Chapter 31
The rest of the fall passed into the seemingly endless rains of winter. Lord Raine gave me a stern lecture, reiterating his command that I stay out of the Darkwood for the rest of the year, and reminding me to keep the gateway to Elfhame a close-held secret. I nodded and curtseyed, and he sent me on my way. Most days I didn’t mind my enforced confinement within the castle walls, as I had nowhere else I might go—other than Mistress Ainya’s cottage. And since I had no magic, it was painful to be there and watch Neeve, who was impossibly far ahead of me in all her studies with the herbwife.
Just when I thought I’d go mad from lack of anything to do but study and read—and jolt about on Snowbell’s back in the muddy paddock—Master Fawkes arrived. Most gratefully, I took up my harp l
