A Sword from Red Ice

Raina gazed into Anwyn's dark blue eyes and questioned why she did this. A memory of many moons back came to her, of a package slipped from Angus Lok's hand into Anwyn's belt while neither thought Raina was watching. It had happened in the little diary shed at midwinter. Raina had known Angus Lok nearly as long as she had lived at Blackhail. Always when he came to visit he stirred things up. I will be chief Raina had declared not long after he had last departed. He had told her things, she remembered. Stories of how Mace was treating his tied clansmen—things that only Hailsman should have known.

Raina wondered if Anwyn was in cahoots with the ranger. Angus had not hidden his dislike of Mace Blackhail and Clan Scarpe. Perhaps he and Anwyn had grown weary of Raina's inaction. Perhaps they hoped to force conflict and oust Beade.

Or perhaps Anwyn was just worried about a friend. Raina searched her face. "Do not push me, Anny. There's no telling where it could lead."

Anwyn Bird did not soften. Her arms remained clamped to her chest. "Anywhere is better than here. You should have seen yourself the other night—you could barely speak you were so afraid. And yes, it was just a bruise and bruises heal. But what about next time? When a man shows himself capable of violence it is seldom the end of it. He has cowed you, Raina. Frightened you and made you shrink back. lf you step out of line he will do it again. Stannig Beade is no clan guide and must be shown as such. We are many. We can send him back to Scarpe."

Almost Anwyn won her over, but the memory of what had happened in the greathearth was too raw. Stannig Beade, Mace Blackhail: Scarpes had sharp tongues. You could not win against them in spoken battle. It was true Hailsmen still outnumbered Scarpes in this house, but for clansmen to back the ousting of Beade they needed to believe Raina's version of events. Raina did not think she had the skills to persuade them. Certainly she had no evidence.

Anwyn saw the answer on her face. "After supper tonight I will go see Orwin Shank."

Raina felt prickles of tears behind her eyes and did not know why. She said, "You will not be rid of Beade so easily,"

"Do not be so sure." The words were spoken so fiercely they created their own sense of gravity. Raina felt her heart and mind pull toward them, but stood firm. Having issued them Anwyn herself seemed incapable of further speech. Nodding with satisfaction, she turned on her heels and left.

Raina waited for herself to relax; waited but the sensation did not come. She looked around the widows' wall, at the carelessly placed looms and benches, the Scarpe filth. I should do something about cleaning this place up. The new widows deserve better. She did not want to be here though, and followed Anwyn's tracks to the door. Random thoughts were firing in her head. She wondered what use a great big cast iron candleholder was to anyone without a high-ceilinged chamber to hang it. She worried she had parted badly with Anwyn.

As she headed downstairs it occurred to her that the least she could have done was open all the shutters in the widows' hearth and let in some fresh air to drive out the stench of Scarpe. What had Stannig Beade told her? "Restrict your activities to caring for the bereaved and the sick"? Raina slowed her descent. He had meant to offend her with small work and she had allowed herself be offended. Since when had caring for the widows of slain warriors become offensive to her? Had she become too proud? Unsure of the answer, she decided to go back and throw open the shutters, Maybe she would move some of the looms to their proper places. They were complicated arrays of har ness and treacdes, but generally more air than wood. A strong woman could push them into motion. Feeling her thoughts begin to settle, she headed up the stairs.

And met Jani Gaylo coming daown. Instantly, Raina rememberes the noise behind the corner loom, Little mice with weasel's tails. Stepping into the center of the stone step, she forced the red-haired maid to walk around her. Raina stared at her, waiting for the girl to meet her eye, but Jani Gaylo kept her pretty head tucked low as she passed..

Oh gods. Was she up there, listening?

Raina continued climbing the stairs, but her sense of purpose had gone. What had she and Anwyn said? Things that did not bear overhearing by anyone in this clan. Uneasy, she let herself into the widows' wall. No sign of any disturbance. But would there be? Quickly she unhooked the closed shutters and pushed them open. The outside air was cold and still, crisp with frost. When she reached the corner loom, she halted. It was one of the large upright frames and a panel of bright blue wool was nearly completed on the harness. That was where Jani Gaylo could have hidden, behind that taut yard of cloth.

Abruptly, Raina turned away. She would not think about it anymore. What was the point? I'll go and saddle Mercy. Get away from this unsafe house.