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

practice cures and
restoratives, she said, so even if you did catch something . . .
Laita, won't you try? I know being counter-girl for my shop wouldn't
have worked, but that would've been feeding two on the same take, or
three if . . . our brother didn't make enough to feed
himself." No need to risk Jeck hearing a name not Burk's.
    "I–!
You–! Fine, I'll try it. But what will you do? Will your
guild pay for your lost stock, at least?"
    "Oh.
Well." Kessa's smile wobbled, as she directed it at the
cushionless back bench. "Shouldn't be a problem."
    "Kessa . . ."
That was a warning tone. If she kept stalling, Laita'd probably start
shaking her.
    "I
said I'd marry him. No point, really, setting up another shop so far
away."
    Laita
was speechless for several heartbeats. Then she said, "Kessa . . . What happened? "
    Nothing
I want haunting you. "I just . . . didn't
feel safe, really. And I'd begun to think, anyway, mayhap I could
make a bargain. Give him an heir, get a stipend to replace the lost
profits from getting maiden's blood so cheaply."
    Her
voice a low growl, Laita asked, "And how'd you get from that to yes ? I'd thought you'd take till spring or past to decide if
you liked him."
    "What
does liking have to do with it?" Kessa closed her eyes. It's
all about hatred, really.
    "Makes
things rather less unpleasant in bed, at least!"
    "Oh.
I doubt that'll matter. There's potions to ensure conception."
    "Kessa,
if you're still trying to have me be his kept concubine . . ."
    "It's
a thought!" Kessa put a happy little smile on her face and
flashed it at Laita, keeping her ugly eyes closed so they'd not spoil
the expression. "You like him, don't you?"
    "From
what I know of him, but that's not all that much! Kesskess . . ."
    "It's
all right, Lai-love," Kessa said, meeting the nickname of
wariness with the endearment of safety. "Everything will be all
right."
    "Usually
when you say that, I'm seeing wind-spirits dancing in the fever-heat
above me. Fine. But I will visit you."
    "Good.
I'll have Tania do up baskets for you." She could feed her
family, if nothing else. "I'm not sure where Herbmaster Keli's
shop is. They'd know at the offices. Though . . . I'd
not go there. Not with Master Iasen sometimes there."
    "No.
I don't want to meet him." She hadn't, yet; Kessa'd told her of
how Iathor's brother'd sneered at her, dangerously. Laita paused,
and changed the subject. "Does your family get invitations to
the wedding?"
    Kessa
stared at her chip-nailed hands. "I . . . don't
know if that's safe."
    Laita
sat back, a frown in her crossed arms. "I'll see what our
brother can arrange. Or your Iathor's household."
    "I'll
try to keep you informed." Kessa took a breath. "Will you
be all right walking back, once we're stopped? I'd ask Jeck, but I
don't want anyone following this two-horse carriage with the Lord
Alchemist's crest on it, and finding your apartment along the way."
    "I'll
be fine. Our brother . . . will follow as he can."
Laita chuckled. "If you'd ask one of these nice men to pick up
some warm rolls? There's likely something near the public carriage
house, and we could all have something to eat, and a little left
over."
    "Yes.
I'll ask." Kessa leaned her head on her sister's shoulder.

 
     
    Chapter
VI
     
    A fter
Laita'd gone, they went to the guild offices, Kessa huddling in the
carriage till Brague fetched his master. She'd been tired from
pretending nothing'd happened save her shop burning, and when Iathor
hesitantly put an arm over her shoulders . . . She'd
leaned against him, breathing in the alchemical mix of him and the
office above her own ashy smell. He spoke of her immunities being
tested soon, reassuring her (or perhaps himself) that she'd all the
signs, all the indications, of being as immune to the draught as to
lesser brews. "I'll need formal clothing," she'd
said, and he'd said, "Ah, yes," as if he'd not
thought that far.
    He'd
asked her on night patrol with him, too. If she'd not