CHAPTER ONE
Tennengaul
Jehanna stifled a sob as
Sardi entered the front room and shut the door. She was cleaning the window that
looked out into the back yard as she had promised she would. Unfortunately, her
eight-year-old arms could not quite reach the top panel. Had Sardi not been in
the room, she might have climbed up on the ledge, as she often did. She had
walked every ledge and rafter in that house with an agility that would make a
spider envious, but climbing was forbidden in the house. He moved behind her
and the bile rose in her throat, the hairs pricked up on her skin.
The others were in the
village, shopping, so as far as she knew the cottage was empty. This thought
made her more wary than ever of his encroaching presence. In the distance, she
could see the blue ocean. She loved the water and the salty scent that hung in
the air. A winding dirt track trailed its way down towards the village and she
squinted into the distance, hoping that soon she would see the others amble
into view. In vain, she reached up to the top panel pretending not to have
noticed Sardi's presence.
"Here, let me help you,"
Sardi said, his words a little slurred. His big clumsy hands fumbled around her
waist and he lifted her up so she could reach the highest pane. She gasped and
could have kicked herself as Sardi chuckled, reading excitement into her
reaction. He squeezed her a bit tighter, pinching the skin around her middle.
Jehanna froze.
She had always been
Sardi's favourite; he had constantly picked her up and doted on her like any
new parent. Except, Sardi Mantar wasn't her real
father. He had adopted her and her twin brother when they were just four years
old. She and Jehan were different. Their skin colour was darker than that of
the Mantars and of most of the villagers who had always treated them with a
measure of suspicion. But the Mantars had happily taken them in and for that
alone she knew she should be grateful.
As Sardi lowered her to
the floor, he lingered a little too long, holding her just level with his face,
his thick tree trunk arms circling her from behind. The stench of ale on his
breath made her pinch her nostrils and take short shallow breaths through her
mouth like a panting dog. He nuzzled his nose in her long dark curls, oblivious
to the fact that her body was rigid with fear. He easily held her imprisoned in
one huge arm, leaving the other hand free to slowly snake down her body,
pulling with a sudden urgency at her clothes. Jehanna's fists clenched and
unclenched as she tried to think what she could do to get out of this.
Jehan had once told her
that if you punch or kick a man hard enough just below their belt, that they would
fall to floor and not get up again for a long time. She could never reach him
from that position and if she didn't hit hard enough,
that might just make Sardi angry. A drunk Sardi, she could maybe deal with, but
an angry drunk Sardi was too much. She could just poke him in the eye, then he
might let her go. But again... one squeeze with his arms and he could crush her
bones or throw her to the wall like a rag doll. She wanted to scream. Jehan
would know what to do. Where was he?
There was a loud bark from
the yard from Lobo the guard dog. Was it the others? Her heart fluttered. Sardi
sighed and released her. The moment her feet hit the ground, she sped out of
the room, leaving the door swinging on its hinges. She raced into the yard just
as Jehan, Monie and the kids came around the corner laden with wares. Her
brother stopped in his tracks. His eyes sharpened at the sight of her and
Jehanna skidded to a halt at the same time, just a few yards away. They
exchanged a glance. His eyes flickered to her fists which were clenched at her
side and he nodded before striding off towards the cottage. Jehanna took in a
deep breath and let it slowly out again. She was shaking, but tried not to let
Monie and the kids see that. She smiled at last and took some bags from Monie,
helping them into the yard.
***
It was early evening and
the sun was setting, but there was enough light to be able to dig a large hole
for Jehanna to plant some seedlings. Sardi was a fisherman, so he was up and
out early in the morning and back by midday. The evening was usually spent in
the local tavern, drinking away any profits from the day's catch. He always
made sure that Monie had enough meat or fish to feed them all, but vegetables
were expensive to buy from market, so one of Jehanna's many tasks was to tend
to their vegetable garden.
By the time Jehan found
her, she was digging so furiously that the hole had become too deep for the
little bean plants she intended to transfer. She looked up at her brother,
sighed and began to shovel some of the dirt back. Her face was a dirty grey
colour where she had wiped her soil covered hands across her brow and her skirt
was covered in round patches of dirt where she had used it to protect her knees
as she tended to the garden. Jehan put a hand on her arm and prised the little
shovel from her grip. She looked up at him at first in anger, until she
registered the empathy in his eyes, then a lump formed in her throat and her
bottom lip began to quiver.
"I can't do this
anymore," she said. Fresh tears spilt from her eyes and left a watery track as
they ran down her cheeks.
"Shhh," Jehan said. He
took her into his arms and softly patted her back. "We'll be okay. He's at the
tavern and Monie is with the children." Her chest shuddered as the tears began
to subside.
"I'm scared, Jay. His
hands are... horrible." Jehanna felt her brother tense. He released the embrace
and held her at arm's length, looking into her eyes.
"I won't let him hurt
you. We'll think of a way. What about Monie? Can she
do something?" He said. Jehanna pulled a face.
"She won't do anything,
she's scared too."
"I could kill him," Jehan
said. For a moment Jehanna thought he was joking, then she saw the serious
glint in his eye. "It would be easy, you know. He's
always drunk. It would be like an accident, he could fall downstairs."
"We can't. What about
Monie and the children? What would they do without Sardi?" she said. Jehan
grunted. "I know you don't like Kherula and Lanni, but I don't want them to die
too."
"And what about us?"
Jehan said. Jehanna dropped her head. In her mind's eye, she could only see
Sardi's drooling, grunting face and the smell of his mouldy, ale ridden breath.
She wanted to vomit. "I can show you a few things for now, but we must get away
soon." Jehan took her hand in his and turned over her palm. "Take hold of my
hand...like this." Jehanna grinned and grabbed hold of Jay's hand. She was used
to his little lessons in survival, but until now had not been able to try them
out for real. "If he grabs your hand, all you have to do is press your knuckle
down on the back of his hand just here..." He pressed down on her hand and
Jehanna felt a sharp pain, like a needle stabbing her hand.
"Oww," she squealed and
snatched back her hand. "That hurt."
"Isn't that the point?"
Jehan said with a sigh. "The idea is to get him to let go, so that you can
run."
"So that he can beat me,
more like," she said.
"He won't beat you. Trust
me. You just have to get him to let you go. You try."
Jehan grabbed hold of her hand and she pressed down with her knuckle as he had
shown her and nothing happened. He took her finger and moved it a fraction to
the left, so that the knuckle sat just between two bones on the back of his
hand. "Try there." She pushed and he withdrew his hand, grinning. "See. You
can't help but pull away - it sends shooting pains right up your arm."
"Where did you learn
that?" Jehanna absently picked a doc leaf from her garden, split it in half
giving one half to Jehan, then rubbed the remaining half over the sore spot on
the back of her hand.
"Same way you learnt
about the leaves," he said rubbing the broken end of the leaf into his hand.
"Trying to find out how things work. Like Kherula. Yesterday, I was in the yard
chopping wood, when he came hurtling up behind me with a large stick and
whacked me over the head without any warning. Lucky he is only four, otherwise
you would be bandaging my head and sticking on one of your yucky poultices."
Jehan pulled a face and Jehanna batted his arm playfully.
"What did Sardi do?"
"Sardi just laughed. So I
have to find ways to keep Kherula away from me so he doesn't get hurt or split
my head open or something stupid."
Jehanna jumped to her
feet. "Show me some more moves," she said. "What if he grabs me from behind?"
Jay stood up, turned her around so that she was facing away from him, then
wrapped his arms around her shoulders pinning both of her arms to her side.
Jehanna laughed and wriggled, but couldn't free
herself from his embrace, despite Jehan weighing far less than Sardi and having
about a third of his strength. "Okay, so what now?"
"Can you reach behind you
with one hand?" Jehan said pulling her tighter still. She could easily shift
one hand behind her back. "Now take a large pinch of whatever you can grab hold
of, best place is just inside the thigh, now squeeze and twist as hard and as
fast as you can. Jehanna didn't want to hurt her
brother, but managed to take a fold of skin beneath his trousers between her
fingers and twisted. Jehan let go with a squeal. "Good," he said rubbing the
inside of his thigh. "And again." He grabbed hold of her from the front this
time, so that she was looking over his shoulder. Just as he began to tighten
his hold, Lobo, the guard dog came pounding into the garden and stopped dead in
front of them. His ears were flat to his head and he was bearing his teeth in a
low rumbling growl.
"Err... Jay? Hold very
still. Don't do anything sudden," Jehanna said smiling at Lobo.
"It's that dog again,
isn't it?" Jehan sighed but followed his sister's instructions.
"Slowly drop your arms
away from me and take two steps back with your hands in the air," Jehanna said.
Slowly, Jehan retreated, being followed all the time by Lobo who looked like he
was about to leap onto him and rip his throat out. Once Jehanna was sure that
Jay was no longer a threat in Lobo's eyes, she said, "Lobo, lie down." The dog
did as he was told and Jehanna went over to ruffle his ears. Lobo whimpered
softly and lost all interest in Jehan.
"I don't know how you do
it," Jehan said. "That dog never does what I tell him to do." He sat down,
defeated, in the middle of the vegetable patch.
The twins looked at each
other and an understanding passed between them. They knew that they were going
to have to leave Villan, sooner rather than later. They didn't
want to abandon the place that had become their home, but they both knew that
sooner, rather than later, Sardi was going to hurt Jehanna.
That same night, while
the household slept, the twins packed everything they owned into two small
bags. Jehan stopped by the kitchen and signalled to Jehanna that he would
follow on. They had agreed to steal what meagre provisions that could be
spared, without leaving Monie and the kids with nothing.
Jehanna slipped into the
yard. As she made her way to the stable, Lobo raised his sleepy head then
pricked up his ears when he saw who it was. Jehanna made a shush sound, then
went over to stroke his head. She wished she could take him with her but Lobo
was too old to be going off on adventures. Besides, she already felt guilty
that they were about to steal one of the pack ponies to ease their travel
burden. Jehanna had been responsible for training their newest animal, Arion,
who was not yet ready to accompany Sardi to port.
She slipped through the
stable door. Their aging pack pony, Baku, lifted her head when she saw her
coming in, but Arion was on his feet, neighing for attention. Jehanna reached
into her pocket and pulled out two small apples. One she gave to Baku, with a
kiss on her nose.
"I'm so sorry my love. I
wish I could take you too, but Sardi needs someone to carry his fish. He will
find someone new to keep you company." Baku chewed on the apple and remained
lying in the hay silently accepting Jehanna's words. The other apple she used
to coax Arion out of the stable with as little fuss as necessary. He seemed
content just to be around Jehanna and didn't even
complain when she slid a bridle over his head. She slid easily onto his back,
laying the bags in front of her, pannier style.
She waited for Jehan at
the gate to the cottage. He was silent as he laid his bag across Arion's back
alongside Jehanna's belongings. As he reached across the pony's back, Jehanna
caught the glint of a blade nestling inside his jacket, the hilt within easy reach.
An uneasy feeling settled in the back of her mind. Jehan had always said to her
that a person should never pick up a weapon unless they intended to use it. She
was also well aware that their journey could take them
into unknown areas with unknown threats. She wasn't
sure if it was unease at the thought of her brother wielding a weapon or at the
realisation that there may be dangers ahead.
Jehan lead Arion out of
the gate. There was a loud crack behind them, as the wind caught the gate and
slammed it shut in the frame. Jehanna winced and looked at Jehan, but they
carried on walking down the path. She held her breath, counted to ten and when
nothing stirred in the darkness of the Mantar household, she let out her breath
and her heart hammered in response.
"There's room up here for
you too, Jay," she said. He shrugged. "We could move faster. Arion is stronger
than he looks." Then they heard it. A loud, sharp bark. They stopped in their
tracks and looked back towards the cottage. A light winked on. More barking.
Then they heard shouting, doors banging and commotion in the stables peppered
with intermittent barking. Jehanna's heart was racing. What would Sardi do if
he caught them? Jehan was clearly thinking the same and he broke into a run,
pulling Arion's bridle behind him. Arion was stubborn at first, but Jehanna
coaxed him into a trot and they sped down the path towards the coastal road.
Before they disappeared out of view of the cottage, Jehanna looked over her
shoulder and saw Lobo jump the gate, closely followed by Sardi. Lobo was fast
for an old dog, but Sardi was too big and heavy for old Baku. He was waving a
fist, digging his heels into the poor old pack pony and shouting.
"Thieves!" he said. "When
I get my hands on you, I'll... you'll wish you were never born. Do you take me
for a fool? Ungrateful little bastards. Thieves!"
"Get up here, Jay. Arion
can easily outrun Baku, especially with Sardi on her back." Jehan didn't need any prompting as he leapt up behind Jehanna and
Arion broke into a canter. But they weren't fast
enough to outrun Lobo. The dog had run through the undergrowth to cut them off
where the track went into the coastal road. If they had made it at least that
far, they could have taken Arion into a gallop and put enough distance between
them and Sardi that he would never have been able to catch them. But Lobo burst
into view ahead and stood his ground, barking at them. They came to a
standstill, Arion unable to move beyond the barking guard dog.
"Go away, Lobo," Jehanna
said. "What are you doing here?" She jumped down from Arion and made shooing
movements with her arms, but the dog stood his ground. He barked again, but it
was a questioning bark and he hung his head to one side. "I can't take you with
me. You have to stay and look after the cottage." But the dog was not taking no
for an answer and carried on barking and pawing the ground in front of him. Arion
was becoming restless and seemed to be trying to turn around. Then in the
background they could hear Sardi's bellowing getting closer.
"Do something," Jehan
said. He was reaching inside his jacket and Jehanna panicked. She picked up a
small flat pebble and launched it at Lobo. It hit him on the head, not hard,
but hard enough for the dog to feel it. Lobo stopped barking and hung his head,
whining.
"Go away," she said. "You
are not wanted here. Go and look after Sardi." Lobo whined again and let out
another bark.
"Damn that dog. It's
going to get us caught," Jehan said, pulling the kitchen knife out of his
jacket and jumping down from Arion's back.
"No," Jehanna said. "Not
Lobo. Go! Shoo, dog!" She picked up a handful of pebbles and launched them at
Lobo. The dog turned around and ran off, back into the undergrowth. Jehanna
jumped up onto Arion's back, closely followed by Jehan, then coaxed Arion into
a trot, then a canter. Tears were streaming down her face. She hadn't wanted to hurt Lobo, but could see no other way. Even
as they launched into a gallop for the coastal road, they could hear Sardi's
swearing and shouting die away on the breeze. That was the last they ever saw
of Villan or the Mantars.
CHAPTER TWO
The town of Lendholm lay
halfway between Sternhelm and the capital of Tennengaul, Dern. The twins
arrived there only five days after leaving their home. The road out of Villan
was a rocky slope to begin with and Arion had lost his footing several times,
terrifying Jehanna who nearly landed beneath his flailing hooves. As they had
moved further inland, the terrain became gentler, with rolling plains and
grassland meadows.
Mostly, they slept
beneath the stars and only once had to make a quick escape from what looked
like a band of robbers or barbarians. They hid in a nearby ditch until the
threat had passed. Jehanna saw two young girls in the back of the wagon with
hair like rat-tails and grubby faces pressed miserably against the wooden bars.
Nausea stirred in the pit of her stomach and she reached instinctively for the
comfort of Jay's hand. Jehan shifted his arm and when she turned to look at
him, the hairs on the back of her neck prickled; the kitchen knife was in his
hand and he had a furtive look on his face. He shook his head when he saw her
looking at him and nodded in the direction of the departing wagon.
"I would rather use this
than see you taken away in one of those," he whispered. She shuddered and held
her breath until sure that all the bad men had really gone. She let out her
breath slowly and they both sat in the ditch immobile until the sun went down
and they were certain they would not be seen. They returned to the meadow where
Arion was still gorging himself on grass. She ran to the pony and threw her
arms around him, planting kisses on his nose.
The meagre amount of food
they had stolen from Monie's kitchen had lasted only a day, so they used a
combination of begging and bartering to maintain enough supplies to get them as
far as Lendholm. People in the smaller villages judged them by appearance, so
their dark skin and ragged clothes lead most to assume that they were stowaways
from Sternhelm. The Gaullians were generous by nature and took pity on the
twins, giving them their leftover bread and pickles. The larger towns were more
difficult to penetrate, so they had to be more creative about how to get food.
Jehanna picked wild flowers and herbs along the way; chamomile and lavender,
which local healers would buy from her for the price of a meal. Jehan offered
his services cutting wood or pulling carts with Arion to give them enough
supplies to move on, in search of somewhere to stay.
Lendholm was a prosperous
and bustling town and most people took little notice of the twins as they
ambled into the town square and sat on a bench beneath a large oak tree. It was
midday and the market was in full swing with traders shouting their wares and
buyers haggling for discounts. A rugged looking man with hands as big as
plates, sidled up to Arion and started stroking his back and feeling his rump.
Jehanna stood up and took hold of Arion's bridle for fear that he would try to
make off with the pony. But he just smirked at her and shook his head.
"I'll give you twenty
crowns, though it's not worth more than fifteen, the way you've run it ragged."
"Arion is not for sale,"
Jehanna said. The man just shrugged and walked off.
A group of boys, a little
older than the twins, appeared from the other side of the tree. They stood in a
semi-circle, staring at them. Jay rose up and stood
between Jehanna and the group. She could see his fist clenching beside him. But
the boys just continued to stare. Eventually, one of them stepped forward. He
was about twelve years old, with rusty coloured hair and a pale complexion. His
face twisted into a grimace as he spat on the ground in front of Jehan.
"Go home, darkies."
Jehanna's heart began to
beat faster and she too started to clench her fists. Her cheeks burned. People
had known that they were different in Villan and they had been accepted. No one
had ever called them that before. It wasn't so much
the word, but the venom with which it was said that hurt the most.
"We are home," Jehan
said.
"Go back to your own
country," the boy said. He stepped up to Jehan and pointed a finger to
emphasise his words, making a stabbing gesture with his index finger on Jehan's
chest. Jehan looked down at the finger, then up at the boy who appeared to be
enjoying his position of power. All the time, Jehanna was thinking that they
would go home if they only knew where home was. It happened so quickly, that
she could have blinked and missed it. Within seconds, Jehan had gripped the
finger in his fist and twisted it back, causing the boy to shriek and drop to
the ground to nurse his injured hand. The rest of the boys rushed forward, and
Jehan's hand delved inside his jacket to retrieve the knife.
"What's all this
nonsense?" A rough voice cut across the melee and the boys dispersed almost as
quickly as they had appeared. There was an old ragged looking man standing in
front of Jehan with his back to them, hissing at the group until the last of
them had scattered across the square. He turned to look at the twins and
Jehanna was intrigued to see that he was not that old after all. His hair was
dark and matted to his skull, as though he had not bathed in a decade. His face
was grubby, but fairly youthful underneath all the
hair. His beard was tangled and spotted with bits of straw and stray crumbs.
Jehan had not moved a muscle. He still had his arm crossed over his chest and
his hand inside his jacket, but the knife remained hidden to view.
"I wouldn't do that if I
were you," the man said in a thick Gaullian accent. Jehanna held her breath
while her brother appeared to weigh up the situation before slowly taking his
empty hand out of his pocket and showing it to the man. The man looked at
Jehan's hand in front of him, wiped his own down his trousers, then held it out
to shake. Jehan looked at the man's hand and glanced back at Jehanna, who
pushed past her brother and curtsied in front of the man. The man nodded his
head in return.
"I'm Jehanna," she said.
"And this is my brother, Jehan. Thank you."
"Yes, well..." The man
looked back and forth from one to the other. "You nearly did a very foolish
thing, Jehan." Jehan shrugged and went back to minding his own business on the
bench. "I'm Lugus. You know... after the ancient god of life. Only most people
around here see me more as a parasite. I think my mother was misguided when she
named me."
"Well, you just saved a
life," Jehanna said.
"Not ours, though," Jehan
muttered under his breath. Lugus glanced at him and frowned. He looked as
though he wanted to say something but kept quiet.
"Why are you so dirty?"
Jehanna looked Lugus up and down, thinking he looked more like a street urchin
than a god. Lugus smiled, revealing a row of broken and blackened teeth.
"You're not exactly the
picture of cleanliness yourself," he said. For the first time since they had
left Villan, Jehanna thought about her appearance. They had been so intent on
getting far enough away from Villan to make a new start, that she had not had
time to think about bathing or finding clean clothes to wear. Her skirts were
grubby and starting to fray at the edges and she dared not guess what her face
looked like. She hoped she didn't look quite as bad as
Lugus.
"I do a lot of
gardening," she said, wiping her hands down her skirt.
"Come on," Jehan said
standing up and pushing Jehanna forward. She grabbed Arion's bridle and the
pony fell into a slow walk beside them.
"Goodbye Mr Lugus," she
said looking over her shoulder at him. He smiled through his crooked black
teeth and gave a jovial wave. "I wonder why the boys were all so scared of
him?" she said as they made their way across the square.
"He's just a beggar,
Jehanna. Don't even think about it."
"Think about what? I was
just saying..." She looked over her shoulder again as they made their distance
and saw Lugus walk off through the crowd in the opposite direction. It seemed
to her that people consciously stepped out of his way as he ambled about with
little direction or purpose. "You could have got into trouble, Jay. And we've
only just got here."
They stopped outside a
large wooden door with a plaque marked with the words 'Apothecary'. "What have
you got in your herbs bag that might buy us a meal and a hot bath?" Jehanna
took the herb bag from Arion's backpack and peered inside, not holding out too
much hope as she had sold most of the popular flowers with serious healing
properties.
"There's this," she said,
pulling out a small unremarkable shrub with bright red berries.
"What is it?" Jehan
peered at the plant.
"Wolfberry," said a
gravelly female voice behind them. Jehan swung around and a tall slim woman
with bright red hair piled up on top of her head and pale white skin looked down
on the pair of them. Jehanna jumped. "Where did you find it? And why did you
pick it?"
"Who are you?" Jehanna
said, suddenly aware of their vulnerability as outsiders. The woman smiled,
clearly enjoying the advantage. She pointed at the plaque on the door that read
'Apothecary'.
"Herb mistress, healer,
some prefer apothecary, but whichever way you look at it, I deal in products
made from plants such as these." She carefully took the shrub from Jehanna's
hands and inspected it. "I'm interested to know where you found this and
whether you can help supply me with more. Clearly, you have some knowledge of
plants. Otherwise you might have let this one stay attached to its bush. I see
you have travelled far. Perhaps I can offer you somewhere to rest before we
discuss a price for this rare specimen." Jehanna and Jehan looked at each
other, slightly bewildered, though in mute agreement that they could do worse
than accept some kindness from the village apothecary, however strange looking.
The woman introduced herself
as Cassiel. She put the stable boy in charge of Arion, then ushered the twins
into her roomy parlour, which had a connecting door to the shop overlooking the
square. She left the door open to keep an eye on the shop.
"Wolfberry," she said,
getting straight down to business. "Sometimes known as Lycium. A single berry
can produce a tonic that can prolong the life of an elderly patient for over a
decade. We have an aging population in Tennengaul, largely due to marauders
from the North coming and taking away our children for slaves during the middle
of the last century causing a generation gap. Credit to the Prince, he has
successfully stamped out the worst of it, although I understand it is still
wise not to travel alone these days, particularly at your age." She fixed
Jehanna with a stern look, then shook her head. Jehanna thought of the wagon
they had seen carrying off young girls and shivered.
"Lycium can be made into
a blood tonic. Helps direct the flow of blood around the body and can relieve
the symptoms of the wasting disease," Jehanna said. Cassiel raised her
eyebrows. Jehan nodded and smiled to himself. "Also can help to improve
eyesight and reduce fever in babies."
"Whose herbal have you
been devouring for breakfast?" Cassiel went to her bookcase and pulled down a
large tome with the title 'Herbal Lore', written by Airmid Junos, a well-known
traditionalist named after the Gaullian goddess of healing and medicine.
"No one's," Jehanna said,
calmly pulling out her own battered notebook from her baggage. "I'm writing my
own. It's just an interest, really."
"I see," Cassiel said,
standing with the book in her hand and staring at Jehanna in a strange sort of
way, as though she had just performed some kind of parlour
trick.
"Although I've never
heard it called Wolfberry before," Jehanna said flipping open her book and
making an entry with her short fat pencil rod.
"My, my," Cassiel said
still standing with the book in her hand. "All of what, eight or nine, and
writing already. You look like a pair of stowaways from the eastern lands that
have just pitched up at Sternhelm and have been living rough for goodness knows
how long. Who taught you to read and write?" Jehanna thought about Sardi and
after suppressing her initial disgust at the thought of her adopted father ever
teaching her anything, she reflected on life before Villan.
"I don't know," she said.
"I don't remember."
Cassiel finally put the
book down and returned to her seat. She sat for a while, every so often looking
at the open door when she heard someone walk past the shop front. She picked up
the branch of Wolfberry and inspected it, turning it over and over, silently
appraising the twins. Eventually, she seemed to reach a decision.
"Well," she said turning
to Jehan. "And what hidden talents do you have, young man?" Jehan shrugged, but
Jehanna was quick to intervene.
"He is much stronger for
his age than he looks and can easily chop wood, build things and with Arion, he
can pull carts. If you want anything doing around the house, I can cook and clean
and look after the shop for you while you make tonics. I even know how to make
a poultice." Jehanna's words tumbled out and she instantly regretted sounding
so desperate.
"Can your brother not
speak for himself?" Cassiel said, her eyes remaining fixed on Jehan. Jehan just
looked at the floor, drawing patterns in the dust with his feet. Cassiel
sighed. "There is a loft in the stables where you can stay. Jehan can help with
the horses and any work around the house. You, my dear, can be my assistant and
help out in the shop. But before you do anything, you
can both get yourselves washed up out back. The housekeeper will show you
where." Cassiel stood up and took the branch of Wolfberry with her. Just as she
reached the connecting door into the shop, she turned and addressed Jehan. "And
you can stay away from that vagrant, Lugus," she said pointing the shrub at
him. "Take my word for it, he is nothing but trouble." She turned and strode
into the shop. The twins looked at each other. Jehanna shrugged. A smile tugged
lazily at the corners of Jehan's mouth.