She had to be younger than Viv by at least a few years. A pair of goggles held back her spiky orange hair, and a set of bare-bladed knives gleamed on her bandolier. Hardly bigger than a human child, her head didn’t clear the tabletop by much. Clad in fingerless gloves, her hands toyed with the copper mug in front of her, and she didn’t seem to be eating.
“Hey,” said Viv with a forced smile. “Any chance I could convince you to swap so I could sit in that chair? Easier to be out of the way with the leg.” She patted her thigh lightly.
The gnome eyed her up and down. Viv recognized the look of a new recruit with something to prove. Unfortunately. “After I’m gone, you’re welcome to it,” she said with exaggerated indifference. The girl ran a finger around the rim of her mug, very slowly.
Viv’s eyes narrowed, and she breathed in hard through her nose. Then with great deliberation she laid her book on the table and dragged out the empty chair, raking it across the floorboards with a squeal. She didn’t break eye contact with the gnome as she eased into the seat and swung her stiff leg around to the side.
A smile teased the gnome’s lips, and Viv had to deliberately unclench her fists and lay them flat on the table.
Doing her best to shake off her irritation, she figured she’d dive into Heart’s Blade while waiting for the tavern kid to make his way over. It’d probably take a while, given the crowd. Also, it seemed like an excellent way to ignore someone while they were sitting right in front of you.
CHAPTER ONE
The steel that brought them together was the steel that kept them apart. Or possibly, it was the other way around. Like the blade in question, their story has two edges.
It was a simple longsword—nothing elaborate about it. Even so, it was the work of a master bladesmith, perfect in its utility, a burnished blue that made one think of evening fog on the river.
Tamora wielded it in the spirit that it had been forged. Never flashy, never ostentatious. She drew it, swung it, and sheathed it as part of work done well and right.
She stood on the backboard of the coach as it rumbled through the night, and her broad features were cast in harsh shadows by the lantern light. Tamora kept her eyes fixed on the lane behind them, ever watchful.
Mirrim Stanhood gazed out the small window in the coach door at the dark stripes of trees as they flickered by. She wielded weapons of her own, but they were of another sort, from the finely sculpted ringlets of her hair to the sharp words she slid between the ribs of the unsuspecting.
Lately, she’d been sliding a lot of them into Tamora, who also wouldn’t have minded returning the favor in a much more physical way. Only necessity saw them occupying the same coach.
But when Tamora saw the red glow, and smelled the smoke, she still—
“Whatcha readin’？”
When Viv glanced up, she found the gnome tapping her lips, eyes half-lidded with amusement.
“You don’t care,” Viv said flatly.
“Must be interestin’。 I mean, you’re readin’ it.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
The gnome shrugged. “Oh, nothin’， really. Lookin’ atcha though …” She gestured to Viv with a hand, as though the answer was obvious. “Guess I just figured you’re more of a steelswingin’ sorta gal? Probably gotta be pretty good to catch your attention. Or, I dunno. Short.”
Viv simply stared at her. Usually that was pretty effective.
The gnome didn’t seem to mind. “C’mon, what’s it called?”
“Piss off.”
“Okay, that does sound like a book you’d read.”
“Can I get you anything?” the tavern kid asked breathlessly as he squeezed through the crowd, dirty mugs looped around his knuckles.
Viv worked the frown off her face and pointed at his hands. “Same as last time. A couple of those, and a couple of whatever lunch is.”
“For both of you?” The kid gestured between them with the mugs.
“If she’s buyin’， I could always eat,” piped the gnome.
“No,” replied Viv firmly.
When he disappeared back into the crowd, Viv sighed and set the book on end so that the girl could read the title. “There.”
“Heart’s Blade, huh? Well, that is a better title.”
Viv snorted and shook her head, very pointedly returning her attention to the pages.
“How’d ya get the wound?”
Viv glared at her. “In a battle.”
“Oh, hey, now that’s the kind of story I wanna hear.”
“Not interested in telling it.”
“Aw, come on. Tell you what, you spill, and I’ll swap chairs after. We both get what we want. Deal?”
“Everybody wants to make a deal today,” muttered Viv. “Fine. But we switch first.”
A pause. “All right. You welch on me though …”
“And what, you’re gonna stab me with one of those?” Viv scoffed.
The girl drew one of the knives from her bandolier, flipped it a couple feet into the air, and caught it point down on one fingertip. She shrugged as she balanced it there.
“Very flashy.” Viv rose, which took a few seconds as she heaved herself up and onto the crutch.
True to her word, the gnome swapped places, and Viv settled with real satisfaction into her accustomed chair. “Thanks for warming it up for me.”
“Yeah, yeah, get to the tellin’。”
The kid reappeared with Viv’s food and drink, and she waited until he was gone, then took a long pull of the beer.
“Okay, fine. I run with Rackam’s Ravens. We’re on contract with three north Territory cities to hunt a nasty woman with a bigger army than anybody is comfortable with. We were rolling through a forest near here, and one of her soldiers got me through the thigh with a lucky strike.” She gulped another swallow and set it down forcefully. “And that’s it.”
The gnome’s eyes were wide. “Rackam? You run with Rackam?”
Viv shrugged. She tried to be nonchalant about it. She probably wasn’t very successful. “Sure.”
“Well, where are they now?” demanded the gnome.
“Back in a few weeks. I’m just … resting up until they show. All right, I kept up my end, so I’m gonna read now, yeah?”
The girl sat back in her chair and folded her arms with a speculative look.
Viv was about to resume her story, but then sighed and said, “What?”
“Introduce me to him.”
“What?” Viv repeated incredulously.
“You heard me. I figured I was gonna have to take a coach all the way to Thune to find somebody to take me on, but this is perfect! Look, I’m real good. What’d you have to do to sign up?”
“I was recommended,” said Viv. “By someone who knew me. And liked me,” she emphasized.
“See, that’s the way it works! You gotta know somebody. But you know me, you intro me, bam!” She pounded a fist into a palm. “I’m in!”
“I don’t even know your name.”
“Gallina.” The gnome shoved her hand across the table. It didn’t come close to reaching halfway.
Viv ignored it. “How am I going to recommend you? I don’t know the first thing about you.”