The Wise Women

Chapter 3

It was dark when she got back to the post office, her sack finally empty.

Nesta paused on the doorstep and furrowed her brow. Something was different today. Usually by the end of a delivery round her feet throbbed from all the walking, her back ached from carrying the sack and her throat was sore and dry from reading aloud. She wriggled her toes and rolled her shoulders. No pain! If anything, she felt fresher and more energised than when she'd set out. Very strange. Puzzled, she leant against the heavy wooden door and pushed it open.

All thoughts evaporated instantly as a mouth-watering savoury smell hit her nostrils. Her stomach rumbled and she realised Leonia's bun was the only thing she'd eaten all day. Finn waddled towards her, tail wagging. She stroked his silky head.

'Round go okay, love?' Mrs Crosby called over her shoulder while stirring a pot hanging over the fire.
'Fine,' Nesta dropped the sack behind the counter, kicked off her boots and walked through to the living area. Absentmindedly, she plucked the snow globe off the mantelpiece before flopping down on her front on the sheepskin rug next to Ralf who was sat cross-legged tying letters into bundles for tomorrow's delivery round. Finn nuzzled in between them. 'I met the new occupant of the Miller's Cottage – a young woman from Frailing. She seems very n —'

'She's wearing her blue ribbon, I hope?' Mrs Crosby interrupted. 'You know Gregory Mason got arrested for refusing to wear his, don't you? Well, he's lived here all his life. His parents moved here when he was a baby. But because he was born in Frailing, Sapphira's new law says he has to wear it.' She tutted loudly.

'I saw the Imperial Guards dragging him away.' Ralph shook his head. 'They shouldn't have been so rough with such an old man. No one's seen him since. I've asked around. Every time I pass his empty house, a shiver runs through me.'

'Don't worry, she's wearing the ribbon.' Nesta turned the globe over in her hand.

The glass sphere was filled with clear oil and contained a miniature model of the gold-domed marble Palace of Quain – the most southerly of the kingdoms of Tarth.

'Although that reminds me, Mrs Heywood wasn't at home,' Nesta said. 'I knocked and shouted but no-one answered and when I looked through the window, the place seemed empty. Has something happened to her?'

The post mistress paused her stirring and took a deep breath. 'There was another proclamation from the castle today.' Nesta's stomach lurched. Since Sapphira had declared herself Empress, barely a week had passed without an imperial proclamation of one kind or another. They were never good news.

'Who's she got it in for now?' She spun the globe rapidly between her fingers. Flecks of gold foil flurried up like a snow storm. 'It was red-heads last week, wasn't it?'

'Mm hm,' Ralf nodded.

'Didn't she order all the country's red-heads to pay a fine after that ginger boy from the fishmonger's hiccuped in front of her at the Appealing?'

'Twe—nty si—lver,' Ralf drew the words out for emphasis. Rufus Carter had to sell his horse to pay it.' He sighed. 'Don't know how he's going to make a living now.'

'Well, now it seems, the Empress's horse - Onyx, it's called, isn't it? Big black thing. Well, yesterday while she was out hunting, it stumbled and she nearly fell off.' Mrs Crosby explained.' She's convinced herself that the Wise Women have cursed her because they oppose her plans to annex Frailing.'

'The Wise Women?' Nesta's voice was incredulous. 'But there are no Wise Women in Skaliff. Healing is banned under the Old Law. It has been for years.'

'Yes, I know. Everyone knows. But Sapphira's deluded herself into thinking they're living amongst us in secret. Working against her. Plotting her downfall.' Mrs Crosby picked up the salt cellar and shook it over the pot with a little too much vigour.