Chapter 4: A Spell of HealingThey had done the ritual to free the souls of the dead. Tarquin could smell the pyre as soon as he stepped outside.
“I didn’t know we were so far from the rest of the village.” He tried not to grimace at the stench of burning flesh. It felt disrespectful to be bothered by it.
“I’m sure that’s why this house was spared,” Prea said. That the miller’s family hadn’t been spared was clear without anyone saying it.
The path they used had been meticulously cleared of snow, and Tarquin smiled a little to see the curling wards against slips and falls painted on the stone. The air was still icy and his nose began to ache. His almost healed injuries didn’t like the cold much either, but they were just twinges of discomfort.
They passed the mill, with its grandiose whe
