Elaria Silverstan's Arc

Chapter 38 of 39

The disguise held for two days. Then the red light under Lia's skin flickered. Elaria knew the potion was fading. She could brew nothing herself to renew it. Only Elara could, and the woman's task still hung over them like a threat. Until Elaria paid the debt, Elara could stop hiding Lia any time she chose. Elaria turned the sled back toward the masked chapel. She would settle this today. She stopped first at a healer's cottage down the slope. Maren Kindwell met her at the door, gray hair pinned high, sleeves rolled to the elbow. Months back, Elaria had frozen a fever from Maren's dying patient with her bare hand. Maren had never forgotten. "You look like a woman collecting a promise," Maren said. She did not ask why. She wrapped bread, dried root, and a jar of salve in cloth. "For the child. And for whatever you're walking into." Elaria took the gift and asked Maren to come. "A witch owes you? Then I owe her nothing," Maren said, and pulled on her sandals. They found Elara in her backroom workshop, a stone room crowded with hanging tools and shelves of stoppered vials. She was grinding petals by a cold hearth. Elaria set a heavy iron cauldron on the floor between them. Runes ran along its belly, faintly glowing. "I made this for your work," Elaria said. "It holds heat without a fire. It brews what a plain pot cannot. Take it, and the debt is paid." Elara stared at the cauldron. Her two-colored eyes filled. Maren stepped beside Elaria, arms folded, a silent witness the witch could not ignore. "You think I'd revoke the potion," Elara said. Her voice broke. "I never meant to. The task was a lie. I only wanted you to come back." She pressed a hand to her mouth. "I buried my frost-child. When I saw yours, I could not bear you leaving too." Elaria did not soften easily. "Then why hold Lia's safety over me?" "Because I am a coward," Elara whispered. "Haven't you wondered why our names are so close? Elara. Elaria." She gripped the edge of the table. "Our mother named us both for the ice. You were sent away as a babe. I was left behind. We are sisters." Elaria's breath caught. She had crossed a glacier believing she had no one. The words landed like a crack through thick ice. Elara crossed the room and pulled her into a hard embrace. Elaria stood stiff, then slowly returned it. "The cauldron is still yours," Elaria said quietly. "But keep the potion strong. Not for a debt. For her." Elara nodded against her shoulder. She pried the cauldron open, dropped in the ground petals, and the runes flared bright. Fresh red light rose from the brew. The disguise would hold now, freely given. Elaria had come to pay a debt and left with a sister, and a road home that no longer felt so alone.