The Salbine Sisters Read Online Free Page A

at Lillian’s back throughout the service, instead of focusing during prayers.
    Rose gripped her arm as they entered the chapel’s vestibule. “You all right?” she asked.
    “Just a little nervous,” Maddy admitted, feeling excited, sick, and silly. She’d lain with Lillian numerous times over the past several weeks, so the prospect of holding an extended conversation with the woman shouldn’t petrify her.
    Outside, she pulled Rose over to one of the torches lighting the path, to make it easier for Lillian to spot her. “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea,” she murmured.
    “I thought it’s what you want,” Rose said.
    “It is. But—”
    “She’s coming,” Rose hissed. “Good luck! I want to hear all about it later—or maybe tomorrow,” she said with a glint in her eye.
    Maddy turned as Rose hurried off, and took a deep breath, trying to look at ease.
    “Come with me,” Lillian said, briefly meeting Maddy’s eyes but not breaking stride. “Lovely night, isn’t it?” she said when Maddy fell into step with her. “Though it feels like rain is on the way.”
    “Yes,” Maddy said, “though I hope it stays away. Tomorrow’s market day.”
    Lillian glanced at her. “You go to the market?”
    She nodded. Every two weeks she wound her way down the hill to Merrin’s market after morning prayers with a group of sisters and defenders, and several mules. She didn’t actually trade for any goods; the defenders did all the haggling for the herbs, textiles, glass, and other items the monastery required. They didn’t have to go every two weeks, especially since the monastery cultivated its own crops, had plentiful stores, and tradesmen devoted to Salbine lived within its walls. But while the defenders honed their bargaining skills, the sisters mingled with the townsfolk and noted their concerns, particularly those for which they could offer help or that might spell trouble for the monastery. Maddy loved to wander among the stalls with their brightly-coloured awnings, listening to the peddlers shouting enticements to browse their wares, ruffling the hair of the wide-eyed children who bobbed before her, and offering an encouraging word or a promise of aid to those who approached her and confided their worries.
    “You’ve never come with us,” she said to Lillian at the same time she realized it. On average, about ten sisters visited the market. Six, like Maddy, were regulars; the rest tagged along so they could personally choose an item, or to spend a day outside the monastery.
    Lillian shrugged. “The defenders always know what I want. No need for me to go myself.”
    “Don’t you ever feel like a day out?”
    “Not to the market, no.”
    “Where would you go?”
    “Somewhere quiet,” Lillian said with a hint of exasperation.
    Not wanting to annoy Lillian further, Maddy dropped the subject and resolved to remain silent until Lillian next spoke. She looked along the line of burning torches lighting the path, and realized it led to the library. She’d thought they were going to Lillian’s laboratory. She was about to ask where they were going when Lillian cut in front of her and turned onto a dark path. Maddy leaned over to take an unlit torch from the bucket standing near the path, but then a ball of fire appeared in Lillian’s left hand. Lillian made it look so effortless; Maddy hadn’t even sensed her draw fire. Perhaps the more capable the mage, the less “noisy” the drawing, and nobody was more capable than Lillian.
    Not wanting to offend her, Maddy left the torch and fell into step with her again. The fire burning an inch above Lillian’s hand threw only enough light to see a foot or two ahead. They walked in silence, the rustling of their robes and their footsteps sounding unnaturally loud. “Your laboratory is in the catacombs?” Maddy blurted when she remembered where this path led.
    “Yes,” Lillian said. “All the laboratories are. Nobody there cares when you brew a noxious