Sonja sat at the foot of the stairs, gazing at her hands. How could this have happened? Lady Adessa was as formidable as steel and she had always been part of Sonja’s life. How could she be gone?
Beside her, Rael leaned against the banister. She looked just as lost and confused as Sonja felt.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
Sonja nodded, not knowing what to say. She would never have admitted this to anyone, but Lady Adessa was the closest thing she’d ever had to a grandmother.
“Sonja?”
A birdlike woman stood in front of the stairs. She was swathed in a brown shawl that was far too large for her petite frame. Her lip was trembling violently.
Sonja stood up. “Birgit.” She walked over and embraced the older woman as gently as she could.
When the embrace ended, Birgit was wiping away tears.
“I knew my lady when she was a girl,” she said. “I always thought I would be the one to go first.”
“Good. You’re here.”
It was Hanna. She surveyed all three women, her hands on her hips. “I need to talk to you all about Lady Adessa’s will.”
“My lady has not even been dead for two hours!” Birgit snapped, her eyes blazing. “Have you no respect, Hanna?”
“Listen to me. Lady Adessa left no heirs and she had no family. That means her entire estate just became the property of the crown and the queen can give it to anyone she pleases.”
Sonja felt Rael tense behind her.
“Lady Adessa left provisions for her servants in her will,” Hanna went on. “If we take those provisions now - no more and no less - the new owner cannot challenge the will or take what rightfully belongs to us. That is the law.”
Birgit snorted loudly. “Since when does that witch care for the law?”
Hanna faltered. Clearly, that was something she hadn’t considered. “We’ll have to take that chance.” She looked directly at Sonja. “The will said for you to look in the blue chest in the attic. Everything in the leather bundle is for you, and she trusts you will use them well. There is also some dyed cloth for you to start your career as a seamstress.”
Sonja nodded again, swallowing back tears. Her life at Ivy House was over. She had no reason to come back here now.
“You may also choose two coats in preparation for the winter.” Hanna motioned with her head. “The chests have been moved to the guest suite. I suggest you look at the blue one now.”
“Where is she?” Sonja heard herself ask.
Hanna’s face softened a little. “She’s been laid out on her bed. If you want to say goodbye, you can.”
Sonja turned and trudged up the stairs. Her feet felt weighted down with every step.
Muffled sobbing drifted from the open door of Lady Adessa’s room. Sonja bit back a sob of her own and crept past towards the guest suite.
The three chests were placed in the centre of the room: one blue with silver locks, one red with golden locks and the other a faded brown. Sonja knelt in front of the blue chest and slowly opened the lid.
At the top were thick, soft coats made from velvet; when she took one out, she realised the insides were lined with fur. Sonja picked out two of the smaller ones and tried them on. They fit her with ease, so she rolled them up and set them aside.
She looked around in the chest for anything that looked like a leather bundle, but she couldn’t see it, so she carefully unpacked the contents of the chest, laying them on the floor next to her.
Lying nestled against the lining of the chest was a small rolled-up bundle made of leather. Sonja picked it up and untied it; inside were several long pins with dark amber gems set into the top. The pins themselves were flat, with a sharp point to the end.
There was also a pouch. Sonja touched it lightly and felt the harsh roundness of coins. It would be enough to sustain her until her career began.
She closed her eyes in gratitude.
Sonja repacked the chest as neatly as she could and closed the lid. Quietly, she left the guest suite with her items and listened.
There was no sound from Lady Adessa’s room.
For one long moment, Sonja stayed where she was and watched as dust specks drifted in a nearby shaft of sunlight.
Eventually, she made herself walk into the room.
Lady Adessa lay still on the bed, her eyes closed and lips slightly parted as if she were asleep. The hard lines around her mouth and eyes were softened; her hands lay folded on her stomach.
Sonja walked over and knelt next to the bed. A hard lump welled up in her throat; she tried to swallow it down, but it wouldn’t budge.
The minutes went by. Sonja tried to open her mouth to speak to the woman who had given her mother a home and had promised her a future. Every time she tried, only silence came out.
Slowly, Sonja stood up, picked up the bundles again and walked out of the room.
Rael stood at the foot of the stairs. “How are you?” she asked.
Sonja tried to smile at her, but couldn’t manage it. “She left me a couple of hairpins. I don’t know why she thought I’d like them; maybe she thought I could sell them.”
“Can I see them?”
Sonja held out the bundle; Rael unrolled it and took out a pin. She held it carefully, the tip balanced on one finger and the jewelled top resting between a thumb and a forefinger.
“Are they all like this?”
“I think so.”
Rael studied the pin carefully. “These aren’t hairpins.”
Then she pivoted and threw the pin into a nearby support post.
“My mother had a set like this. They can be used to arrange your hair, yes, but they’re really meant for self-defence. A lot of ladies in Kavaan have them, and the tops look just like those of actual hairpins to fool anyone who might want to attack you.”
She trusts you will use them well.
“Lady Adessa left money for all her servants,” Rael said. “Including me. I…was not expecting that.”
“She was a good mistress,” Sonja murmured. “I’m sorry you never had the chance to see that.”
Rael shrugged, but she looked thoughtful.
Singing joyfully, birds hopped from branch to branch and flew from one tree to another. Sonja thought she saw a wildcat disappear into the shadows, but she paid it no heed. She just concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other until Wildkeep into view.
Margrit, Hugo’s wife, emerged from the shop, wiping her hands on a thick cloth. She raised an eyebrow at the approaching figure. “Sonja! You’re back early. I would have thought…what is it?” Her expression changed when she saw the look on Sonja’s face. “What’s happened?”
“My mistress died today.”
“Oh. I’m sorry to hear that.” Margrit paled. “Lady Adessa is dead?”
“Yes.”
Sonja knew why Margrit was alarmed. It wasn’t just Ivy House that would pass to a new owner. All the surrounding land would as well - and not every landowner was as benevolent as Lady Adessa had been.
Margrit swallowed. “What will you do now?”
“I will start work as a seamstress.” Setting up a clothes stall in the Kenauste market was a good way to gain a reputation as a trader.
“Well, Hareld and Gunter are always tearing their clothes and Frieda is outgrowing her clothes faster than she cam adjust them. We won’t be able to pay much, but we can give you free cuts of meat like we do with Oren. Will that be all right?”
Sonja nodded. “That will be perfect. Let me know when you want the first order.”
She turned to walk in the direction of her house.
“Sonja.”
Sonja paused and looked back to see Margrit watching her.
“Are you sure you’re all right?”
“Yes. Thank you.” What else could she say?
Margrit didn’t look convinced, but she nodded and walked back into the shop.
Once Sonja was back in her house, she was struck by how quiet it was. This wasn’t just a house now, it was her permanent home. She had never realised that before now, and it made her feel like a feather being blown loosely in the wind.
She had only brought the coats and the bundle back with her; she needed to go back to Ivy House one last time to collect the fabrics before the new landowner arrived.
Why couldn’t she stop thinking about the house? It made her restless. She walked back and forth in the house, unable to keep still.
Finally, in frustration, she left the house and walked through the trees. She knew where she was going now, and she found the path with ease.
The shield was still there. Sonja put her hand on it and opened a doorway. It seemed to be darker now, but that might have been because it was much later in the day than it had been the previous time she had visited.
When she reached the house, it was unchanged: still standing alone in the middle of the glade. All Sonja’s restlessness seemed to disappear at the sight of it.
She was about to open the door when something shimmered out of the corner of her eye. Sonja turned her head and saw the pool. The surface of the water seemed to glisten in the evening light.
Sonja walked towards it slowly. She knelt down and brushed her fingertips lightly across the surface.
Her arm tingled.
Sonja drew her arm back sharply. She stared at the water before wiping her fingers on her jacket and heading back towards the house.
Once again, there was no light in the window. Sonja knocked on the door again, but nobody answered or opened it. She slowly opened the door and stepped inside, taking care to make no sound even though there was nobody there to hear it.
She hadn’t looked under the bed yet.
Tucked away neatly beneath it were two wooden boxes. Sonja pulled them out and opened the first. She wasn’t surprised to find it was empty, but the second was different. It contained three wooden pendants, each one with a different-coloured stone set in it: one green, one red, one blue.
Sonja inspected them one after another, tilting them up to what little light there was left and admiring the way they seemed to shine. The carvings on them were intricate; Lady Adessa would like them.
She slowly lowered the pendant she held back into the box. Her throat felt tight again. It was hard to breathe. A tear fell down her cheek; she couldn’t stop it, or others from following.
And then she didn’t want to stop them. She knelt in the dust, bowed her head and allowed herself to cry.