The Salbine Sisters (38 page)

“You mean she tried to steal from a bloody duke?” Lillian blurted.

“Yes.” The abbess started again. “‘I, Duke Richard Byron Sedrick Ulysses Bradford the Fifth, have entered into an agreement with the Salbine Sisters of the Merrin monastery concerning the common criminal henceforth referred to as Emmey. I sentenced Emmey to live out her days in Dunmurk Prison until she reached the age of fourteen years.’”

“Fourteen?” Maddy exclaimed. “The governor said she’d been sentenced to life, and so did Emmey.”

“That’s because the duke shortened her sentence today.”

“Oh.” Maddy felt terribly naive. She wasn’t cut out for diplomacy and politicking.

“She was seven when she entered the prison,” the abbess said.

“Seven?” Maddy exclaimed. “She said she was eight.”

“She probably is now. And since Bradford didn’t know her date of birth, we agreed that she turned eight six months ago.” The abbess shifted her attention back to the document. “‘When it came to my attention that an uprising had taken place at Dunmurk Prison, I travelled there myself, to ensure that the immoral thief who had callously stolen from me hadn’t escaped. When I arrived, I discovered that a Salbine Sister from Merrin had taken pity on the girl. She threw herself at my feet—’”

Lillian’s eyes bulged. “Threw herself at his—”

The abbess raised her hand and continued to read. “‘—and begged me not to condemn the girl to another second in a cold, dark cell. I cannot pardon such a heinous crime that shows an appalling lack of respect for those of noble stature, but I am a merciful and wise man, and I honour Salbine. I could not turn a deaf ear to a sister’s plea.’” She fell silent for a moment, then looked directly at Maddy. “‘In my mercy, I agreed that the criminal Emmey would serve out her sentence,’” a smile spread across the abbess’s face, “‘under the care of the Salbine Sisters at the Merrin monastery.’”

Maddy held a trembling hand to her mouth. “Does that mean . . . Emmey will—”

“Live here?” The abbess lowered the document. “Yes, that’s what it means. And Bradford left quite satisfied. He can wave this document around as proof of how merciful and wise he is, and to show that a sister asked him for Emmey.”

Her cheeks wet, Maddy couldn’t speak.
Thank you, Salbine! Thank you!

“Not only that, he’s now off to the royal estate to attend a party Merrin’s throwing in his honour.”

Lillian’s brows rose. “Merrin agreed to throw him a party?”

The abbess nodded. “He was quite agreeable when Barnabus asked him to. Merrin’s useless, but he does know how to throw a good soiree. And Stephen’s salivating at the prospect of a trade agreement between Merrin and Bradford. As for us, we have this document that legally entitles us to Emmey.”

“But now we’ll have orphans showing up at the gates,” Lillian said.

“We’re not taking in an orphan, Lillian. We’re taking in a criminal, and only because we asked a noble to show mercy. I don’t expect we’ll be doing that again, and I doubt we’ll have a rush of nobles at the gates asking us to show mercy to those they’ve had convicted.” The abbess shrugged. “And if we do, we’ll just tell them to sod off. Anyway, I won’t bore you with the rest of the agreement. You know the interesting bits.”

Lillian grunted. “Normally I’d tell you to burn such a tall tale or give it to a bard to compose a song. But not this time. You outdid yourself, Sophia.”

“I do have my uses,” the abbess said, clearly pleased. “And I may regret this.” She turned to Maddy. “But I’m glad to see you crying joyful tears instead of sorrowful ones.”

“What about the Carmichaels?” Maddy managed to say, still sniffling.

Lillian shifted in her chair. “Who cares about the bloody Carmichaels?”

“There’s never a shortage of children willing to work their farm,” the abbess said. “I doubt they’ll care.”

No, they wouldn’t, because Emmey would have been just another anonymous child to them. She would have gone unloved, unnoticed, and ended up who knew where? But not now. Not now.

The abbess moved the document aside. “Let’s talk about rules. We’ll probably discover more over the coming weeks and months, but let’s start with the obvious ones. First, I expect Emmey to properly address sisters. I don’t expect her to formally address the two of you, but I do expect her to call you Maddy, not Miss. The usual rules of address apply to everyone else. Understood?”

They both nodded.

“Second, this
is
a monastery. Emmey will be living among a religious community. I expect her to respect our ways. I expect her to learn of Salbine. And I expect to see her in the chapel on a regular basis.”

“Of course.” Maddy looked forward to taking her to a service.

“Third, she’s not allowed anywhere near the training rooms.”

“Yes, Abbess.”

“And then there’s the matter of who will be responsible for her. Mistress Averill will draw up a lesson plan for her, and Mistress Bertha has agreed to introduce her to several artistic pursuits, to see what catches her interest. But she needs a home, one that will provide her with stability and a sense of security. Passing her from sister to sister won’t do. She needs to know where she belongs, and with whom she belongs.”

Maddy could relate, and wasn’t surprised when the abbess looked at her.

“She needs someone to unconditionally accept and care for her, to be her guardian, if you will. That sounds like you, doesn’t it, Maddy?” Maddy’s vision again blurred with tears. “You wanted a purpose. Well, now you have one. I’m sure it’s not what you expected, but it rarely is. You’ll still want to go to Heath and investigate your condition, but perhaps the matter won’t be as pressing for the next few years.”

She bit her lip to stem another tide of tears, and nodded.

“You and Lillian will have to sacrifice individual bedchambers. I presume that won’t be a problem.”

Lillian’s jaw dropped. “You mean she’ll live with us, in
my
chambers?”

The abbess nodded.

“Abbess, may I have a few minutes alone with Lillian?” Maddy asked.

“Of course.” When Maddy started to rise, the abbess motioned for her to sit back down. “I’ll go for a walk. I’ve been cooped up in here all afternoon.” After glancing at Lillian, she left.

Maddy turned to Lillian. “Lillian, you don’t have to do this,” she said quietly.

“Do what?”

“I’ll understand if you don’t want to pledge. When you asked me to be your consort, you didn’t know it would mean taking on Emmey, as well.”

Lillian rose and towered over her. “Oh, so now that you have Emmey, you don’t want me, is that it?”

“No!” Maddy sighed and stood up, so she wouldn’t feel at such a disadvantage. “I certainly do want you! I told you, I’m a selfish cow. But I’ll understand if you don’t want to share chambers with Emmey. We can carry on as we did before.”

“No, we can’t—not with Emmey living with you!” Lillian’s hands clenched. “I meant what I said that night at the fire. I don’t want to go back to how we were before.” She hugged herself, gripped her robe. “I’ve already put the carpenters to work on another chair, for in front of the fire.”

Maddy stepped toward her. “Lillian—”

“It’s not as if she’ll be in my—our chambers all the time, is it?”

“No, she won’t. But she’ll be there every morning and will want to be tucked in every night. And she’ll want to spend time with us when we’re there. We can’t lock her away in her bedchamber,” she said lightly.

“Why not? Strictly speaking, the monastery
is
her prison,” Lillian said.

Maddy could tell she was joking, but the remark humbled her. She’d once thought the monastery would become
her
prison.

Lillian’s arms dropped to her sides. “I want to be with you, Maddy. If that means taking on Emmey too, then that’s what it means. You’re the one who seems to think I’m not capable of caring for her, not me.”

“I know you’re capable. And Emmey cares about you. But when the abbess said—”

“I was surprised, that’s all. I don’t know why, though, where else would she live? I’ll get used to it.” Lillian wagged a finger. “She’s not allowed in my laboratory, though.”

“Of course she isn’t.”

“And she’ll have to learn to knock on our bedchamber door.”

“She will.”

“And she has to listen to me, not just you.”

“Of course she does.” Maddy reached out and grabbed Lillian’s rough robe. “Because we’ll guide her together. The abbess said it would be me, but she knows that means us. And I’m glad I won’t be alone in this, because frankly, I’m terrified.”

Lillian’s brow furrowed. “Why?”

“I never expected to be responsible for a child.”

Lillian gripped her shoulders. “Maddy, you’ve been responsible for Emmey for months. Now you’ll have an entire community to support you. You’ll have me, too.”

“You’ve already been supporting me.” Maddy let go of Lillian’s robe. “And not just with Emmey. I don’t want to be dependent on you, or her.”

“You won’t be. Sometimes you might have to ask for help, but that doesn’t mean you’re dependent. So don’t be stubborn, Maddy.”

“I’m not stubborn.”

“Yes, you are.”

“No, I’m not.” Maddy pointed at Lillian. “
You’re
the stubborn one.”

“No, I’m not.

“Yes, you are.”

“No, I’m not.”

They stared at each other, then broke into laughter. “Poor Emmey, being stuck with us,” Maddy said.

“Poor Emmey, my arse! That girl doesn’t realize it yet, but she’s just landed squarely on her feet.”

Maddy couldn’t wait to tell her.

*****

A smile spread across Maddy’s face when she entered the library and saw Emmey perched on a stool, moving quill across paper.

Mistress Averill leaned over Emmey’s shoulder. “All right, let’s have a look.”

“I’m not finished yet,” Emmey protested.

“I only wanted you to write the first two lines.” Mistress Averill plucked the quill from Emmey’s hand, lifted the paper, and studied it. “Mmm. You might show up a couple of the novices, but there’s room for improvement.” She lowered the sheet and noticed Maddy and Lillian. “Oh, hello! Emmey says you’ve been helping her with her letters, Lillian.”

“She’s helped both of us,” Maddy said.

“Why?” Lillian asked when the mistress’s eyebrows rose.

“I’m a bit surprised, that’s all. I can barely read your script.” Mistress Averill looked at Maddy. “It’s your turn next.”

“I feel like I’m a novice again,” Maddy said, remembering the first time she’d apprehensively lifted a quill and scribed an
a
under Mistress Averill’s watchful eye.

Emmey scrambled off the stool and looked up at Maddy. “Do I have to go now?”

“No, you don’t.” Maddy crouched. “I have something to tell you. To make the noble go away, the abbess had to make him a promise.” She swallowed and took a moment to collect herself.

“She promised him something bad about me,” Emmey said, misinterpreting Maddy’s emotional state as distress. She lowered her head. “It’s all right, Miss.”

“She promised him something good,” Maddy said hoarsely. “At least
I
think it’s good. She promised him that you’ll live here, with me and Lillian.”

Emmey lifted her head, her eyes filled with hope. “Until I go to that farm?”

“No, you’re not going to the farm. You’re staying here until you’re old enough to take care of yourself.”

“With you?”

Maddy nodded. “And Lillian.”

Emmey stood deathly still.

Maddy’s elation faded. “Emmey?”

Suddenly Emmey launched herself into Maddy, who would have fallen backward if not for Lillian standing behind her. Maddy returned Emmey’s fierce hug, then smiled when Emmey struggled from her grasp, ran into Lillian’s legs, and hugged them.

Lillian clumsily patted Emmey’s back. “Yes, well, I’m glad everyone’s happy.”

Mistress Averill dabbed at one eye with her fingertip. “Perhaps you can come back later and scribe for me,” she said to Maddy.

“I will, Mistress. Right now, we’re going to show Emmey Lillian’s chambers. That’s where we’ll be living,” she explained to Emmey as she straightened and bobbed at Mistress Averill, who nodded.

“My—my chambers,” Lillian said. “All right. But don’t touch anything.”

Maddy took Emmey’s hand. “Maybe you’ll help me carry some books to the library so we can start setting up your bedchamber.”

“I get my own bedchamber, Miss?” Emmey said as they left the library.

“Yes, you do. Now, you have to follow the rules we set out for you, all right?”

Emmey nodded vigorously. “I don’t want you to make me go, Miss.”

“We won’t, Emmey.” Maddy stopped and let go of Emmey’s hand to cup her chin. “This is your home now. Nobody will tell you to leave.” Catching Emmey’s hand, she started to walk again. “But you do have to follow the rules, so listen closely to the first one. You can’t call me Miss anymore. You have to call me Maddy. And when you talk to other sisters, you have to call them Sister or Mistress. You’ll learn who’s what.”

“How come people call Lillian Mistress and you Sister?”

Lillian spoke up. “Because I’m a mistress and Maddy isn’t.”

Emmey frowned at Lillian. “But why are you a mistress?”

“Because I’m very good at drawing the elements.”

“Why are you good at drawing the elements?”

Lillian opened her mouth to reply, then closed it.

“We don’t know,” Maddy said. “She just is. She’s probably the most powerful mage alive.”

Emmey’s brow furrowed. “What’s a mage?”

“Salbine preserve us,” Lillian muttered, rubbing her temples.

Maddy stifled a grin. “Do you want to go to your laboratory, Lillian? I can show Emmey your chambers alone.”

“No! No, no, no. I want to be there, to make sure she doesn’t get into anything she shouldn’t.”

Maddy inwardly sighed.

“And when we’re finished, I’ll go see the carpenters, tell them we’ll need another chair.”

Maddy cursed her lack of a free hand, wanting to take Lillian’s hand and squeeze it. The abbess was right. Heath could wait. Salbine had taken away, and Salbine had generously given. Maddy would never doubt Her again.