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“Oh, my. Two strong, handsome, and single warriors come to see me late at night. What is a damsel to do?”
Asher regaled her with a dazzling smile. “I don’t know about single, but I'm certainly strong and handsome.”
Was he flirting with Kingston’s daughter?? And not single? Who was he dating? I didn’t remember seeing him with anyone.
“Humble, isn’t he?” she asked, making me chuckle, and headed to a wall of shelves. “Not single… and here I was getting excited.” She was definitely flirting with him. Taking a long wooden box from a shelf, she walked towards us, placing it on her desk. “What about you, Braxton? Single?”
I snorted as we moved closer. “I might be.”
A knowing smirk captured her mouth. “Nah, you are good.”
“Just a moment,” Asher, pretended to complain. “I’m sure we could come to an agreement. I might not be single, but my girl is not jealous. She could be willing to share.”
Skylar pushed his face away, pretending to smack him. “Oh, she's jealous, boy. You don’t even know how jealous she is. She’s ‘cutting you while you sleep if you even look at another woman', kind of jealous.”
Laughter erupted from Asher, and he pulled her into his arms.
Rising on her tiptoes she kissed him, but then pushed him away. “Stop it. I’m all dirty.”
“Wait, you two are together?” I asked, flabbergasted. “Does Kingston know?”
“Do you think this fool would still be alive if we were sneaking around?” Skylar asked, shaking her head. “Of course, my father knows. We don’t have a death wish.”
“He better know, he’s going to be the one to marry us, properly,” Asher added.
“Oh. When are you guys getting married?”
“Whenever she finally says yes.”
I laughed at that, seeing her shake her head like he was being silly. After giving him another brief kiss, she pulled away and winked at me. It was only the second time I saw Skylar, but I was still taken aback by how gorgeous she was. She had deep chocolate brown skin, with russet brown eyes and plump lips. Like the last time, her curly, purple hair was arranged on a long braid that reached her waist, and she wore something resembling overalls.
“Here’s my father’s special order,” she offered, handing the box to Asher. “Tell him I do not appreciate the ten thousand changes he made on this, but since I’m the best swordsmith that ever lived, it’s flawless. Just as he wanted.” She shook her head at me, like she couldn’t believe Kingston had given her such a hard time. “He was so demanding with this one.”
I chuckled, even though I had no idea what she was talking about. I liked her spirit.
“Sure, I’ll give it to him, but that is not why we are here.”
“Oh.” Her gaze travelled between her boyfriend and me. “What do you need?”
“I’m the one who needs help actually.” Removing my sword, scabbard and all, I placed it along her desk. “There’s blood stuck all along the hand guard and hilt,” I explained. “I tried to remove it but I had no luck, and I want it gone.”
She offered me a kind smile. “Let me see.”
Handing her the weapon, I watched her carefully inspect every inch of it, an air of amazement and admiration falling over her features. She let her fingers run the length of the blade, and her eyes closed when she felt it, like she was caressing a lover’s body. Then she turned it around, zealously searching for something on the back of the handle. A slow smirk curved her lips when she found what she was looking for, and a smug gleam entered her eyes.
“It’s a gorgeous sword in every sense.”
“I agree,” I offered, not understanding why she looked so smug.
“Light on the hand, perfectly balanced… flawlessly sharp.” She flipped it for me to see what she had found, her grin widening. “And made by my ancestors.”
“Holy cow, really?” I asked, amazed.
“Yep. You see this symbol here? It’s our signature. One of the women in my line made this blade.”
“That’s amazing,” I whispered, with a sense of pride at the connections my sword had. “So you’ll show me how to clean it?”
“Pfft. Show you how to clean it...” She gestured to Asher like she couldn’t believe my audacity. “Where did you get this guy?”
