Sing to the flow of the river, to the shadows of black and of blue

Chapter 31

The one who dyes all grey away

Heavy rains battered the land for days, fierce winds displacing yellow-brown leaves, stripping the forests bare while the evergreens stood proud. Steph would have to wait for more clement weather to sow chamomile and fennel, instead tending to the cuttings of lavender and rosemary she'd harvested as daylight started to wane, and drying out the herbs and flowers that wouldn't survive the first frost, tying them to the roof's beams in bundles. A second pair of hands was more than welcome in the busy early autumn, and Steph found Alex both a wonderful help and a terrible distraction. While her lover's curiosity about all things and willingness to learn was one of the many things Steph adored about her, the look in her bronze eyes, the tilt of her head, the hint of a tongue poking between her lips as she focused... all of it left Steph staring, dazed and breathlessly in love. And if Alex so much as brushed against her, glancing up with the barest trace of heat in her gaze, then oh, Spirits help her, very little work would get done at all.

While fierce reds and drab greys slowly took over the landscape, Ryan's smile grew genuine once more. He'd taken his friends' advice to heart, adamant that the nature of his lineage would have no sway over who he was. Often, he could be seen taking long strolls in the woods with Ashley, their hands brushing as they went. Teasing him about it over a drink, watching Alex play and sing, Steph tried to conceal the foolishly soft smile on her face, and wished Ryan every bit of the happiness she herself had been granted.

On a late afternoon, Steph received a visitor she'd been expecting for some time. Violet walked in with nary a greeting, immediately looking around, taking in her friend's home for the first time.

"Quite like what you've done with the place! Hiding the door's ward among the twenty other random stones you've got scattered on the shelves is a nice touch. And the clutter is very you..."

"You've no room to speak of clutter when your own lodgings look like a dragon's hoarding pile, but thank you kindly. I hope you've been well?"

Bowl of tea in hand, they shared recent tales they'd not mentioned in the letters they'd exchanged since their last meeting, chatting for some time until Vi snapped her fingers as she remembered the reason for her visit, and fished for something in her bag. With a flourish, she presented four small vials of an oddly bright pink liquid, and described the process of making it in excruciating detail. Steph followed only a fraction of it, almost in a stupor by the time her friend finished her explanation.

"-and that's why they shimmer blue under certain light, but it has no consequence on their quality I assure you. All that to say, although I've not the slightest clue what the poison originated from, this will get rid of its effects completely if ingested within a day after infection." Pulling her hand back just as Steph was about to grab the vials, she raised a brow. "But you better not have to make use of them anytime soon. Or ever. You hear me?"

Steph wrapped her hand over Vi's closed fist, and shook it firmly. "I will do my very best."

While Steph put the antidotes away, slipping one into her satchel and another into Alex's drawer, Vi chuckled quietly.

"You really weren't jesting when you said your bard has been staying with you most of the time, huh? The lute cords on the table, the cat napping on a tunic that I know for a fact isn't yours, the two bowls, cups and spoons set aside... You truly are serious about her, aren't you?"

Closing the dresser and looking around the room, Steph realized that it had been such a natural, seamless thing, that she'd never even noticed in how many ways Alex's life had slowly intertwined with hers. She grinned, feeling her cheeks grow warm.

"Oh, you've no idea... What about you, what of the girl you'd once mentioned?"

Rolling her eyes and exhaling through pursed lips, Vi nearly spat out the words. "Not long after we spoke, she met a client who turned out to be a good, respectable man, and readily accepted his marriage offer. All of two weeks, it took! Spirits, I was a fool to hope..."