in Gastmere she had impatiently prayed to have done and over, but to which she now clung as fiercely as a beggar grasps his only coin.
Luce saw her fearful expression ease and smiled to herself. She had seen enough bubs enter Ma's gates to know that all they needed was time. Let her get accustomed to it gradually, she thought. So she did not tell Elena that these plain rooms, these anonymous rooms, were just public rooms meant for the poorer classes: the penniless journeymen and the pimple- faced virgin apprentices; the sailors and peddlers who wanted ale, meat and a woman in that order; and the minor clerics whose long hours spent freezing their bollocks off through dreary Latin services gave rise to fantasies so ungodly that they dared not confess them to any but a whore. But there were other rooms, secret rooms, of which, as yet, Elena knew nothing, but she would learn. Oh yes, in time she would learn, as all mortals must, that every soul has its own dark and hidden chambers.
7th Day after the New Moon,
July 1211
Vervain — an ancient magical herb, which the druids revere almost as much as mistletoe. Christians say it was used to staunch Christ's wounds on the Cross and therefore it is used to sprinkle holy water. It is said to avert evil, and stop bleeding. Nevertheless, witches and warlocks use it often in their spells as a love charm, and if a thief should make a cut on his hand and press the leaf to it, he shall have the power to open locks.
If a mortal suffers from a tumour he should cut a vervain root in half and hang a portion round his neck whilst the other is dried over a fire. As the root withers in the heat, so shall the tumour wither away. But the mortal must make certain to keep the withered root safe, for if an enemy or malicious spirit wishes him harm, he may steal the root and drop it into water and as the root swells again so shall the tumour.
Mortals believe that if they put vervain in the water they bathe in they shall have knowledge of the future and obtain their heart's desire.
But know this, those who pluck the herb must do so only at certain phases of the moon. They must recite charms and must leave honeycomb in the place where they gathered it to make restitution for the violence done to the earth in taking such a sacred herb. Payment must always be made for everything wrested from the earth, for if it is not offered then it will be forcibly taken.
The Mandrake's Herbal
Little Finch
Even before Raffe had taken a pace into Ma's chamber, his head was reeling from the soporific heat and the heavy scents of the musky oils Ma Margot rubbed into her glossy black hair. Although the sun was blazing down outside, the shutters on the window were, as always, tightly shut. The room was illuminated by thick candles impaled on spikes on the wall. Beneath the spikes dripping wax grew up on the floor and walls like layers of sallow fungus on a decaying tree, becoming fatter and more twisted with each passing day.
A flagon of wine and two goblets were laid on the table along with trenchers of cold meats, roasted fowl, cheese and figs. Raffe guessed that Ma Margot had been warned of his coming even before he'd swung down from the saddle in her stable yard. With a flick of her beringed fingers, Ma indicated the empty chair and Raffe sank into it, facing her across the narrow table.
Ma's chair was higher than Raffe's, with a set of wooden steps in front so that the tiny woman could climb up into it, though Raffe knew she always made a point of being seated before Talbot showed him into her presence.
In truth chair was too humble a word for such a piece of furniture. Some might have called it a throne, for its back and arms were carved to resemble serpents, painted in yellow, black and with touches of gold. The protruding red tongues of the vipers were hinged on wire threads and they flickered up and down at the slightest movement of the chair's occupant. The eyes of the snakes were inlaid with chips of emerald glass. At least Raffe supposed they must be glass for surely not even Ma Margot could afford real emeralds. The green eyes of the