Though Henriq had called her stingy and mean, once befriended, the Widow Giselle was neither. First, she gave Charlot Henriq’s freshly-washed backpack, filling it with sausages, wheels of cheese, salt fish, biscuits, and even a jar of honey for Korak and Siyabros.

Then, she offered to care for the deer hides and shadowcat pelt that were all in need of curing in the sun. With some rope, an old quilt, and a quick bit of sewing, she improvised a far more comfortable saddle for the bear.

“That should hold you until you can find a saddler who works with bears.” She grinned.

“To be true, I far prefer to walk! If I can find this wayward youth, I’ll be hoofing it once more. Now, do you think you can demonstrate this bow?” Charlot gathered the legionnaire’s helm from the porch. One side was dented, but the other was whole.

“Put the helmet on that fence post,” Giselle said. She wasn’t shy about ordering an archmage about! But Charlot’s spirits were too high and his stomach too full to take notice.

He set the helmet on a post of the wicker fence that surrounded the vegetable patch. Giselle took the Shenden bow and three arrows and walked toward the barn, Charlot went with her, counting his steps. They were perhaps seventy paces from the helmet.

“This’ll do. I don’t want to spend all day trying to hit it,” Giselle said, and she nocked an arrow, took aim, and let it fly. It was too distant for him to see, but he heard a distant CLANG. She’d hit the mark on her first shot!

They walked over to the helmet and found the arrow had not only pierced the helm of black wyrth steel but it had driven through the post and come out the other side, jutting two inches from a starburst of splintered oak.

“I’ve already got the girls training on short bows. When they’re old enough to draw the Shenden bows, the three of us will be able to take down a cohort on our own.”

“Stars above! If I had not seen it I would not believe it! In a single shot! Think of what a thousand archers with these bows could do to the legion.”

“I think about it every day,” Giselle said. Beneath her voice was an anger that had kindled for years.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“We shall talk more once I’ve found my quarry. You there, Siyabros! Quit lazing about! Come, Korak! We’ve a lad to find!”

Charlot’s charges gathered at the porch, ready to go. Only the war dog was still, curled up and averting her eyes from the arcanist.

“Let me have a word with young Henriq in there,” Charlot offered, returning into the cabin. As he suspected, the boy was glum, faced with a whole season of lying in bed. Still, he lifted his head and tightened his bottom lip when Charlot approached.

“Thank you for saving me. I will never forget,” the boy said. Watching him swallow his gloom, Charlot wondered if perhaps the boy might indeed someday be a captain. He had an unusual grit.

“I, too, am afflicted,” Charlot admitted. “My sight is failing. Anything more distant than ten paces is a blur. Yet, here I stand. There is yet much to be done. The world is not through with me, and it has barely begun with you. I wanted to offer you something.”

“A magic ring?” Henriq blurted, his voice quick with excitement.

“Pah! No, if you want a magic ring, get to studying and make it yourself. I’ve a deal to offer you, not a bauble. Within the Crimson Citadel are all the volumes of Captain Laeke’s odyssey. Even the fragments of the final journal!”

“Will you send them to me?” the boy asked, his eyes alight with excitement.

“No! These are first editions! Imagine if they were lost! There aren’t more than ten copies of the first journal in all the Arc. No, here is the deal. You may read them all within my tower…” Charlot paused, the boy’s eyes never left him, “the day you can walk there without crutch or cane.”

Henriq blinked, and his eyes narrowed, wondering if this was some cruel jape.

“I would not offer if I did not think it was possible. I and your aunt shall have a great deal of business in the future. I imagine she’ll put you to work making bows as soon as I can arrange a shipment of epee timber. When the time comes, I want to field a thousand bowmen against the Wyrth.”

“A thousand bows!” Henriq breathed.

“Remember, not a word of that to anyone you meet. No tales of bears, legionnaires, or me. The Wyrth have ears everywhere.”

“My word is my bond,” Henriq said at once.

“Then, rest and heal. Stay away from sweets! The less weight the knee must bear the better. We shall meet again,” Charlot finished, clapping the boy on the shoulder as he left. He could not feel a bit foolish and sanctimonious. The grand magus, telling a child to eat his vegetables! Pah!

He took Flaccaro from the place by the stove, glad to feel the staff warm again. No sooner did he take the staff away from the spot near the hearth than the fire within rose, crackling and popping. With regret, he exited the homey cabin, leaving behind the smell of fried bacon and sweet herbs drying over the mantle.

Outside, his companions were waiting for him, eager to be back on the road.