Chapter 30

JUNE 23RD NEAR THESSALY’S HOME

V itus spent the morning at Niobe’s, doing the rest of the stone sorting. Niobe had kept watching him, not in annoyance but as if she were puzzling out the inscriptions best for an unusual stone. She also kept him in tea, while her own morning went to finishing up the accounting for the quarter, due tomorrow. He knew she was a touch worried about him without her saying a word.

And to be honest, he was a touch worried about himself. It wasn’t like him to be this unfocused, to have all his thoughts cascading one way or another. Thessaly had sent back a note by return post. It must have been, asking him to meet her at one that afternoon. She’d included directions from a portal he didn’t know along a walking path to an orchard, and instructions to wait until she let him in through the gate. He could do that.

More to the point, he would. Vitus had packed this morning with that in mind, a blanket that folded up small and tidy. He’d picked up a couple of bottles of lemonade coming through Trellech on his way to the workshop, and he intended to stop by one of the cafes for something to nibble on. Of course, Thessaly might not have much appetite. But perhaps she might, if it wasn’t in the middle of whatever her family was doing. And the cakes would keep, if she didn’t.

At noon, he ducked out, leaving Niobe with her lunch, and headed for Portal Square by way of his favourite of the Trellech bakeries. Half an hour later, he was through the portal in good time, coming out along a country road with several branching, smaller roads radiating out. There was a path, just as described, circling down around what looked like a small shop and portal post drop. Vitus made every appearance of being someone out for a walk in a new spot.

It was perhaps a mile and a half to where the path curved against a gate to an orchard. It was June, of course, so the apple blossoms were well and truly gone for the season, but there were small apples forming on the trees. He didn’t have to wait long, maybe five minutes, before there was someone coming down the path from higher on the hill, inside the fencing. Vitus stepped nearer the gate, where he’d be more visible, while doing his best to look like he wasn’t lurking if someone came along the path. Not that he’d seen anyone since he got onto it.

When she came closer, he could see she looked awful. Oh, she’d done the usual sort of charms so it didn’t show as much as it might, but she was pale, her eyes were sunken, and she wasn’t moving freely. The black dress she wore made her look like something out of an engraving, except for the brown hair, pulled up and away from her face, with a simple black bonnet pinned on top and a veil pulled back over it. She touched the two posts of the gate, frowning in concentration, then did a little quick pattern of taps with her fingers. He could feel the sudden shift of the warding, a space big enough for him to enter, and she opened the gate to let him in.

“Thessaly.” He bowed his head slightly as she closed the gate behind him and redid the warding. Then she turned back to him, and he had to think of something else to say. “I’m so sorry. I’m sure you have many people saying that, offering to help.”

Her mouth twitched. “I am glad you came.” It was five words, each one dropping into the world like pebbles into a still pond, with weight and gravity, sending out ripples that would go in all directions. “I— there’s a bench?”

“Wherever you’d be most comfortable. I brought a blanket to sit on, I wasn’t sure what would be available.” Vitus hesitated, but better to put all his resources out at first. “I’ve some lemonade and some little cakes. I didn’t know if you might want something to eat. And a few stone samples, if you wanted to see if one felt better than the others.”

“Oh.” That took her by surprise. Instead of saying more, she led the way back up into the orchard, to where a remarkably ordinary bench sat, under a grove of apple trees. “No one will come down here, not today. I’ve an hour or two, I said I wanted fresh air, and Mama’s dealing with calls that would be easier if I weren’t around.”

“I won’t keep you longer than needed. Should I let you know when it’s, what, half-two?” It was one now. That would give her time to get back to wherever the house was.

“That would be very kind. Time is not particularly easy to wield right now.” She settled on the bench, smoothing her skirts out. Vitus waited a moment, until she had stopped moving, then took the other end, leaving a reasonable amount of space between them. Before he did anything else, he tapped his pocket watch to set it to chime in due course.

When he looked back at her, she was watching him, steadily. Vitus had no idea what to do with that. He focused on unpacking his satchel, the lemonade, the box of baked goods, and then the small box with a few sample stones. She reached out a hand, frowning, then pulled it back. “You thought about bringing things.”

“Yes.” Vitus considered the question, as he took off his gloves, finger by finger. Or rather, not the question exactly, but what it implied. “You didn’t expect that?”

“It’s all been terribly awkward. Everything.” Her fingers twitched, and she pulled them back into her lap, burying them in a fold of her skirt. “I want to go duel something, and I can’t. It’s not anything I can deal with that way.”

Vitus didn’t have a tremendous amount of experience here. The two grandparents he’d known who had died had been at the end of well-lived lives. They’d known it was coming. And in Grandmother’s case, it had been as much a kindness. She’d been in a great deal of pain sometimes. “People expect you to feel and behave a certain way. And the customs help a bit, I suppose, but they’re not enough by themselves.”

Thessaly was nodding her head by the time he started the second sentence. “Just like that. Which is why I’m so glad you wrote, I just needed to be...” She glanced back toward where the house must be. “I needed to be somewhere else for a bit.”

“I’m glad, then, that I could come out. It’s a beautiful bit of countryside.” He was not actually entirely sure where he was. He hadn’t had a chance to look up the portal address anywhere.

She took pity on him, and added, “Northumberland. Not terribly far from Hadrian’s Wall, not that that’s entirely identifying. There’s a small magical village here. We’re roughly between Hexham and Carlisle, not that we go to either very often.”

“With a portal, you’d go to Trellech. Or London?” Vitus suggested.

“Both. But Trellech more. Magical families and all that. The house came down from Papa’s side of the family.” She shrugged slightly. “It will, well.” There was a slow breath. “I suppose it’s a good thing I like it. I shan’t be able to go out for a bit, and then only to Mistress North’s and back for a long while. Not that I want to go out and be social. Of course I don’t, but this is rather remote.”

Again, Vitus wasn’t entirely sure what to say to that. Then he had an idea. “There’s a theory - it comes up in some talisman work - about a space that’s protective. Where you can signal what the rules are, what would be best for you. Mourning dress does that, but so can some kinds of jewellery or, I don’t know. I gather from Niobe that there was a particular fashion for indicating things with hats a decade and a half ago.”

Thessaly snorted softly. “Mama did that. We have the lists somewhere, I’m sure.” She glanced at him, then she was frowning a little. “Why are you so easy to talk to?” Her tone was baffled, more than accusatory, but that didn’t make it easier for him to answer. After a moment, she coughed. “I’m sorry, that’s unfair.”

“I’m glad you think so, though.” Now Vitus had to go delicately. “It seems like perhaps you could use another friend or two. I don’t know if that should be me, or if you’d—” He really did not know how to finish his sentence, and now he looked away.

“That’s very kind of you.” A moment later, he felt her fingers brush the top of his hand, where it was resting on the bench. She had gloves on, of course, still, though then she looked down at their hands, and cleared her throat. “I’d love to try some of the lemonade, and perhaps a cake.”

“Grief is horrible for the appetite. But it won’t do you any good to be faint. That just makes matters worse.” It was not the sort of conversation one was supposed to have with women, but it was also true.

“You’re very pragmatic, aren’t you? I like that.” There was a dip in her voice, quieter and a little shy now. “Thinking about a stone you could offer. Bringing something to drink and eat and a blanket. I didn’t give you much to plan with.”

Vitus offered a half-smile. “The word orchard is actually surprisingly informative. It made me fairly certain we might want something to sit on. Apples do stain. I’m sure there are some around on the grass from last year still, or other things that would not be kind to clothing. And yet, we cannot turn to the apples for a little sustenance, unless you grow particularly early varieties.”

“Not this far north, no,” Thessaly said. “Or so I understand it. I am glad you thought through it. That is what I’m trying to say. I would very much like a stone. Sleep has been— well, mostly sleep hasn’t, without a potion.”

“Here, how about you take a look at the stones, feel them in your hands...” Her gloves were now off. This was a good time for that. “And then I can talk about what I might do.”

“I’d be glad to, I mean. Your time is worth something, surely? And the stones?” When he glanced at her face, Thessaly was flushing.

“It is my pleasure. And Niobe said she’d be glad to cover the cost of the stone. None of these are expensive, we have plenty of all of them, it’s....” Vitus turned his palm up. “It’s the sort of thing we do for a friend. I suppose that’s different from illusion work.”

“A lot of what I do is delicate, you need to do it in the right moment,” Thessaly said, a little distracted. “What are the stones?”

“That one is amethyst, that one is howlite. Both are good for sleep talismans, or ease. You could wear the amethyst with your mourning dresses, in a month or two, if you preferred. And I put in a piece of jasper, but that is more associated with guilt.” As he said the last word, her eyes widened, and her hand twitched. He hadn’t expected that at all. He took a breath, not wanting to rush her. “You might also just have a strong feeling about one stone over the other. Hold each one, take your time with it.”