Dream of Me/Believe in Me

eat meat, can read, and like hair ribbons.”
    “How do you know that last part?”
    “Thorgold told me. I've been meaning to get some for you. What have you learned?”
    “Well, I don't know exactly…. You read, you value peace, you are a strong leader … you think getting to know each other is easier than it really is.”
    The words were out before she could stop them. Krysta groaned, stung by her own candor.
    “I … what?”
    “Your pardon, lord. I should not be so blunt.”
    “No, that's all right. I prefer honesty to deception.” Yet he spoke coolly, making her think she was not the only one stinging.
    “I only meant that perhaps men are so unaccustomedto knowing women that even a little knowledge seems like a lot.”
    She had a point. He did think he knew her well on only short acquaintance. But in truth, he seemed to have learned more about her than she had about him.
    “I read,” he said. “So much everyone here knows. I value peace. That, too, is obvious as it is the very foundation of our betrothal. I am a strong leader. True enough, but I could chalk that up to simple flattery. So tell me, lady, what else have you learned of me?”
    Krysta was silent for a long moment. She knew he issued a challenge to her and she was torn whether to accept. To do so would be to bare at least a portion of her soul, were he astute enough to realize it. Yet pride drove her to make her point.
    Slowly, she said, “You have a deep, rich laugh that seems to startle people, as though they were not used to hearing it so often. I wonder if it startles you, too. You like to skip rocks and are good at it. You are careful of children and do not wish to frighten them. You are not ruled by emotion. You did not like it when you thought me a servant yet desired me. You fought against that just as you fought against your anger when you discovered how I had tricked you. You drink only moderately, again I think because you do not like to lose control. You came of age in a time of brutal chaos, and as a result, order is very important to you. You love this land and these people with fierce strength. You would die for them and think the price worth paying. When you are tired, a tiny pulse beats above your right eye. Shall I go on?”
    “No need, my lady,” Hawk said quickly. “I am humbled.” In truth, he was embarrassed and at the same time obscurely pleased. Never had he thought anyone could notice so much about him. It made him wonder what else he had inadvertently revealed.
    He was looking at her, wondering simultaneously exactlyhow many freckles she had and whether he should invite her to go riding again, when a sudden gust of wind distracted him. He glanced up, his eyes narrowing. The sky looked little different than it had a few hours before, white with high clouds, but he felt a sense of foreboding. He went very still, breathing slowly and deeply. The air smelled ripe and heavy. The morning had been so still, hardly a breath of air, then the sudden breeze, now a gust, followed soon by another, carrying that strange, torpid smell he'd encountered only once before.
    Fate had called him to be a leader and a warrior, but he was a sailor to the bone. He knew the ways of wind and water, knew the sudden turning of the weather, knew by smell and touch and simple instinct what lay over the horizon.
    “I need to speak with Edvard,” he said. “Come with me.”
    T HE HARVEST IS GOING WELL, MY LORD, THE STEW -ard said. He appeared puzzled to be summoned at such an hour when normally the Hawk was occupied with other matters, but, as always, he had his facts and figures ready to hand. “I estimate half the oat and barley crops have been brought in, as well as most of the apples. Work is proceeding smoothly. We should be finished by the end of the week.”
    “I am pleased to hear that, but the end of the week will not do. The harvest must be completed by tomorrow.”
    Edvard gaped at him. “Tomorrow? But, lord, how is that possible? Except for the garrison itself, everyone is working from dawn to dark in the fields as it is.”
    “We will take torches into the fields. The watch will be kept as always but the rest of the garrison will put their swords aside to pick up scythes. By tomorrow nightfall, Iwant to see bare fields. Moreover, the oat and barley is not to be stacked in the fields to dry but is to be brought inside wherever it can be stored.” He gestured around the room where they stood. “If you have to fill this