Wystwood

66. Seamstress and her loom

Armestrong refused to take Ada to Min right away, continuing instead to heap serving after serving of porridge into her bowl. When the oats had begun to turn cold, and Armstrong had mentioned for the hundredth time how unusually pale Ada looked that morning, she finally admitted to her midnight meeting with Raeph in Wysthaven.

"Oh, I just know he's not eating well," Armestrong said. "He's never in proper health when he keeps all to himself."

The bandits were making their way through the Stone Circle, taking a longer route back to Hester's infirmary so that their hushed conversation would go otherwise unheard.

"Raeph can do just fine on his own," replied Lark impatiently. "What else did he say about the banquet?"

"Not much more," said Ada, counting off the details Raeph had told her. "It will be in the Barracks on the night of the Harvest Moon. He and the Hounds will be there, as well as their families and other supporters. But they'll all be at the banquet, so maybe we can just sneak into prisoner's quarters somehow, find Solen, then get out. Raeph would help keep everyone distracted."

Lark was oddly silent as they rounded the last corner of the passageway, a buoyant sage-light smoking out into the air at the door of Hester's infirmary. Inside was the old woman, hunched on a stool and smearing poultice between her arthritic hands. Beside her stood Min. The girl was brighter than Ada had seen in days, not quite happy, but busy and eager. Baskets of flowers and bundles of herbs were piled on the table in front of her, flowers frothing out around her head and sap sticking the curls of her hair. Her hands worked quickly, plucking stalks of lavender and rubbing them until fragrant, then tearing petals from chamomile to mix with a paste of turmeric.

When she caught sight of Ada, she gasped, and dandelion seeds puffed up into the air.

"Ada! You're back!"

"I didn't go far," Ada assured her, avoiding Hester's eye. "What are you making?"

"A sleep salve," said Min. "Hester let me use her plants, although they're a little dry."

"Be grateful I'm letting you use anything." Hester swept aside a pile of garlic, and her cat went streaking after a rolling root. "You're too learned for such a young thing, some ignorance would do you good."

In spite of Hester's sharp words, Ada saw an array of pots lined neatly along the edge of the table, each with a labelled name and ingredients list that the old woman must have helped Min spell out.

Armestrong's eyes were shining, and her voice came softly. "You've worked hard, Min."

Ada remembered the Fair Powder that had been used to suppress Min's magic, its grey filings burning the child from the inside, which Armestrong had supplied. It had been given to protect Min, but Ada wondered how Armestrong felt now, seeing her magic celebrated by the Stone Circle.

"I don't suppose you'd have anything to make us invisible?" Lark asked.

"Don't be ridiculous," replied Hester, narrowing her eyes. "Why? What use would that be down here?"

"Not here," said Ada. "Lark and I are going to the Barracks during the Hounds' banquet the night after next."

Hester began to wheeze, which Ada realised after a moment was her attempt at a laugh. "At least nobody in the Circle can say you haven't got nerve. You'll not get six inches near the Barracks looking as you do now, though."

"We know that," said Lark. "Ideally, no one would look at us at all."

As he spoke, Ada's memories leapt from a handful of Fair Powder to a bustling marketplace, with falling fruits and Armestrong's suspicious stare.