."