It was still only the first trial of the challenge. The deadline was dawn after the second night. So, Ashling knew that the time left until she must hand in her salve was approximately forty breaks! This was important for her strategy. The ingredients she had collected were not complicated or rare but they were potent. But, before she made the salve she had to prepare a herbal oil of the herbs. They needed to steep. The longer steeping-time, the stronger medicinal properties the herbal oil would gain. Hence, she wanted to wait as long as possible before she would mix the oil with the spruce resin to make the salve.
Making a cold oil infusion would take at least forty trials, But, it would be best to give it more time. A steeping time of up to sixty trials was not uncommon. A cold infusion would give the most beneficial medicinal effects. With dried herbs, it would be even better. Had it been her ordinary work, Ashling would have gone for cold infusion. Now, she needed a faster method. She would make a hot oil infusion instead. The infusion would be ready to use after twelve breaks, but she would give it more time.
This called for a solution for how to spend forty breaks in the contest tent. If a contestant would bring their work in progress out of the tent they wouldn’t be allowed to continue. Fortunately, there were guards and other functionaries. Those would work shifts supervising the contestants and helping out with practicalities. Ashling could get a guard to keep an eye on her infusion when she would need it. In the night, there would be mattresses and blankets for those who wanted to sleep beside their workbenches. She could wave down serving staff if she wanted to order food and drink.
All the participants would of course not use this service. How long time they would stay depended on how they had decided to do their crafting. There could also be contestants who wouldn’t arrive until the next trial. Some had gone for rare ingredients that took a long time to find and could be more complicated to harvest.
Although Ashling was focusing on her work she saw the others in action. The alchemists at the tables that flanked hers were working at a speed a herbalist could only dream about. Tristan and Biarne both engaged in a lot of vigorous stirring. It was quite flamboyant shows! Ashling was (of course) partial and felt sure Tristan must be the best of them. But, she had to admit that Biarne seemed like a worthy adversary in alchemy. It worried her a bit. The man had after all passed the first challenge with way higher score than Tristan. What if Biarne would turn out to be even more skilled than Tristan? She didn’t want to think of it, but she couldn’t help doing it. Biarne, rude and haughty as he was, appeared skilled for real!
And Ashling? She was what a patient back in Cylus had called a “hedgedoctor”. She followed the old folk medicine traditions. An important principle in Fensalir medicine was to use the whole plant (or almost) and not only parts of it. So, Ashling didn't pick the leaves and flowers off to use only those. Instead, after making sure the herbs looked clean she added them to the oil. She put them into the kettle as they were, stems and all and even some small pieces of roots.
It earned her a loud laugh from Biarne and a comment about how absurd he found her crafting. "This is entertaining! You are doing it like a child mixing wilted flowers with sand in a bucket and saying they are cooking. Hah! I'm happy that I'm not the one you will test your bad salve on!"
Ashling clenched her teeth. She had been warned and she wasn’t going to let Biarne make her lose her temper. Instead of retorting she focused on the work. It was great for helping her ignore the rude alchemist. The infusion was warming up a little bit. Now, she moved the kettle from the brazier to the workbench. This way, the warm steeping could begin a bit while she moved on to make hot water. She poured water in a bigger kettle, put it on the tripod on the brazier and waited for it to get hot. Meanwhile, she watched Tristan. Alchemy seemed fun! She felt amazed at how many things he had going on and how fast he was working.
It made her smile a bit. He was quick as a rabbit but she was slow as a snail.
Tristan...oooh, Tristan...the very best man in the world...and the most good looking one too! Not that his appearance alone would have been enough to make her fall in love. Just like the whole plant was important to her as a herbalist, Tristan’s whole person was what mattered to her. The water was almost, but only almost boiling and the fire in the brazier had almost burnt out. Good, because now she would place the smaller kettle inside the bigger kettle and let the water warm it. The oil must stay warm enough but not too warm. From now on she would only add enough fuel to the brazier to keep the water hot but not boiling (and keep the oil warm, but not too hot).
Biarne laughed out loud again. "And now the forest fool is going to boil a kettle in a kettle? Better and better! Hahahaha!"
Ashling felt sure that Biarne knew the simple method she was using. She found it hard to not respond. It was nigh impossible. Harsh and acid words were burning on her tongue. But, as she was right now handling hot water and warm oil she couldn't afford to quarrel. It could cause an accident and she might get serious burns and have to drop out. All her attention must be on the work. She made sure that the smaller kettle (with the oil) had water up its sides but avoided to get water in the oil. Next, she put this double kettle on the tripod and so, the long steeping began.
"How long time will it take?" It was Jorg Magnus. He had come to watch her work.
She told him her plan to camp in the tent until she would make the salve in the early hours before deadline. Jorg's eyes widened. "
That long?"
"Yes. Making a good herbal salve takes time."
"I'll stay here with you! " The boy sounded excited. "Camping in the contest tent! Much more fun that sitting on that chair!"
Ashling laughed. "Why are you sitting on the jarl's chair? Shouldn't Jarl Magnus sit there himself?"
"The Jarls can't sit there on the stage for two trials and two nights and wait for people to hand in their potions and salves. They have stand-ins. "
Except for more annoying remarks from Biarne, everything was going well. With the nice young Jorg there to keep her company and cheer her up and make her forget the rude alchemist, what could go wrong?
Later, the first night of the second challenge
The breaks had passed by and it would soon be midnight. Other people were leaving, but Ashling didn't know if that meant that their work was already done. Tristan had crafted more than one flask of his potion and so had Biarne, but none of them was present now. Buxom was also away and a guard kept an eye on their work in progress. Speaking of ... now, Buxom returned to their workbench to have a look at whatever they had going on there. They took the lid off from a jar and a weird smell spread in the air. The herbalist gave a shrill scream and slammed the lid onto the jar again. They looked around in a panicked manner. Then they grabbed a pitcher of water. They opened the jar again and poured in a generous amount of water. With a wheezing sound, thick dirt-green smoke arose from the jar and Buxom slammed the lid in place again.
"Help!" they exclaimed in a small and thin voice when a functionary arrived to ask what was going on. "Somebody has ... sabotaged my work!"
Soon, Ashling found herself accused of being the saboteur. She had been the only person around for a while so it must be her, Buxom said. Ashling was getting red hot angry and ready to attack, but in the last trill, Jorg Magnus intervened. "I've been here all the time. Ashling hasn't left her workbench. Besides, it doesn't need to be sabotage. It can be bad crafting."
"I did everything exactly as Biarne told me to do it," Buxom retorted.
The people who had gathered around them fell silent. Everybody looked at Buxom who still didn't seem to understand what they had said. Then, a man who seemed to have more authority than the others spoke up. "Are you telling us that Biarne, an alchemist, gave you, a herbalist, instructions for how to do your crafting in this contest?"
"No! I didn’t mean that!” Buxom seemed on the verge of beginning to cry.”Biarne just told me to make sure that jars and herbs are clean. I already knew that so I don’t even know why he said it. He...uses to take care of everything and not count on me being able. What I meant is only that I used clean jars and herbs and the oil and other things available on the workbench.” Buxom paused to draw breath, but the next trill they added “It must be her! She lured Biarne away from me just to attack him and try to injure him so he would have to drop out! She should have been dropped from the contest for that! But, she was allowed to continue and now we all can see her attack again, this time by sabotage of my moukou bean salve! ”
The functionary looked a bit overwhelmed by Buxom's river of babble. "What's moukou? I never heard about it before!"
Buxom pointed to the remains of several plants that lay on their workbench. "There. That's moukou bean tree."
They offered no more explanations. Ashling was now close enough to see the plants. Oh my. There were still a few defect bean-like pods left on them, but it wasn't moukou. Instead, it was ...
"That's not moukou bean, it’s the common laburnum," she said. "Golden chain tree. The whole tree is very toxic, every part of it. Bark, root, leaves and especially the pods, all are poisonous. Seems you picked a harmful ingredient by mistake. If I were you I would get rid of the first batch of whatever you are making. Then start over without the golden chain. You still have the time to craft something else. Any salve you can make without the poison will be better than the toxic disaster you have crafted right now.”
Buxom stared at her, looking dumbstruck. They tried to say something, several times, but all that came over their lips was a sad croaking sound. The functionary told them to stay back. They had routines for dealing with this kind of mistakes! Why the poor Buxom watched, tearful and pale, the functionaries did their job. They took away the reeking jar and the golden chain plant parts and left, with a warning to the herbalist. “Don’t accuse other people of sabotage when it’s your fault that your crafting failed. If this happens again you will be dropped from the contest!”
The immediate risk for more complications from Buxom seemed over. Silent and with slow movements, they inspected what was left of their ingredients. With slow and jerky movements they started over. It didn't look so promising. Ashling couldn’t help feeling a bit sorry for Buxom. But, there was also one thing she found intriguing, and not comfortably so. Mokou Bean Tree was not common in Melrath. Still, not only Tristan but also Buxom had decided to use that plant. Why? The memories of how she and Tristan had felt watched in the wilds left her no peace. Could it be ...
After a while, she spoke to Buxom, in a neutral voice. “I can understand that you felt stressed out, so no hard feelings. But you know, the golden chain could have killed you, do you realize that? You could have died.”
Buxom glanced at her but didn’t answer. Ashling spoke again. “Biarne seems to keep telling you that you are no good. As you said, anybody knows the very basics, like using clean jars and herbs. You passed to the second challenge. That speaks for itself. You may very well craft a winning salve. I wouldn’t feel surprised if you do way better without Biarne's kind of advice. He seems to not have been able to differentiate between moukou bean and golden chain by the way. I suppose he “helped” you do the mistake?”
Buxom snivelled. “Biarne is brilliant. I had no reason to doubt his ability to identify moukou. He called me dumb when I felt unsure of it, so I guessed I was only being ignorant.”
“Why did you decide to use moukou?”
“I had heard that it had interesting medicinal properties. I mean, Biarne knew about the plant and told me about it. He wasn’t looking to use it himself. But when he spoke about the moukou it seemed amazing and I felt that I ought to get it for my salve. We could collaborate about finding ingredients - you know that - and then Biarne found the tree with the pods. The...golden rain tree...” Buxom’s voice had been low all the time but in the end, it broke.
Ashling waited a bit and finally Buxom spoke again. They had an unexpected story to tell...
“You said the golden chain is a common tree here in Melrath.” Their voice was only a whisper now. “I’m not from here and so I’m not familiar with all the flora yet. I escaped from a toxic nightmare of a city named Rhakros. When I arrived in Ne’haer I met Biarne who was there in business errands. I had nobody, nothing. He took me in despite that I’m an outlander. We travelled to Melrath, his homeland. Biarne told me to never reveal that I’m an outlander. He said we are inferior people and his kin would kill me if they knew. He would keep me safe though. I...trusted Biarne...he told me to watch out so you wouldn’t sabotage my work...”
Buxom broke down and cried. Ashling didn’t have the heart to say the unspoken words that were hanging in the air. Biarne had sabotaged the work of his partner and set them up to see Ashling as the one to blame for the failure. He had also put Buxom’s life at risk. Not to mention what might have happened if the salve had been tested on people... The man was even worse than Ashling already had found him. It would hardly be possible to prove anything though. According to the contest rules, Buxom was responsible for their ingredients. No doubt, Biarne would say that he had suggested that it might be moukou and Buxom had decided that it was. It would be word against word and Buxom would be the loser.
Ashling took a decision.“Biarne isn’t the only one option you have in this world,” she said. “You passed to the second challenge. You may also pass to the third if the new salve you make is good enough. My mother is a herbalist and runs a healing house here in Fensalir. Sol’ange, a woman of knowledge, always in need of people to work with her. You could leave Biarne any time! Or are you so in love with him that you accept that he deceives you and puts at risk your life and the lives of others?.”
A long silence followed. Buxom worked and as the bits passed by they seemed more and more focused and sure of everything they did. They stopped crying. Instead, there was something else, something new, in the atmosphere ...
RAGE!
Ashling’s spiritual familiar whispered to Ashling in her mind the trill before Buxom spoke again. The herbalist's voice sounded thick and raw. “Poison! I hate it! That was what I fled from! I thought Biarne was my saviour and felt I owed him loyalty and even ... love, despite that he was violent to me. But, he betrayed me! All this time he’s been putting me down and in the end, I felt worthless. But, I’m going to leave him now, whether I have somewhere else to go or not! If they kill me for being an outlander, so be it!”
“Nobody is killing outlanders. Look at my betrothed, Tristan, he’s an outlander and people know it.”
But, even as Ashling spoke, a chill went up her spine, because Myrkvior’s Kin came to her mind. Rumour had it that they had more members and sympathizers than those who were open with it. What exactly had Biarne meant with “his kin”? It
could have been a lie about the Melrathi people in general...or...the truth about the kin. Was he a member? A silent supporter? There was no way to know...
“I still have the other ingredients. I picked some extra... I’m going to work with what I have and do my utmost to create the best salve I ever made.” Buxom worked on, their voice till raw with rage. Ashling could see that they acted like they were at least an expert now, not as insecure as they had seemed before.
Oh...she might have encouraged a competitor who might be better than they had seemed! Still, she couldn’t regret it. Buxom’s fate at Biarne’s hands had been horrible. Winning the contest would be fun if it happened. But, freeing the abused Buxom from their slavery-like relationship was more important!
“I’m grateful.” Buxom looked up and met Ashling’s gaze for a moment. “And if Biarne tries any more foul play, I’ll be on your side!”
The conversation ended there. Ashling looked at Jorg. The boy’s eyes were wide and his mouth was open. She smiled at him. “Don’t run around and speak about what you have overheard this night. Accusations without proof tend to backfire on the one who makes them. For now, I advice you to not say anything.”
The boy nodded. Ashling tended to her hot oil infusion and put a small amount of new fuel on the brazier. It was after midnight and she waved down a guard who would keep an eye on her work in progress so she could sleep.
A break before the deadline, at the end of the second night.
After the crisis the first night nothing more had happened except for the contestants continuing their work. Ashling had strained the herbal oil and let it cool down. Then she had mixed it with spruce resin. The salve was neither too hard nor too soft. It had a soft yellow colour and smelled pleasantly of mint, chamomile and blue spruce. She put it in a clean jar, put a lid on it and handed it in. Tristan was there alongside her, handing in a batch of potions. She saw Biarne and buxom hand in their potions and salve too, then walk out, Biarne first and Buxom a step behind him.
All their work at challenge two was done. She smiled and hugged him with all the love she felt for him. “Now all we can do is wait for the outcome. I hope it will go well, but if not, I’ve still achieved something good during this challenge ...”
She put her arm around his waist as they walked out, his arm resting around her shoulder. Once they were alone she would tell him the whole story about Buxom and Biarne and how Buxom had now changed side.