Schula's small apartment over a bakery was comfortable. Unlike Thain's family home, there were no decorations. There were, however, many windows. The furniture was all worn and inviting. A huge bed sat in one corner, the kitchen and table took up half the space. She had shelves of books across the entire north wall, and a small copper stove heated the room from the center of it.

She pulled me into her apartment and opened a window which Puko landed in and began preening himself. She stuck a log in the stove and half carried me into the bathroom. The white walls held a mirror and a shelf of soaps and towels. The bath was wooden, like the one from the outpost. In it were two benches.

Without a word, Schula started the water and undressed, then helped me do the same. She helped me into the tub, and began scrubbing my back. I snapped out of my stupor and took the soap, cleaning the rest of my body by myself. Once we were both clean, she sat me in the warm water and held me.

"You're staying here tonight. As long as you want. I can sleep on the floor, or we can share the bed. Stars know it's more than big enough. I'm going to get your things from Thain's house. Have you eaten lunch yet?" I shook my head. "I'll bring that too. You can stay in the bath, or you can lay down on the bed. I have books if you want to look through my shelves, and if you get cold there is a stack of wood for the fire. Wren, look at me. Will you be alright if I leave you for a little bit? No one else has the key to this place, not even Thain and Eberon."

I nodded, but I doubted a key would stop a raging Thain. She hugged me, and got out of the tub. I sniffed and looked at her for the first time without clothes. I mean really looked at her. Her snow-white skin was covered in scars. I didn't ask about them, just like she never asked me unless she had to.

"There are plenty of clothes in the wardrobe by my bed. Take something. I'll be back as quick as I can."

"Thank you." I croaked.

She smiled at me and left the room, taking a towel with her. I heard her shut and lock the front door a moment later. I sank in the tub up to my chin. I stayed for a while, but I'd had enough of hot baths for the moment and when I was sure of my legs, I got out.

The air was still warm when I left the water. I found a comb for my hair and wrapped myself in a towel. Schula had drawn all the curtains for me, and I could hear Puko's protests outside the big window by the door.

Her wardrobe was full of either white, comfortable clothes or vibrant, colorful formal wear. I took a cotton shift and leggings that buttoned down the side of my calf. Once I was dressed enough, I opened the curtains again and let Puko through the window. He ruffled his feathers indignantly, but otherwise seemed fine.

Schula's bookshelf was full of interesting things. Not just books, but maps and statues as well. I found an illustrated guide to plants of the Winter lands and decided it was something I could read through without upsetting myself. I put another log in the stove and curled up on the floor with the book. I felt the light whisper of a winter chill before I heard the light footsteps outside.

"It's me." Schula swung the door open with a foot, and carried my sack of belongings over her shoulder. Puko gave her a caw of acknowledgement and went back to preening himself.

"There is someone you might like to meet, she's bringing up some food." Schula set my things on the bed and took off her boots.

"Thank you, Schula." I stretched and stood just as a knock on the door startled me. Puko flapped away as Schula went to answer it.

"Mama Flori, thank you." Schula opened the door wider to reveal a wrinkled grey female. She had features like a mole, and her dress was covered in flour.

"Of course, love. Now, you promised me a cute little fae? I'm so glad you aren't all alone up here anymore." The woman handed two leaf-wrapped packages to Schula and waddled through the doorway.

"Wren, this is Mama Flori. She runs the shop downstairs and rents me these rooms." Schula gave me an encouraging smile, but meeting more fae was the last thing I wanted right now.

"Hello Mama Flori." I stood straight while the old sprite circled me, clicking her tongue.

"Thin, too thin. Wren, was it?" She stopped in front of me and I had to bend to meet her as she gripped me in the most ferocious hug I had been trapped in since Bryn died. "I can fix you right up, love. Don't you worry. If you need anything at all you come downstairs and talk to Mama Flori and her boys, you hear me?"

"Yes ma'am." I found myself agreeing. Her breath was awful, and her arms were like tree trunks, but she was maybe the warmest person I had ever met.

"Where does this one come from?" She whispered none too quietly to Schula while still hugging me.

"We found her in the mountains south of the Wyldes." Schula hid a smile behind her hand. "Wren here is half human, her home was attacked by raiders. She's here with me now."

"Oh you poor thing!" Mama Flori wailed and squeezed into me a little harder before holding me at arm's reach. "Schula, you need to feed her!"

"We've been feeding her, Mama Flori." Schula came over with the two packets of food. "In fact, you brought us lunch, remember?"

"Lunch! Yes. Come here, love. Sit down and have some food." I was half carried to Schula's table and plopped in a seat. Mama Flori took one of the packets from Schula and unwrapped it in front of me to reveal a small pie, oozing with gravy from the slits in the top.

"Mama Flori is famous for her pies." Schula brought over a glass of cider for me and took a seat. "What's in today's Flori?"

"Mushroom and chestnut with venison." The mole sprite fussed over me as I took the first bite, my eyes widened.

"This is delicious." I managed to say after I swallowed. The steam now pouring from the inside of the pie tickled my face.

"Oh, love." Mama Flori hugged me again and continued to hover as I ate the whole thing. A bemused Schula sat across from me, slowly eating her own lunch undisturbed.

"Mama Flori, thank you for coming by. I hope you don't mind adding a tenant for a while, but does she pass your standards?"

"Stars yes!" She wailed. "Wren love, you stay as long as you want. If you need me I'm downstairs, I'll always have time for my lovies. You promise me you'll come see Mama Flori?"

"I promise." I smiled. After a little more fussing, Mama Flori finally left and Schula closed the door behind her.

"So what do you think of our landlady?" She grinned.

"She's something else." I said. "I don't know how to put it, I've never been..."

"Mothered?" She offered, and I nodded. "Neither had I, until coming here. Mama Flori has made my life here a thousand times better than the life I left back home."

"Mothered." I tasted the word in my mouth. Of course I hadn't been mothered, all I had was Bryn. Even Mila and her coven, the only women in my life before now, were like stern aunts. Never had I been mothered before, and it was precisely what I needed.

"I hope she didn't bother you too much. I bought lunch downstairs, but she insisted on meeting you." Schula took the leaves and cups into the kitchen.

"No, she was great." I stood and scooted the chairs back into the table. "I didn't think I wanted to see anyone for a while, but I'm glad she came up. What do we do now?"

"Now, we put your things away. I have shelf space, just let me clear it off. Then, we do whatever you want to do. That can be books, or a walk, or talking." She went to her bookshelf, picking up the illustrated guide to plants in the Winter lands on her way. "Are you still reading this one?"

"Oh, no I just wanted something to look at. Something peaceful, like plants." I went over to the bed and began unpacking my things. "Um, how did it go? With Thain?"

"Thain will be fine. He went to see the king about a mission. Good timing too, because he needs to work off some of this aggression." Schula began rearranging her shelves. "He has so much power, and keeps such a tight lid on it, sometimes he can blow up like that. I'm sorry you were there to see it, he's going to come back and be ashamed of himself. You'll see."

"I should probably tell you what happened." I mumbled, fingering the wooden cup Bryn had carved for me.

"I would like to know, in due time. Right now I think we all need to calm down and take it slow. Maybe tomorrow, unless you really want to tell me. First, I'd like to hear about all these wooden things you've brought along. Wairen had already packed most of your belongings by the time I got there, but I did get to see some carvings." Schula set a stack of books by her feet while she made room on another shelf for them.

I hadn't talked to anyone about Bryn or my life in such detail. Just enough to know what happened. Schula was quickly becoming my rock in this storm of the Wyldes. I just hoped someday I could repay her kindness.

"Alright, I'll tell you all about it."

~

We never finished unpacking. The afternoon flew by with my stories of the mountains. Schula told me a few of her own. She never outright admitted it, but I think she was born somewhere in the Winter lands. Not that it wasn't an obvious conclusion to draw from her appearance, but it was never outright said to be true. 

We had laid ourselves on the bed around my things and fallen asleep sometime before dawn, and it was midday before I opened my eyes again.

"Nice to see you still in the lands of the living." Schula smiled at me from the floor, where she had curled up with a bear pelt and a book next to the wood stove. The day was crisp and we had let the heat flicker out overnight.

"I haven't slept that well in days." I smiled and dug in my sack for the wool blanket from my bed in the mountains and joined her on the floor. "So what will we do today?"

"Today we meet Eberon. Thain will have talked to his triquetram before leaving, even on a mission from his Majesty. We can decide what needs to be done from there." Schula stretched under her fur and closed her book. "First things first though, have you been keeping up with our exercises?"

"Some." I admitted. "Not as well as I could have been."

"We've all had a lot going on. Would you like to start them again? A morning routine ? Tomorrow?" She grinned.

"Sure, I do still want to learn." I yawned.

We sat in comfortable silence for a while. Eventually she got up and brought over a bowl of dried plums, which we shared pieces of with Puko. The room warmed up and we left our blankets on the floor while we cleaned ourselves up.

"We should talk about yesterday." I said, combing my hair at the table.

"Probably." Schula was lacing her pants. "If you're ready. I gather it was about your magic?"

"Yes." I said. "Wairen saw my back the night before last."

"Oh." Schula looked up at me. "And naturally told the master of the house."

"Right." I fidgeted. "Is, I mean, do the fae have a problem with the witches?"

"Hm, some do I suppose." She shoved her boots on her feet. "The witches tend to stay out of the Wyldes. They both keep humans out of our land, and fae out of theirs. The wicked fae anyway. But Some think they had something to do with the plague. It's all baseless drivel, but we've never really known what to do with them. They stay out of our way, and we stay out of theirs."

"But you don't seem to know much about them." I said.

"No, we don't. Sometimes a witch will come to learn, teach, and make peace with the fae. Their efforts are widely dismissed and then they just... go back where they came from I suppose."

"That's no way to fix the rift." I frowned.

"It's not, but old fae are set in their ways." Schula shrugged. "I wouldn't think Thain would be that set in stone about anything, but he has lived much longer than most fae I know. He can be hard to read."

"If he isn't mad about the witch seal, he must be mad about something else." I said. "He made it sound like it was how closed off I've been. The fact that I'm still keeping secrets."

"And it's no business of his that you are. He has plenty of his own." She told me.

"I wasn't trying to make him mad." I watched Schula come over to me.

"Like I said last night, sometimes he blows up like that because he can't keep bottled up anymore. If you haven't noticed, Thain is more beast than the rest of us. When he gets back, he'll come running with his tail between his legs, begging forgiveness. I think he's been trying hard to help you. He was excited to report to me and Eb about the youth he found. An excited Thain isn't something you see often." She smiled and hugged my shoulders. "Now, get up. We've got a fire fae to bother."

I couldn't help but smile as she pulled me out the front door. Puko landed on my shoulder and eyed me, making Schula laugh. Down the stairs, we ran into Mama Flori. She demanded we stop and talk to her, and then she sent us on our way with a loaf of cinnamon bread and a packet of breadcrumbs for Puko.

My stomach was a pit of nerves. I hoped Thain had talked to Eberon before leaving Thanantholl. I also hoped, despite our argument, that he was alright.