Free Herb-Wife (Lord Alchemist Duology) by Elizabeth McCoy

half-moans
coming up from her gut and chest.
    Brague
tugged her hands away from her face and pulled her close so she
sobbed into his chest. She took handfuls of his coat in her fists and
muffled her cries against him, but that was all she could do. She
might've taken Purgatorie, heaving up emotion without any more choice
than she'd had last night, physically retching out bile and poison
until nothing was left.
    All
she'd been able to do then was hold her dress over her chest, and
brace herself against Iathor's carriage.
    All
she could do now was try to weep into Brague's coat, not letting the
raging, anguished sounds get past him. The dramsman held her
shoulders.
    She
couldn't stop crying, even when her voice went hoarse and rasping
again. It scared her, which made the sobbing worse.
    Someone
called, " Kessa? "
    She
jerked her head up, sobs catching in her throat like kitten-claws,
and saw the white-blonde hair and heart-shaped face above a beige
cloak, more flattering than warm.
    "Laita!"
Kessa tried to step away, to go to her sister in everything but
blood, and stumbled hard.
    Brague
caught her and, despite her incoherent, protesting squeaks, picked
her up. She'd the wit to freeze as he carefully made his way back to
the empty door-frame and set her down. Then he had to steady her
again as Laita grabbed Kessa in a hug at speed.
    "I
was so worried , they said there was a fire, no one killed, no
one knew where you were, someone said the watch, someone said your
Guild Master, someone said you'd just vanished , Kessa–"
Laita babbled next to her ear.
    It
stopped Kessa's own weeping, at least. She had to be strong for her
sister, who was graceful and beautiful and sick so very often. Being
upset made it more likely Laita'd catch some chill. So Kessa patted
her sister's back, murmuring, "It's all right. I'm fine. I
wasn't there. The Guild Master picked me up. It'll be fine."
    Laita
took breaths of air, composing herself. Freelance courtesans couldn't
afford worry lines, or frown lines, or even terribly obvious smile
lines. "You didn't send word!"
    "I
wasn't thinking clearly. Laita, it's cold. You shouldn't be out in
this."
    "I
shouldn't be out in this? Kessa, your shop burned down!"
    "Yes.
I think it was Wolf. Could be wrong, I suppose. Can we talk in the
carriage?"
    "I
suppose!" Laita held onto Kessa as they made their way back to
it.
    Kessa
lifted her head when they got there, eyes closed, and asked, "Jeck?
Is there some place . . . nearby, or further down
Broad Street, where everyone'd be warmer? And the horses?"
    "Aye,
miss. Anything worth salvaging in the mess?"
    She
lowered her head again. "No. Not really. Thank you."
    The
driver sighed. "Blighted shame."
    Brague
held the door, and Kessa gave Laita a little shove so she'd go up
first. To Brague, Kessa repeated, "Thank you."
    He
just grunted, and closed the door after she was inside.
    "Kessa,
are you all right?"
    She
smiled wanly. "Alive, nothing broken that matters."
    "That
matters?" Laita dropped her voice. "Kesskess, I saw you
crying on his . . . Well, not shoulder, quite. What
happened?"
    The
nickname of wariness. Kessa shrugged. "Someone burned down my
shop. I'd meant to visit you last night, too." She pulled the
smile back. "Herbmaster Keli, whose daughter I've been tutored
with? She's in need of a counter-clerk for her shop. None of her
apprentices want to bother with selling, and she's offering room,
board, and four copper trees a month, plus a copper leaf of every
twenty you sell. I thought perhaps you could try for the winter, and
our brother take care of himself . . ."
    All
their brothers could, really: Jontho, thief; Burk, body-guard,
dockworker, and occasional smuggler; Tag, a fagin with his own crèche
to train and watch over. She'd not mentioned them to Iathor or his
household. Laita and Burk had mentioned themselves.
    "How
can you talk about a job for me when your shop–! Oh, you're impossible sometimes!"
    Kessa
kept smiling. "Her apprentices should