Chapter 5

When I got to the defense office, I took a few minutes to calm down. I hoped Dolphin would know what was happening and how to save the community.

“Cow and Crown Inn; this is Warm Sun’s Embrace from Three Rivers’ Confluence,” the voice on the phone said.

“Greetings. This is the Lady Riding Atop, Ashley, Third for Oak Leaf on official, urgent business. I need to speak to Dolphin Frolicking Unchecked from Sandy Reef Cove. Wake her if necessary and ask her to take my call.”

“I’m sorry, my lady. The defense manager has just gone to bed and cannot be disturbed. Perhaps you could call back an hour after mid-day?”

“Embrace,” I said sweetly, “are you new at the Cow and Crown?”

“Yes, my lady. My second month!”

“I think it possible that you have misunderstood what Oak Leaf’s urgent, official business will mean to the defense manager. Would you be so kind as to bring the owner or another ranking employee up to date on our conversation so far?”

He gulped. “Yes, my lady. One moment.”

Two minutes later, a vaguely familiar voice joined the call. “This is Eager Rabbit from Passion Mill. My Lady Ashley, we regret the misunderstanding. I sent Embrace to go wake Dolphin. I told him that once she’s coherent he should let her know that he declined your call on her behalf, but I suggested he might double check that decision.”

I laughed. “Thanks Rabbit. Things are a bit tense here at Passion Mill, and imagining her reaction helps.”

“More trouble there? I heard about Gnarled Birch of course.”

I hummed noncommittally. Moments later, Embrace rejoined the call. “My lady, Dolphin Frolicking Unchecked said she would just go grab some tea and be right here,” he paused. “She gave me the option of being written up for disrupting a business relationship or accepting a lover’s punishment designed to teach the same lesson. I took the punishment; she said to tell you that she thinks you will approve of what she has in mind.”

“And what is that?”

“She didn’t say,” he said stuttering slightly.

“O, how exciting. I would so love to hear. In fact, Dolphin permitting, perhaps you had better write a full accounting directed to me at Oak Leaf, focusing particularly on your feelings at every stage.”

“Yes, my lady. I suspect she will permit that.”

“Yes, Embrace, I rather suspect so myself.”

“My lady, the defense manager has arrived.”

I heard some background noise then Dolphin’s familiar voice. “Lady Ashley, what an unexpected surprise; I hope you can visit sometime when you are not on urgent business. So, what’s wrong?”

“Passion Mill has contracted Oak Leaf to strengthen their community. I’m guessing you heard of the death yesterday morning.”

“That and some folks wondering at how lax they were being this season.”

“True enough.” I glanced at the note Lord Matthew handed me. “We’ve got another 5 deaths this morning and a couple with significant shadow touch.”

“Oof, that is not good. So soon?”

“I’m a little thin on resources. Most of Oak Leaf is in a tangled negotiation with Rocky Point today and short of a declared emergency, I couldn’t pull them out of the meeting. I was hoping you could provide advice.”

“First, should you declare an emergency?”

I exhaled explosively. I drilled Oak Leaf’s emergency procedures like everyone; I knew the mechanics. Yet I don’t think I’d internalized the idea that in situations like this I might well need to actually use the procedures. “I think that depends on what you can tell me and on my confidence that I can protect the community. If I can develop a plan and I have confidence in that plan, then no.”

“Very good, that’s sensible. I just want you to know in the core of your being that you can call for help; emergency procedures are there for a reason.” The chagrin of being reminded that I could ask for help so soon after my pointed remarks to Flowing Mane was sharp.

“It’s good to hear that and remind myself.”

“Now. what advice are you looking for?”

“I’d like to understand how it’s happening. One of the deaths this morning worked to rebuild the boundary yesterday. Especially with such a boundary connection, how can you worsen within the boundary?”

Dolphin clicked her tongue repeatedly. “I have something to offer. Normally I wouldn’t discuss this with a noble: a lot of you are sure that you understand how the world works. You’ve probably heard that almost all inns will decline hospitality for someone who shows any signs of shadow touch.”

“Yes, to avoid panic in the community from people thinking that the shadows have crossed the boundary.”

“Not exactly. You probably assume that once someone was in our boundary, they would not worsen.”

“Yes, of course. Especially at a well run establishment like the Cow and Crown.”

“Thank you. However, I don’t know any defense manager at an inn who believes the world works that way. I don’t want to challenge the long-held understanding of the nobles nor do I want to step beyond my place. If you could hear my advice as something to consider rather than a challenge, I will share it.”

“Of course. I know you hold us in respect. Besides, with the Scholium’s advances, we’re getting used to ideas being challenged at an ever-increasing rate.”

“True enough. Some at the Scholium have started to explore some ideas similar to what I will propose.

“When someone gets hurt—cut for example—they are still bleeding even after the knife is removed. You can apply a bandage, but if the bleeding doesn’t stop, that’s insufficient.

“Shadow rot’s the same. Catch it soon enough, and the hurt stops; get someone into a boundary and fuck them real good, and everything will be fine. If it lasts long enough, taking them into the boundary gets them out of reach of the shadows, but doesn’t stop the rot spreading within them. It is as if there can be no new cuts, but the existing cuts are still bleeding.”

Dolphin’s metaphor was compelling, but I wondered how well it reflected reality. I hoped she was wrong but I’d never known that to be the case.

“So if bringing them into a boundary isn’t enough, then what do you do?”

“Besides make their last time comfortable? You’re the expert on that my lady; I don’t know anyone else who has succeeded.” Her voice filled with concern and sympathy. “Brook Singing guested hear last spring on her way back to Shepherd’s Crook. She had a lot of hope for someone whose loved one came that close to being consumed. Oak Leaf has been awfully quiet about that situation, but it sounds like you succeeded with your healing. What you learned then may be more than anyone else knows.”

Today was apparently all about the verbal gut punches. “Shit! Dolphin, thank you for your concern. As you have doubtless guessed, it was a painful situation. With a good measure of Oak Leaf’s passion, and perhaps spending slightly more of myself than I had to give, I did save one person. I take great pride in that work, but I cannot do that here. Probably not at all, certainly not for many people.”

“I understand—”I interrupted her. “A moment please,” I said.

Shepherds spent far more time away from any substantial boundary than anyone at Passion Mill. I knew what they did to survived, but I needed to reconcile that knowledge with Dolphin’s theory. Sure, if a shepherd got separated for a week and a half and returned physically injured, you got situations like last spring. However they routinely did things that were more dangerous than anything Elk Unstoppable had shared with me yesterday. Perhaps I could disprove Dolphin’s theory. If Dolphin was right, then there ought to be something special about Shepherd’s Crook that either stopped the metaphorical bleeding in the first place or mirrored aspects of the healing I’d done. If there was no such thing, then I could at least begin to doubt Dolphin and have hope for my situation here.

“I’m considering how this fits in with other things I know,” I said.

Was there anything? I didn’t know much about the shadow bleeding, so perhaps I should start on the healing. I had a deep connection with the victim. Between that and the strength of Oak Leaf’s web, Oak Leaf had eventually succeeded. Fuck! Shepherd Girl tied the web together stronger than I’d seen anywhere else. When passion flowed at Shepherd’s Crook, it flowed with the animal fierceness of rutting season. It fit all too well.

“Dolphin, would you be surprised if the important element of the healing was a really strong web to draw on and a deep connection between the healer and shadow touched?”

“Not at all. I’d be surprised if those didn’t play some role in a healing. If those elements were strong enough, it might simplify things. But again, my lady has more practical experience here.”

I really didn’t like Dolphin, my earliest mentor in standing against shadows, telling me that I knew more than she did. Now was a time where someone else with answers would be greatly appreciated. I wanted to explain my idea. “I was struggling to figure out how what you’re saying fits with the shepherd lifestyle. They get shadow touched regularly, but recover in their bounding.”

Dolphin fairly bubbled with excitement. “You actually know what the shepherds do to survive? Do you realize what we could do with that knowledge? Safer inns, better travel!”

I sighed. Dolphin would be disappointed when she learned how difficult the shepherds’ approach would be to apply to our lifestyle. “I do. It was very hard-won knowledge. I am not really ready to share that pain, especially now. When this is all over, I’ll share what I can for whatever good it will do. Few enough will pay the price. However suffice it to say that they have an incredible web and unbelievable connections between lovers.

“If somehow I could get all of Passion Mill behind working together to survive and turn all that towards a web, I wonder if together we could heal the shadow touched?

“Of course,” I said, frustration creeping into my voice, “that brings me to the other problem in this disconnected, fuckless mess. There’s not a web, at least not to speak of beyond what Flowing Mane and I built this morning.”

“How is that possible?”, I said, voice rising. “I reach out with all my senses, and there are just fragments drifting—bits of boundary, threads between lovers, but nothing structured. They rebuilt the entire boundary yesterday, and the man who offered the second quarter is already dead!” I took a deep audible breath.

“Ashley,” Dolphin said quietly, “that is not good ... not good at all.

“It’s happened before. Have you heard of Saltfisher’s Dock?”

I gulped. Saltfisher’s Dock was one of the more grim tales I’d read about yesterday morning. Dolphin was right; according to the defense manager’s journal, the web just unraveled and attempts to rebuild it failed. As I recalled, two people made it as far as the nearest inn, but were turned away. “Yes, ran across that in my research yesterday morning. Do you know why their web failed?”

“No more than anyone. What you’re seeing has happened, but that’s all we know. Perhaps a demon would know more,” she said laughing grimly.

“Like I could go ask one.”

“You wouldn’t be the first noble to succeed at that,” she said. I heard her tapping her teeth. “Actually, that’s not a bad idea. I think it was about a year before your burgeoning; there was a paper in Shadow Journal. Some young lord was called when a laborer was enthralled by a demon bride. He spent a few weeks talking to the demon and the victim before the end. Something she said probably caused me to make that quip: she said the shadows were her parents on one side. Anyway, the lord might have some idea of how the shadows work. For that matter, the demon bride is probably around somewhere if you’d risk it—they’re hard to kill. Should I see if I can find a name?”

“Please.” I was dubious of actually talking to a demon, but the kind of lord who would face that might well have some ideas. I heard Dolphin shuffling papers and a drawer open and close.

“Ah, got it! Lord Morgan named at Brenhaven.” It figured that it would have to be some well-placed house like Brenhaven. If I had to ask for their help formally it would be awkward; certainly I’d do it if it saved the community.

Dolphin said, “Ashley, be careful.” She took a deep breath and continued, “I don’t care what the rules are, nor how bad off you’re doing. If things fall apart, get yourself over here. If a deep connection with the shadow touched and a web willing to lend lots of strength is what it takes, we’ve got that for you. We can do what it takes to get you back to Oak Leaf. If anyone can save you, they can.”

There were tears in my eyes. I’d never heard of an inn’s defense manager making that sort of exception. “Dolphin, I am honored; I know what that means. If you should ever need Oak Leaf, we will be there for you.”

Dolphin’s response was gruff. “Well, keep your self safe and let’s neither of us need that kind of effort. You are loved.”

“You too Dolphin. You too.”

I sat still in the Passion Mill office, my hand clutching the phone, mind numb. My other hand grasped Lord Matthew’s note. He reported that besides the two corpses in dormitory two, three others had died under Oak Leaf’s responsibility. In addition, the agricultural manager and butcher were showing some signs of shadow rot.

I thought my idea for building a strong enough web to heal those deeply shadow-touched was good, if only I might bring it about. That depended on maintaining a strong web. I struggled to accept that the cause of this morning’s fragmentary web was beyond even Dolphin’s ken.

My mind raced. I considered declaring an emergency and having Lord Oak Leaf pulled out of the Rocky Point meeting. If I thought he or the Lady of Oak Leaf (or even Lady Elizabeth for that matter) might know, then I would declare in an instant. However, if Oak Leaf’s collected wisdom encompassed some theory that might explain this, I would have been exposed at least to some aspect already.

Prior to yesterday, it might be that lax attention to slut and lover combined with Mane’s hording of web focus had permitted the web to unravel. Even so, all signs pointed to my instructions having been followed yesterday. A full boundary building plus the entire community as passion ought have left a well-tangled web even if some threads were strained healing the shadow-touched.

Truth was, I had no explanation. Was that alone an emergency? Building webs is my strength. Mane’s approach was unusual beyond the point of reckless; might I disregard the why of past failures and plow forward with a superior approach?

What other options had I? If I declared emergency, what could be done? We could get more lovers here, but not more lovers with the sort of strong connection I’d had last spring.