Lyndal tilted her head. ‘You know, I’m not very fond of it either, but it’s going to help you get better.’
Her genuine desire to help these people had Astin squinting in the other direction for fear she would see the admiration on his face.
Lyndal handed the final jar to a young girl with red curls springing in all directions. Pulling the blue ribbon from her own hair, she combed the girl’s hair back with her fingers and tied it.
‘Mother usually brushes it,’ the girl said.
Lyndal looked up at the woman standing behind her. ‘Is that your mother?’
The woman gave her a sad smile. ‘She’s back in the borough. The defenders only took those with symptoms.’
Lyndal rose and turned to glare at Astin as if he had personally torn the girl from her mother’s arms. ‘Did you know about this?’
‘That they were separating the sick from the healthy? Yes.’
‘That they were separating children from their parents for a disease that isn’t even contagious?’
He drew a breath. ‘I don’t work in the merchant borough.’
‘No, you’re just friends with all the men who do.’ She let out a frustrated breath. ‘Am I the only one who has a problem with this?’
Queen Fayre looked in her direction, then wandered over. ‘What problem is that?’
Lyndal’s feet shuffled. ‘There are children here without family, Your Majesty.’
The queen mother looked to the woman standing behind the girl. ‘Is this not your daughter?’
‘No, Your Majesty.’
Fayre stared down at the small girl. ‘How many children are here without family?’
‘Four.’
Clearing her throat and straightening, Lyndal said, ‘Your Majesty, I’d like to request that these children, who clearly have scurvy, be returned to their families.’
The queen watched her calmly. ‘You mean the children who my son, your king, requested be removed and placed in isolation?’
‘Isolation forscurvy. Sure, the symptoms are a little more confronting, but that’s what comes of famine stretching on, year after year. Most merchants get it at some point. At fifteen my joint pain and fatigue were so bad I couldn’t get out of bed. No one came to take me away. I was eventually cured by carrots.’
Kendra wore a look of horror. ‘Father never told me you hadscurvy.’
‘Needless to say, the carrots did not come from him,’ Lyndal said before returning her attention to the queen mother. ‘These children don’t need to be locked in with the dead. They need small amounts of the right foods—and their own mothers combing their hair.’
The sharp edge in her tone had Kendra looking nervously between the two women. ‘Perhaps we should discuss this later,’ she said lightly. ‘Let the queen mother fulfil her obligations here.’
No one moved.
Astin was used to standing still and silent during tense moments, but he had a strong urge to speak up on Lyndal’s behalf. The pained plea in her eyes made him look at the ground. It was the same look his sister had whenever she was forced to visit him.
Queen Fayre did not appear angered by the outburst but rather fascinated. ‘You know, there is such a thing as being too honest.’
Lyndal released the breath she was holding. ‘I apologise for the outburst, but for some, family is the only thing they have left. Must the king take that from them too?’
A tight laugh came from Kendra. ‘I think we can all agree honesty is an admirable quality, but let us keep that honesty on a nice tight leash, shall we?’
Lyndal stepped forwards. ‘And why are there walls for this borough at all? Why must we seek permission to bury loved ones? To visit their graves? Surely King Borin is happy to relinquish control once a person is dead.’
Before Queen Fayre could respond, Kendra walked over and took Lyndal by the shoulders. ‘While you have made some very sincere points, I think we should—’
