Oathblood

Stefanson had bestowed upon them for their service in getting back his throne, Kethry had allowed her hair to grow, as had Tarma. Kethry's had grown faster though, and it had already been much longer than Tarma's when they retired. Now, if she let it loose from the single plait she wore it in during the day, it would just brush the floor, a glorious waterfall of dark amber with red highlights. There was no sign of gray in it yet, although there were the faint beginnings of crow's feet at the comers of her eyes.

Jadreks hair had gone completely to silver-gilt, but all of the lines in his face now were those most often associated with pleasure rather than pain. He was both a handsome and a distinguished man, and between them, he and Kethry had produced some incredibly handsome children. Though he still suffered a bit in the winter from his old troubles, Estrel and Kethry kept the worst symptoms of his bad joints at bay.

And me-

:And you, mindmate. You are still as thin and tough as a whip, though a bit creaky in the joints yourself. There's a trace of white in your hair, but no sign of age on your face, and no sign of it in the ring, provided you don't do anything intolerably stupid. And no one would ever mistake you for anything but Shin'a'in, blood and bone. Great beak of a nose, golden skin, blue eyes, black hair, just like every other Clansib I've ever seen.:

She grinned, hiding it behind her cup. Thank you, Furball, for deflating any vestige of vanity I might have had.

Yes, the years had been very kind to all of them. About the only thing she could have wished for was that Ikan would settle down himself. Preferably with a spouse with true Healing talent; that was the one thing the school lacked, was a resident Healer.

:Be careful what you wish for,: Warrl cautioned, with a laugh behind his mental voice.

Oh? You know something?

:There's going to be a new Healing Priestess arriving tomorrow in the village. Same Order as Tresti was -- so there will be no difficulty at all if she decides to get married. I hear she's very pretty and very, very clever.:

What else did you hear? Tarma asked, sensing that Warrl was much more amused than his simple description would warrant.

:Only this; Father Mayhew has been warning the boys to mind their manners and keep their hands to themselves. He told his housekeeper that her Superior warned him that as a Novice she knocked a man unconscious with a piece of firewood for trying to take liberties. I'd say she isn't going to be the easy conquest the village girls have been.:

Tarma almost choked, and took a quick swallow to hide it. Well, well, well, so Ikan was finally going to meet his match!

:She'll either infuriate him or captivate him.:

Huh. Probably both.

Warrl yawned hugely and winked at her, then turned to the fire to warm his belly.

'Jadrek, have you got any word on when their escorts come to get the children?' she called into the next break in conversation. 'We ought to tell them at bedtime.'

'Your three oldest boys will be leaving in three days; their escort is due to arrive then. Three of Keth's children will be staying here over the holidays, and all of the rest with the exception of Kira and Merili will go out with a caravan coming in tomorrow and leaving the day after. Kira and Merili's escort will be here in four days.' Jadrek sounded quite sure of himself, as well he should be; he had messengers traveling between himself and the escorts every day from the time they left the students' homes. He was taking no chances on a 'false escort' presenting himself and making off with one of the children, for all of them were highborn enough to command significant ransoms.

'That'll cheer Kira up; she was afraid the weather would keep her here over Midwinter,' Tarma said with satisfaction.

'Oh, but Jadrie will be devastated,' Kethry replied. 'Would you believe my little hoyden was looking forward to having Kira do her hair and Merili help her with a dress for the Midwinter feast?'

Tarma felt her jaw go slack with surprise. 'Jadrie? A dress? Next thing you'll tell me is that she's trying to snare herself a boyfriend!'

Jadrek laughed. 'Just wait until summer, Tanna, I think she's got her eye on that stripling shaman-' he paused for a moment, and his capacious memory supplied the name before Tarma could think of it. '-Ah'kela, that's it. Ah'kela shena Liha'irden. The one two years older than she is.'

With the name came the face, and Tarma couldn't help but grin with acute satisfaction. Ah'kela was a handsome, and unaccountably shy adolescent, in training with Liha'irden's Chief Shaman. And if Jadrie did manage