Ponderosa shook her head again. She had to have survived since she was able to reach out, and the burns around the Ruby and Jet were newer still and some time had definitely passed between the dual burning and the burning of the last two stones. She very gently applied the gel to the blistered skin around the Ruby and the Jet. Her eyes watered when she noticed how the burns around the Ruby and the Jet looked exactly the same also. The sound of Lady Iredys’ scream as she reached Mediocre Village echoed in her ears, causing her to shudder. He hadn’t burned her with two stones just once, he had done so twice.

Tears slid down Ponderosa’s face as she stepped to the window in an attempt to settle her squirrely stomach. Her nausea gave way to her anger and her cheeks started to flush a deeper shade of red. He really had killed Lady Iredys. Twice, she recalled, since the cottage had collapsed on her after the second double burning. Ponderosa shuddered. Everything had its season, even death. Yet, Lady Iredys was still inexplicably among the living. Did this mean that such a season would never truly come for Lady Iredys? Or was there another reason that could explain her recovery from her Deaths?

Ponderosa sniffled then wiped her tears away. Crying and cursing that man would not help her aid Lady Iredys’ recovery. She returned to the cot and applied a second layer of gel to the burns on Lady Iredys’ chest before covering the area once more. She then tucked the warm blankets securely around Lady Iredys while she mixed up another batch of Alfalfa infused meal; she was almost out and would need to get another bag of grain soon.

She lifted Lady Iredys’ head up and placed a glass of the Alfalfa infused meal to her lips; she wanted to see if she would wake up enough to drink. Lady Iredys’ breathing remained slow and deep despite the thickened water that lapped at her lips. She wasn’t sure if Lady Iredys would wake up enough to drink, but she had to try. Ponderosa was about to stop trying when Lady Iredys opened her jaw enough to accept some of the meal.

She swallowed a small amount of the meal and then opened her mouth for more. Her actions left Ponderosa wondering if one of the other runes was giving Lady Iredys a greater amount of awareness despite her seemingly deep sleep. Ponderosa continued to help Lady Iredys drink until the glass was empty. Ponderosa placed a second glass to her lips to see if she would open her mouth for more, but she didn’t open her mouth again.

Nodding to herself, Ponderosa lay Lady Iredys back down. She ran a hand over the top of Iredys’ head before returning to the table to drink her own meal. Ponderosa washed the dishes when she was finished while she continued to ponder about what else she might be able to do for Lady Iredys. She dried her hands, feeling too scatterbrained to try and put any kind of plan together. She jerked when a tapping sound, caused by a pigeon pecking at her window, broke the silence.

The little bird pecked impatiently at the glass pane until she opened the window. Then the messenger pigeon hopped inside, allowing Ponderosa to remove the note from its leg. She fed it some seeds, expecting it to leave, but it remained on the sill and looked around. Ponderosa turned away from the bird while she read the note.

‘Baby has a cough. Not sleeping, what will help?—Lydia.’

Ponderosa walked over to her shelf of tinctures and poured some into a tiny bottle with a dropper top. She placed the tincture into a pouch that she could tie around the pigeon’s body. Then she scrawled a quick note of her own.

‘Five drops every ten minutes.’

When she returned to the pigeon, she attached the note to its leg and then tied the pouch around its body. She gave the pigeon a little more seed then gently shooed it on its way back to Lydia. As she watched the small bird disappear from sight, she wondered why the animals, trained or wild, approached her without fear instead of fleeing from her like they did everyone else—especially while she was struggling with a forced, predator, transformation.

Closing the window to keep the heat inside, Ponderosa walked over to her chest of belongings and sat down. Her thoughts wandered away from the animals and back to the possible runes in Lady Iredys’ chest. She knew a lot about the runes, but there was little she could do other than speculate until she could see which ones Lady Iredys had been marked with. Her own lack of knowledge regarding the many stone qualities did nothing to assuage her sense of helplessness either.

So, did she leave Lady Iredys to send Krissy a message or not? Would knowing about the qualities of the various stones help her further enhance Lady Iredys’ recovery? Would that knowledge give her a hint as to what runes that man would have used and therefore how Lady Iredys’ newfound magic might manifest?

While learning those things might help give her greater compassion for and understanding about Lady Iredys, she also wondered if telling Lady Iredys about the combinations, when she was awake enough to speak with her, would help her recover faster and better or if it would make it worse. In the meantime, if she left to send Krissy a message, she could get another bag of grain while she was out. That way she could stay close to Lady Iredys until circumstances forced her to leave for a while. Ponderosa nodded to herself as she wrote the note for Krissy.

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Coins clinked in the silence of the cottage as she picked up her small coin pouch. She set the pouch and note on the table. She needed to check on Lady Iredys one last time before she left for her errands. Lady Iredys’ body felt warm. Ponderosa felt her forehead, there was no fever. Still, she grabbed a tincture of Elderberry and gave her a little bit just to be safe. Lady Iredys accepted the syrup and a little bit of water before she turned her head away from Ponderosa.

Ponderosa grabbed her coin purse and note then stepped out onto the streets of Pride Town. They were busier than usual this afternoon, and Ponderosa had to maneuver through the crowds so she wasn’t pushed or dragged along. She stopped by Derek’s and paid for a pigeon to take her message to Krissy. Next, she made her way to Gerome’s General Store for a sack of cracked wheat. She stepped in and immediately had to get out of the way of several men carrying bolts of fabric out to their wagon.

“Twenty-five pounds of wheat, Ponderosa?” Gerome called from behind the counter.

She nodded.

“Be just a moment.”

Ponderosa nodded again.

His wife, Mary, and daughter, Susan, came out of the back room.

“I wish I could go to a ball,” Susan whined.

“I know you fancy the dresses of the higher classes, Susan,” Mary said, “but I don’t see any of Lakemead Kingdom’s nobility stooping to our level to find a bride.”

“A lot can happen over the course of their stay.”

“Yes, but you are not to try and sway their affections while they're here.”

Susan sighed with a frown, but nodded as she said, “Yes, Mama.”

“Here you are, Ponderosa,” Gerome said, returning from the back with the sack.

Ponderosa approached the counter and handed him a few coins.

“Do you need a hand carrying it home?”

She shook her head with a polite smile. Then she picked up the sack and weaved her way back to the cottage.

When she arrived back at the cottage, Ponderosa set the twenty-five pound sack on the table. She wiped her hands on her skirt before checking on Lady Iredys, who still seemed to be sleeping deeply, but her arms were crossed over her chest. Her hands hovered over the stones and runes embedded in her flesh. Ponderosa gently shifted Lady Iredys’ arms so that she could check on the area. She removed the cloth and was surprised to see that the skin around the Ruby and the Jet stones was no longer black and the blisters were gone. The skin was now a deep red hue. However, the skin remained damaged enough that she still couldn’t make out the runes.

Ponderosa carefully touched the skin around the stones to gauge the sensitivity of the tissues, but Lady Iredys remained asleep; there wasn’t even a muscle twitch to indicate that there was any discomfort. She hoped the color change meant it was healing, despite no sensation coming back to the area yet. However, she couldn’t say the same for herself, despite knowing the flesh had healed.

Ponderosa got up to grab her burn gel to apply another layer to Lady Iredys’ skin before she left her alone. Then she stood beside the table and pulled her large mortar and pestle closer to her. She opened the bag of wheat that she intended to work into a moderately fine meal, scooped a small amount into the mortar, and ground it down. She transferred the powder to one of her many empty jars before repeating the process. Ponderosa continued until she filled the first jar. Next, she took the time to grind enough to feed herself and Lady Iredys. She took one of the glasses of meal to the bed and set the glass against Lady Iredys’ lips, her jaw opened and allowed Ponderosa to pour in a small amount.

Lady Iredys drank the entire glass before her eyes rolled and opened part way. Her expression oscillated through discomfort, calm, and sorrow. Ponderosa adjusted her hold on Lady Iredys and tried to help her sit up further, but Lady Ireydys shook her head before her eyes rolled up and her head tipped back. Ponderosa supported her head and started to lay her back down, when Iredys started to shift her body to be able to lay on her other side. Ponderosa helped her roll, so that she would stay off the majority of her wounds; Ponderosa adjusted the blanket and her pillow to support her and to ensure that she wouldn’t lay on her broken arm, then Ponderosa returned to grinding down the wheat.

While she slowly filled a couple more jars with the wheat meal, she pondered how she was going to take care of Lady Iredys a few days from now. The night of the new moon was coming, and it was the one time she didn’t have control over her transformations. She also never knew which form she would take—if her new form would be small enough to allow her to stay in her house or not—and if Lady Iredys continued to sleep….

Ponderosa paused her work and sighed. She rubbed her eyes and rested her forehead on the back of her hands. Being forced to transform into an unknown form was stressful enough. More so now that she had a responsibility she could not pass to another. Not without risking exposure of the very thing she was trying to keep secret. Could she hold out hope that her transformation would allow her to stay? That she would still have hands so she could continue to feed and treat Lady Iredys’ wounds if she continued to sleep? Lady Iredys gasped and kept trying to inhale as if it was a struggle to get a breath in. Ponderosa swiftly left the meal to check on her.

Lady Iredys groaned and whined. She struggled to push herself up with her good arm. Ponderosa lifted her, hoping that holding her would allow her to calm, but as she lifted Lady Iredys off the cot, her body transformed into that of a dwarf.