Sephran thinks about this for a moment, and I realize that even though I figured out how to ask the question, there’s a good chance I won’t understand his answer. It’s easy to point at objects and ask people what they’re called. I can’t point at things like thoughts and memories and feelings and all the nuances that actually make up human conversation.
I have no idea how Tycho managed this when he came to Syhl Shallow.
But Sephran speaks slowly and says, “You fixed horseshoes during our ride. When we camped.”
He watches me puzzle out these sentences, and I get most of it, so I nod. He points at the bench again. “You needed a bench at camp.” He taps his temple. “I remember.”
This is a new word, but I repeat it. “Remember.” I tap my temple like he did, and search for the right words. “Think . . . ?of before?”
His eyes light up. “Yes! Good!”
That makes me feel like I’m six years old and I’ve learned to tie bootlaces for the first time, but in my heart, I’m pleased. I smile and scoff. “No need Malin.”
Sephran grins. “No need Malin,” he agrees.
The bells signaling the end of the day begin to ring, and I still have one hoof left. I swear under my breath and drag the bench closer to the horse. The nearby blacksmiths begin putting up their tools. There will be a mad dash to the dining room, and I’m sure the soldier mess hall is no different.
“Sorry,” I say again.
Sephran shakes his head, unworried. “I have leave,” he says.
Leave.I remember this word from Tycho. “Free?”
“Yes.”
Still, I don’t want to delay him, especially when he’s been so kind. Now that I have a bench, I rasp and file and finish this hoof twice as quickly as the others. Every time I think of his simple act of kindness, my throat tightens with memories of home and longing for friendship and missing the only person I know here, and I have to tell myself to knock it off.
Then the job is done and I’m setting my tools on the ledge, and Sephran is untethering his horse.
“Thank you,” I say to him, and a bit of my emotion slips into my voice.
He must notice, because he looks up, and his eyes hold mine for a moment too long. The forge is mostly empty. He’s the only soldier left.
“Are you done now?” he says. “You . . . ?free?”
I nod. “Yes.”
He pulls an arrow from his quiver again, and he holds it up. “Do you want to come shoot?” He waits to make sure I understand, then adds, “With me and Kutter?”
I’m exhausted and starving and I should probably soak in that bathtub in the Shield House for a solid hour before spending time inanyone’scompany. I have no ideawherethey’re shooting, or how we’ll get there. Do I need to fetch Teddy? I remember how far the archery fields are, and traveling on my crutches is never quick. It seems like a lot of conversation will need to happen, and it took us forever just to answer one question about a bench.
But none of that matters. I’m lonely and homesick and my head is already nodding. “Yes, Sephran. I want.”
CHAPTER 24
JAX
I do need my horse, as well as my gear, but I have time. Sephran needs to fetch Kutter from the mess hall, and they’re going to meet me in the stable yard. At least Ithinkthat’s what our plan is, after I parsed out the important words likeneed horseandmeet hereandhalf hour. But it gives me time to fetch my bow and bracer and to swipe an apple and a warm cheese biscuit from the Shield House.
But once I’m in Teddy’s stall, I’m less confident with the tack. I haven’t ridden since the night Tycho showed me around the grounds, and due to the days of rain, I haven’t had a lesson yet. I’ve only seen Master Hugh once, when he needed a tool from the forge, but the stable master finds me struggling with the girth while an endlessly patient Teddy chews at some hay. Hugh is older, well past sixty, with sun-weathered skin and a trim gray beard. He’s not very tall, but he’s lean and wiry.
“Sephran brought you the bench?” he says to me in heavily accented Syssalah, and it takes me by surprise. I’ve grown so used to everyone treating me like a complete fool that I started to forget that anyone else here actually speaks my language.
“Oh,” I say. “Yes.” Of course Hugh would know. Sephran said he got it from the stables. “Thank you.”
“If you need,” he says, “you should ask.”
I nod. “I will.” But I think of the soldiers knocking my tools into the dirt and I don’t want to ask for anything at all.
