Spiral Path (Night Calls Series Book 3) by Katharine Eliska Kimbriel, Cat Kimbriel Read Free Book Online Page A

gracefully from the knot up on her head,
ringlets cascading to brush her neck and shoulders. She had huge dark eyes
rimmed with dark lashes, and eyebrows that canted like bird wings.
    Those eyes looked right through me and out between my
shoulder blades. There was nothing threatening in that look, precisely, but I
felt like I was being assessed like a cupboard—one layer at a time, top to bottom.
    Marta had mentioned once that Cousin Esme did not tell
people she was half Irish. There was some prejudice against those poorer cot
holders who had come to the new world for a different life. I did not know how
she hid this—she looked very Irish to me.
    But then what those of different gifts—those without magic—saw
when they looked at Cousin Esme might be very different. Even other magic-users
might see only what she chose to reveal.
    The woman stood, the serenity of confidence wrapping her
like a cloak. It was as if she was in the heart of her power, and feared
nothing within its walls. She was shorter than my mother, but her presence made
her feel taller.
    “ Esme,
I want to introduce Garda’s daughter Alfreda to you. Alfreda, I make you known
to Professor Esme Aisling Perry Livingston, your cousin through your mother’s
family.”
    Good thing I’d practiced a curtsy.
    I wasn’t sure if I should rise or not—she wasn’t a queen,
not in the sense most people used the word—so I bent my knee and my head, trying
not to bounce, and said, “Ma’am,” as I tried to lower myself enough to become,
if only for a moment, the same height as my mother’s cousin.
    Cousin Esme extended a hand to me. “Stand, child. I am sure
that is hard on your knees.” I did as she requested, and tried to stand
straight, hoping the shawl would not take a flying leap off my arms.
    Shaking hands with Cousin Esme was not like anything I had
previously experienced. Touching her hand reminded me of the time I struck at a
demon with an iron poker. A crackle of energy sparked from our hands. I didn’t
know if Marta knew; I didn’t see the movement of energy, I only felt it.
    Cousin Esme’s eyes widened, then narrowed, and I felt a tiny
stab like a needle trying my defenses. For a moment the shield enclosing my
mind and soul slipped. The resulting shift in energy made both women flinch
back from me. I hastily threw up a wall against probing from anything watching
our meeting, and hoped neither Cousin Esme nor Marta would try that again.
    Marta was smiling gently. She and Cousin Esme traded knowing
glances, and then Cousin Esme said: “I can see that Alfreda will help keep the
school lively! Sit, if you please.” Gesturing at the opposite chair and the
small couch, she sat down and poured tea.
    And next? Well, I can tell you that I worked hard for my tea
and scones. One minute she was asking about the proper dosage of teas made for
ladies who were increasing, and the next she wanted to know would I make a
decoction, or perhaps a cold compress when using the herb boneset?
    Oh, dear. I surely hoped this was a trick question. “Boneset
has a lot of uses,” I started. “But we use the herb, not the rootstock, so I
learned to make an infusion or a tincture of it. Cold, it is a mild laxative,
and warm it’s a diaphoretic and emetic, and is useful for breaking up a cold,
or for fever, and even for flu. Hot, you need to be careful, because it’s both
cathartic and emetic.” When no one spoke, I added: “It tastes nasty, very
bitter, so I would add honey to it to kill some of the taste.”
    “ Good,”
Cousin Esme replied. “And how about wild carrot seed?”
    “ Important
to lots of folks,” I started. “Infusion or decoction for the seeds, but the
rootstock can also be made into a soup or juice. Carrot seed starts up your
moon time, so you don’t want to use it when you want to be increasing. It is
very effective for most women in preventing a pregnancy, but you must take your dose of seed every day.
You miss a day, and it won’t