Heart of Steel

by Samantha M. Derr

  "I'm a better height to—" Lee started.

  "No," Izzy interrupted. "We need one mounted knight." Her own horses had fled, even if she were in any shape to ride. Lee nodded, not arguing for once, and got back on Thunder. Having them both dismounted at once had been a mistake.

  Izzy focused on putting one foot in front of the other. She trusted her weight to Tom on one side, with Lady Siofra close to the other, her hand on Izzy's back to help guide her. Just keep breathing and keep walking. Her knee began to throb. Just another injury to add to the list.

  It had been a long time since Izzy had come out the other side of a fight this poorly. Still, any fight you walked away from was a win.

  "This is my fault," Lady Siofra said, quietly. "I should have been inside the wagon." No one contradicted her, which was confirmation enough. "I froze. I... I've never been without my magic before and—"

  "Hey," Izzy interrupted Siofra's increasingly shaky monologue. She would have touched Siofra's arm if she had a hand to spare. "Things happen. We won—that's what matters." Clearly Siofra was taking her part of the responsibility for this mess seriously. Unless Izzy was sorely mistaken about Siofra's character, she would not make the same mistake again. Wallowing in guilt and beating herself up over it wouldn't help. What was done was done. If Izzy's head were clearer and less fogged with pain, she might have been able to put at least some of that into words. Instead she focused on walking.

  Eventually there was a wagon. Izzy sat on the back. Lee gave her a cup of wine with poppy tincture stirred in, and things became even fuzzier. Izzy let herself be stripped of her armor, and Tom and Martel set her shoulder. That hurt despite the poppy. The relief when it went back in place was worth it.

  Lady Siofra's hands took a wet cloth to clean Izzy's skin where the armor had broken through. Siofra's fingers searched through Izzy's hair to feel out the bump on the back of her head. Siofra settled Izzy into a hammock, placed leaves and bits of roots here and there upon her. Izzy was floating, or rocking like a boat—from the head injury, or the wagon moving, or Siofra's spells, she couldn't say. Izzy closed her eyes and let it carry her away.

  The next time Izzy was fully aware, she was inside a tent, on a cot. Night bugs were singing and the air was cool. Lady Siofra sat beside her, weaving something out of bits of plants, and Izzy felt much better than she had any right to. Still achy when she tried to sit up, though, with exhaustion heavy in her bones.

  "Peace, Ser Izzy." Lady Siofra pressed Izzy's shoulder until she lay down again. "You need rest."

  "Lee?" Izzy asked. "My horses? Are we safe?"

  "Yes," Lady Siofra promised. "This wayfarers' point is too far down the mountain for trolls. Lee caught the mares. They're safe and sound. And she's packed both troll heads in ice to take home to her grandfather. That's her main concern—after your safety."

  "I'm fine," Izzy said, and tried to sit up again.

  "You also said that crushed beneath a troll with half your body broken." Siofra pushed back down on Izzy's shoulder. Izzy could have fought her off, but she didn't. There were worse things than being tended by a beautiful noblewoman.

  Siofra nodded when Izzy gave up, returning to her weaving. Probably one of her charms. "Boneset and all-heal," Siofra said by way of explanation, noticing Izzy's attention. "You'll be feeling better by morning."

  "I already feel better," Izzy said, then added, in case she sounded ungrateful: "Thank you."

  Siofra smiled, just a little with the corner of her mouth, and continued crafting. It was more complex than the two others Izzy had seen. She carefully lifted Izzy's blankets and the hem of her sleep shirt to place it on Izzy's belly when she was done. She lay her hand over it, warm against Izzy's skin.

  "Heal," she said, and all the little hairs on the back of Izzy's neck stood up at the magic. "Set all that was harmed to right." She withdrew her hand, tucked Izzy back in, and hesitated just a moment before pressing a kiss to Izzy's forehead.

  "That was not part of the spell," Izzy said. She could feel the heat of Siofra's hand on her belly still, or maybe that was the charm working, spreading through her body.

  Lady Siofra ducked, a few tiny pink flower buds blushing in her braids. "No," she admitted, tracing her fingertip along Izzy's jaw, "but I wanted to kiss you."

  Izzy shook her head, now allowing herself to examine Siofra's words. "You don't want a scarred old knight."

  "I know my own mind," Siofra countered. "I want the bravest of knights, fierce and strong and unfailingly kind... even if she is gruff by nature." Siofra stroked Izzy's cheek, and Izzy's gaze was pulled back to Siofra all but against her will. Was that really how she saw Izzy? Siofra bit her lip slightly, nervous. "If... if you wanted to..."

  "Siofra." Izzy reached up from the blanket to Siofra's cheek, stroking to the back of her slender neck to tug her closer. "Yes." She had no other words. This desire had grown slowly, like a seedling, all but unnoticed until its roots were fully embedded in Izzy's heart. She had no power to deny it now, knowing that the affection was returned. Siofra came to her easily, eagerly, and when their lips met in the sweetest and softest of kisses, flowers bloomed to wreath them in perfume.

  *~*~*

  The baying of hounds warned them only moments before Lee's cousins, in a hunting party, swept around the company. Lee had been riding ahead all day, holding the standards and all but vibrating with eagerness to be home.

  Izzy was riding behind. Though she was healing unnaturally quickly, everyone else had ganged up to prevent her from doing anything the previous day. She had grumbled about staying in the wagon with Martel, but Siofra's kiss for being good lessened the sting considerably. Today she was glad to be armored and mounted again, though she appreciated the easy pace.

  Lee's cousins shouted recognition, and they had a joyful reunion in the road. Some of them knew Lady Siofra as well, and they happily abandoned their prey to see the company to Ardshire Castle.

  "I already hunted something better," Lee soothed those who regretted the lost hunt. She pointed meaningfully at the damage to Izzy's armor, but would otherwise give no hint of what it was—happy to tease them. Lee would not ruin the surprise before she presented her kills to their grandfather, no matter how they pleaded with her.

  The troll had left deep scratches from its teeth on Izzy's breastplate. If she'd been unarmored, it would have bitten through her ribcage. The painted sigil of the winter star was ruined, but the metal itself was not weakened; it needed only a little repair.

  The pretty buckthorn leaf and thorns of Lady Siofra's protection charm remained undamaged. Izzy didn't hold it against the charm that it had been 'protecting' the shoulder that came out of socket. Magic or no, being violently unhorsed was going to do damage.

  Trumpets sounded from the walls of Ardshire Castle to welcome Lee home. Her family unfurled the banner of the Winter Star from the parapets to honor her, and then Greatbriar's as well to honor Siofra when they saw what standards Lee was riding beneath.

  The Baron and Baroness of Old Ardshire were cheerful and portly, very much a matched set, and they gave a lavish welcome. It was a lively place, full of people just as enthusiastic as Lee. Lady Siofra stood very close beside Izzy, and Izzy took her hand to hold.

  When Lee finally stopped teasing and pulled the first ice troll head from its box of ice, people gasped. When she reached in again and pulled out the second and larger, they broke into wild cheers. She gifted them both to her grandfather, who sent them off immediately to his taxidermist. Several cousins began planning a hunt to make sure there weren't more of them up at Gryphon's Pass.

  There was rarely a quiet moment in Ardshire Castle. Izzy was glad that Lee was the center of attention, rather than herself, and Siofra seemed to feel the same. She was happy to spend time with some of her old friends, but avoided much of the activity.

  They were wined and dined, and Lady Siofra was offered a messenger pigeon to fly to Greatbriar in the morning, and then finally they were sent to bed. Lee went wit
h her cousins, and Izzy didn't doubt she'd be up most of the night sharing stories. Izzy and Siofra were given private guest rooms.

  The first night, Izzy and Siofra parted with a brief kiss in the hallway. The second night, a longer one. The third night, the last before they were to leave on the last leg of their journey, Siofra followed Izzy right to the door of her room.

  "May I join you?" she asked, hesitantly hopeful, and Izzy opened the door wide to welcome her in.

  Their kisses grew messy and uncoordinated, their clothes left in disarray on the floor as they tumbled onto the bed. Lady Siofra's slender legs closed around one of Izzy's solid thighs and ground down. She nuzzled and lightly bit Izzy's biceps, murmuring praise to their strength, and her long fingers were sure and clever when they finally found the wetness of Izzy's sex and stroked her clit. Izzy stroked the long arc of Siofra's back, found the touches that made her moan and tremble. Izzy kissed Siofra's delicate neck, stroked and sucked on her sweet little breasts to make her whimper; stuck her thumb in her own mouth to wet it, and reached down between them to rub slick little circles on just the crown of Siofra's long swollen clit.

  Siofra climaxed with a bubbling laugh, and again, and finally a third time before Izzy's body was finally coaxed into one. It burned through her belly, and she gathered Siofra close when it was done. The scent of flowers was rich and heady, laying as thick around them as the contentment that settled into Izzy's bones. They traded soft touches and kisses, Izzy admiring the smooth-lined perfection of Siofra's body, and Siofra seeming to find something she liked in the compact strength of Izzy's.

  Izzy chuckled, touching the showy red flowers that filled Siofra's braids. "You're blooming roses?"

  "I can't help it!" Siofra buried her face against Izzy's neck, face heating with a blush. "It just does what I feel."

  She lay in Izzy's arms and bloomed flowers of love. Izzy kissed her forehead, her nose, and then finally her mouth again when Siofra lifted her face. "I love them," she promised against Siofra's lips.

  *~*~*

  Travel was easy through Old Ardshire, and then the company passed into Greatbriar's reaches. Lady Siofra said she felt at home, in a place that had belonged to generations of her line of green sorceresses. They passed through towns and villages, rich fertile farmland, and then an open-canopied forest that even Izzy enjoyed at first. After a few days, it wore on her, skin prickling at the back of her neck like a warning. She kept her guard up, but there was only wide, parklike forest: mostly conifers, with the occasional wide-branched maple or beech that remembered when this land had been fields.

  Izzy's map marked "Imp Hill," where a few ruined stones remained from a long-abandoned village, and they stopped there for the evening. Siofra ripened a spray of wild blackberry from flowers to fruit, and they all enjoyed the unseasonal sweetness. She pressed one between her fingers, admiring the purple-red juice. "Do you know why this duchy is called Greatbriar?" she asked.

  "Oh, I know the story!" Lee bounced and raised her hand. "The first duchess, Royse, defeated an invading barbarian army all alone, stark naked, armed with nothing but a handful of blackberries and a sling!" Lee stopped sharply, face reddening as she realized who she was speaking to. "Sorry, your ladyship."

  "That is the story," Siofra granted, unembarrassed by her ancestress's famed exploits.

  "She tore a third of the army apart, and the rest fled in terror," Lee said, taking her statement as permission to go on. "The queen was so grateful she made Greatbriar and named Royse its duchess. That's the story, but I think it's more likely Royse was a distraction, and trained fighters snuck up and attacked from the trees."

  Siofra just raised an eyebrow, fishing a blackberry seed out of her mouth. She dug her toes into the dirt as she showed the seed to Lee, then turned and flicked it at a dead tree. It exploded in green on contact, thorny vines whipping around to crush the tree, dragging it to the ground with a resounding crack.

  "One seed," Lady Siofra said into the silence that followed, and ate another blackberry, having soundly made her point.

  For once, Lee didn't have anything to say immediately.

  Izzy shook off the tingle of the magic. The new briar was a violent pale green, all fresh new growth and wicked thorns. Greatbriar's pennant was that same green, and its dark purple-red was the color of crushed blackberries.

  Lee then erupted with excited questions as she caught her breath, and Siofra laughed as she tried to keep up.

  "I don't know if I could take down an entire army," she answered, "and so long as we maintain a cordial relationship with our neighbors, I'll never have to find out. Royse might not have done it alone either; some sources say she had common-born hunters with her."

  "Why did she fight naked, though?" Martel asked, adjusting the fire around the bubbling pot of stew.

  "Shock value?" Lee guessed. "Letting her get closer to the enemy army?"

  "Maybe, but green magic works best without any barriers," Siofra wiggled her bare toes, touching the hem of her Forestyne shift. "A light linen dress doesn't block much, but Royse probably wanted every possible advantage."

  "She was very brave," Izzy said.

  Siofra smiled and held her hand out. "Sit with me, Izzy, enjoy some blackberries."

  Izzy gave the forest one last distrustful glare and rubbed the back of her neck before she let Siofra tempt her away. The blackberries were flavorful, and Siofra's presence at her side was better.

  Tom predicted rain, and fitful clouds rolled in as the sun set. The company retired early to sleep in hammocks inside the wagon. Izzy saw everyone settled and excused herself to check the perimeter one last time before bed. She checked Tom's trusty wards once, then twice. Their journey was nearly over. They were already in Lady Siofra's duchy, through lands she knew and trusted to be safe, but something did not feel right to Izzy. She checked and double-checked, but could see nothing to be worried about. It was quiet beneath the clouds and the waning moon, and a few bright fireflies bobbed among the dark trees.

  They were beautiful, those fireflies. They rose and fell and circled each other, like dancers. They were different colors, colors Izzy had never seen before. Perfect little dancing orbs. If she held one in her palm she would know the answers. All the answers. If she could just catch one.

  Izzy reached out, but it giggled as it danced away from her fingertips. Just out of reach, always. What did distance mean, when there was such beauty in the world? What did rain matter? There were only orbs of light in colors without names. They were more real than anything else could ever be. So much more than the ache in her left shoulder. Izzy followed where they led.

  She stepped into an open glade, a hilltop crowned in dancing orbs, and a pair of beings that could not be anything but royalty floated at the center. They were beautiful, unbearably beautiful, so it hurt to look at them, and Izzy could not look away.

  "Look my love," the queen said, voice like a baby's laugh. "We caught a knight."

  "Such fun!" the king answered, like trumpets in the distance. "So eager to serve. Kneel, knight."

  Izzy took to one knee, ignoring the pain spiking in her left shoulder. How could anyone ever disobey? Why would anyone want to?

  The king and queen laughed. The orbs danced.

  "So obedient," the king said. "She shall be my servant. Be mine, knight. Swear your heart and blood to me, and I will show you pleasures no mortal can imagine." He touched the ground, stepping forward with his hand outstretched. A bolt of pure desire shivered down Izzy's spine, souring her stomach, and her shoulder throbbed. Izzy shuddered, turning her face away.

  The king hissed and the queen laughed. "This one is for me, brother-mine." She landed beside the king, smiling at Izzy with perfect sharp teeth. "You want to be close to me, pet," she crooned. Her voice lay across Izzy's shoulder like a cloak on a cold morning, and Izzy starved for more. "Of course you do. You want to take off all that nasty steel and be mine forever, don't you?"

  Of course. Izzy had never wanted anyth
ing more. She discarded her sword, her helmet, and was reaching for the buckles of her breastplate when the pain in her left shoulder blazed like a live coal. Izzy gasped, hands coming up to cover the wound. Not a wound, a leaf. A buckthorn leaf and two thorns.

  No. A shield.

  It slid onto Izzy's left hand, the leaf a green buckler with the thorn for its grip, perfectly shaped to her hand. The second thorn was a short sword, light and sharp, and Izzy drew it.

  "I would not serve you," Izzy growled. Seen past the buckler's protection, the faeries were not beautiful. They glowed, but their limbs were overlong and spindly, their skin stiff and jointed like an insect's carapace, their lipless mouths too full of teeth. Their beauty was only a glamour.

  "Drop that!" the queen shrieked. "Drop it and be mine!"

  Part of Izzy wanted to do as told, but only a small part. Lady Siofra had given this to her, a charm for her protection, and Izzy would not give it up. She was a knight and she would not be disarmed. There was a beat of silence. Then the faeries realized Izzy was not going to obey.

  They attacked. Izzy braced herself, kneeling, buckler and sword raised together like a tower shield. The king struck down with a sword of pure light, and the queen barraged her with the beautiful firefly orbs. They shattered against the shield, splintered sparks flying, but the spell did not waver.

  The faeries struck, broke, rallied, and struck again—tireless in their fury. Izzy's only protection was the buckthorn leaf shield, and it was going to hold. Siofra made it, and there was no stronger sorceress. It must hold.

  If it broke, Izzy was lost, mind and body.

  "Greatbriar, land of my mothers." Lady Siofra's voice broke through the tossing trees. "I, heir to Royse's line, claim this place as my own!" The trees bowed away as Siofra stepped into the glade, the grasses waving like storm-tossed water. Her eyes blazed, thorns and nightshade blooming in her braids. "Get you back underhill!"

  The order rolled like a thunderclap, and every faery light blinked out.