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.As she worked with the sword, she felt Rabin’s disappointment—despite the sword he had commissioned and the allowances he tried to make for her size and build, she still moved too slowly and awkwardly.He was also disappointed that she was canceling her lessons for the next day.“There isn’t much I can do until you build more strength in your arms and master the moves I taught you,” Rabin said, shaking his head.“Why don’t you spend your afternoons practicing on your own until then? And you’re never going to improve, Jaellyn, until you commit yourself to regular lessons and regular practice.A day here and a day there won’t be enough.”Jael sighed and agreed.She knew Rabin was right— certainly she needed all the practice she could get—but it was much pleasanter to spend her time running through the market with Tanis or riding with Urien than being battered by Rabin and Larissa.A soak in the bathing pools could work some of the knots out of her muscles, but all it did for her bruises was to turn them brilliant shades of yellow and green.In her room, however, Jael found that Mother or Father had thought ahead of her.A clay pot of ointment awaited her on her bedside table.The stuff had a disagreeable, pungent odor, and it caused a strange tingling, burning sensation on her skin, but it coaxed the last soreness from her muscles and healed her bruises.This was peasant magic at its simplest, so simple that even Jael could not affect it—not even a spell, just the proper combination of herbs and other ingredients.The next morning, Jael was doubly grateful for the salve’s efficacy, although she dared not put any on in the morning because of its strong odor.It had been some time since Jael had gone riding; Argent did not ride, Donya rarely rode for pleasure unless she was hunting, and riding alone had never appealed to Jael.Today, however, Jael and Urien were favored with a sunny day and a warm breeze, and they ferried across the Brightwater to ride south.The fields of grain were golden and ripe, and farmers were busy in most of them, bringing in the harvest.Wagons were laden with fruits and vegetables bound either back to the farms or directly to the market in Allanmere.Jael and Urien found a comfortable spot on the banks of one of the many small streams that divided the fanners’ lands.The guards spread a blanket and laid out the dinner, then retired to a distance out of sight, but within calling range.Jael noticed how accustomed Urien’s guards were to this process, and she wondered uncomfortably how many young ladies of noble birth Urien had invited on similar expeditions.The dinner Urien had brought was no elaborate meal as their previous supper had been; this was meat pies and roast fowl and fresh bread, a few sausages and some fresh fruit.Jael lounged comfortably on the blanket, enjoying the simple food and the fact that here it didn’t matter if her second-best tunic looked rumpled.“Did you receive my gift?” Urien asked at last, when Jael groaned and shook her head at his offer of another pie.“Gift?” Jael searched her mind.Surely none of the servants would have misplaced anything he sent, or Mother intercepted—“The salve,” Urien told her.“You mentioned sword practice when we parted two days ago.I remembered my own days of sword training.That ointment used to spare me a good deal of pain after a vigorous lesson.”“The salve!” Jael was instantly relieved.“Oh, you sent that.I thought maybe Father had made it up, being an herbalist.Yes, thank you.It worked wonderfully.It was kind of you to think of it, especially with your eyes watering from tanning fumes.”“Actually, the odors of tanning were what reminded me of the salve,” Urien laughed.“It has a rather burning odor of its own.”That made Jael laugh, too, and she was grateful to feel so comfortable with Urien after the rather awkward incident of two nights before.“And how do your sword lessons progress?” Urien asked interestedly.“Not very well,” Jael admitted.“I’m clumsy as a newborn calf.All I can seem to do is fall over my own feet [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]