Free The Blight of Muirwood by Jeff Wheeler Page A

impress. The other girl, Ellowyn, was dressed in clothes every bit as fine as Marciana’s, but she looked like a wretched. Her eyes were slightly downcast, her manners timid yet not as timid as Sowe’s. It was as if she wanted to join the fun in the kitchen, but did not trust herself to leap in. She stood in Colvin’s shadow, as if he were a rope that would keep her from drowning in a sea of memories. A year before, she had been serving in an Abbey. For the last year, she had been close to Colvin. Something dark twisted inside of Lia at the thought.
    Pasqua’s voice strained with impatience. “Bring the spoons, Edmon, over here! Come have a taste. With the sugar and cream, the berries are even sweeter. You can mix in blackberries as well. And cake. A little cake is also good.” She grabbed a spoon from his hand and served him a dollop of Fool.
    “It is amazing, Pasqua!” His face lit up with enjoyment as he tasted it. “And so fresh. How lucky you all are, to have it so fresh. You could sell this at the festival!”
    Bryn and Sowe both burst out giggling at that remark, and he turned to them, confused.
    “She does!” Bryn said, covering her mouth while laughing. “Every year.”
    He smiled, chagrined. “I remember now. You already told me that. Colvin, you must try this Fool!”
    They were also very different, Lia observed. Colvin and Edmon. Both wearing knight-maston swords at their belts, along with collars from Winterrowd. Both wearing the same jerkin and padded shirts. Edmon was more at ease – one who could mix company gladly and care not whether he was with nobles or wretcheds. When Lia observed him, she saw Duerden’s traits of kindness and compassion. A few more years and he would have all the girls giggling at some brainless remark. But Colvin was different. He was reserved, aloof, but always watchful. More circumspect and guarded than Edmon.
    Lia watched as Colvin dipped his head and whispered to Ellowyn, motioning subtly towards the bowl and offered spoon. Ellowyn smiled enthusiastically, as if deferring to his judgment in the matter of whether she should taste it. He served her himself. Sowe and Bryn joined in, as did Pasqua.
    Marciana clung to Lia’s arm, as if she could not stand to be apart from her for a moment. Subtly, she led Lia away from the others. “So this is where you have lived your life,” she said softly. “I am sure you begrudge not having a family, Lia. I know I would. But Muirwood is a beautiful Abbey. I love it here already. I was so excited to come, especially knowing that it would bring us together at last. If there is anyone in the world he speaks more highly of, I do not know who it is.” She stopped prattling, her eyes seeking out Lia’s. “You must know that I love my brother, that I regard him more than any other man. You saved his life, Lia. It was here, on these very stones that you tended him. It was up there, in the loft, where you hid him. He says I must beg your permission before he can show me Maderos’ lair, for that ground is forbidden to learners, and I am a learner. I know what happened in the Bearden Muir. I have told no one else, not even Ellowyn. I shall keep your secret as you kept his when that cruel sheriff hunted him. I must tell you how indebted I am to you.” She patted Lia’s hands and then kissed them. “Thank you, Lia. You saved his life. I owe you something for that.”
    “I was not sure how I would feel meeting you,” Lia answered, overwhelmed with emotions. She kept her own voice low. “I thought, before the battle, that I might have to find you and tell you of your brother’s death. That would not have been a pleasant introduction. It makes me grateful to the Medium that it did not happen that way.”
    “I agree! Colvin did tell me that you are adept with the Medium. Another secret I will keep hidden. Poor Ellowyn – she is so frightened of it. There was a Leering at the laundry where she served.” Her eyes glittered wickedly.