Eda looked over to where Roul and Blackmane were seated. The recruit had fled the table when she arrived. Roul had given her an apologetic smile before following him.
‘Bit early for such a bold statement,’ Tatum said, eyeing Eda over his drink. ‘We haven’t seen her shoot yet.’
Eda took a sip of her ale and fought to keep her face neutral as she swallowed the foul liquid. ‘I can handle a bow.’
‘Time will tell.’
She was worried her presence would upset the dynamic of the group, but they seemed relaxed enough. When she glanced in Roul’s direction again, she found him looking at her. He winked before turning back to Blackmane. He had never learned to sign because there had not been a need. She had found her voice soon after they met. But they still found ways to communicate across a room.
‘I heard the merchants have been catching mackerel off the dock,’ Hadewaye was saying.
The conversation had moved on to fish.
‘And garfish,’ Eda said.
Everyone looked at her.
‘I suppose you’re an expert fisherman as well,’ Tatum said, his blue eyes playful.
‘I’m a merchant. You learn to fish or you starve.’
Alveye’s freckled face creased in confusion. ‘I thought you lived in the nobility borough with Commander Wright.’
‘Now,’ Tatum said. ‘But only because her sister snagged herself a commander.’
Eda took a long drink.
Hadewaye watched her. ‘What are you training with the likes of us for? Is the queen planning on sticking you on top of the wall?’
‘I heard Queen Fayre is going to send her to Harlech Castle to seduce the prince and lure him home,’ Tollere said.
Eda laughed. ‘I’m the last woman they would send if that were the plan.’ She glanced in Roul’s direction, knowing he would have laughed at that comment too. The smile fell from her face when she found a woman standing behind him, arms wrapping Roul’s neck and her mouth an inch from his ear. Lush honey hair fell over her face as she whispered something to him.
‘Watch it,’ Alveye said, reaching out and catching her hand. ‘You’re spilling liquid gold.’
Eda looked down at the pool of ale on the table in front of her, and her cheeks heated. ‘Sorry.’
‘Don’t you go crying on us,’ Tatum said with a hint of smile as he waved down one of the barmaids. ‘We’ll get it cleaned up.’
Someone arrived with a cloth. Eda held her drink off the table, eyes returning to Roul and the woman once more. Her chin now rested comfortably atop his head, her breasts brushing his back. She wore a simple yellow dress, belted in a way that showed off her round hips. While it was by no means news that Roul had been with women, seeing the evidence was oddly confronting. Eda felt sick suddenly and looked accusingly at the ale she was holding.
‘Hopefully we shall get to use the lances tomorrow,’ Tollere was saying.
She was thankful that conversation had continued without her.
‘Because you need practise keeping hold of one?’ Tatum said.
Hadewaye and Alveye laughed.
‘You all right?’ Hadewaye asked when he caught sight of Eda’s unsmiling face. ‘The ale’s not the best.’
‘The ale’s fine,’ she lied, forcing a smile. Then, clearing her throat, she asked as casually as she could manage, ‘Who’s that woman with Commander Thornton?’
Tatum looked in their direction. ‘Ah. That’s Hildred. Her father owns the tavern.’
She tried to remember if anyone had mentioned that name in front of her before but came up blank. She dared another glance and saw Roul was reaching back for Hildred now, holding on to her leg. It was such a familiar gesture. So intimate. She could not recall a time Roul had ever rested a hand on her in that way.
She caught that thought.
