Or worse . . . Joachim and Pieter had given her the respect that Mother gave her, but what about the rest of the Bruderschaft? What if all they wanted her to do was womanly things? All very well for Mother and Tante Gretchen to be adept at cooking and baking and tending gardens and all of that—but she wasn’t them! She was an Air Master, not an Earth Master. She could do those things, certainly, but she didn’t much like them and she wasn’t all that good at them.

Just get your mind back in the book, she advised herself. What’s done is done. You can’t pour the broken eggs back into the shell. Best to just concentrate on salvaging what you can.

All very good advice, of course. Now if only she could bring herself to take it. . . .

With saddlebags packed with her new wardrobe, her rifle in a saddle holster, and Lebkuchen clearly impatient to be on the road, Giselle stood at her stirrup, waiting for Tante Gretchen to come out of her cottage. It was a beautiful day, and under any other circumstance, she’d have been overjoyed for the chance to ride out under cloudless skies, with balmy spring breezes lilting through the trees.

But given that she was figuratively crawling to the Bruderschaft to beg for their help and hope she was forgiven for her part in killing a man . . . well . . . part of her wanted to stay hidden with Tante Gretchen, pretending to be her niece.

That was impossible, of course. The cottage was cozy and pleasant while the two of them were getting along and while it was always possible to get away by tending the garden or hunting for mushrooms in the forest. But in winter . . . or if for some reason they had a quarrel . . . well, it wouldn’t be cozy, it would be claustrophobic. Even with all the space in the abbey and her tower, sometimes that had been claustrophobic in winter when she and Mother were at odds.

Tante Gretchen finally came out with another, smaller bag she could fasten over the top of one of her bigger saddlebags. “Food for the journey, so you won’t have to waste as much money buying things to eat,” the old woman said, handing it to her. “Don’t fret. Something will turn up, I feel it in my bones.”

“I hope so,” she replied, with less confidence. Earth Masters could be quite powerful, but they weren’t known for their predictive talents. Impulsively, she hugged the old woman. “I think you have literally saved my life, Tante Gretchen. I don’t know what I would have done without your help.”

The Earth Master returned her embrace. “You would have managed. I have every confidence in you, even if you don’t have nearly as much in yourself,” she said firmly. “Now, just keep your eyes and ears open for opportunity, and if something turns up before you reach the Lodge, seize it! The Good God will put something in your path, but you have to be alert for the signs he is giving you something!”