In Two Minds (Prince Wulfstan Book 1) by K.T. Findlay

Author:K.T. Findlay [Findlay, K.T.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-10-31T22:00:00+00:00

12 Double digits

Thomas did the introductions from his side.

‘I’m Freawaru.’ said the leader, a strongly built blonde.

Thomas laughed. ‘That means peaceful hearth, doesn’t it? Well, I can certainly see the fire!’

She shot him a look. ‘And this is my sister Storm. We’re blacksmiths.’

The look continued, daring him to say anything.

He nodded. ‘That explains the strength and the skill. Most impressive.’

Still guarded, she introduced the others. ‘These are my cousins, Topaz, Scarlett and Jade.’

‘And what do they do?’ asked Thomas.

‘Sometimes they help out at the forge, but Scarlett can read and write, so she kept the business books. Topaz and Jade are polishers and sharpeners for the knives we make.’

Thomas bowed. ‘It’s very unusual to meet any female blacksmiths at all, let alone two of them together. Throw in two polishers and sharpeners and it’s unheard of!’

Freawaru glared at him defensively. ‘Our father had no sons. He wanted Storm and me to marry so he’d have people who could take over the business when he got too old.’

Storm laughed, tossing her long ash blonde hair across her powerful shoulders. ‘But we didn’t think anyone in the village was worth marrying, so we put him off all the time!’

Freawaru nodded. ‘So Storm and I insisted he teach us ourselves, and after a lot of arguing, he did. We’re good too! Not as strong as the men perhaps, but we can do pretty much everything they can except the really heavy stuff, and some things we do better than them.’

‘I don’t doubt that for a moment.’ Thomas replied. He knew that there had indeed been female blacksmiths through the ages, despite many people thinking it was a male only craft. ‘So was that why he let Topaz and Jade try out the polishing and sharpening? Because you two turned out so good as blacksmiths?’

Topaz broke in. ‘No. We did that ourselves. Our father, Freawaru’s father’s brother, sharpened the village tools. We stole two of the old worn out polishing stones and learned with them. When the old man saw what we could do with stones he thought fit only for the midden, he let us get on with it properly. It doesn’t take strength. It just takes a good eye, and good skill.’

‘People always wanted our knives if they had a choice.’ added Jade.

Thomas nodded. ‘I know just how much skill is involved to polish and sharpen a blade. So that leaves you.’ he said, turning to Scarlett.

She blushed. ‘Our fathers had a clerk in the early days who diddled them by cooking the books. They vowed to keep it in the family after that, so father forced the priest to teach me.’

Thomas laughed. ‘How did he manage to do that?’

Freawaru said ‘Easy. Father refused to fix his sickle until he agreed!’

Thomas laughed again. ‘Excellent. I’d liked to have met your fathers.’

All five burst into tears.

Thomas winced. ‘I’m so sorry. That was thoughtless of me.’

While all this had been going on, Berthilda had been checking out the two horses the women had used for their escape.

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