Age of Swords (The Legends of the First Empire #2)

“No,” Persephone said. “Which means Roan can teach others to make them as well.” Persephone stepped before Raithe. “I didn’t bring back a thousand swords. I brought back a thousand swords a month.”

“More than that…” Roan spoke up again. The girl was a mouse except when it came to talking about how things worked. “Once I get everything figured out, we could work in batches. The real problem is getting the material.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out the reddish rock. “This is iron. Well, sorta. I took this from their workshop. They had plenty.”

The chieftains drew closer to look at the silver-speckled rock.

“Will the Dherg let us have it?” Krugen asked.

“For a price, maybe,” Lipit said, his tone disapproving. “The Dherg are vicious traders.”

“Don’t count on that,” Moya told them. “I doubt they would part with an ounce regardless of the price.”

“Then what good is it if we can’t—”

Gifford pushed his way through the crowd, using his crutch like a shepherd’s crook to clear a path. “I’ve seen that be-foe,” he said, elbowing his way in.

“Gifford!” Roan shouted. Dropping her carefully folded blanket, she rushed over, stopping just short of touching him. “You’re all right! You’re better!”

“You can look at me and say that?” He grinned.

“I just thought…I thought…”

“I thought the same about you.”

“Where have you seen it?” Harkon demanded.

Gifford refused to take his eyes off Roan, so when he spoke he appeared to be talking to her. “I dig fo’ stuff to make glazes. Woan and I’ve found all kinds of metals. But I couldn’t do anything with that, so we didn’t use it.”

Roan smiled. “You have to heat it until it’s very hot. You use this huge bag that blows air. It’s called a bellows.”

“How common is this?” Lipit asked.

“Very, I think,” Tegan said. “In Warric we mine for copper in the hill near the Galeannon River. Not much copper, but there’s a lot of this rock.”

“If we get the iron, we can make more than just swords,” Persephone said. “We can fashion armor, too, shirts of metal rings like the Dherg. They will be light but stop the sharpest blades. And we can make shields that won’t shatter. Given time, we can outfit an army with better weapons and armor than the Fhrey.”

Raithe took Persephone by the shoulders. He was biting his lower lip as he grinned, his eyes staring as if he’d never seen her before. “You did it,” Raithe said in awe. “You really did.”

Persephone grabbed hold of his arms and squeezed. “So you’ll accept? You’ll be keenig?”

He stared into her eyes. “No.”

“No! But…do you realize how difficult it was to—”

Raithe turned to the other chieftains and interrupted her. “I never got a chance to name my nomination.”

This brought a look of puzzlement from everyone.

“You didn’t need to,” Tegan said. “Persephone already nominated you.”

“Not me. Her. I nominate Persephone, chieftain of Clan Rhen, to be our keenig.”

Persephone displayed the most shock of anyone. “Raithe. No. I—”

“I agree!” Moya said, a huge grin on her face.

Raithe smiled at her, and then spoke to the chieftains, who looked less than convinced. “For days we’ve sat here arguing and accomplishing nothing. While we talked, while we worried, Persephone risked her life crossing the sea, and she’s returned with the answer to our problems. And did she take an army? Did she wield sword and spear in battle? No. She took the best minds she knew, and that’s how she succeeded, by using her head rather than muscle. Could you have done that, Tegan?”

The Warric chieftain shook his head and looked at Persephone with different eyes—serious eyes.

“What about you, Lipit? You live here at the foot of the sea, right across from the Dherg. You trade with them daily. Why didn’t you manage to obtain the secret of this magic metal?”

Lipit didn’t answer. He, too, stared at Persephone, his eyes shifting from her face to Raithe’s hand and the shimmering sword.

“Truth is, none of you could. I know I couldn’t.” Raithe raised his voice to a shout. “How about you, Udgar? Could you do what this woman has done?”

Persephone turned to see a huge, ugly man standing at the far side of the courtyard. He was missing parts of his nose and was covered in thick red hair.

“Persephone, chieftain of Dahl Rhen”—Raithe motioned to the giant man—“meet Udgar, keenig of the Gula clans.”

“You are a chieftain?” Udgar spoke in a deep, brawny voice.

“Yes,” she said, looking nearly straight up at the hulking brute. “So the Gula-Rhunes got my messages.”

“You called us here? You invited the Gula?”

“All of this was her idea,” Raithe said. “She was the first to see the threat coming; the first to believe we could win. She called this summit. Persephone is the one who suggested the appointment of a single leader. And when we needed better weapons than the Fhrey’s, she made that happen, too. I’ve never believed in the impossible. I’ve never believed that one person could make a difference. Persephone has proved me wrong. I haven’t believed in much, but…I believe in her. Persephone has done the impossible, not just once but over and over again. Look at Udgar. The leader of the Gula-Rhunes is standing inside Dahl Tirre taking part in the appointment of a keenig for all the clans. Lipit, did you think that would ever happen?”

The chieftain shook his head.

“Neither did I, but Persephone thought so, and saw the need, and she made it happen. When I didn’t think there was any way to beat the Fhrey’s weapons, I gave up. A keenig doesn’t give up. Persephone didn’t give up. Look what she’s done with a handful of women and a couple of young girls. Imagine what she could do with the full might of the combined clans!” He shook his head and his eyes settled on her. “Persephone, I can’t be keenig. You already are.” Then he fixed his gaze on Udgar. “And not just the keenig of the Rhulyn-Rhunes. She needs to be the keenig of all the clans!”

“You can’t be serious!” Nyphron broke into the clearing of people where Persephone and Raithe stood. When he spoke, those close by backed away, including Udgar who glared at the Fhrey. Only Persephone and Raithe held their ground. This didn’t go unnoticed.

“When you put forth your name for keenig,” Raithe told Nyphron, “you said it wasn’t necessary for the keenig to swing a sword, remember? You said the keenig doesn’t need to be on the battlefield. You said what’s required is someone who sees what needs to be done and can put a plan in place to accomplish it. I’d say obtaining the knowledge of Dherg metal certainly qualifies, wouldn’t you? You also said we need someone who believes in the cause and is willing to sacrifice everything to succeed. Persephone lost her husband, her son, most of her clan, and her dahl. None of those setbacks stopped her. She never gave up. And she isn’t merely willing to sacrifice…she already has.”