Princess Willowyn's Arc

Chapter 11 of 70

Willowyn woke with one day left. She wanted to send Kai away with a gift, something to keep him safe on his long journey. But she owned nothing a soldier could use. Her gowns, her circlet, her books, her jewels, none of them would help a man on the road. So she spent the morning searching her shelves. She turned page after page, hoping some old tale would name the right thing to give. The white minx curled against her side and watched her read. By midday she closed the last book. She had found her answer between the lines of a war story. A soldier needed a blade. Not a princess's trinket, but a weapon he could hold when the dark came. She rose, tucked the minx under her arm, and left her chambers. She went down to the forge below the keep. The blacksmith looked up from his anvil, hammer still in his fist. He was a broad man with soot in the creases of his hands. When he saw who stood in his doorway, he set the hammer down and bowed his head. Princesses did not come to the forge. "I'd like a sword," Willowyn said. The blacksmith did not ask why. He did not ask for whom. He only nodded and reached for his tongs. "Yes, my lady," he said. Willowyn described what she wanted. "Light as a feather," she said, "but sharper than anything a mortal man carries. He must be able to swing it all day and never tire." The blacksmith listened and worked. Sparks jumped as he drew the metal thin. She watched the blade take shape in the heat, and she added one more thing. "Set moonstones in the hilt. Pale ones, like the moon on water." He found the stones in a small box and pressed them into the warm grip. When he plunged the blade into the trough, steam hissed up between them. He lifted it out, cooled and finished, and laid it across his palms for her to see. The moonstones caught the forge light. Willowyn took the sword. It weighed almost nothing in her hand, as she had asked. That dusk she carried it to the vines on the coast. Kai was waiting. She held the sword out to him with both hands. "So you don't forget me," she said. "And so you come home alive." Kai took it and tested the weight. His eyes went wide. He swung it once, and it moved like an arm's own bone. He looked at the moonstones, then at her. "This is worth more than my whole ship," he said quietly. "Then keep it sharp," she said. Kai wrapped his cloak around the blade to hide it. He looked at her for a long moment. "When I sail tomorrow," he said, "I want to give you something back. But it must be tonight, before the tide turns." His voice dropped. "There's something I should have told you."