“Yes, we have some for you too.” I offered her one of the extra sausages I'd bought for her.
Leera snatched up the sausage and gobbled it down.
“Yes, all right, this is amazing.” Orro took another huge bite.
“Better than anything you'll get in the palace.” I took a bite of my sausage bun and groaned.
“The pickled vegetables make it shine.”
I nodded. “And the sauce. It's savory but fresh.”
“That man is a genius.”
I chuckled as we strolled away, heading toward a Silver Rot location I'd missed on my previous expedition. I kept handing out sausages to Leera as we went, luring the dog into liking me.
By the time we reached the shop, we were licking our fingers, or, in Leera's case, her muzzle. I didn't see evidence of the rot outside the shop, so I went in, Orro and Leera with me.
They sold enchantments, the spells set in items or held in silver amphorae to be set into the buyer's choice. Most of the enchantments were on display in glass cases that ran along thewalls, with more on shelves behind the cases. But many shelves were empty. Perhaps that was why we were the only customers.
A Shanba woman hurried around the check-out counter at the far end of the shop. “Welcome! How may I help you?”
“Hello, I'm Master Alchemist Sevarin, and this is my assistant Lord Orro. The King has hired me to cure the Silver Rot. Your shop is on my list of infected locations. Could I take a look at the rot?”
“Oh! Oh, yes! I'm Assa. Please, come through.” She waved us past the counter and through a doorway. “I've removed the infected enchantments and put them into a steel box. That seems to have contained the rot.”
“Steel? No wards on it?”
“No.”
“I don't think that will hold for long. The steel needs to be coated with a thick resin to protect it.”
“What kind of resin?”
“I'm not sure. I only had a glimpse of a containment box. But I think it was rubbar.”
“Oh, yes! That might work. Rubbar interferes with magical resonance.”
“It does? That's valuable information.” I followed her into a workroom full of ingredients for magical work. Not my expertise, but I was familiar with many items. “You have a wonderful workspace.”
“Thank you.” Assa's flat nose twitched. “Over here.” She went to a large metal box set on the floor. “Now, I'm afraid to open it.”
“All right. Let's talk about what's inside first. Then I can be quick about it.”
Assa nodded. “Certainly. They're enchantments for several purposes. Um, there are wards, repellents, preservatives—”
I held up a hand to stop her. “They're all different? Is there anything similar about them? Perhaps an ingredient used in all?”
“Uh.” Assa rubbed her earlobe. “Oh! Well, they're all resonant enchantment loops.”
“What does that mean?”
“It's an enchantment developed and used mainly here in Sconheit. We're very proud of it. What it does is feed on the ambient magical energy in the air to reinforce the main enchantment over and over. So, it will never fail.”
“All of them were that type of enchantment?” A shiver ran down my spine. “And they're only used in this kingdom?”
“Yes, and whatever the base enchantment was. I'm sure some are imported, but we try to keep our most prized advancements to ourselves.”
“So, they are layered enchantments?”
