Free The Salbine Sisters by Sarah Ettritch Page B

know.”
    “Why don’t you talk to Lillian, ask her to tell Maddy?”
    Sophia shook her head. “I don’t want her to think I’m interfering. And don’t you say anything, either.” She felt Elizabeth’s smile against her cheek.
    “I won’t,” Elizabeth said. “I learned a long time ago not to get in the middle of you two. But I can say something to you, and I think you should stop worrying and see what happens. Maddy’s only just found out she’s malflowed. Give her time to adjust. As for her relationship with Lillian, it’s too early to tell where it’s going. For all we know, Lillian could be the one to end it. So stop worrying.”
    But she was supposed to worry. She was the abbess. And Lillian’s big sister.

Chapter Six
     
    M addy closed the thick tome with a thud and lugged it back to the bookshelf. Its pages hadn’t provided enlightenment, only disappointment. A malflowed sister mentioned in passing, among passage upon dry passage that described new discoveries related to reshaping and redirecting the elements. So far, her month in the library had given her the overwhelming impression that malflowed sisters had always been on the periphery, their accomplishments, if any, not worth recording. Hardly encouraging.
    “We’ve received another two responses from the other monasteries,” Mistress Averill said cheerfully, making Maddy jump. “Brettony’s librarian said she’ll copy the few references she’s found and send them to us.” The mistress pursed her lips. “I expect we’ll receive the material in about a month’s time.” Her voice lifted. “But the more exciting response is from Heath. Apparently they had quite the prolific malflowed sister in their service. She left behind journals, and she’s mentioned quite frequently in their history tomes.”
    Maddy wanted to leap into the air with joy. “That’s wonderful!”
    “Yes, but unfortunately they value the material too much to part with it.”
    Her heart sank. “Can’t they do what Brettony will do and copy it?”
    “Apparently there’s so much of it, it would take months. They’ve invited us to send a sister, someone to sort through the material and decide what’s important to us. Their scribes will then copy her selections, and she can bring the copies back to us.”
    Why should another sister decide what was important? Maddy should be the one to go—but only those who’d achieved the title of adept were permitted to travel.
    “You can’t go, of course,” the mistress said, perhaps deducing Maddy’s thoughts from her expression. “But the abbess has asked me to speak to our scribes, to see if anyone is interested. If we send a scribe, she can help their scribes, come back to us sooner.” She pressed her finger against her chin. “Sister Clara’s seemed a bit bored lately. Maybe she’d like to go. I’ll speak to her this afternoon.”
    “Thank you,” Maddy murmured, though she wished she could go herself. “May I leave now? I’ve finished with the Ivers tome, and I don’t have much left to go through until more material arrives.” Plus, she wanted to finish embroidering a cushion cover for Lillian’s birthday, now only two days away.
    Mistress Averill nodded. “I don’t see much point in spending hours here each day if you’ll only run out of material. I’ll see you in the chapel later.”
    Maddy bobbed and left the library.
    Excited voices turned her head as she crossed the inner courtyard. Several initiates were on their way to the training rooms, probably chattering about the fire examinations that had begun yesterday and would continue for the next two days. Initiates were examined in front of their peers and the adepts. Mistress Ivy, who oversaw all training, had invited Maddy to attend, but she’d declined. Watching her friends draw fire would be like pouring salt on an open wound, and her presence would only put a damper on things. Everyone was in a celebratory mood, looking forward to moving on to