Chapter Nine

The obvious question was unanswered and to Speranzi’s mind, unanswerable at that moment, so instead of allowing the quiet to stretch, she asked the next most obvious. “Are you actually any good with a sword?” Speranzi asked and cocked her head, looking the ‘former’ bandit over afresh.

Skana nodded. “I was… being just a little mean to myself before. Other than the things I said, I was a good dancer, back before everything fell apart. It turned out I had a natural talent as a sword dancer. I practiced for hours every day, I ran with my armor on to hide the fact that I was a woman, and it made me very strong relative to my size! After two or three years I stopped losing fights in training.”

Speranzi rubbed her chin, “The gods do bless some with hidden talents, it’s not unheard of for someone to awaken one of them with training. Talented warriors gain the strength of dozens. They learn martial magic as their skills grow and their body reveals the blessing of their growth… how many martial arts can you use?”

“I have two, Lady Speranzi. I can use Flow Acceleration and Lesser Speed.” Skana said and bit her lower lip before saying, “Bodger could use three. I never fought him, to be honest. He always refused. He called it a ‘waste of time’. But he did teach me things.”

“Three?” Speranzi whistled, “They really were lucky he didn’t expect any pursuit. I can only use three, most of my soldiers can use only one or two.”

There was nothing for Skana to add to what was just said, so she remained quiet on her knees.

“Somehow it just doesn’t feel right to kill you, and it feels just as wrong to send you away.” Speranzi drummed her fingers on the table and crossed one leg over the other while the odd Skana remained looking her in the eyes and waiting for a verdict.

“I’ll be loyal to you. I swear it.” Skana breathed the words like a priest intoning a prayer.

“You won’t be able to hide your identity.” Speranzi pointed out.
“I don’t care!” Skana remarked, “Everybody knows you have a disciplined troup.”

“That isn’t what I mean, Skana. It means everybody will know you were one of the reavers we captured. Even if permission to join us comes from me, the rest of them will treat you differently. They’re all born to at least one half of the noble class. You’re-” Speranzi tried to speak with caution, more gentle in her words than usual, but Skana would have none of it.

“I don’t care! That’s just my whole life anyway!” She exclaimed and slapped a fist against her chest forgetting the previous warning Speranzi gave to her. “My sword is yours, if you would have it! Let me worry about being despised as lesser for my birth or my life!”

Speranzi had not failed to notice that every time she was addressed by the auburn-haired woman, it was while being looked in the eye, it was a strange feeling to be looked at that way. ‘Nobody has been able to do that consistently since I was a young girl. Not even they wanted to.’

That cinched it. “Fine.” Speranzi finally answered, “You can stay with the Black Quivers. But if you want to be useful to me… you can’t count much, but can you read or write? No, no of course you can’t, can you?” She almost took her question back, it was rare enough for a peasant to learn anything about swordplay. Even in Qadish where demihumans crossing the border were a threat, most never had the chance to learn, but this one had. If she’d managed that much? ‘Reading and writing aren’t off the table.’

But in this area, Skana admitted her deficiency. “No, Ma’am. I learned a few letters, but just enough to write my name for my baptism, just what the priest taught me.”

“I suppose that is no surprise.” Speranzi replied and let out a heavy breath.

Skana quickly added, “But the priest said I was smart! That I learned my letters faster than the other children!” She opened the fist which had remained set against her breast, “I’ll learn fast if you want me to! I just need someone to teach me!”

“It’s a requirement in the Black Quivers. I learned years ago that well educated soldiers make better and more flexible ones. It’s no accident that this unit is made up of the cast off bastard sons and daughters of noble houses. They come to me already trained in how to fight and knowing how to read, write, and count. Ones who can do that can write down information, they can count soldiers when scouting, they can read written orders, and so on. So you’ll have to learn. I’ll put you with Micah, one of our two magic casters. He’ll teach you how to do those things you can’t yet.” Speranzi said and rose to her feet.

She approached the woman who remained on her knees, “But are you sure? You can go back and live a normal life somewhere if I kick you out of this room. Sell your equipment, and you can probably get a little plot of land somewhere safe, build a farm and go back to your old life.”

Skana quickly retorted, “There is no such place as safe. A few years running with reavers taught me that. The Kingdom hasn’t been safe since the Demon invaded. I doubt the south is much better.”

“Maybe not, but we end up in some kind of fight every few months. A peasant has to only fear that sort of thing very rarely.” Speranzi pointed out, but already she knew it was futile. The gleam of determination in Skana’s eyes were familiar, she’d seen them on many a young warrior determined to carve their names into the story of the world with their sword. ‘Most of them end up dying before they get good at this, but that determined look is hard to say no to.’

“Can you use a shield, a bow, any other weapons?” Speranzi rushed on before Skana could protest the previous admonition.

“A bow. My father taught me, even though my mother protested that it wasn’t something a girl should do.” Skana snorted a little and a wistful smile came to her face, “My father and mother argued about it, and he told her arguing with her husband’s decision wasn’t something ‘she’ was supposed to do, and that hadn’t stopped her. My mother stormed off in a huff and didn’t protest, so… I’m good enough to hunt for food. Not much better. But good enough.”

“That’ll be fine, you’ll get lots of practice. I'm better at the bow than the sword.” Speranzi said and then as Skana’s face flushed with pleasure she said, “You can make your oath now, repeat after me.”

Speranzi cleared her throat and held a fist over her chest, “I, state your name.”

Skana put her fist back over her chest in the same fashion as her new commander, “I, Skana.” She repeated with that same breathless hero worship in her voice.

“Swear to obey Speranzi and her code until I die.” Speranzi stated the next part.

“Swear to obey Speranzi and her code until I die.” Skana answered back a little louder than she needed to.

“Good, it’s done.” Speranzi dropped her hand down at her side.

“Ah, not to question you so soon, My Lady, but… is that it? Aren’t oaths usually long and like, detail all kinds of things like brotherhood and sacrifice, honor and never surrendering and… that’s how it is in all the stories anyway.” Skana looked up while her new leader went back to the table and sat down.

Speranzi gestured to the seat opposite herself and laughed openly, her mouth opened so wide that Skana could see her back molars until the woman closed her mouth and shook her head. “Yes, lots of nobles have those sorts of things. Grandiose nonsense. Listen, a long oath is no stronger than a short one. I don’t need long oaths, I need strong wills. A man can tell a long lie as easy as a short one. Either you mean what you say or you don’t. At least a short lie won’t waste much time.” She chuckled a little, but Skana did not.

The peasant sat still except for fidgeting fingers as the weight of it all hit her, “It’s not a lie…” She barely whispered the words out, her hands began to tremble, and Speranzi quickly cut her off.

“You don’t have to tell me, you have to show me.” Speranzi remarked offhandedly, “Besides, you have some other use to me that nobody else does.”

Skana’s vibrant green eyes shimmered and grew wide, “I do?!”

“Yes. I’m hard to look at. You’re easy on the eyes. Just like back at the House of Law. You can serve as my face, like a… kind of diplomat, someone who speaks for their lord.” Speranzi quickly explained the position before forcing Skana to embarrass herself by not knowing what a diplomat was. “Then you can relay things to me, since you for some reason, don’t have to avert your eyes when we talk.” Speranzi actually felt an involuntary smile forming on her own face, it wasn’t an unfamiliar expression, but it was exceptionally rare.

‘To look at someone and not have their response remind me…’ Speranzi covered the sign of the pleasant thought by leaning back in her chair and averting her own eyes from Skana and toward the rest of the room. She then reached into her coin pouch and brought out a handful of copper coins and slapped them on the table in front of her newest weapon. “I have only one bed here, so go get yourself a room for the night and see me in the morning. I’ll talk to Corwin and ask him to send an order ahead to Wenmark, I’m sure we can have some proper armor prepared for you by the time you arrive, and I’ll put your sword skills to the test before we leave.”

Skana put her hand out over the coins and drew them toward herself. They scraped over the table and fell into her waiting hand. “I-I… yes of course!” Her face lit up and her breasts heaved with the rush of excitement as years of preparation culminated into a single decision.

“I’ll see you in the morning, Ma’am.” Skana said and rushed out of the room, the door shut harder than the young woman probably intended it to, and Speranzi was alone.

Outside, the menacing commander of the Black Quivers heard a cry of “Woohoo!” that could only have been Skana.

It was hard not to smirk a little and picture an almost childish jump of excitement. “So, that one is sincere, I think.” She said to herself and rolled her fearsome eyes. Alone at last she could say out loud what she had kept quiet.

“It’ll be nice to talk to someone that doesn’t look away.” And that thought kept Speranzi warm for the rest of the day, up until the very moment she fell asleep and thought of nothing else at all.