Legacy of Steel by Mary H. Herbert

Author:Mary H. Herbert [Herbert, Mary H.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-7869-1187-5
Publisher: Fanversion Publishing
Published: 2016-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

A messenger from Knight Officer Targonne stood outside Sara's tent the next morning as the squires were rising for breakfast. They roused Sara apologetically and told her there was a messenger with a package for her. She rolled out of her cot, feeling sore and aching in every muscle and joint.

The messenger, a young squire, looked at her askance when she creaked out of her tent and identified herself.

Sara laughed inwardly. She guessed she looked dreadful, and here she had to greet this young man whom she could tell-was destined for the knighthood. Tall, bound with muscles, steely-eyed, and humorless, he would make a perfect Knight of Takhisis.

"Knight Warrior Conby," he said, a taint of doubt in his tone. "Knight Officer Targonne sent me to pass on his regards and to give you this sword with his compliments." He handed her a leather-wrapped bundle before he saluted briefly and hurried away.

Sara untied the strings holding the leather together and uncovered the sword that lay within.

"Wow," said Derrick, who peered over her shoulder.

Sara couldn't agree more. The sword was exquisitely crafted, elegantly simple, and well balanced. To her intense relief, the weapon was plain. There were no death lilies or skulls or other evil symbols adorning its surfaces. The steel blade had a diamond profile and a sharp point for thrusting through plate armor or bursting links of mail. The cross guard was copper gilt and polished to a sheen; the grip was made with black horn and ended in a fish-tail pommel. Sara was interested to see that the pommel had an empty space and four prongs in the butt, as if a stone or something had once sat there.

She gripped the sword in her right hand and hefted the blade. The weapon felt good, not too heavy, not too cumbersome. She wondered if it had originally been made for a woman. She switched the sword to her left hand and gave it a swing over her head.

"Come on," she called to the squires. "We have sword drills today."

Massard was nowhere around to gainsay her, so the talon went to the practice fields and spent the morning working on their fighting skills. Sara wrapped her ankle for support, then led the squires through their exercises and drills. When they finished that, she divided the talon into two teams and set up a mock battle. By noon, she was pleased not only with the new sword Targonne had sent her but with the squires as well.

After a quick meal, everyone went his separate way for the afternoon to fulfill his duties with other knights. Since Massard remained absent, Sara had no one to tell her what to do. Her morning's exertions had seriously tapped her slender reserves of strength, and she considered taking a nap. But there was something else she wanted to do, and she decided not to put it off any longer.

Strapping her new sword to her belt, she walked to the main gate and wandered into the streets of inner Neraka.

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