He smiled, seeming pleased by my reaction.
‘Coffee.It’s made from a bean grown across the sea and is brought to Eritz in big sacks on large ships.It’s a popular morning drink in the big cities of Pedion, mostly because it gives you energy.’
Murus was the only city I had been to, and the idea that there were bigger cities with even more people further north was daunting.
‘How is this made from a bean?’I asked as I continued to drink more of the coffee.
Cillian just chuckled.I watched him down his own, which he drank without milk.He handed me an apple and the wrapped oatcakes he had perched on the wall beside him.I munched on my oatcakes and sipped coffee while following him into his forge.
‘I will work four days in seven for you,’ I said.
Cillian shook his head at my offer.‘That would be a crime for simple rooms I wasn’t even using.’He moved to light the fire in the oversized hearth.‘Two days for board and food is fair.’
‘That is far too generous, Cillian Northwind.I will work three days, but you can keep making me coffee in the morning.’I handed him his blacksmith’s apron, and he grinned as he took it from me.
‘Fine, Caris Ironside.Three days and coffee.’His eyes warmed with amusement, and I couldn’t help feeling pleased that I had put it there.‘I warn you.I’m an old, cantankerous employer, and after three days you might want to renegotiate,’ he teased.
It wasn’t true, of course.I enjoyed working alongside the Murus blacksmith, and we quickly fell into a comfortable rhythm.The morning was quiet and productive, but there were frequent interruptions as Murus came to life.Cillian would leave me to work while he dealt with customers picking up items or placing orders at his shop next door.
At first, I didn’t notice as a crowd gathered to watch me hammer a simple kitchen knife blade.I was fully immersed in what I was doing, enjoying the feeling of my muscles working hard again.Days in the saddle had tired me, but not in the same way smithing did.
When Cillian returned with lunch, he gestured to the crowd I had drawn to the forge.‘It seems a woman blacksmith is very good at attracting business,’ he said, grinning at me.
Children tugged at their parents’ arms, pointing at me as I looked up.
‘I’m sorry,’ I mumbled, glancing away.
I took the food and cool water he handed me and sat on a stool out of sight of the gathering children.I rarely had an audience when I worked.Most of my customers knew me from childhood and had seen me learn my trade.They didn’t give much notice to my being a woman blacksmith.
‘You said yesterday that the man who raised you taught you the trade?’
I nodded and took a long drink of water.
‘What’s his name?I know all the blacksmiths in Pedion.’
I shook my head, sure that Cillian would not have met him.He had never joined a guild and rarely ventured from our small Red River forge.He said it was because he didn’t like being around too many people, but I knew the unfamiliar landmarks and winding streets confused him.‘His name is Iain De Gellar.He wasn’t a blacksmith until later in life,’ I explained.‘He had learned the trade from his father but became a soldier instead.’
‘So, how did a soldier become your guardian and teacher?’
‘He fished me out of the Red River when I was eleven.’I suddenly lost my appetite and put down the slice of bread I had been nibbling on.
Cillian waited patiently for me to continue.I looked down at my hands, wondering how much I should tell him.
‘My father had died the previous month, and my mother and I were travelling when a patrol captain killed her.’
‘I’m so sorry, Caris.’He shook his head.
‘I had jumped in the river to escape the same fate, and Iain found me miles downstream.’
‘So, he took you in and taught you to be a blacksmith,’ Cillian stated quietly.
‘Yes.He had a forge by the Red River, and I became his apprentice.’He had also taught me how to fight with a sword and take down a man with my bare hands, but I wasn’t going to tell him that.A woman blacksmith was one thing – a woman who fought as well as a trained soldier was another.
‘It was Iain who knew the old blacksmith who was here before you, and he would come here every few years to buy supplies and trade goods.Like many others on the river, we led a simple life.’
‘So, you didn’t have an agreement with the old blacksmith to trade work for accommodation?’Cillian raised a brow.
‘Not exactly,’ I admitted.Was he mad at my deception?
