In the room atop Ashlynnâs tower, Isabell lay on a pile of cushions, listening to the increasingly loud patter-patter sound of rain on the towerâs tile roof and the crackle of the small hearth that warmed the large, communal space. Not far from her, standing on a stool in order to peer into a small cast iron cauldron, Heila stirred a thick creamy liquid that smelled of mint and something else bright and fresh that Isabell couldnât identify.
"What is that aroma? Mint and something else?" Isabell asked, turning her head slightly to the side to watch Heila work. Her confrontation with Ashlynn had taken far more out of her than she realized at the time, and she felt like she finally understood the soldiers sheâd seen staggering back to camp with terrible wounds who claimed that they didnât feel anything until the fighting stopped.
Her face, neck, and hands had taken the worst of the heat from the fire, and her skin felt tight, dry, and warm to the touch even half an hour after leaving Ashlynnâs chambers. The black silk tunic and skirts that Heila had presented her with shielded the rest of her body from the heat, but they did nothing to cushion the other blows of mystical force that hammered her body while Ashlynnâs magic raged out of control.
Thankfully, Heila had presented her with a potion that dulled the pain without dulling her mind the way essence of poppy would have. In fact, if it wasnât for the fact that she knew that her body hadnât been healed yet, Isabell would have considered sitting up to converse normally. But Heila had insisted that she wasnât healed yet, only comforted, and until she finished her treatment, Isabell was supposed to move as little as possible.
"There is a spiny plant that Auntie Amahle cultivates with great difficulty in the Briar," Heila explained, raising her wooden spoon out of the creamy liquid to check its consistency before returning to stirring. "It needs dry, sandy soil to grow and the Briar is a very wet place. But the gel from the plant is good at soothing skin and easing burns, so Auntie Amahle sent us with a jar of its gel when we left the Briar, along with several other useful things from her gardens."
"The other thing youâre probably smelling is mint," Heila added. "Mint is a cooling herb, and adding its energy to this salve will help to remove the heat from your body. Iâll be done with this in just a few more minutes, so just relax and youâll feel better soon, I promise."
"You donât have to use something so rare and precious on me," Isabell said as her eyes opened wide in surprise. "You said the Briar was all the way across the mountains and several daysâ travel south of, what was the city you mentioned? High Fen? You canât have brought very much of this gel over such a great distance."
"Itâs fine," Heila said, smiling at the genuine feelings in Isabellâs voice. In High Fen City, at the gatherings of the wealthy, Heila had learned to hear the sort of false humility that influential people used when accepting gifts or trading favors, but she heard none of that from Isabell. Instead, she found the older woman to be a very direct and honest person in everything she said and did.
"You havenât met Talauia yet because sheâs tending to Lord Ritchelâs wounds," Heila continued, still referring to Ritchel as an Eldritch Lord even though his title had passed into Ashlynnâs hands. "Cousin Tala is the Thistle Witch, and sheâs part of Auntie Amahleâs coven. She brought seeds and starts to help us cultivate a garden like Auntieâs, filled with healing herbs that donât grow natively on this side of the mountains."
Of course, Heila didnât mention that Talauia also brought seeds for several plants that were incredibly toxic and could be used to create powerful poisons. There were some things, after all, that Isabell shouldnât hear about. At least. Not yet.
"You know," Heila added as she began to spoon the smooth, creamy salve from the cauldron into a shallow bowl where it could cool quickly. "Youâre much more impressive in person than Lady Ashlynn let on. She told us that you were brilliant and that she hoped you would agree to help us because you could do so many things, but she never told us how strong you are," she said as she began to use a whisk to whip air into the still cooling salve.
"I donât think Iâm that impressive," Isabell said with a faint chuckle. "I couldnât even stand. I, I wanted to do so much more than I did for her," she sighed, closing her eyes and replaying her conversation with Ashlynn through her mind again, searching for anything she could have done to handle it better.
But more than anything, she wished sheâd been able to give the wounded young witch the tender embrace that she so clearly needed at the end. By then, however, Isabell had lost most of her strength and only stayed upright by leaning on one of the sofas in front of the hearth.
"I donât think Iâve ever seen Lady Ashlynn hurting so badly," Heila said as she brought the light, frothy cream over to Isabell and began to apply a faint, very thin layer of it to the older womanâs singed hands. "And Iâve never seen her lose control of her power."
"Most people would have run screaming from a witch who wasnât in control of themselves," Heila said. "I think... I think that, if Virve and I had been there, even Virve might have tried to run. She would have picked me up and carried me away to protect me from Lady Ashlynn until the storm passed or Lady Nyrielle woke up, but even Virve wouldnât have stood her ground the way you did."
"But you would have," Isabell said, sighing in relief as Heilaâs salve began to visibly restore her tight, inflamed skin. "Virve would have needed to carry you away because you wouldnât have backed down. You would have been right there next to me, trying to reach her through the pain and the grief, wouldnât you?"
"Of course I would!" Heila said instantly. "Lady Ashlynn, she, she gave me the life Iâm living now. Without her, Iâd still just be an ordinary chambermaid, doing laundry and mopping floors. I owe her everything I am, and Iâd do anything for her."
"I think itâs more than just the things sheâs done for you," Isabell said with a smile. "I think youâve done as much for her as sheâs done for you. You arenât in her debt, youâre her friend."
"How do you do that?" Heila said, pausing in her treatment of Isabellâs wounds to stare at the older woman in genuine awe. "How do you see so clearly, even when weâve only just met? How do you know just the things to say?"
Ashlynn had praised Isabellâs keen mind, boasted of her vast knowledge and her worldly experiences as someone who journeyed across the sea to study her trade, but sheâd never said anything about how clearly those gray eyes saw through to a personâs heart.
Heila wasnât as sheltered as sheâd been before. Sheâd met people who were cunning and shrewd in High Fen City, people who were cold and calculating in the High Pass, and people who lived for centuries and spent their idle time soaking in the sun and thinking for days before making a decision in Crystal Lake City.
But when it came to understanding another personâs heart and the desires that shaped them, the only people Heila had met who could compare to Master Isabell... were her fellow witches.