Luna Fayweather's Arc

Chapter 3 of 5

Luna returned to the bakery counter and pressed her palms flat against the flour. The dough had gone cold. She tucked the warning papers beside the unsigned document and listened to the quiet street. Then a soft knock came at the back door — not the rap of boots, but something quicker, ragged, the sound of someone who had been running. Luna slid the latch and waited, one hand already reaching for the herb locket at her throat. A carved wooden carriage stood crooked in the lane, two brown horses still steaming. The elf at the door clutched a glowing pendant against her chest and held out a folded sheet. Luna unfolded it. Another wanted poster — different face, same price. "They burned my cottage at dawn," the stranger whispered. "I heard your sign was here." Luna pulled her inside and bolted the door. She knew the risk before she counted it. One more hunted name under her roof doubled the trail. But the woman's hands were steady, and her pendant pulsed with a craft Luna had only read about — bone-knitting, the rare kind. Luna led her through the flour room to the cellar stair. "You teach what you know," she said. "That is the rent." The stranger nodded once and went down. Luna climbed back up and stood at the counter. She drew the unsigned document out and laid it flat beside the two new posters. Three faces now. Three prices. She had a teacher. She also had a carriage in her lane that anyone could see. She slid the bolt and reached for her cloak. The horses had to be moved before nightfall, and the academy, for the first time, had more than one healer inside its walls.