Click Here to read the previous chapters and anything pertaining to my New Adult Fantasy novel “Forget Me Not, Father.”
Chapter 7
Laura woke early the next morning, quickly bathing and scrubbing her teeth. Her clothes had been cleaned and left for her on the dresser. After her morning routine of stretching exercises, she put on her brown pants, thick leather belt, black riding boots, and the white blouse with a sleeveless white undershirt. Breakfast had been delivered by a servant and she quickly ate the toast and hard-boiled eggs. Grabbing her sword and shield, she figured that there would be time to workout before Kathleen would be up and ready to take her shopping.
Dressed and fully awake, she went across the hallway through the door leading onto the second floor of the library. She leaned over a brass railing and looked down to the first floor and saw that Mel was at a table, an assortment of books in front of him.
“Good morning,” Laura said in greeting as she descended down one of the spiral staircases.
A barely-heard grumble emanated from the wizard.
“Any luck so far?”
“No,” was the mumbled reply as he was completely focused on the book in his hands. It was titled “Combining Magic and Natural Ingredients.”
She placed a hand lightly on his shoulder, startling him out of his reading state and said, “Thank you again for helping me. I appreciate the effort you are putting into this.”
“It is my pleasure to help Lieutenant,” he smiled before going back to the book.
With an in inward sigh, she went out into the large open room. No one was in there at the moment, but she could faintly hear the banging of hammers on anvils. Drawn to the sound, she headed towards the smithy, leaving the mansion through the front door and then over to the door that Ignazio had come through the previous day when greeting them.
It was a chilly morning and it quickly caused her to feel the cold through the blouse that she wore. Upon entering the smithy, the heat emanating from the two forges quickly drove the cold away from her. In addition to the two forges were several anvils, two workbenches with various drawings of armor and weapons and tools, several swage blocks, as well as some small tables and stools while a couple of water tanks were attached in a way to take advantage of all the heat being generated. Everything was laid out in a way for at least two blacksmiths to be working but never getting in each other’s way. Both Ignazio and his younger brother Alejandro, who was more lean in his physique, were working at the anvils while Ignazio’s two sons were in the process of pumping the bellows.
Everyone was focused on their jobs as she had walked in. But upon entering, the two boys waved enthusiastically to her and Ignazio looked up from his hammering of what was the start of a sword and said, “Good morning Laura! You are up early.”
“Not for a soldier,” she said with a slight grin. She was looking at the various bronze weapons and armor until she spotted a few steel weapons. Staring at them longingly, her eyes focused on a smallsword with its slender blade that had a half-shell guard and a thin knuckle guard. The hilt was wrapped in black leather with gold filigree winding its way up. Other than that, it was plain without any ornamentation but looked exactly like the sword she could only dream of owning.
Ignazio had followed her gaze to where the smallsword hung and said, “We get to make a fair amount of steel armor and weapons for the nobility who are given permission to own such quality. You know how it works. The king has to give permission and then provide the nobel with a letter of writ to the blacksmith, commissioning the work of what the king has granted.”
The blacksmith then pointed to a steel longsword that was a work of art, “That was forged for the King’s heir, Prince Ferdinand. Bergosian steel is the best in the kingdom and we were lucky to receive his commission to craft that sword.”
The sword had gold engravings along the blade, a gold hilt with a gold crossguard. However, the crossguard featured four guards with reverse quillons in the shape of a horse’s legs with the hooves made of carved rubies. Another large ruby set in the wheel pommel.
“It was commissioned for his highness,” she said, arching an eyebrow. She had no desire to run into the prince, not if she could help it. “Do you expect his highness to arrive soon to pick it up or just one of his servants?”
“We expect him any day now.”
“Hopefully not while I am here,” she thought to herself before asking, “Is there a place I can workout in private?”
“We have a building right next door that was built as a fighting studio where our customers and nobles can duel and test the weapons we forge. You can get to it by going through the stables.”
“Can we go watch,” Diego immediately said, Jose looking at their father with puppy dog eyes.
“Did you not hear what the Lieutenant said,” Ignazio roared at his sons while Alejandro shook his head while silently laughing. “The Lieutenant wants to work in PRIVATE! And you have work to do!”
Before the boys could direct their question to her, Laura left the smithy as they started to whine, swiftly walking over to the stables. As she passed by Barb, she took the time to affectionately rub her mare’s head and said, “Are you doing alright?” Her horse whinnied in satisfaction but as she took one step to do the same to Stomper, hoping to get on friendly terms, the look it gave her dissuaded her of that notion and she moved on toward the door.
Opening the door led to a large building with multiple fireplaces driving away the cold and large windows to let the sunlight in. There was a large open wooden floor with lanes designed for one-on-one duels and a wide circle in the middle with smaller circles within and the smallest circle within the very center. The purpose of the circles was that one person stood in the middle and was not allowed to move while fighting a single or multiple opponents. All along the edges of the dueling area were training dummies and wooden pillars for customers to test their weapons on. Racks of training weapons from spears and pikes to shortsword and double-bladed axes were available to practice with, all made of bronze.
While the area was open, there was also a partial second floor running along the wall where spectators could view the action from above. The better to accommodate the nobility and their retinue and servants.
“May I help senorita,” a young woman said, wearing a long, charcoal dress with brass buttons and a white apron over it while her red hair was uncovered. She had been tending one of the large fireplaces and had quickly made her way over to Laura when the young warrior had entered the building.
“No thank you, I am just here to do some training,” Laura said, placing her gladius and kite shield down for a second so she could remove her white blouse. As she looked for a place to leave the shirt, the servant politely took the article of clothing from her.
“I will be over here in case you need any refreshments or assistance,” the servant said while walking to the edge of the workout area to a small bar with an assortment of drinks on a corner of the building which also had a couple of small round tables and chairs.
Laura nodded as she walked over to the center of the circle. She had been looking forward to practicing her fighting technique since she hadn’t had any proper time to do so since word had reached her father of the dark wizard being spotted. Having already stretched earlier, she was limbre as she took her stance. She launched into a series of attacks that utilized the sword and shield simultaneously, the shield to crate an opening while the sword took advantage at the same time. While her hite shield wasn’t exactly the proper type for this style fo fighting, a large round shield was more proper, it helped to keep developing the style. But she soon launched into her normal fighting style of using her shield to throw her opponent’s balance off. For her, it was an economy of motion that allowed her to fight for long periods and to quickly dispatch an opponent. Especially if the opponent was not properly trained or decided that brute force would quickly overpower her. It was the later that made it easier for her in a fight. Her small size made most men try to overwhelm her, allowing Laura to divert the blow and causing them to overextend themselves and be off balance.
As she continued to thrust, slice, and parry while blocking imaginary ripostes to her attack, it became more like a hypnotic dance.
She tried to think of the next course of action while she worked out. Should they be successful in waking her father up, what would be the next move? Return to the capital and the Wizard’s College and hope that they know how to remove the curse? After all, if the greatest wizard in the land couldn’t figure it out, what would be the chances of the young wizard stumbling upon the cure? Though, as her mind continued to dwell on the problem, it could be that the cure might be discovered in the library that was in the underground lair back in Barbate. After all, Velasquez must have made use of it after discovering the location. Not to mention, she would have to return there anyways to retrieve her father’s armor and equipment.
Her muscles were taut during the exercise and sweat glistened on her caramel skin as she continued to practice for the next couple of hours.
There was also the possibility that the General might cancel her leave, rather than extend it like she had requested, and order her to return to the capital with her father. What would she do then? Refuse the order and the nobles would pounce on it and demand she be removed from the military. Only the king would be able to shield her from the nobles. Perhaps she should have sent a message directly to the king? Maybe she should still do that. Then again, she hadn’t seen the king since he swore her to his service. He had, according to her father, approved of her promotion to the rank of Lieutenant after a hard-fought battle against the goblins where she got her scar.
With a final thrust of her gladius, right leg sliding along the ground in front of her to extend the lunge and her shield close to her chest to ward off an imaginary glow, Laura suddenly realized that she had an audience. She was facing towards one of the fireplaces with that last thrust and had to turn her head to the side. She had been so busy trying to think of her next moves that she hadn’t noticed the group standing against the wall or even when they had entered the building.
Kathleen and Kimiko, along with Diego and Jose, were standing along the wall watching her. Kathleen in a simple burnt orange-colored woolen dress had a polite expression on her face. Kimiko, looking stunning in a sky blue kimono looked impressed and slightly scandalized with what she had seen. Meanwhile, Diego and Jose’s mouths were wide open, their eyes the size of large round coins, and both were wearing matching brown, woolen pants and shirts.
“Holy gobshite,” Diego exclaimed as Laura took a towel from the servant who offered it to her. “That was incredible!”
Kathleen cuffed her older son on the back of his head, “Watch your mouth young man.”
“But mom,” he said, rubbing the spot where she cuffed him. “It was amazing.”
Laura, wiping the sweat off with the towel said, “Thank you Diego.” Then addressed Kathleen, “I’m sorry madame, I was not expecting company or I would have refrained from displaying myself in such a way.”
It had taken a long time for the soldiers in her unit to get comfortable, and used to, her wearing men’s clothing, let along stripping down to just her breast-band. She was glad that she had kept her undershirt on today. While Kathleen was being rather stoic in her reaction, walking in on Laura while wearing just a breast-band would have been too much for the mother of two.
Or for the majority of women for that matter.
“I assume you have already eaten Lieutenant,” Kathleen said.
“Yes senora.”
“Please, just call me Kathleen or KAte.”
“Then please just called my Laura,” she replied with a smile as she finished wiping the sweat away. “I would ask that all of you just call me Laura.”
She felt a tugging on her pants and looked down to see Jose pulling on them to get her attention. “Yes?”
“Can you teach me how to fight,” he asked.
“Me too,” Diego said, coming up to his brother’s side, his eyes pleading.
“I would be happy to,” Laura said, flattered that these young boys would want her to train them, but continued before they could say anything further. “However, I will not be here long enough to do so.”
“Awwwww,” was their collective response.
“If I come back to Burgos, and can stay for a while, then I will give you some lessons.”
“Promise,” Jose asked, directing a puppydog expression towards her like he had his father earlier.
“That’s not a promise I can make,” she said, not wanting to give them false hope. “I don’t know if I could keep it. But I promise that if I am ever back in Burgos, and have the time, I will give you some lessons.”
“Yay,” the boys exclaimed.
“Settle down,” Kathleen said, a small smile on her face. “We came to see if you were ready to come with us to the market square. But you’ll need to bathe and freshen up first. So just come down to the reception room where we will be waiting.”
“Just give me ten minutes and I’ll be right back,” Laura said, quickly walking away and heading towards her room.
As she walked through the door leading back to the stables, and was still within earshot, Jose said, “10 minutes! She can’t take a bath and get ready that quickly! Mom and Aunt Kimiko take at least an hour just taking a bath!”
“Jose,” both women yelled indignantly.
Laura quickly walked to her room, trying not to laugh too loudly. Entering her room, she quickly stripped naked, walked over to a basin full of water, grabbing a rag along the way. Quickly washing herself clean with the use of the rage and water basin, she was done in five minutes after scrubbing herself all over. Being in the military, she had to get used to not being able to bather for extended periods of time and had learned quickly to clean herself that way. If she didn’t at least do that, she would start to get itchy in certain places, not to mention she hated not feeling fresh and clean.
Done with cleaning herself, she put back on her clothes and also grabbed her black, hooded cloak since it was chilly outside. Though it also helped with hiding the fact that she was a woman. Perhaps it was a good thing that she was going to the market. When her and father had made their way to Barbate, it had been with at the utmost speed, so they had travelled light. This meant she had only brought two pairs of clothes and additional undergarments. She should get at least one more outfit she thought to herself while grabbing her leather pouch, the sounds of coins clinking together as she attached it to her belt. In addition, she also attached a seven-inch dagger to the belt that her father had given to her on her eighteenth birthday.
It was shortly before he was to plead her case to the king to allow her into the military. It was also his way of apologizing to her for the arguments that had ensued between them as she had declared her ambition to become a soldier like him. She had been armament in wanting to follow in his footsteps. It was a simple bronze dagger with a white ivory hilt and a single pearl in its pommel.
She headed back downstairs and saw the group waiting for her in chairs around the large, open fireplace. The boys quickly jumped up and ran over to her, the two women following after. They left the Muldoon Estate and started to walk towards the market square. As Laura walked, she noticed that the house was the last one on the street, closest to the castle walls. The Burgos family had certainly made sure to keep a full 200 feet clear from the nearest houses to the walls, making sure that there was an unobstructed killing field should there be an attack. It was also apparent that the city’s most prosperous citizens lived the closest to the castle since the group kept passing one large house after another.
The group made its way to the market, the boys insisting that they hold Laura’s hands. She had put her hood up to protect her face from a biting breeze, but also to make it more difficult for people to ascertain that she was a woman in men’s clothing.
After walking for twenty minutes, they arrived at one of several marketplaces in the city. This one catered to the more wealthy population. There were no hawkers or merchants shouting out their wares from wagons or stalls ulike the marketplace that immediately greeted people as they entered the city. Rather than the chaotic noise, there a soft, soothing undertone to the place. There were plenty of people walking up and down and the clip-clopping of horses pulling carriages and wagons, but absent were the shouting and loud conversations. It was civilized and orderly.
The entire market place was centered around a circular intersection, which had a large fountain in the middle with streets lined with shops selling all manner of items branching off like spokes from a wheel. On one street were bakeries offering not just regular bread but intricate and delicious-looking pastries, dining establishments, and food stores selling all kinds of exotic food that the poorer class wouldn’t be able to afford. Kathleen pointed down another street, more specifically a weapons shop that the family was partnered with to sell their weapons to the nobility. On the same street was a goldsmith shop selling all sorts of jewelry as well as other shops that sold dinnerware, dining sets, and other items for furnishing a noble’s house. Laura spotted another street which focused on tailoring and reminded herself to check it out after her host was done with their shopping.
Kathleen led the group down the street with all of the food shops and whispered to Laura, “I have to order a few things for the cooks. A messenger from the prince arrived over an hour ago to inform us that his highness will be here in the evening. It didn’t say whether or not he would stay for dinner, but we should be prepared just in case.”
The news was not welcome with Laura who didn’t need any further complications or additional headaches. She was not keen on coming face-to-face with Prince Ferdinand.
The blacksmith’s wife entered the butcher shop first where she ordered quail, venison, and lamb to be delivered to the house immediately so that their cook could start preparing the meat for cooking. At the seafood shop, the tantalizingly salty smell of the see reminded Laura of home as Kathleen ordered an assortment of mackerel, cod, and whiting as well as caviar. Moving on to the cheese shop, the boys pretended to gag at the pungent smells as their mother purchased a selection of soft cheeses and a block of sharp cheddar. Then it was to the fruit vendor where she acquired an assortment of fruit and then a selection of wine from a wine merchant.
Finished with ordering what they needed for the dinner tonight, the group went down the street belonging to the tailors and weavers. Kathleen and Kimiko wanted to look at dresses while wishing to pick out a dress for Laura who had no desire to purchase a dress. Instead, she gave them no choice but to follow her into the nearest tailor shop so she could pick up a few articles of clothing.
As they entered the shop, a balding, middle-aged man recognized Kathleen and said, “Greetings Senora Fernandez! Your husband needs new clothes already?”
He was short and wore spectacles while various implements gave evidence of his profession. Hanging from his neck was a tape measure so that he could take a potential client’s dimensions, pins stuck in a small, flattened ball of wool poking out of the breast pocket of his brown, cotton jacket, and a pair of scissors sticking out from one of his jacket pockets.
“Not today Senor Morales,” Kathleen replied, pointing in Laura’s direction and who the boys were still sticking close to. “My guest is looking to purchase a few things.”
The tailor turned in Laura’s direction, approached her and said, “How may I help you Senor?”
Before she could reply, while pushing back her hood, Diego said, “That is not a man! She is a she!”
There was a confused expression on the man’s face as he said, “A thousand apologies! What can I help you find for your husband?”
“I am not married,” Laura said as a silk, white shirt with pearl buttons caught her eye. “I am shopping for myself.”
She turned, holding the shirt in her hands. As she turned, the tailor’s eyes widened as he saw that she wore men’s clothing underneath her cloak. She strode over to where a selection of pants were and looked for a couple that would be her size.
Not knowing what to do, the tailor followed her, wringing his hands.
Laura was looking at a pair of black pants when Kathleen said, “Laura, I do think it would be appropriate that you wear a dress for our guest tonight.”
Laura’s face soured as she went over to where the jackets were, “A dress would not be appropriate given my profession. The gobs can take me before I wear one, especially in his presence. It would undermine what I am.”
“Very well my dear,” Kathleen said, a slight look of disapproval on her face.
It was hard for women to understand why Laura would not want to wear a dress. Even if she had an interest in them; to wear one when her profession was that of a soldier would undermine the progress she had made. She could only imagine the reaction she would get if her fellow soldiers saw her simpering around in a dress.
The tailor, not understanding the conversation, continued to follow Laura who was eyeing a jacket of thick cotton in a burgundy color that flowed past the hips. The lapels ran straight down, leaving the center of the chest exposed to show off any shirt that would be worn underneath it, a row of brass buttons running down each lapel. The lapels, cuffs, and collar were accented with velvet of the same color and there were brass buttons along the sleeve cuffs as well. It was a small jacket, designed for a nobleman’s son, but it would fit her.
“I will need you to take in the waist,” Laura said as she tried on the jacket, to the horror of the tailor. She held her arms out so that he could measure her waist. “And I will need this delivered to the Muldoon Estate within the next two hours.”
This was simply too much for Senor Morales who threw his hands up in the air and said, “This is not appropriate! And it would be unseemly for me to take your measurements!”
Kathleen walked over to the tailor, with a huff of impatience, took the tape measure form him, took Laura’s measurements and said, “We do not have time for this Senor Morales. There are her measurements, not do as she asks. We have to be on our way.”
With a resigned look on his face, the tailor simply bowed as he took the burgundy jacket from Laura. Having paid for two new new shirts, two pairs of paints, and the Jacket, Laura and her companions left the shop.
It was already early in the afternoon and the boys were complaining that they were hungry. Kathleen apologized to Laura for not being able to show her more of the shops since the prince was coming and they would have to prepare for his arrival. An apology was not necessary for Laura since she had purchased what she wanted and was ready to head back to the house.
As they arrived back at the house, the group went their separate ways. The boys back to the smithy to help their father and uncle while Kathleen and Kimiko went to change their clothes and help the staff prepare for tonight.
Laura was not looking forward to the evening when the prince was expected to arrive.
