‘Lucky them. Twice the training.’
She purred in agreement. ‘They’re usually highly aware of why the training is so important. Do you know why, Sorrow Elmswood?’
‘Don’t tell me. I bet there’s a copy of your book in the library. I’ll read it myself.’
‘Deviants have no option other than to master and harnessboththeir gifts. The art of balancing is no easy task, and if one outweighs the other, then the blight will still get a hold. They’ll still die.’
‘Do you mind if I have another drink? I’m so damned thirsty.’
‘You’re a stubborn one, child. Why don’t you admit you’re a?—’
‘Change the subject,’ I demanded, placing the jug back with a clatter that sliced through my already thundering mind.
‘Fine.’ She leaned back, her chair creaking. ‘You’re the queen after all.’
I nodded, lifting the glass desperate to wet my dry mouth.
‘Why haven’t you screwed Matthias yet?’
‘What?’ My hand jolted, spilling the mead down my plain grey dress. ‘Damn you, woman. Do you think that’s an appropriate question to ask your queen?’
Glesni cackled as the door to her chambers opened, bathing the room with a startling blast of damned sunshine.
‘The rules state you need to fuck him and make this marriage legal if you want to be his queen.’
‘Glesni Grace!’
An elderly woman stood in the doorway. The severe light behind took my remaining sight, but there was a playful lilt to her voice as she admonished the mentor. ‘You really can’t speak to our new queen that way. Where are your manners, woman?’
Glesni’s eyes twinkled as the other woman entered, closing the door behind her. She was so tall I had to peer up. A simple dress covered her willowy form, and she wiped her golden, wrinkled hands on an apron smeared with patches of green and brown.
Glesni held out her hands to the woman, who took them before leaning in as they shared a kiss.
‘You didn’t marry me for my manners, Keya Grace.’
‘No,’ Keya said, hands resting on her slim hips as she shook her head at the table. ‘I married you for your immaculate tidiness and organisation.’
Glesni cackled again, and I discovered the hint of a smile curling my own lips. Perhaps it was the oil lamp, but Glesni lost a few years when she stared at Keya.
‘Well, at least one of us has manners. May I offer you tea, Sorrow? You look as though you could do with a cuppa.’
Smiling, I thanked her and watched as her silhouette shook her head at the mess Glesni made of their kitchen. Heat rose up my cheeks as the old mentor’s beady gaze bore into me. She reminded me of Pablo when he got the scent of rabbit and wasn’t doing anything else till he’d caught the doomed creature. I rubbed my temples, hoping she’d let it all go now Keya was here.
‘Lavender, I think,’ Keya said, hauling a large copper kettle over the fire burning in the grate. ‘It helps with…headaches. Ginger is best, but alas, I’ve run out and it looks as though the pestilence has hit the farm I usually get my herbs and spices from.’
I sat up straighter. ‘Pestilence? You mean a rogue fog passed over here?’
Keya grabbed a tea towel and bent to wrap it around the kettle’s handle. Her long salt-and-pepper braid slipped perilously close to the flames, but she merely tutted and pushed it back. She peered into the kettle before turning to me.
‘When a harvest is decimated, farmers always put the destruction down to a drought or curse. Theexpertssay it must be the fog. But I’m not so sure. I’ve noticed something. Patterns.’
Patterns.My heart raced. What had Keya noticed?
‘If you think your gift is a bit pointless, wait till you see my wife’s. She talks to plants!’
Glesni heaved herself up and started clearing the table, while Keya smirked at her.
‘Well, we can’t all be world famous Deviants,’ she said, swatting Glesni playfully with the tea towel.
