Isolde liked the way Sam’s eyes lit when she used that form of address. It was polite, but it also indicated that she had some intimacy with him. A little joke between lovers. “I hope to finish it tomorrow. If you see Lord Salveer, could you tell him? It will be ready by the end of the workday tomorrow, barring any unforeseen interruptions.”
“I will be sure to tell him,” Sam replied easily.
“I hear you and he have struck up quite the friendship,” she observed, teasing him just a bit but also curious about his relationship with the ice dragon.
“He is a very interesting fellow, and we have discovered a common way of thinking of certain things,” Sam told her. “He’s been observing my troops as much as I’ve been trying to observe him and the rest of the dragons. Now that the snow dragons are here as well, it’s gotten very interesting up at the castle.”
“And at several of the Jinn inns in the city,” Isolde agreed. “The larger inn yards now have two dragons each night, and though few can really know for certain, it looks like the dragons talk and talk amongst themselves while enjoying the music and treats. Every minstrel and bard in the city and anywhere within riding distance has been called upon to provide entertainment for them, and they are all—the inns and the musicians too—making a very nice profit from the increased business.”
“Good for them. I suppose your cousin, Thaniel, is raking it in,” Sam said, smiling to soften the words.
“That, and breaking girls’ hearts. That scoundrel is too handsome for his own good,” Isolde joked back. “But he has a good heart underneath all the bluster and shenanigans.”
“So, what is this I hear about dragonball games? It’s causing quite a stir, I can tell you. Apparently, some of the young Guardsmen came down here last night after their shift and were part of the audience. It was all they could talk about today, telling all their fellows about how the dragons use their tails with deadly accuracy.”
“If you can stay for an hour or so, you may get to see it for yourself. Whether they play the full game or half will depend on whether Lady Shilayla joins us or not. Lady Shera always comes over at the end of the workday. I think she was, at first, curious about what we did here, but I think she’s also a little lonely for company closer to her own age.”
“She is rather young, isn’t she?” Sam asked. “I haven’t had much chance to speak with her, but I get the impression that all the other snow dragons are both protecting her and a little wary of her.”
“She’s new to them,” Isolde explained. “She told me she was born and always lived in the wild. The other snow dragons here live more closely with the fair folk. And she’s only ten winters old.”
“That’s all?” Sam was clearly surprised by the revelation, his raised eyebrows giving him away.
Isolde nodded. “Luckily, three of my current crop of apprentices proved to have the ability to hear her speak, so they’ve been passing on her words to the others. She seems more at ease with the children than with others, and I know they all enjoy the games they’ve devised. Speaking of which…” Isolde placed the scythe down on the table and whistled loudly to get everybody’s attention. “Clean up time,” she said in a loud, carrying voice.
Immediately, the youngest went for the cubbies with the brooms and other equipment. The older students began securing their workstations for the night and getting out the lattice enclosures that kept them safe. Those light wooden structures had proven essential since the ball games had started to get a little more rambunctious.
“You have them very well organized,” Sam observed, watching the apprentices attend to their duties.
“The older ones teach the younger ones now, so the tasks get passed on without my having to intervene too much,” she said, shrugging. “I watch the games but don’t participate. So, I can keep working on this, or… I can sit with you and explain the rules of the games, as far as I can figure them out.” She chuckled.
“What about the spectators?” Sam asked.
“They can’t get into the yard. They watch from the gates. And the older apprentices have been taking it in turns to man the shops while the games are going on. We’ve been selling a lot more of the apprentice pieces from the shops, and the apprentices who make them get a bonus from those sales, so everybody’s happy about that little added benefit.” She chuckled. “I even took a bit of that extra money and brought it to a leatherworker I know. She’s going to make a larger ball that might be able to stand up better to dragon tails. She’s making it out of multiple layers of the toughest leather she has. The children don’t know about that yet, though. It’s going to be a surprise.” Isolde smiled conspiratorially at him, and he smiled back. She liked sharing secrets with Sam.
She put aside her work for the night, and as the yard cleared and everything was stowed for the morning, Lady Shera peered over the wall. Shilayla was with her, and in moments, they’d hopped the wall that was really no barrier to them. The children greeted them both enthusiastically, and the older ones set up the goals. Everybody split into two teams, and the game was on.
Sam watched with her, cheering when good plays were made along with the other onlookers. She looked at the gates and realized the crowds had grown since that first night, but they were still manageable. After the game was over and night was falling, Isolde invited Sam to stay for dinner.
“We eat as a group,” she warned him. “We have a large room that we use for meals and lessons where everybody can fit together. It’s traditional that we all eat together. Also traditional is the notion that any apprentice can ask any question of any older apprentice or me at mealtime, so it sometimes turns into a learning opportunity. Lately though, most of the discussion has revolved around inventing new games to play with the dragons,” Isolde said, chuckling.
“Sounds like fun. I thought of a few things while I was watching the game. Such activities would be useful in training both the dragons and the soldiers how to work together,” he told her. “We’ve been discussing creating a special unit that would have both soldiers and dragons, but the training has been the sticking point. I’ve suggested to the King that we might invite some of the fighting pairs from Draconia to come talk to us—or we could send someone there, though that would be less efficient.”
As they walked into the building and headed for the central hall where the side tables were already laid with food, they kept chatting. Isolde liked being able to show him her domain. She’d spent a lot of time building this little community into what it was now, and she still had bigger plans for the future.
“The children are washing up and will be trailing in shortly,” she explained. “I always like this quiet time before the starving horde descends to make sure everything is going well for the cook and housekeeper and their staff.”
Sure enough, Mrs. Cooper and Mr. Everest were already sitting at one of the tables, eating their dinner. They got to eat first, since there would be plenty of work for them to do after the apprentices were done, though, of course, the apprentices were taught to clean up after themselves. It still took the small housekeeping staff to make certain that the standards of cleanliness Isolde insisted upon were maintained.
Isolde led Sam to the table and introduced him. “Mrs. Cooper is our cook, and Mr. Everest oversees our small household staff that are only here during the day while the apprentices are at work,” she informed the General. “He also leads the apprentices in drills every morning. We do our best to teach them all basic self-defense. If any of them show special skill, Mr. Everest provides additional instruction.”
“I seem to remember a swordsman named Everest who was rapidly rising in the ranks when I first got here,” Sam said contemplatively. “Then, I heard he was badly injured and left the service.”
“Aye, General. That was me,” Everest replied, not taking offense at the General’s probing words. “My leg didn’t heal straight, and I’ll always have a limp, but I can still teach the youngsters. Just can’t fight up to my old standard.”
“There is no shame in that, my friend,” Sam said kindly. “It’s important that these younglings learn what you know.” He didn’t say exactly why, but they all knew the apprentices were being trained as spies as well as artisans. That Sam didn’t mention it showed his discretion. He didn’t know if the cook, for example, was in on the secret.
“It was a bitter pill when it first happened, but I’ve come to terms with my lot,” Everest told Sam. “And working with Mistress Isolde is a lot more comfortable than bivouacking with the army. Begging your pardon, General.”
Sam laughed. “You’ll get no argument on that from me. I rather like being in the capital now that I’m here. I may switch places with the Guard Captain permanently, if I can manage it.”
They all laughed at his jest, and Isolde excused them so they could fill plates from the sideboard before the apprentices descended on the buffet.
By the time they had their plates, Mrs. Cooper and Mr. Everest were finished with their dinner and going back to their duties, so Isolde and Sam had a few minutes to themselves before the crowd gathered. She led him to the table she usually sat at, which would also include the oldest of the apprentices once they arrived. It wasn’t necessarily assigned seating, but they usually fell into a pattern. One of the older apprentices would have to find another place tonight because Sam was going to sit right next to her. Right where she wanted him.
Well, if she was being honest, she’d rather have him in her bed, but there was still time for that. She was already planning how she was going to accomplish it with all the nosy kids around, but she’d make it happen. She wasn’t the top sneak in the city for nothing.
Sam was duly impressed by the community Isolde had built inside her shop. She called it a shop, but it was really so much more. The first floor was a consumer shop broken into three parts. There were the two large passageways on either side of the building that had been turned into gated areas where the goods of lesser value were on display. The younger apprentice work and the like. The central showroom held the really expensive items. Things that Isolde made herself or the really fine work of the older apprentices. People would have to come inside to see those items, and there was an area where they could consult with Isolde on commissioned work as well. Behind that indoor showroom was a stockroom.
On that first level of the building, the general public could buy or barter for the wares made by everyone who worked in the back of the building, which was the real workshop area. There were also a few rooms behind the stockroom that she had shown him on the way in, where she laid out the more intricate designs. Those were workshops as well. Then, on the second floor were the communal living spaces. The big room where they all gathered for meals and lessons. The kitchen, the servants’ quarters, large bathing chambers—one for boys and one for girls—and a laundry. The uppermost floor was basically a barracks where the apprentices slept. The younger children had six to a room. The older apprentices only had to share with one other, and the eldest had single rooms, and they looked after all the others.
Isolde’s suite was on the second floor, at the front of the building, where the ornate glass windows gave a luxurious feel to the space. He knew she had made those windows. As she’d made, or overseen the making of, every window in this exceptionally windowed building. It was one of the only buildings in the city with more than just a few small glass windows. Examples of their work, he knew. Everyone could see their quality just by looking at the building.
Clever advertisement, Sam had thought. And beneficial to those who lived here as well since they had the advantage of a lot of sunlight inside, if they wanted it, and a beautiful place to live.
Mrs. Cooper and Mr. Everest also had rooms on the second floor. In this way, all three of the adults slept on the floor below the apprentices and would be on alert if anybody tried to sneak out in the night or got up to other kinds of mischief.
After dinner, which was lively and full of conversation, Isolde and Sam lingered over their slices of pie while the apprentices left one-by-one to do their evening chores before they went to bed. Night had fallen in earnest while they’d eaten. It was clear to see from the giant windows at the front of the building, which comprised one wall of this very large room. There were massive wooden support beams here and there throughout the room, but they didn’t impede anyone’s movement. They were probably very necessary to keep this large building standing upright.
There was a cut-stone fireplace along the back wall of the room, which heated the place sufficiently. It was probably quite toasty in winter. The chimney went all the way up through the center of the building, so there had to be other fireplaces above and below as well. It made sense. Winter wasn’t exactly mild in Valdis.
Isolde led Sam to two seats near the fire that had been pushed against the wall but put back in their places by the apprentices after dinner was over. They’d cleared off the tables and brought their dishes to the door at the side that Isolde had said led to the kitchen. A few of the children went into the kitchen, no doubt to wash all those dishes before they could seek their beds, so everything would be ready for the morning.
Mrs. Cooper appeared to check that everything had been put to rights in the room, in readiness for breakfast, then disappeared back into the kitchen. Mr. Everest had also come back to get his own small work party to sweep and tidy the rest of the building, in readiness for the next day.
And then, finally, they were alone in the big room.
“I must confess, I’m really impressed by the way you run your shop, Isolde,” Sam said, draining his mug of the light ale he’d been served with dinner.
“Thanks,” she replied with a shrug. “It works for us. My shop is a little different from most of the others who take apprentices in this city. All of my apprentices are orphans, and I give them a place to live and a trade they can learn. I didn’t learn this way. I did what my little brother is doing. I went to the master’s shop only during the day and went home at night, but my apprentices don’t have homes of their own, so I give them one.”
Sam didn’t think he could be any more impressed with this woman, but she’d just hit him in the heart with the most beautiful thing he’d ever heard. It took a moment for him to gather his emotions before he could say anything.
“That—” He cleared his throat and tried again. “That is a noble and kind thing, Isolde. I don’t talk about my past much, but I was orphaned by war at a young age. I was just old enough to be picked up by a mercenary troop as one of the pot boys. I worked for my keep, and luckily, the old soldier who acted as camp cook had a gruff demeanor but a kind heart. If not for Smitty, I don’t know where I would have ended up. He took care of me and the other boys. He made sure nobody messed with us. It is a dangerous thing to be alone at such a tender age.”
He felt tears gather behind his eyes, but he refused to let them fall. It was just his seldom-used emotions getting the better of him, which hadn’t happened in years. Leave it to Isolde to break through his every last barrier.
She stood and moved toward him, stopping in front of his chair. She held out her hand, and he took it silently. When she tugged, he stood, but she didn’t move back. Instead, she moved into his embrace, laying her cheek against his chest as her arms went around him in a hug.
“You understand,” she murmured. “I can’t just let the little ones live on the street. If they have the slightest interest in learning the glass art, I take them in.” She squeezed him, and he felt the warmth of her and understood the depth of her heart. “I’m glad Smitty took care of you.”
They stood there, hugging for a long moment before Sam’s riled emotions began to settle down. But even as his emotions settled, his body roused at Isolde’s nearness. He wanted—no, he needed—to kiss her again. Kiss her and whatever else she’d let him do.
He’d kneel at her feet and beg at this point, he was so desperate to be with her again. No woman had ever made him feel so much. He wasn’t sure he liked it, but he needed more of her. Of them together. Of whatever she could spare of her great big heart for him.
He knew he was getting desperate, and that alone should have scared him, but he couldn’t bring himself to regret a moment of being with her. Isolde made him aware of the world around him as he never really had been before. She gave him a sense of belonging that he had seldom experienced and a feeling of acceptance that made his heart perk up and want to be counted for the first time in a very long time.
When she drew back, she smiled up at him. She moved farther away but took hold of his hand.
“Can you stay tonight?” she asked, her smile turning devilish.
The answer to his prayers. Praise be the Mother of All.
“I can stay,” he told her, his voice dropping low with desire. She smiled again and led him from the large room by the hand. They went down a short hallway and into another room toward the front of the building. Her room.