Peter Brett - The Desert Spear

Renna sat up, bathed in sweat, her heart pounding. She peeked around the curtain and saw the boys fast asleep on their blankets. Clad only in her shift, she crept through the common and eased open the barn door, slipping quietly within.

Inside, she took the striker and lit a lantern, casting the barn in a flickering light.

"Eh?" Cobie asked, squinting and raising a hand over his eyes. "Whozzat?"

"It's Renna," she said, coming over and sitting beside him in the hay. The lantern light danced around the stall, flickering over Cobie's broad chest as his blanket slipped down.

"Don't get visitors often," she said. "Thought we could sit and talk a spell."

"Sounds nice," Cobie said, rubbing the sleep from his face.

"Have to be quiet, though," Renna said. "If Da catches us, there 'll be the Core to pay."

Cobie nodded, flicking a nervous eye in the direction of the house door.

"What's it like, being a Messenger?" Renna asked.

"Well, I ent a real Messenger," Cobie admitted. "Ent licensed by the guild in the Free Cities, and don't think I'd be fool enough to sleep outside with the demons even if I were. But workin' for Mr. Hog beats fishin'. Always hated that."

"Way I hear tell, you never did much of it," Renna said.

Cobie laughed. "True enough. Used to just run and fool about with Gart and Willum, but they got promised and stopped having time for it. Can't laugh out on the boats. Scares the fish."

"How come you never got promised yourself?" Renna asked.

Cobie shrugged. "Da said it's because girls' fathers didn't think I could settle and provide for a wife and young'uns. He was right, I guess. I was always more interested in hanging around the general store than working. Fished when I had to, but never had enough credits to pay for all the ale I drank. Your da was right that Mr. Hog started sending me to fetch this or deliver that just to balance the log. But when the Speaker started asking Mr. Hog to have me ferry messages around, too, he said I could stay in the little room behind the store to be on hand.

"People treat me with respect now," Cobie said, "because I'm on town business. They give me meals, and succor when it's too far to go back to Town Square before dark."

"Bet it's nice," Renna said, "traveling all over the Brook and seeing everyone all the time. I never see anyone."

Cobie nodded. "I earn more than I drink, now, and when I have enough credits, I'm going to buy a horse of my own, and change my name to Cobie Messenger. Maybe build a house in Town Square, and have sons to take on the job when I'm old."

"So you think you could settle and provide now?" Renna asked. Cobie wasn't handsome, but he was a good strong man with prospects. She was coming to realize Arlen might never come back for her, and life had to go on.

Cobie nodded, looking in her eyes. "I might," he said, "if a girl took her chances on me."

Renna leaned in and kissed him on the mouth. Cobie's eyes widened a moment, but then he kissed her back, enveloping her in his strong arms.

"I know a wife's tricks," Renna whispered, pulling down her shift to expose her breasts. "I seen Beni and Lucik at it plenty of times. I could be a good wife." Cobie groaned, nuzzling her bosom as his hands ran up her legs.

There was a crash from behind, startling them both.

"What in the Core is going on here?!" Harl demanded, grabbing Renna by the hair and pulling her off Cobie. In his free hand, he held his long hunting knife, sharp as a razor. He threw Renna aside and put the point up to Cobie's throat.

"We…we were just…" Cobie stuttered, drawing back as far as he could, but his back was against the wall of the stall, and there was nowhere to go.

"I ent no fool, boy," Harl said. "I know what you were 'just'! You think because I give you succor behind my wards, you can go and treat my daughter like some Angierian whore? I orta gut you right here."

"Please!" Cobie begged. "It ent like that! I really like Renna! I want her hand!"

"'Spect you wanted more than that," Harl growled, pressing the point in and drawing a drop of blood from Cobie's throat. "You think that's how it works? Come stick a girl, then ask for her hand?"

Cobie pulled his head back as far as he could, tears and sweat mixing on his face.

"That's enough!" Lucik cried, grabbing Harl's arm and pulling the knife away. Harl whirled to his feet, and the two men stood glaring at each other.

"You wouldn't say that if it were your daughter," Harl said.

"That may be," Lucik said, "but I ent gonna let you kill a man in fronta my boys, either!"

Harl glanced back, seeing Cal and Jace watching wide-eyed from the house door while Renna cried in Beni's arms. Some of the anger went out of him, and his shoulders slumped.

"Fine," he said. "Renna, you're sleeping in my room tonight, so's I can keep an eye on you. And you," he pointed his knife at Cobie again, who went rigid with fright, "you so much as look at my girl again, and I'll cut yer stones off and feed 'em to the corelings."

He grabbed Renna by the arm and dragged her along as he stormed into the house. Renna was still shaking when Harl threw her down on the bed. She had pulled her shift back in place, but it seemed woefully inadequate, and she could feel her father's eyes on her.

"This is what you do when we have a visitor in the barn?" Harl snapped at her. "I bet half the town is laughing behind my back!"

"I never!" Renna said.

"Oh, I'm supposed to believe that, now?" Harl sneered. "I saw the way you paraded around half dressed for him today. Reckon the hogs aren't all that's grunting in the barn when the messenger boy's about."

Renna had no reply, sniffling as she pulled the blanket around her bare shoulders.

"Now yer shy and trying to cover?" Harl asked. "Mite late, you ask me." He undid his overalls and slung them over the bedpost, snatching the edge of the blanket and sliding in beside her. Renna shuddered.

"Quit yer whining and get some sleep, girl," Harl said. "Another of yer sisters up and deserted us, and there 'll be extra chores for both of us from now on." Renna woke early, finding her father snuggled close with an arm over her. She shivered with revulsion, easing out of his grasp and leaving him snoring as she fled the room.

Remembering Beni's advice, she tore a long strip from the sheet on her pallet, wrapping the cloth around her chest several times, binding her breasts tight. When she was done, she looked down and sighed. Even flattened, no one would ever mistake her for a boy.

She dressed quickly, lacing her dress loosely to hide her curves and tying her long brown hair in an unkempt knot.

The boys stirred as she put the porridge on and laid bowls on the table. By the time the sun rose, the whole house was bustling, and Lucik sent the boys out to their morning chores one last time.

Cobie was gone before breakfast was ready, but Renna supposed it was just as well. Harl might not deny a man succor, but that didn't mean he would share his table. She wished she 'd had a chance to apologize for his actions, and for hers. She 'd ruined things for both of them.

After morning chores, Harl hitched the cart and drove them all up through Town Square to Boggin's Hill for the cremation. It was afternoon by the time they arrived, and by then there was a big gathering on the hill. Most everyone in Tibbet's Brook drank Boggin's Ale, and many came to pay their respects as Fernan Boggin was burned.

The Holy House crowned the hill, and Tender Harral welcomed everyone warmly. He was a big man, not yet fifty, with powerful arms reaching out from the rolled sleeves of his brown robe. "Your da was a good friend, and a good man," he told Lucik, wrapping him in a tight hug. "We 'll all miss him."

Harral gestured to the great doors. "Go on inside and sit in the front pew with your mam." The Tender smiled at Renna, winking at her for some reason as she passed.