That was something Annice had chewed on this morning. And some of Saturday, too. It seemed kind not to charge any rent, but there was upkeep on the place to consider, and the long-term. “Here’s the deal. Very reasonable rent, and if you or Sam want to do the upkeep yourself, we can talk about that as things come up, in exchange for the rent. But it’s just you and Sam and whatever kids you have. Not three cousins and an uncle and whoever’s got kicked out of their other place to live. Not for long, anyway. I want - “ She let out a breath. “I want to know the place is loved and taken care of. That. Not overcrowded and chipped and cracking.”
Ruth considered. “Mam’s not going to like it.”
“Aunt Sarah’s not getting the offer. If you don’t want it on those terms, I’ll find someone else. It’s why I wanted to tell you now, so you could figure out what to say later.”
“Huh.” Ruth swirled the tea in her mug around a couple of times. “What’s the place you’re in like?”
“Old stables, like I said. All bare floors, no rugs. It’s hard with the chair, I guess. But they’re heated. There’s magic for you. Sensible sort of magic, I think. And lots of hot water. There’s a fireplace, and a bit of a garden. If we wanted somewhere else, we could look for it. It’s stairs that are a trick. He made it over when he came back after the War. Got help buying it from his Dad, but I guess it wasn’t much to start. Not fancy, but practical? Except for the things like the heat.”
“Heat’s fancy, plenty of days,” Ruth agreed. “And there’s other people there, not just him?”
Annice bobbed her head. “He found me a talisman maker. Which is the other thing I should tell you. That first?”
“You seem t’be having a lot.” Ruth spread her hands out. “That.”
“One of the reasons he wanted me to meet her is we’d found those stones. Three of them. She’s told me what they do. If you agree, and Aunt Sarah, we could set them up again.”
“Huh. What do they do?” Ruth was leaning forward.
“Protection. That bit, maybe I should explain to her, too, at the same time. It’s got a bit of an edge.”
Ruth waved a hand again. “Right. People?”
“I swear, Griffin knows near everyone in Trellech. Or it seems like it. People at the Courts and the Ministry, but also the theatre and a lovely apothecary, well, three different ones. And his parish church, and he even knows the Bishop. To talk to. We’re having supper with him next week. But just - people. Interesting people. They’re being kind to me, explaining things. Asking questions, not the nasty sort.”
“La! A bishop.” Ruth snorted. “Well. All right. We going down to Mam now, or in a bit? She’s expecting us for half three.”
“If you’ve got the time, thought we could go through things here. I need to hunt out some of the jet we have here for a project. And you might want a look at the bedrooms and all. Pack up some things to take back with me.” Griffin had promised to send someone along to help with a trunk. She wasn’t worried about getting it to Trellech.
They turned up down at Aunt Sarah’s promptly on time, to the expected amount of chaos. Five minutes later, though, Aunt Sarah had shooed everyone else out of the kitchen. They had tea, and Annice had charged ahead with explaining what she was and wasn’t offering. Aunt Sarah’s lips got tighter and tighter, but finally she nodded. “Not going to budge ye.”
“No.” Annice said. “I want to help, but I want to know who’s living there, and that the place is kept up well. And I’ll come visit, too. We can sort out a regular schedule, if you like.” She added, a little less aggressively. “If any of the younger ones want to learn something other than fish, Griffin knows people. Grocers, shops, things like that, as well as crafting. If someone shows promise, wants to learn, that’s a way we can help.” Like as not, if something happened that needed money, she was pretty sure she and Griffin would help with that too, but not on the regular. That was destructive to family, too. Griffin had seen plenty of that.
“Huh.” Aunt Sarah set it aside for the moment. “And the other thing?”
“The stones. I know what they do now.” She hadn’t brought them with her - they still needed more charging. It wasn’t the sort of thing that could be done fast. Especially when she was learning so many other things and using her magic in different ways than she was used to. “But they were meant to keep people safe. I think, um.” She swallowed. “We’re fairly sure the uncles, that - it’s part of why the boat went down. Because the uncles were good sometimes, good to the people around them. And not so much others.”
Aunt Sarah sucked in a breath but said nothing.
“So if you didn’t want the stones back, I’d understand. They won’t work in other places. Needs to be one in my house, one here, one down at Robin Hood Bay. Keeps a stretch of the shore safer, keeps people in the harbour and the houses safer. Bit of blessing, bit of magic to ease things. Not pinching so many pennies.”
“Well. I’ll think on it.” Aunt Sarah looked out, her eyes unfocused, in the direction of the sea. “Sea’s a harsh judge. And I can’t say as you’re wrong about how they were going. Someone was going to be hurt, sooner than later, and probably not them. The protection, is that more for them as can’t help themselves? The little ones, and all?”
Annice nodded. “People who didn’t get a choice.” That had been a fascinating line of discussion with Niobe. The construction of the thing was rather deliberate. More protection for people who didn’t have a choice about being there, who didn’t have an option to get away. Then more blessings for people who were doing their part to keep things good. It wasn’t an antagonistic stone, as Niobe had put it, it was just dividing the world into people who got its blessings and people who didn’t. Adding, perhaps, a tiny press of the thumb weighted against people who would make trouble.
Aunt Sarah nodded. “Bring them back, then. Though maybe I won’t explain all of that to the menfolk. Not right away. It’s my job to keep the house running and the children well.”
“Soon as they’re ready. A fortnight, maybe. I’ll send a note and let you know.” Now she took a breath. “Now, catch me up on everything I’ve missed? How’s Fred doing?” The chatter from that got easier, rolling out and filling space and time, until Annice needed to get back to meet whoever was carting the trunk. All in all, it was a fine day, setting things up well for a better future.
Chapter43
MAY 16TH IN THE HALLS OF JUSTICE
Griffin was as ready as he was going to be. They’d finished setting the talismans three days ago, giving them enough time to settle into place. He’d laid out the ritual circle markings before anyone was around but Annice, which at least spared his dignity a bit. The angles involved in bending over tended to be particularly tricky for him, and he found it much easier to just sit on the floor and work from there. That did not, however, present an unimpeachably professional appearance to an audience, no matter how much it shouldn’t matter.
Now, he was waiting with Annice on one side and Helios Norton on the other, in a regular chair, one cane leaning up against his hip. He’d need one of his hands free for this. That was part of the challenge. Annice smiled at him, though she was a little nervous as well. On his behalf, mostly, or at least she’d sworn so before lunch. Neither of them had been able to eat much.
Helios was nine months into his apprenticeship, working under Gloriana, and had been deemed simultaneously competent enough to assist, but not skilled enough to affect the outcome. The young man had been pleasant enough, and Griffin had been amiable about laying out what he needed. Besides, he’d be relying on Niobe and Annice’s work with the stones, and his own magic, for this. Helios was mostly present as an extra set of hands.
