Chapter Three
Some unknowable number of days later, Helewise gathered the remnants of her sweetpeas early in the morning, her coat buttoned close against the chill. The fog was thicker than ever with the approach of autumn, but the burgeoning cold was welcome after the heats of summer, and the crisp, fresh scent to the air gladdened her heart.
The fate of her flowers pleased her rather less, for they were fading early, and fading fast. Starved of sun and light and even rain, they could not thrive, and her livelihood must suffer for it. Only the starflowers grew, bursting forth in ever greater profusion even as the rest of her garden withered.
The rambling rose bushes seemed similarly unaffected, for they continued to flourish along the waysides. Helewise walked to market with a large tr
