Hearthglen (Binding Words Book 3)

by Daniel Schinhofen

Ida sat hunched in her chair and Myna deflated. “I’m sorry, Ida. The question is still valid. Sean isn’t turning away from you, and if anything, he is going to protect you more. He will never turn away from one he values, but you can push him away if you aren’t careful.”

  Sean glanced between the women, unsure of how to enter the conversation without making it worse. Fiona squeezed his hand on the table, “You need to serve yourself so we can eat, dear.”

  Doing as she said, Sean frowned as he tried to untangle his own thoughts. “I’m not going to sit by and let them break the Bond we have. I’ll fight the fuck out of that. If Denmur and the others want to play dirty, then I’ll show them what it means to screw with the wrong guy.”

  “Sean,” Ida said as she served herself, “thank you. I’ll not rise to the bait again. I’ll ignore all words thrown my way.” Looking up to meet his gaze, her eyes were shining. “I will make myself the apprentice you deserve.”

  “You already are,” Sean replied. “Now eat up, you have a lot of work to do today.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Sean, if it’s alright, I’ll join her in making the pipes for our bathhouse,” Ryann said.

  “Sure, Ry. You two can jump in with Andrea when she goes to spar with Myna, too. Get some extra practice in.”

  “Yes.”

  “MacLenn will be by to pick up his clips. Should I direct him to Silvertouch and Gertihs for the precious metals?” Fiona asked between bites of frumenty.

  “Yes, we need to strengthen those friendships. We should also see about hosting Sam’s family and the Tacketts over the next few days.”

  “We’ll arrange for it,” Fiona replied.

  Sean and Chastity ate their breakfast more quickly than normal, finishing before everyone else. Heading downstairs, Sean was heading for the sitting room when Chastity spoke up. “Sir, about my mother… would you be willing to pay her Bond amount? I can’t pay you back quickly, but I’m willing to work for you until I can. I haven’t been allowed to see her when I’ve stopped by Weaver’s shop, and I worry.”

  Sean had stopped when she started speaking, and by the time she finished, he looked upset. “He’s denying you the right to see your mother?”

  “Her Bond stipulates she works every day until she has paid back through her labor or until another pays her debt off. She’s in his workrooms and he has refused to let me in to see her, and she isn’t allowed to leave the shop.”

  “How much is the debt?”

  Chastity looked down, “Two gold.” Seeing his frown, she quickly spoke up. “I have some set aside sir, but only silvers.”

  “I can’t, not at the moment,” Sean admitted. “Speak with Fiona and see if she can think of a way to arrange it once we have more money.”

  “I talked with her last night, sir. Fiona seemed like she wanted to help, but wished to broach the topic with you first. After hearing about Ida’s attempted sentence today, I worry for her more, since she didn’t get the stipulations that Ida got... that she would just be doing labor.”

  “Oh,” Sean said, understanding now why Chastity was so worried. Her mother could be being treated like Ryann had been by Oriv. “Let Fiona know I want to make this happen, but we still need to be stable for ourselves. We might want to up production of other items and maybe adjust our price for sales.”

  Lips trembling, Chastity curtsied low to him, “Thank you, sir. I’ll make it up to you. I promise it on my life.”

  Her words sent a chill running down Sean’s spine. Before he could voice his concern, Chastity stepped into the front room of the shop, opening up for the day. Shaking his head, he continued to the sitting room. I really hope that chill was just a draft and not a premonition, Sean sighed.

  Sean wasn’t alone for long when a knock announced Hans entering the room. “Morning, sir. I’m ready to learn. It has been difficult refraining from Shaping the last tenday.”

  “Good news, then, because you’ll be doing that today,” Sean said, letting go of the Mage Sight he had brought up to gauge Hans’ power level. “You should have enough energy now to be able to do more than just feel the metal.”

  Once Hans was seated, Sean handed him a one-pound bar of copper. “We’ll be starting slow. First, separate the bar into ten separate and equal pieces.”

  Letting out a slow breath, Hans picked up the bar. “How am I to know if they’re equal?”

  “Feel them. You’ll be able to tell,” Sean replied.

  “Yes, sir.”

  ~*~*~

  Hans was standing to leave when Ven appeared before Sean. “Sir, MacLenn is here to pick up his packages, and has asked to speak with you.”

  “Well, at least his timing is good,” Sean chuckled. “Hans, I’ll see you in a tenday. Until then, go easy with the Shaping, but do a little bit. Sharpen an edge, round a corner... little things, got it?”

  “Yes, sir,” Hans replied, opening the door.

  “Ven, send MacLenn back to me,” Sean said. “Have Andrea bring some tea, as well.”

  “Andrea is in the backyard, sir,” Ven replied.

  “Damn.”

  “I can ask Fiona?”

  “No, I want her to come sit with us,” Sean sighed. “Let Fiona know I’m good for her and MacLenn. See if she can grab some wine and glasses.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Sean cleaned up the room, putting the evidence of Shaping away. A knock on the open door came barely a moment after Sean finished.

  “MacDougal, might I join you?”

  “Come on in, MacLenn,” Sean smiled at Augustus. “What can I do for you?”

  “Your wife asked me to wait until she could join us,” Augustus said as he shook hands with Sean and took a seat. “I’ve learned a long time ago that when your wife is happy, the world smiles.”

  “‘Happy wife, happy life.’ That’s what my father used to say.”

  “Obviously a man who was married for a long time,” Augustus chuckled.

  “Sorry for the delay,” Fiona said, entering the room and shutting the door behind her. After she had served them all wine, she took her seat beside Sean.

  “Now that you’re both here, let me start by saying I’m sorry. It seems you have made a number of enemies in the last tenday. I don’t know if I’ll be doing business with you past today, as I’ve been told you are persona non-grata with many of the upper Shapers.”

  “Fucking Denmur,” Sean sighed.

  “He seems to be the one leading the others,” Augustus nodded. “What did you do to him?”

  “I gave Ida Bronzeshield an apprenticeship. That was the start, as far as I know. Other than that, I just didn’t give a fuck about him.”

  “Sean made friends with the smiths and preferred sitting with them over Denmur and the others,” Fiona clarified. “When they told him to stop, he ignored them.”

  “That would tend to bother Otis,” Augustus mused. “Sadly, he does a bit of business with my family.”

  “Silver and gold clips are being handled through Silvertouch and Gertihs respectively,” Sean said. “You can still manage to get the high-end goods without much trouble.”

  “Fiona did say that, and I wanted to ask why you made such a move? If you hadn’t, you could have leveraged the interest from Lady Sharpeyes into maneuvering room with Denmur.”

  “I don’t want to deal with any Lord or Lady, if possible,” Sean shrugged.

  “You made a deal recently with Dame Mageeyes though, didn’t you?”

  “I was politely told I needed to assist her,” Sean replied.

  “Ah, I see. That does explain things a bit more…” Augustus sipped his wine, clearly wishing to raise another topic, but was hesitant. “How is your apprentice?”

  “Still mine,” Sean said, his eyes going flat.

  Eyebrows rising, Augustus looked amused. “Really? You were able to thwart the plan that was put into play?”

  “How do you know about that?” Sean asked, his voice matching his eyes.

  Setting
the glass down, Augustus held both hands out. “Wait, MacDougal. I’m not your enemy. I happened to hear a scrap of rumor that your apprentice was going to be taken away by a magistrate this morning, is all. This is from an informant I have at the Golden Lion who keeps tabs on things for me. It concerned me, as I was coming to see you this morning and was politely told last night to stay away from dealings with you.”

  A long moment passed with Sean staring at Augustus. “I see. I apologize then for thinking you were part of their attempted idiocy.”

  “As it happens, I told Denmur that I already had a deal in place and would see it concluded, but wouldn’t start any new deals with you.” Augustus’ smile grew wider, “As I’ve not yet accepted my shipment from you, I wonder if you would be interested in restructuring our Agreement.”

  Fiona laughed, “Ah, now I see. You wish to rework the Agreement so it doesn’t end, thereby keeping your word and still allowing you to get merchandise from us.”

  Picking his glass back up, he tipped it at her. “That would be a tricky and underhanded thing to do, especially after I already told Denmur that once my previous Agreement ‘comes to a successful conclusion,’ I would no longer deal with you.”

  “You’re still listening to him, though,” Sean muttered.

  “Business sometimes necessitates that one deal with unpleasant assholes,” Augustus shrugged. “That’s the way the game is played, if one wishes to keep commerce moving.”

  Sean set his glass down and stood. “I won’t deal with people like Denmur. Maybe that will hamper my business, but I’d rather do it that way. Fiona will renegotiate for us, but things are going to get worse, MacLenn. Denmur hasn’t been slapped down and thinks he can do what he pleases. He’ll learn how much I detest bullies.” Without waiting for a reply, Sean left the room.

  Going out back, Sean found the others finishing up their training. Picking up his sword, he modified it to a hammer and walked to the middle of the yard. He set his feet, saying, “Myna, attack me, please. I need to blow off steam.”

  Myna spun her practice blades, “You three stay back and do your best to watch us.”

  Sean vanished, followed a split second later by Myna. The sound of wooden blades clacking echoed in the air. “We can’t see anything,” Ryann grumbled.

  Both Sean and Myna reappeared, separated by a dozen feet, both of them staring at the other. “Sorry,” Sean grunted as he rolled his neck. “We’ll be going for a bit. I want you to jump in one at a time, against either me or Myna. When you get hit, back off and let another have a chance.”

  Myna nodded, “That’s good practice.”

  By the time Sean had worked out his frustrations, he had a better sense of how the warhammer should be used in combat. He was also a mass of healing bruises because Myna had not gone easy on him. The others had jumped in, taking one side or the other at random, which helped Sean land some of his few hits on Myna.

  “That was good,” Sean said, giving the three others a smile. “Not too badly hurt, I hope?”

  “I think you cracked one of my ribs,” Andrea said, rubbing her side. “It feels fine now, but it was hard to breathe for a bit.”

  “I know he broke my arm,” Ida said. “The ability to heal as if we were under the care of a healer is… amazing.”

  “It is,” Ryann agreed. “Myna’s attack on my head blurred my vision, but I’m fine now.”

  “I think we’re all better than you are, Master. You got hit more often than we did.”

  “Yeah, but I feel much better now,” Sean replied. “We have a couple of hours before normal sparring. We can change that a little today, though. Ida, will you send Chastity out to us and take over for her? Andrea, if you’ll ask Fiona to join us? We’ll just get the sparring in now, and then relax a little before dinner.”

  “Yes, sir,” both of them replied before heading inside.

  “I’d like to get some more practice,” Ryann said.

  “Which is good. As his primary defender, it’s best if you’re honed as much as you can be,” Myna nodded. “We can see about teaching you how to Camouflage. It will give you an edge in any normal fight.”

  “That would be useful if I’m outnumbered,” Ryann nodded. “I made my throwing knives better recently, and my two main blades are finished.”

  “May I see them?” Myna asked.

  Sean let the two women talk shop as he waited for the others to join them. Chastity showed up first, and Sean waved her over. Before she had gotten to him, Fiona came into the yard looking thoughtful.

  “Fiona, is something wrong?” Sean asked.

  “Hmm? Oh no, it’s nothing. Augustus was telling me about an incident that happened the other night. It just got me thinking, is all. I was told we’re going to spar early today?”

  “Yeah. We just had an intense session, so I figured we can just get the sparring done for today and then have time to relax before dinner for once.”

  “Chastity, you’re with me,” Myna said, motioning the young woman off to the side. “Ryann, you too. We’re going to work on small blades, so you two will be doing most of the sparring.”

  “So, you and me, Sean,” Fiona grinned. “I’ll try to not hurt you too much.”

  “Myna didn’t hold back. No need for you to,” Sean told her with a wry smile. “What incident did Augustus tell you about?”

  Fiona shook her head. “Idle gossip. The supply contact for Goldentouch Merchants was mugged the other day. It seems she was attacked while leaving the Golden Lion Inn. It was brutal from what he said; her hands were badly damaged and she is still being seen by a healer.”

  “Damn,” Sean shook his head. “Was it specific to her, or just a random mugging?”

  Taking up a defensive stance, Fiona shook her head. “No idea. It seems her attacker didn’t ask her for anything, but did take her coin purse, which was found empty two streets over. According to Augustus, the attacker made off with nearly a gold in silver and bronze.”

  “Huh. Well, they’ll likely find whoever did it spending the coin a bit too freely,” Sean said as he grabbed the training shield, wanting it to face Fiona. “Since it’s just the two of us, let’s use Shaping to keep in practice.”

  A broad smile came to Fiona, “Oh, well... if you really want to.”

  Shaking his head at how eager she was, Sean started to advance on her. “I hope I can at least get a few good shots in.”

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Dinner ended with happy, contented sighs. The soup had helped dispel the chill that most of them felt as the day had grown progressively colder.

  “I will stay home tonight, Master.”

  “Okay, Myna, that’s your choice.” Getting to his feet, Sean looked to Ryann. “Guess it’ll be just us.”

  “I’m ready to go,” Ryann said.

  “Be safe, you two,” Fiona said. “If there is a mugger running loose in the city, it’s best to be on your guard.”

  “I will keep him safe,” Ryann said. “I’m very glad that we heal so quickly, otherwise I’d be too sore to move right now.”

  “You did very well today, Ryann,” Myna said. “You’re coming along faster than I had thought possible.”

  “It’s almost as if I know what to do, and just need to do it,” Ryann replied.

  Sean nodded, “I think I understand. Darragh’s gift to me is the reason.”

  Fiona nodded slowly, “That could be it. If your innate healing works for us, then maybe the underlying knowledge given to you by Darragh also transfers. It seems like it works differently for us than it does you, but it would explain why my style has been shifting a bit.”

  “Yes,” Myna agreed. “There were a couple of times since we left Oakwood that some of my attacks have been different than what I’d been used to. They were natural and flowed easily, so I didn’t question it at the time.”

  “That explains how quickly Ida has been learning, as well,” Sean added.

  “I was curious about that,” Ida said. “It feels
natural, and I always thought that weapon training was supposed to be a grueling experience.”

  “It is,” Myna replied. “Now that I consider it, you’ve all learned the basics faster than I did. Just another way Master breaks the conventions of the world.”

  Sean shook his head, “Darragh made this possible. I hope he and Misa were able to reconnect in whatever afterlife they have.”

  Sadness settled over the group, and Sean headed for the door. Ryann fell into step behind him while the others watched them go. Once they made it onto the street, Ryann walked beside Sean.