They both nodded.
“Second, this is a monastery. Emmey will be living among a religious community. I expect her to respect our ways. I expect her to learn of Salbine. And I expect to see her in the chapel on a regular basis.”
“Of course.” Maddy looked forward to taking her to a service.
“Third, she’s not allowed anywhere near the training rooms.”
“Yes, Abbess.”
“And then there’s the matter of who will be responsible for her. Mistress Averill will draw up a lesson plan for her, and Mistress Bertha has agreed to introduce her to several artistic pursuits, to see what catches her interest. But she needs a home, one that will provide her with stability and a sense of security. Passing her from sister to sister won’t do. She needs to know where she belongs, and with whom she belongs.”
Maddy could relate, and wasn’t surprised when the abbess looked at her.
“She needs someone to unconditionally accept and care for her, to be her guardian, if you will. That sounds like you, doesn’t it, Maddy?” Maddy’s vision again blurred with tears. “You wanted a purpose. Well, now you have one. I’m sure it’s not what you expected, but it rarely is. You’ll still want to go to Heath and investigate your condition, but perhaps the matter won’t be as pressing for the next few years.”
She bit her lip to stem another tide of tears, and nodded.
“You and Lillian will have to sacrifice individual bedchambers. I presume that won’t be a problem.”
Lillian’s jaw dropped. “You mean she’ll live with us, in my chambers?”
The abbess nodded.
“Abbess, may I have a few minutes alone with Lillian?” Maddy asked.
“Of course.” When Maddy started to rise, the abbess motioned for her to sit back down. “I’ll go for a walk. I’ve been cooped up in here all afternoon.” After glancing at Lillian, she left.
Maddy turned to Lillian. “Lillian, you don’t have to do this,” she said quietly.
“Do what?”
“I’ll understand if you don’t want to pledge. When you asked me to be your consort, you didn’t know it would mean taking on Emmey, as well.”
Lillian rose and towered over her. “Oh, so now that you have Emmey, you don’t want me, is that it?”
“No!” Maddy sighed and stood up, so she wouldn’t feel at such a disadvantage. “I certainly do want you! I told you, I’m a selfish cow. But I’ll understand if you don’t want to share chambers with Emmey. We can carry on as we did before.”
“No, we can’t—not with Emmey living with you!” Lillian’s hands clenched. “I meant what I said that night at the fire. I don’t want to go back to how we were before.” She hugged herself, gripped her robe. “I’ve already put the carpenters to work on another chair, for in front of the fire.”
Maddy stepped toward her. “Lillian—”
“It’s not as if she’ll be in my—our chambers all the time, is it?”
“No, she won’t. But she’ll be there every morning and will want to be tucked in every night. And she’ll want to spend time with us when we’re there. We can’t lock her away in her bedchamber,” she said lightly.
“Why not? Strictly speaking, the monastery is her prison,” Lillian said.
Maddy could tell she was joking, but the remark humbled her. She’d once thought the monastery would become her prison.
Lillian’s arms dropped to her sides. “I want to be with you, Maddy. If that means taking on Emmey too, then that’s what it means. You’re the one who seems to think I’m not capable of caring for her, not me.”
“I know you’re capable. And Emmey cares about you. But when the abbess said—”
“I was surprised, that’s all. I don’t know why, though, where else would she live? I’ll get used to it.” Lillian wagged a finger. “She’s not allowed in my laboratory, though.”
“Of course she isn’t.”
“And she’ll have to learn to knock on our bedchamber door.”
“She will.”
“And she has to listen to me, not just you.”
“Of course she does.” Maddy reached out and grabbed Lillian’s rough robe. “Because we’ll guide her together. The abbess said it would be me, but she knows that means us. And I’m glad I won’t be alone in this, because frankly, I’m terrified.”
Lillian’s brow furrowed. “Why?”
“I never expected to be responsible for a child.”
Lillian gripped her shoulders. “Maddy, you’ve been responsible for Emmey for months. Now you’ll have an entire community to support you. You’ll have me, too.”
“You’ve already been supporting me.” Maddy let go of Lillian’s robe. “And not just with Emmey. I don’t want to be dependent on you, or her.”
“You won’t be. Sometimes you might have to ask for help, but that doesn’t mean you’re dependent. So don’t be stubborn, Maddy.”
“I’m not stubborn.”
“Yes, you are.”
“No, I’m not.” Maddy pointed at Lillian. “You’re the stubborn one.”
“No, I’m not.
“Yes, you are.”
“No, I’m not.”
They stared at each other, then broke into laughter. “Poor Emmey, being stuck with us,” Maddy said.
“Poor Emmey, my arse! That girl doesn’t realize it yet, but she’s just landed squarely on her feet.”
Maddy couldn’t wait to tell her.
*****
A smile spread across Maddy’s face when she entered the library and saw Emmey perched on a stool, moving quill across paper.
Mistress Averill leaned over Emmey’s shoulder. “All right, let’s have a look.”
“I’m not finished yet,” Emmey protested.
“I only wanted you to write the first two lines.” Mistress Averill plucked the quill from Emmey’s hand, lifted the paper, and studied it. “Mmm. You might show up a couple of the novices, but there’s room for improvement.” She lowered the sheet and noticed Maddy and Lillian. “Oh, hello! Emmey says you’ve been helping her with her letters, Lillian.”
“She’s helped both of us,” Maddy said.
“Why?” Lillian asked when the mistress’s eyebrows rose.
“I’m a bit surprised, that’s all. I can barely read your script.” Mistress Averill looked at Maddy. “It’s your turn next.”
“I feel like I’m a novice again,” Maddy said, remembering the first time she’d apprehensively lifted a quill and scribed an a under Mistress Averill’s watchful eye.
Emmey scrambled off the stool and looked up at Maddy. “Do I have to go now?”
“No, you don’t.” Maddy crouched. “I have something to tell you. To make the noble go away, the abbess had to make him a promise.” She swallowed and took a moment to collect herself.
“She promised him something bad about me,” Emmey said, misinterpreting Maddy’s emotional state as distress. She lowered her head. “It’s all right, Miss.”
“She promised him something good,” Maddy said hoarsely. “At least I think it’s good. She promised him that you’ll live here, with me and Lillian.”
Emmey lifted her head, her eyes filled with hope. “Until I go to that farm?”
“No, you’re not going to the farm. You’re staying here until you’re old enough to take care of yourself.”
“With you?”
Maddy nodded. “And Lillian.”
Emmey stood deathly still.
Maddy’s elation faded. “Emmey?”
Suddenly Emmey launched herself into Maddy, who would have fallen backward if not for Lillian standing behind her. Maddy returned Emmey’s fierce hug, then smiled when Emmey struggled from her grasp, ran into Lillian’s legs, and hugged them.
Lillian clumsily patted Emmey’s back. “Yes, well, I’m glad everyone’s happy.”
Mistress Averill dabbed at one eye with her fingertip. “Perhaps you can come back later and scribe for me,” she said to Maddy.
“I wil
l, Mistress. Right now, we’re going to show Emmey Lillian’s chambers. That’s where we’ll be living,” she explained to Emmey as she straightened and bobbed at Mistress Averill, who nodded.
“My—my chambers,” Lillian said. “All right. But don’t touch anything.”
Maddy took Emmey’s hand. “Maybe you’ll help me carry some books to the library so we can start setting up your bedchamber.”
“I get my own bedchamber, Miss?” Emmey said as they left the library.
“Yes, you do. Now, you have to follow the rules we set out for you, all right?”
Emmey nodded vigorously. “I don’t want you to make me go, Miss.”
“We won’t, Emmey.” Maddy stopped and let go of Emmey’s hand to cup her chin. “This is your home now. Nobody will tell you to leave.” Catching Emmey’s hand, she started to walk again. “But you do have to follow the rules, so listen closely to the first one. You can’t call me Miss anymore. You have to call me Maddy. And when you talk to other sisters, you have to call them Sister or Mistress. You’ll learn who’s what.”
“How come people call Lillian Mistress and you Sister?”
Lillian spoke up. “Because I’m a mistress and Maddy isn’t.”
Emmey frowned at Lillian. “But why are you a mistress?”
“Because I’m very good at drawing the elements.”
“Why are you good at drawing the elements?”
Lillian opened her mouth to reply, then closed it.
“We don’t know,” Maddy said. “She just is. She’s probably the most powerful mage alive.”
Emmey’s brow furrowed. “What’s a mage?”
“Salbine preserve us,” Lillian muttered, rubbing her temples.
Maddy stifled a grin. “Do you want to go to your laboratory, Lillian? I can show Emmey your chambers alone.”
“No! No, no, no. I want to be there, to make sure she doesn’t get into anything she shouldn’t.”
Maddy inwardly sighed.
“And when we’re finished, I’ll go see the carpenters, tell them we’ll need another chair.”
Maddy cursed her lack of a free hand, wanting to take Lillian’s hand and squeeze it. The abbess was right. Heath could wait. Salbine had taken away, and Salbine had generously given. Maddy would never doubt Her again.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Sophia leaned back in her chair and contentedly sipped her tea. The roaring fire popped and crackled, lulling her into an almost hypnotic state. She jumped when the door to her chambers swung open, grateful there wasn’t enough tea remaining in her cup to spill onto her robe.
Elizabeth bounded in. “You look comfy.” She lifted the bottle of cider she held.
“No, thank you. I’ve already had a brandy today.”
“I thought you might want a mug anyway, to celebrate. You did well.”
“Yes, I did, didn’t I?” Sophia murmured.
Elizabeth poured herself a mug of cider and sat next to Sophia. “What’s wrong? I thought you’d be pleased with yourself.”
“I am. But I can’t help but wonder whether I’m just a pawn in all of this.”
“All of what?”
Sophia set her cup and saucer down on the table next to her chair and gazed at Elizabeth. “Lillian, probably the most powerful mage we’ve seen this century, will soon pledge her life to Maddy, a sister who went to prison because she can’t light a candle, and in their care will be Emmey, a child Salbine has gone to great lengths to bring to us. I can’t help but think that pieces are being positioned on a board I can’t see.”
Elizabeth stood and lifted Sophia’s teacup to sniff its contents.
Sophia leaned away from her. “What are you doing?”
“Checking to see if you turned down the cider because you’ve already added a couple of dollops of brandy to your tea.”
“I did no such thing!” Sophia snatched up her cup and saucer the moment Elizabeth set the cup down. “But perhaps I am seeing something that isn’t there,” she added at Elizabeth’s smirk.
Elizabeth shrugged as she returned to her chair. “It’s just happenstance.”
“Or me.”
“What do you mean?”
“Being sentimental. Here I am, in front of the fire with a nice cup of tea, thinking about my sister and how she’ll pledge next week. I never thought I’d see it, Elizabeth.”
“You’re pleased, I hope.”
“Very pleased. She and Maddy will do well together.” Sophia sipped her tea. “And that’s another thing. Out of all the initiates Lillian could have ended up with for fire training, she ended up with Maddy.”
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “Doesn’t it make more sense that they became involved because Maddy was assigned to Lillian, rather than believing that Maddy was assigned to Lillian because they were supposed to become involved?”
“I suppose so.” But she still couldn’t shake the feeling that Salbine, or one of the other gods, was orchestrating events. After arranging for Emmey to stay at the Carmichaels, she’d envisioned her at the monastery and felt uneasy. Now she felt as if Emmey was where she belonged, and with whom she belonged. Sophia looked down at her tea. Or perhaps she was a sentimental fool who hadn’t wanted to tear a child away from the sister who loved her, and was now trying to justify her weakness. Time would tell. “I hope Lillian and Emmey get on all right. It might be a bit difficult for them at first, poor things.”
“I think Maddy deserves our sympathy more than they do. She’ll always be caught in the middle.”
Sophia chuckled. “Perhaps you’re right. And she’ll be a splendid guardian. Emmey couldn’t have asked for a better influence as she grows into a young woman.”
Elizabeth stared at her. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”
“What?”
“That Maddy won’t be Emmey’s only influence. Her other primary influence will be Lillian.”
“Oh, you’re right.” Visions of a young woman hunched over a tome, muttering bloody this and bloody that, flitted through her mind. “You know, I think I’ll have that cider after all.”
Elizabeth arched a brow. “I thought you might.”
*****
Maddy was dying to give Lillian a sidelong glance, but since the abbess’s right hand was resting on the top of her head, she restrained herself. “Mistress Lillian and Sister Maddy,” the abbess said. “You have pledged your lives to each other in the presence of Salbine.” She lifted her hands and stepped back. “Rise, and greet each other as consorts.”
Maddy pushed herself to her feet and kissed Lillian on both cheeks, then embraced her. The assembled sisters’ voices swelled in song.
“We’ve gone and done it now,” Lillian murmured.
And Maddy couldn’t be happier. From the platform at the front of the chapel, she smiled at Emmey, who was sitting on the front bench with Rose and Nora. Emmey had better remember not to run.
When the voices faded, the abbess stepped forward. “And now, would Emmey come here, please.”
Don’t run.
Emmey sprang from the bench and started to run, then suddenly stopped and slowly walked to the steps, looking solemn in the pretty blue dress the seamstresses had delighted in making for her. Maddy wanted to give her an encouraging look, but Emmey’s eyes were on the abbess. Last night they’d reviewed what the abbess would say. Emmey only had to respond with one word.
The abbess leaned forward. “Emmey, you’ve just seen Mistress Lillian and Sister Maddy pledge their lives to each other. Now it’s your turn to make a pledge. Do you pledge to respect Mistress Lillian, Sister Maddy, and all the Salbine Sisters, Defenders, and workers who belong to our community?”
Emmey vigorously nodded.
Maddy grinned at the same time the abbess smiled. “Do you think you can say yes, so everyone can hear you?” the abbess said.
Emmey clapped her hands. “Yes!”
Laughter rippled through the assembly.
“Thank you.” The abbess straightened. “Plea
se welcome Emmey to our community.”
“Welcome, Emmey!” numerous voices called.
Maddy motioned for Emmey to join her and Lillian, and rested her hand on Emmey’s shoulder when she stood in front of them.
The abbess raised her hands, palms up. “Sisters.” Robes rustled as everyone stood. “Do you pledge to support Mistress Lillian, Sister Maddy, and Emmey as they grow together?”
“We do,” they responded as one.
Abbess Sophia nodded in satisfaction and turned to Maddy, Lillian, and Emmey. “May Salbine bless you in your lives together.”
“Salbine’s will be done,” Maddy murmured along with Lillian.
The abbess faced the assembly, closed her eyes, and stretched out her arms. “May Salbine guide you. May Salbine provide for you. May Salbine keep you.”
“Salbine’s will be done,” Maddy said again.
“Please congratulate our newest family, then proceed to the dining hall for the sumptuous meal the cooks have prepared for us,” the abbess called as chapel bells pealed in celebration.
Not surprisingly, Lillian hung back as Maddy and Emmey descended the steps and sisters rushed forward to hug them. Maddy turned to beckon to her, but Lillian was in the arms of her sister. “Congratulations!” Rose cried, reaching for Maddy. The next ten minutes were a blur. Maddy lost count of the number of sisters who embraced and congratulated her, and would have been hard-pressed to identify them all later. Lillian eventually stood at her side, acknowledging congratulations with a nod, and accepting hugs from those brave enough to offer one.
The attention seemed to bewilder Emmey, but not frighten her. At one point Maddy lost sight of her, but could hear her chattering away with someone.
Finally the throng around them thinned. Maddy faced Lillian, intending to say something memorable and poignant, but words would ruin the moment. They beamed at each other.
“I’m hungry!” a little voice piped up.
Lillian didn’t roll her eyes, but Maddy could tell she wanted to. “I guess we should go to the dining hall, then,” Maddy said. When Emmey reached for her hand, she crouched to meet the little girl’s eye. “Would you mind if I hold Lillian’s hand, just this once?”
The Salbine Sisters Page 31
