The back door of the house swung open, and her mother stepped outside carrying a tub of wet laundry. She stilled when she caught sight of Roul standing over Eda with a weapon pointed at her neck. Then, shaking her head, she kept walking.
‘Afternoon, Thornton,’ Candace called as she went to hang the laundry.
Roul cleared his throat and sheathed his weapon. ‘Afternoon.’ He extended a hand to Eda, but she slapped it away.
‘Don’t try to be all chivalric now just because my mother’s here.’ Eda pushed herself up and went to retrieve her knife. Turning to him, she held up both hands and said, ‘Which fingers will you be taking?’
Candace glanced in their direction. ‘Do not dare cut off any of her fingers, defender. Her contributions here are already minimal.’
‘That’s not true,’ Eda replied. ‘I was just down at the creek catching our dinner.’
Candace laughed. ‘And where are the fish you caught?’
Eda swallowed. ‘In the creek, awaiting certain death.’
‘My fault,’ Roul said. ‘I distracted her.’
Candace hung the final sheet and picked up the empty tub before turning to them. ‘Well, if you intend to eat with us this evening, might I suggest you help catch the key ingredient.’
‘Of course’ was his reply.
‘Better get the big pot out, Mother,’ Eda said, taking hold of Roul’s arm and dragging him off in the direction of the trees. ‘There’s about to be a massacre in the water.’
‘Three fish is plenty,’ Candace called to them as she headed to the door. ‘Not every hunt and forage needs to end in warfare.’
Eda let go of him and broke into a run. He jogged after her. When they reached the trees, they slowed, walking in silence all the way to the creek, where they retrieved Eda’s bow from the shrubbery before returning to the quiver of arrows she had left at the edge of the water. They removed their boots, Roul rolling up his trousers and Eda hitching up her skirts, then waded into the water, taking turns with the bow.
When Eda caught the first fish, Roul said, ‘Took you long enough, soldier.’
She kicked water at him before fetching the dead fish, pulling the arrow from it, and tossing it onto the riverbank. It was always ‘soldier’ when he was in a good mood, ‘Eda’ in front of her family, and ‘Suttone’ when she was in trouble. ‘Don’t see you with any fish.’ She handed him the bow. ‘I’d improve much faster if you let me train at the barracks. I’ve been asking both you and Harlan for months.’
‘And we’ve both been telling you no for months.’
Her feet were beginning to ache in the cold water. ‘How am I to improve if the only people I ever spar with are you two?’
‘Improve?’ Roul stilled, took aim, and caught the second fish of the day. He rushed forwards to retrieve it, throwing it onto the bank beside the other one. He held the bow out for her. ‘Your skills are more than adequate. I’ve watched you train with Harlan. He teaches you the same things he teaches the recruits—but in the safety of your home.’
‘Can you hear yourself? “Adequate. In the safety of your home”.’ She loaded the bow and watched the water for a minute. ‘Queen Artemisia did not settle for adequate in the safety of her home.’
‘Was she the queen of Halicarnassus? The one who broke her own neck in the name of love?’
Eda glared in his direction. ‘She fought and won the battle of Salamis.’
‘Perfect. Will you be asking for a boat next?’
Glimpsing spotty scales beneath the water’s surface, Eda released her arrow, catching the final fish of the day. She retrieved it, but instead of throwing it on the grassy bank, she threw itatRoul. He caught it a few inches from his face. His smug expression made her temper flare.
She splashed through the water towards him. ‘You once told me I was better than some of your recruits.’
He threw the fish onto the riverbank. ‘You are. But you’re also half their size.’
‘That just makes me nimble.’
‘It makes you fragile.’
She flicked water up at him, hitting him square in the face.
He wiped a hand down it. ‘You’re also twice as tiresome. There would be no tolerance for your bad behaviour in that environment. You’d spend the whole time running off your bad attitude.’
