"You sharpened his sword?" Severn's eyes were popping, he was so angry. "A sword he is to use against me? Has your loyalty changed so completely? Do you wish to see him shed my blood?"
"No, Severn, please, I meant no harm. I was only trying to help. His squire cannot even sharpen a sword."
"And my squire cannot even get out of bed. What is it you want from this Colbrand? Do you wish to see him beat me?"
"No, Severn, of course not. I just…"
"What?" he demanded.
"I…" What could she say? That she found Colbrand beautiful beyond words? That when she was near him her skin tingled?
"I believe she desires him in her bed," Tearle said calmly from behind Severn.
"I do not!" Zared bellowed. "What do you know of my wants? What do you know of anything? You are—"
"She?" Severn asked. "You told someone of your sex?" He sat down on a stool, his head in his hands. "Liana was right."
"I didn't tell him anything," Zared spat. "He knew."
Severn looked up at Tearle questioningly.
Tearle was quite calm. "Look you at her. Would you believe her to be male? She is so hot for this Colbrand she can barely stand when he is near, yet the fool thinks her to be a boy. She argues as a girl; she speaks as a girl; she walks as a girl; her voice is that of a girl. How could I not know?"
Severn's mind was reeling. If it became common knowledge that Zared was female, that knowledge was sure to get back to Oliver Howard. He seemed to have taken a vow to capture all Peregrine females, and Zared would be no exception. How could Severn possibly protect her if he was always on the jousting field? That day, when she should have been where he could see her, she was instead dallying with a man who was competing with him for a woman's hand. How was he to know that perhaps Colbrand wasn't paid by Oliver Howard?
"You must return to Rogan," Severn said at last. "You are in danger."
"No!" Zared and Tearle said in unison.
Tearle knew that if she left now, he'd never see her again. "I will see to her," he said quickly.
"You?" Zared said, sneering. "You, a—"
"A what?" Tearle asked, daring her to tell Severn he was a Howard.
Zared looked at her brother. "He's a coward and a weakling, and he can't look after anyone."
At another time Severn might have been puzzled by his sister's animosity toward the stranger, but he had too much on his mind. "Liana sent him; she chose him." His opinion of his sister-in-law was rising by the hour. He should have listened to her and taken the clothes and left his sister at home, he thought.
"Liana didn't—"
"Didn't what?" Severn asked.
"Didn't know what he was like. He's too weak to protect anyone. If the Howards attacked, he'd probably deliver me to them." That was as close as she could come to telling her brother the truth.
Severn looked at the man Liana had sent and couldn't reconcile his sister's words with what he saw. The fellow Smith was a bear of a man: big, thick, muscular. While Zared had slept Severn had seen just how strong the man was when he'd helped unload weapons and armor. And twice Severn had seen him hold a sword in a way that told Severn the man had had some training.
"Will you pledge your life to protect her?" Severn asked.
"I will," Tearle answered, and there was truth in his eyes.
"No! Oh, Severn, no, you cannot do this to me."
"You have done it to yourself," Severn said, rising, feeling much better. "See that she does not let the world know she is female. Keep her out of fights, and for the sake of all of us, keep her out of men's beds. I promised Liana I'd return her with her virginity intact."
"I will protect her always," Tearle said. "You have my word."
"Good," Severn said, standing. "She is yours to guard. See that no one knows the truth of her. Now I must watch the jousts. I must weigh my opponents' abilities." He turned and left the tent.