Page 12 of Fortress of Snow

“Your baby is very handsome. A boy?”

“Yes. He is a joy to us. I never knew how wonderful it would feel to be a mother.” She smiled and her face was radiant.

Would Mazy be married soon to someone who would make her a mother? In a year or two she could be holding her own baby.

That thought made her heart skip a beat.

“I know you are exhausted from your journey. Please take the bedchamber where you took your bath, if that is suitable to you. You may stay as long as you like.”

“You are so kind. Thank you.”

Truly, this must have been the right decision to come here to John and see at least something else of the world beyond the place where she had grown up. Tomorrow she would speak to him about what they should do to find her a husband.

She wondered why Warin had not sent men after her. Perhaps he had and the guards had somehow missed her on the road. No doubt he was furious with her for running away. But John would not allow him to do her any harm. John would make sure she was safe and well.

Four

Berenger directed the squires as they practiced their archery. Sir John’s sister stood nearby. After watching them for a while, she walked toward them and pointed to an extra longbow lying on the ground.

“May I try?”

A few of the squires turned to stare, open-mouthed, while others grinned in amusement.

“Of course.” He doubted she could even pull the string back, but she might as well be allowed to try.

Mazy, as Sir John called her, was sixteen, so she was still very young, and she seemed oblivious to her own beauty. Sir John could sometimes be rather heartless, but he had made it clear to the other men that she was his sister and therefore under his protection. That was the only thing keeping some of the guards,and even knights, from approaching her and making lascivious offers.

She picked up the bow and two arrows, nocked one of the arrows to the string, and aimed at the closest target—a wooden shield with a circle painted on it.

Two of the squires snickered behind their hands.

Mazy pulled back the arrow, her elbow at the perfect height, and shot. It hit the center of the target. Before he even saw her nock the next arrow or pull back on the string, she had shot the second arrow, which hit directly beside her first arrow.

A couple of whistles came from the squires. Some of the boys’ mouths hung open, while others yelled and expressed disbelief and jealousy.

“How did you learn to shoot like that?” Berenger retrieved her arrows, handing them to her.

“My father’s guards taught me.” She laughed. “I did not like sewing so I learned other things instead.”

“What else do you know how to do?”

“I can throw a knife pretty well, and I know how to track a deer, how to fish, and how to snare a rabbit.”

This young woman was the most interesting one he had ever encountered.

He retrieved some throwing knives, the ones he used in training the squires, and said, “Show me.”

She took three of them and threw them in quick succession, sticking the points of all three near the center of the wooden target. The squires all whooped and whistled.

“That is very impressive.” Berenger couldn’t help smiling.

“What is going on?”

Sir John’s voice was rather loud and tense as he came walking up behind them.

“Your sister is showing us her archery and knife-throwing skills. Did you know she was practically a knight herself?”

Sir John said nothing, did not even move, as he stared at Berenger. With that look he often had, his eyelids drooping and his face expressionless, Berenger couldn’t tell if he was angry, glad, or sad.