By Darkness Hid by Jill Williamson Page A

lavender smelled heavenly, like Mother. Vrell’s eyes watered as she thought of the wonderful visit her mother and Lady Coraline would be having soon. She blinked the jealous thoughts away, tied the sprig to the line, and went for another.
    “Kehta Grett’s twins come last night,” Mitt said.
    Vrell gasped. “How did it go?”
    “Terrifying. For a time I wondered if I’d been wrong and there was only one. But when the girl come out weighing so little, I knew there was another. The boy was a jackal, though. Gave me a time of it. Come feet first with the cord around his wee neck. Survived in spite of it, and I praised the gods.”
    Vrell bristled at how everyone so freely gave credit to the gods. As if mythical beings could be capable of acts of healing and controlling the weather. She itched to correct Mitt, but that would only draw attention and questions. She forced her thoughts back to the twins. “How lovely for Kehta there was one of each.”
    “Yes. Though it’s rare for a boy to notice such things.” Mitt chuckled. “I suppose that’s why we get along so well, you and me.”
    Vrell’s cheeks flushed. Even when she purposely tried to avoid drawing attention, she managed to slip. It was just so hard not to be herself around Mitt.
    “How is your salve coming along?” Mitt asked.
    With Mitt’s help, Vrell had been building her own healing kit. She had gathered quite the collection thus far. She was currently working on her first yarrow salve for cuts and bruises.
    “It’s nearly finished.”
    Mitt clipped a spring to the line and brushed her hands on her apron. She waved Vrell over to the garden. “Test time.” Mitt pointed to a small daisy. “What’s this?”
    “Calendula? It’s the main ingredient in my salve. Does wonders for bruising and inflammation. And…grows naturally in the ChowmahMountains?”
Mitt nodded and pointed to a leafy tropical plant.
Vrell thought for a moment. “Kava kava? It’s used to make a sedative.”
“Yes, but how is it made?”
“You grind it and strain it to make a tea. And can you also chew it fresh?”
    A strand of greying hair fell loose from Mitt’s braid. “That’s right. How about this one?” She pointed to a flat, petal-like, brown mushroom.
    “That is reishi,” Vrell answered right away. “It is good for a weak heart, dizziness, and high mountain travel.”
    Mitt led Vrell though the garden until she had questioned every plant. Then they went inside the shop, where Vrell helped make a large batch of clove oil for a customer with a toothache. Not long into the project, the spicy smell numbed her nostrils.
    Vrell had just begun to grind willow bark for a tonic when young Gil raced into the shop, panting. At eleven, Gil was a weed. His body had reached that awkward stage where his head, arms, and feet seemed too big for the rest of him.
    “Vrell! Father needs you at the manor straight away.” Gil shook his shaggy blond hair out of his wild eyes. “Some men have come for you.”
    Vrell’s heart took off at a gallop. Could she have been discovered? How? She reached out with her mind to seek Lord Orthrop’s thoughts, but gleaned only his anxiety. “What kind of men?”
    Gil’s eyes bulged. “Kingsguard knights, and one’s a giant!”
    Mitt’s chuckle rose over the scraping of her mortar and pestle.
    “Do not be silly.” Vrell tried to sound casual. She wiped her shaking hands on a towel and forced sensible words from her lips. “There are no giants around here.”
    Gil grinned, baring his new adult teeth that looked oversized on his childlike face. “Just you wait and see, Vrell. He had to duck to come through the door.”
    Vrell apologized to Mitt and walked back to the manor house with Gil, who prattled on endlessly about the Kingsguard knights. Vrell sought over and over but could not hear Lord Orthrop’s thoughts or the strangers’. If only Mother had taught her more bloodvoicing skills before Vrell had left. What if Prince Gidon had