“I’m fine,” Anna said. “Go after her, Ariadne.”

The other girl, Ariadne, exhaled and sat back. “The poison did not enter your system. But it did get on your skin. We must wash the site with herbs, immediately. And your wound is deep. You will need several iratzes.”

The girl looked up at Jem.

“I’ll take care of her,” she said. “I am well trained in healing. I was taught by Silent Brothers while I lived in Idris. Anna’s right. Go after the warlock.”

You are sure? Anna will need an amissio, a blood-replacement rune—

“Quite sure,” the girl said, easing Anna to her feet. “Believe me when I say Anna would rather lose a bit of blood than have her parents find out what we did tonight.”

“Hear, hear,” agreed Anna.

Take care of her, said Jem.

“I will.” Ariadne spoke with a firm confidence, and from the way she was handling the wound, her words appeared true.

“Come,” Ariadne said to Anna. “My house is not far. Can you walk?”

“With you,” Anna said, “I can go anywhere.”

Thus assured, Jem turned in the direction of Leopolda Stain.

They walked back to Ariadne’s house, Anna occasionally leaning on her friend for support. The poison on her skin was starting to have an effect, which was a bit like having too much wine, too fast. She tried to keep herself steady. They were glamoured now, walking unseen through the street.

When they arrived, Ariadne let them in quietly through the front door. They took the stairs gently, so as not to wake anyone. Luckily, Ariadne’s room was on the opposite side of the house from her parents’ room. Ariadne led Anna in and shut the door.

Ariadne’s room was like the person who inhabited it—perfumed, perfect, delicate. There were lace curtains on the large windows. The walls were papered in silver and rose, and there were fresh-cut lilacs and roses in vases around the room.

“Come,” Ariadne said, leading Anna to her bureau, where there was a water basin. She removed Anna’s jacket and pushed up her sleeve. Having mixed a few herbs into the basin, she poured the mixture over the wound, which stung.

“It is a nasty injury,” Ariadne said, “but I am a good nurse.”

She moistened a cloth and gently cleaned the wound with soft strokes, careful to wipe away any poison that had splashed on Anna’s skin. Then she got her stele and drew an amissio rune to speed blood replacement and an iratze to encourage healing. The wound began to close.

Throughout all of this, Anna was silent, breathless. She did not feel pain. She felt only Ariadne’s careful hands on her.

“Thank you,” she finally said.

Ariadne set her stele down. “It is nothing. You sustained this wound while saving me. You stepped in front of me. You protected me.”

“I would protect you always,” Anna said.

Ariadne looked at Anna for a long moment. The only light came in through the pattern in the lace.