Brightly Woven

with this…lovely gift.”
    I ran my hand through his hair, waiting for him to continue.
    “It eats away at my magic,” he said in a hollow voice. “Rips through my blood and body. When I was younger, I could spend hours practicing magic and only feel the slightest discomfort—but now…”
    “I know,” I said softly.
    “The black skin is an indicator of how much of my body has been corrupted by the hedge’s curse. I don’t understand why it’s worse now than before…. It’s happening so quickly . I use less magic now than in the past, but it hardly matters.”
    “And no one’s been able to figure out a cure in all these years?” I asked.
    “Hedges are dangerous because they’re unrestricted.” He was hoarse again, but he refused more water. “They experiment with horrors you can’t begin to imagine—curses, killing spells. They’re fiercely protective of their knowledge, even from each other.”
    “Is the hedge who did this still alive?” I said. “Couldn’t she reverse this?”
    “Dead from all accounts I’ve heard. Even my father searched for her for a time. From the sound of it, the old hag didn’t have an apprentice to pass her secrets to.”
    I pulled the gloves from his hands, studying his skin with new understanding and a heavy sense of dread. It was important for me to touch him.
    “Your hands are so soft.” His voice sounded far away. I was losing him to sleep again.
    “North, if it hurts you, if it’s going to eventually kill you—why do you still practice magic?”
    “Because,” he said, his eyes drifting shut again, “who am I without it?”

    Lady Aphra found me in the same position, perched beside North’s bed, hours later. She silently set a bundle of clothes down at the foot of the bed and went out of the room to allowme to change. I had no idea where the brown pants and white shirt had come from; they were certainly nothing Aphra would ever wear.
    She was waiting for me in the hallway, hands on her hips.
    “Is it enough?” I asked her.
    “You need a hat to hide that hair,” Aphra said, pulling a knit cap from the hook on the wall. She tucked my hair inside it and pulled it down low on my face. I turned to look in the mirror hanging behind me.
    It was dangerous to travel as a woman, but not nearly as dangerous for a young man. As long as I kept to myself, I could make the journey in peace.
    “I’ll distract Pascal,” she said. “You’ll need to move quickly. I can’t give you one of the horses without his catching on.”
    I had never ridden a horse on my own before, and I didn’t think now was the time to try.
    “It’s a five-, six-day walk to Provincia from here,” I said. “If I leave now, I can still make the two-month deadline, but it’ll be close.”
    “Then you’d better go now,” she said, squeezing my arm. “Good luck.”
    I waited until I heard the door close behind her. My bag and dismantled loom were resting at the foot of North’s bed, but what I needed was in his bag, not mine. I felt around the bottles for the small leather notebook and was just about to tuck it into my own when his quiet voice startled me.
    “Syd?” I turned, expecting to be pinned in place by his dark eyes. But they were closed, and he whispered my name again as if in a dream. He couldn’t be awake. I had given him the strongest sleeping draft I had made in Arcadia.
    “I’m right here,” I said, touching his arm. His face turned toward the sound of my voice, and it was nearly impossible to swallow the lump in my throat. “I won’t leave.”
    I slipped the silver chain from around my neck, missing its comforting weight the moment it was gone. But North needed Astraea’s help far more than I did.
    “Protect those who are weak in the world,” I whispered, the familiar prayer meaning so much more now than ever before. “Guide those who think themselves lost, for as long as you are above, all paths will be straight and all hearts will be strengthened….”
    I pressed the braided circle into his open palm and closed his blackened fingers around it, then picked up my bag and loom.
    The lights in the homes still shone out through their windows, but I slipped through the shadows unnoticed. I thought I heard Aphra’s voice somewhere behind me, but I didn’t turn around. My sights were fixed firmly on Provincia.
    The road was dark, but I knew the way.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

    I walked through the night, resting an hour at a time in the tall grass until I finally