CHAPTER 5
Normally home was a welcome sight, but as the warm golden light cast from the cottage’s frosted windows, the knot in Brygida’s chest didn’t loosen. The broken piece of hay stabbed her through the fabric of her dress, where it was hidden. A death omen, Lord Rubin’s collapse, and Mamusia’s warning all whirled in her head. And now she had to somehow convince Mama to treat a dying man.
Why had she lied to Kaspian? Even Mama, as skilled a healer as she was, couldn’t stop Weles’s summons. But he’d just appeared so defeated, and she had to help. Besides, village medicine was often far behind theirs. It was worth the attempt to delay the inevitable, wasn’t it?
As she reached for the handle, Mama’s and Mamusia’s voices drifted from beyond the door as they often did. But an unfamiliar t
