Warcry

wear it,” Garth whispered, his voice cracking.
    “You aren’t the only one,” Heath muttered.
    Dunstan laughed.
    Atira glanced at Heath, thought for a moment, then smiled at the lads. “I’ll take one.”

    HEATH HUSTLED ATIRA BACK TO THE CASTLE. HE had to keep her moving since she was still caught up in the magic of fire and metal, and talking of the forge. It wasn’t until they were standing in front of Marcus that he realized his mistake. They should have taken the time to at least wash.
    “What in the name of the elements have you been doing?” Marcus glared at them as he opened the door of the Queen’s chamber. “You stink. And not of sex.”
    There was a horrified gasp from behind him. Marcus rolled his eye.
    Heath already knew his mother was in the room; the guards had warned him that she was on a rampage. “Lara sent us on an errand,” Heath said calmly as he ushered Atira in before him.
    Anna sat with three of her ladies, pins in their mouths, staring at Atira as if she had swords drawn and was screaming a battle cry. Anna’s mouth was open in a look of pure horror.
    Yveni and Aymu stood nearby, clothed in plain shifts, looking miserable. Heath suspected that the entire “dress for the wedding” idea was not going over well.
    His mother’s look of horror melted into one of grim determination. “You both smell like the armory,” Anna growled. “I need you clean if we’re to have you ready in time. Best to get yourself off to the baths,” she said to Atira.
    Heath opened his mouth, but Anna cut him off with a glare. “ Not with you, young man. Amyu and Yveni need to bathe; they can take her.” Anna gestured to her assistants, who started to remove pieces of cloth from their victims. “Lara and Keir are still sleeping. Heath, we’ll fit you a new tunic. Now.”
    “Yes, ma’am,” Heath said, accepting his role of sacrifice as Yveni, Amyu, and Atira made their escape. He waited until the door closed behind them. “Mother, you can fit me if you wish, but I won’t be wearing a new tunic. I’ll be armored.”
    Marcus huffed in agreement.
    “Armor? For a wedding?” Anna scowled at him, but then she frowned as he simply met her gaze with the same determination. “You think—”
    A knock at the door saved him. Detros peeked in and gave him a relieved look. “There ya be, lad. A word, if you would.”
    Heath gave his mother a smile and a shrug and slipped out before she could prevent him.

    “I SWEAR TO YOU, IT HAS BEEN ENDLESS,” YVENI complained. “She has been at us since the Warprize secluded herself.”
    “I don’t think she and the Warlord are napping,” Amyu agreed. “I think they are hiding.”
    “But it’s just clothes,” Atira said. “You try it on, and it fits or doesn’t.”
    “Oh no,” Yveni turned down another hallway and led them to a set of circular stairs. “They want to sew them tight to the body at the top, and long and flowing at the bottom.” She shuddered. “They have pins.”
    “I am not wearing one of those things,” Amyu declared. “How in the name of the skies am I supposed to deal with skirts and swords?”
    “We must,” Atira said as they trotted down the steps. “The Warprize wishes it so, and how can we not?”
    “Where did you go?” Yveni asked. She wrinkled her nose. “You do stink.”
    “Someplace amazing,” Atira said. As Yveni opened a door, they spilled out into a hallway. “A place where they wield the very elements to create metal. Weapons, and other things.” She paused, and held out her hand. “Look,” she demanded. “I made this.”
    Yveni and Amyu gathered around and stared at the nail in her hand. “You made that?” Amyu asked in astonishment.
    “Yes,” Atira said. She struggled to explain the feeling that gave her. The rising excitement of the idea of bending metal to her will. “They taught me. They showed me to use fire and tools to make it.”
    Yveni gave her a look of amazement. “They make weapons?”
    “Swords,” Atira said. “Knives, and other things. I thought they commanded the elements themselves, but the elder told me they only work together. That no one commands the elements.”
    Yveni shook her head in disbelief. “A city-dweller understands that? These people amaze me.”
    Atira looked at her. “They are amazing, aren’t they?” She hadn’t really thought of it like that, but it was a truth. She closed her hand over her nail. “Now, where are those baths?”

    “SO IT HAS COME