"I began training with my brother as soon as I was able to hold a wooden practice sword," Eowyn remembered, and if her eyes were faraway, it was understandable. "I may have been Reynald's age or a little younger. At first it was play, but my father was slain by orcs only a few years later. It was not play after that."

She hadn't started brushing again yet and Lorica whickered in protest.