“Told ya he was a tough one. How’re you feelin’, boy?”

  Vetch opened his eyes and looked up into the wrinkled face of Mage Marigold. The old woman looked haggard, but there was the whisp of a smile in her eyes.

  “Pigheaded, you mean to say,” commented the unknown woman from across the room. “The other day, he rose and tried to stumble his way upstairs while I was busy in the garden. Made it only two steps up before he collapsed and reopened his wound. Had to bandage it all over again.”

  Marigold waved her hand flippantly. “Bah. That’s just young men for ya.”

  Vetch licked his dry lips. “Lily?’ he asked.

  The woman across the room scoffed.

  Marigold chuckled. “Still Slumbering. As I’ve told you all the other times you’ve asked me. You don’t remember, do ya? Too feverish. But you’re looking a might better now.” Her gnarled fingers were cool as she touched his forehead. “Much better,” she said, nodding to herself. Then, speaking to the other woman, “No more fever, far as I can tell.”

  “That’s as well,” she responded. She retrieved a pinch of tea herbs from a jar and dropped them into a kettle that she placed down near the fire to heat.

  The sounds and aromas produced by someone doing something so simple as making tea was comforting to Vetch. After the woman had fiddled with the kettle to ensure it was neither too close nor too far from the flames, she came over to feel Vetch’s forehead for herself. Evidently satisfied with his temperature, she then palpated all around his chest wound, carefully skirting the new bandaging there. Vetch was surprised to see that the bandaging was clean, and not spotted with blood and puss. The area still felt sore, but not in the way it had before.

  When the woman had finished prodding him, she said, “I’m going out to check on the animals and buy some things for our supper in the markets. Make sure he doesn’t move off that couch.”

  When she had departed, Vetch asked Marigold, “Who is she?”

  “An old friend,” Marigold said. Vetch gave her a quizzical look and, after a moment, she relented and offered up more. Scratching her cheek, she said, “She’s a healer—of the sort you wouldn’t be concerned with. A traditional one, mostly, but she does have some talent in health magic she can utilize in dire situations. Lucky for you, she judged yours sufficiently dire. She was able to purge the infection from your body with magic. But make no mistake, boy, that wound is still a severe one. It’s gonna need ample time to heal up.”

  Vetch ran his fingers over the bandaged wound. The improvement was astounding. No more was the surrounding flesh angry and red. No more was there a stench of rot. He felt better than he had in many a day.

  Observing this, Marigold added, “She’s no master mage. It cost her a lot to draw you back from death’s door. You can show your gratitude by doin’ everything she says, and not moving about in her home anymore when you’re supposed to be resting. She may be an old friend, but she’s taking a lot of weight on ‘er shoulders sheltering us here. Try not to give her a reason to withdraw her hospitality.”

  “She didn’t seem to want to bring me here at all,” Vetch said. “She wouldn’t even give me her name.”

  “Which is why I haven’t, either,” said Marigold, and chortled. “Don’t take it personal, boy. It’s just her way. I always got the impression she never much liked sword-swingin’ types. But I promise you, she can be trusted.”

  “So, we’re safe here?”

  “Safe as we can be in Black Crux. The city’s crawlin’ with Gilliana’s soldiers, all lookin’ for us. They won’t look here, though.”

  “Gilliana?” Vetch asked.

  “Lady Iris.”

  “Ah. And how can you be sure her soldiers won’t look here?”

  “Because I am, boy.” Marigold raised her brows in a challenging fashion.

  Vetch bit back a response. The soldier in him wasn’t keen on taking intuition as a basis for an assurance of safety.

  Marigold read the skepticism on his face. “Ah. Lily’s like that, too, sometimes. Can’t just trust an old woman without a full explanation?” She voiced an amused little cackle, displaying the missing teeth in her grin. “Trust me, boy. Not only do the soldiers have no reason to search here, but people in this quarter know how to keep secrets. Why d’ya think I chose it? And as long as Gilliana is still Slumbering, she can’t sense my presence here and tell her foreign attack dogs where to look.”

  “How long do we have until she wakes and does just that?” Vetch asked.

  The amusement in Marigold’s gray eyes faded. Looking aside, she said pensively, “After the kind of Barrier-Casting Gilliana was doing? She may never wake.” She took in a slow breath and let it out, before adding, “So, we’re in no rush. Lily has time to finish her Slumbering, and you have time enough to heal. Once we’re all able to travel, we’ll sneak out of town. I long to be back home.”

  Vetch pushed himself up on his elbows, grimacing at the shock of pain the motion caused.

  “Disobeying your caretaker’s orders already?” Marigold chided.

  “I wish to see Lily.”

  “See her do what? Sleep? She’s fine, young man. I won’t lecture you again about doin’ what you’re told. Stay on that couch or I’ll cast a Barrier to keep you there.”

  Vetch sensed she wasn’t jesting. He sighed and settled back on the cushions.

  “Patience, boy,” Marigold said, more kindly. “We’ve got nothin’ but time. There’s some books upstairs. I’ll fetch you one.”

  “Thank you all the same, Mage Marigold, but I think I’ll just sleep some more.”

  “Wise,” Marigold agreed, and settled herself with a grunt in a chair by the fire.

  *

  Lily’s eyelids fluttered, then she snapped them open. She sensed her Mage-Matron in the room before she saw her.

  “How long was I out? Where is Vetch? Is he? ...”

  “He’s fine,” Marigold said quietly. “And lower your voice, girl. It’s early and people are still asleep.”

  Lily allowed the ethereal sensation of Slumber to dissipate from her before she sat up. She was in a strange nightgown, in a strange bed, in a pitch black room. Marigold, wearing a loose gray robe, was a lighter silhouette situated in a chair beside the lone window. Outside, the dim gray haze of pre-dawn was a backdrop interrupted by the dark roofs and chimneys of neighboring dwellings. Lily could tell she was on the second floor of wherever this was.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  “Where are we?” she whispered. Daintily, she swung her legs out of bed and put her bare feet down on the floor. The room they were in was cool, but not uncomfortably so. Upon standing, she felt sore and stiff. She was also positively famished.

  Marigold stood up and stretched her back with a grunt. “Still in Black Crux.” She spoke through a quiet yawn. Had she been sitting up all night watching over her? “It’s been almost three weeks. But I’d call that a miraculously short period of Slumber for the Castings you did. You can thank Fae for that. We are in the home of an old friend of mine. We are safe here.”

  “And Vetch?”

  A small smirk defined Marigold’s mouth. “Don’t you want to ask about food first? You usually ask about food upon waking.” At Lily’s beseeching look, Marigold chuckled softly and said, “Downstairs, probably still asleep. That sword wound he took was a nasty one. But it’s healing well now.”

  “So ... we made it? We made it out of that terrible place? And the three of us can return home now?”

  Marigold’s little smile and nod lifted a weight from Lily that she hadn’t known she’d been carrying. She sat back down on the bed and took stock of things. Marigold was safe. They had succeeded in rescuing her. And Vetch was alive and okay and in this very house. They were all safe. They could go home. Lily closed her eyes and tears of happiness welled and slid down her face. She pushed the heel of her hand over her cheeks and sniffed.

  “I will bring you some breakfast and tea,” said Marigold.

  “I’ll come with you,” said Lily.

  They went silently down a narrow hall past various doors. Through one open door, Lily spied a young woman asleep with a very new baby cradled on her breast.

  “That one arrived only yesterday morning,” Marigold whispered, as they went down old, creaking stairs. “The woman sheltering us here is a healer and midwife. This is a place for women whose pregnancies are ... inconvenient ones. Ones they might not wish others to know about, if ya catch my meaning. When I was Mage-Matron at Black Crux Manor, I knew many a young serving lass who found her way here, after her belly had begun to swell following a dalliance with some visiting noble or other. I knew my old friend could be discreet about our presence here, even if she’s none too happy about it. It’s the safest place I could think of.” She breathed a little sound through her nostrils. “I do not miss the thorny intrigues of court life.”

  Lily took this in, comprehending how Marigold had secured their safe concealment, even as they remained in Black Crux. At the landing of the stairs, Marigold turned toward the kitchen. Lily, however, spotted Vetch asleep on a little couch by the fire in the sitting room, alive and well. Her breath caught in her throat. Without a thought, she went to him.

  Ignoring Marigold’s admonishment to not wake him, Lily kneeled before the couch. She took Vetch’s face in her hands and kissed him. He woke with a start, but when he saw her, and looked into her eyes, he uttered a sound of elation and encircled her in his arms, pulling her to him and kissing her greedily. They didn’t say anything, just shared a series of sweet kisses. And in those kisses were their shared relief and happiness, at the other being safe, and at being in each other’s arms again. Lily cried more tears of joy. They fell on her man’s face and mingled with their lips.

  She forgot Marigold was still in the room until the old mage said, “Breakfast for three it is, then. Alright, girl, that’s plenty. Pry yourself off him and come help me stoke up the oven. Vetch, long as you’re awake, you can go draw some water and gather the eggs from the chickens.”

  They sat down and broke their fast, as their benefactor woke and went about the tasks of her household. The woman spoke hardly a word to them except to exchange pleasantries with Marigold and offer a civil greeting to Lily. Lily felt very much a stranger in this house, though both Vetch and Marigold appeared at ease. She was eager to question them both about all that had gone on since she had fallen into Slumber. As soon as Vetch had eaten his fill, however, he announced he would sleep more and returned to his couch.

  So, Lily interrogated her teacher over their tea, and learned of how Vetch had stayed behind to guard their backs while Marigold took them out of the castle. Keeping as out of sight as one could with a panthegrunn in tow, she had coaxed the weary Fae along seldomly frequented byways until she had reached her friend’s dwelling and begged shelter.

  Lily expected there to be more to the story, but no sooner had Marigold laid out the bare bones of their escape than the old mage said, “Now, your turn. Your man told me Moonfane Forge was attacked by these sellswords Gilliana now commands ...”

  The question was left hanging in the air between them. Lily cradled her teacup in her hands, allowing the hot tea’s wafting steam to warm her face. She was tired of thinking about that terrible day when Marigold had been taken. That was the day her life had been shattered—her home destroyed, her family killed. Wasn’t it enough that she and Vetch had succeeded against all odds and saved Marigold? She wanted only to return with them to what was left of Moonfane Forge and begin picking up the pieces, not remember. Not now.

  But, no, Mari had Slumbered through all of it—she knew nothing of the full extent of her town’s destruction. As Lily looked into her teacher’s storm cloud eyes, she could read therein the need to know.

  Marigold prompted, “I woke from Slumber somewhere in Bannerman’s Wood, tied up in the back of a carriage.”

  Lily swallowed. “They came into our home,” she began slowly, “Lady Iris and some of her soldiers ... while many others were busy plundering the town.”

  “Not Iris,” Marigold stated flatly. “Lady Gilliana. Widow of Lord Marcus, the once ruler at Black Crux. Iris was the mage name she chose for herself, but she doesn’t deserve to be called a mage. Not anymore.” The contempt in Marigold’s voice was undisguised. She frowned briefly and took a moment to compose herself. “I’m sorry. Go on.”

  Lily wrung her fingers on the warm ceramic of her teacup. “She was your apprentice ... once.”

  Marigold’s eyes flicked down to the table. “Yes,” she confirmed. “A mistake I wish I could take back.” Upstairs, the baby cried and then calmed. Marigold chewed her lip. She appeared pensive to Lily. Distracted. “The livestock rustlers,” Marigold said. All those fences they broke were so I’d have to dispel the town Barrier. Gilliana’s doing?”

  Lily nodded. “Yes. Or so Vetch and his garrison companions surmised.”

  Marigold sighed, tapping her chin in thought. “All to get to me ...” She pinched her eyes shut. “What else?”

  “They ... in all the chaos ...” Lily faltered, gripped by the distressing emotions that accompanied her memories of that day. “I couldn’t protect you. I couldn’t prevent them from taking you ...”

  Marigold opened her eyes and Lily felt as if her teacher could see into her soul. A pained sympathy deepened the cracks in Marigold’s aged features.

  “Gilliana was ever devious and calculating,” she said. “Unable to let a grudge go. I was a fool to believe I could simply ignore her for the rest of my life, that she would eventually give up.” Marigold turned to look out the window. Outside, the dark was giving way to a sunrise partially shrouded by shreds of silver clouds. “And what of Moonfane Forge?” she asked. “Gilliana attacked Hold Moonfane’s seat of power, part of her own kingdom. So, why is no one else here, no other forces? I’ll bet hard coin on the dinner table King Caiside won’t stand for this when he learns of it. How bad was it for Moonfane Forge? I’ll need to get the Barrier back up, first thing. People will be clamoring for that, make no mistake.”

  Lily set her teacup down and pressed her fingers to her lips. She was not prepared for this, to be asked to think back. Now that she did, she recalled the stench in the streets, the overwhelming and pervading sense of sadness. ...

  “How bad was it, girl?” Marigold pressed.

  Bad? Horrific? Catastrophic? Lily could seize on no single word that was sufficient to describe it. How could she reveal to Mari that her house no longer existed? That some of her neighbors had been killed in the fires? That all throughout Moonfane Forge, other families had experienced the same or worse. The faces of Lily’s parents and brother came into her mind, the wreckage of their charred home. A tear slid down Lily’s cheek and her chin began to quiver.

  “Never mind, girl, never mind,” Marigold said quickly, softening her voice. She reached across the table and placed her hand gently on Lily’s. “I am genuinely sorry all this happened. I should never have agreed to teach that woman.”

  “What happens now?” Lily asked.

  “Now?” Marigold jutted her chin at Vetch’s sleeping form. “We wait for your handsome soldier to have strength enough to travel and then we go home.” A chuckle escaped her. “The boy nearly killed himself getting the both of you here, didn’t he? Well. Now that it’s only him sleeping the days away instead of you and him, we should make use of our time.” With a groan, Marigold stood up and ambled in her stooped fashion for the back door. “There’s clothes for you upstairs. Go put something on and meet me outside.”

  “Why? Where are we going?”

  “Only as far as the back garden.” She opened the door to a cool dawn breeze. “Time we returned to your casting lessons.”

  “Lessons?” Lily asked in confusion. “Now? But ... you’ve never had me do any casting the day after waking from Slumber.”

  “There’s things you need to learn,” Marigold said, and the tone of her voice was grave. “And I don’t think they should wait even a day longer. Go get dressed, girl.”

  She went out the door, shutting it behind her.