For a moment, Erkembalt almost corrected the young knight. Now was the moment. The work was almost complete. If this was a path that Jocelynn was meant to walk, then it should call out to her… She should be filled with a desire to see the work done. She should be as excited to see this blade come to life as he was…
But the look in Ollie's pale eyes was harder than steel, and for the first time since Ollie had stepped up to the bellows, Erkembalt remembered the things he'd heard about Ollie's role as the bloody point of Empress Ashlynn's spear in her assault on Lothian Manor.
Then, Erkembalt's eyes slid over to Jocelynn, and he realized how similar she was to freshly hardened steel. She was brittle and close to breaking. Pushing her now would only undo the progress they'd made.
