Tannah shifted on her cot and then rolled over to face her. Of dying?
Tannah opened her mouth and it made a small sound but she said nothing. Then she closed it again. No, she said. I don’t. I believe it though.
No one joins the Service to die. I have to believe it as much as you do.
Someone with a bright lantern passed by and the shadow of a waysign fell on side of the tent. The light faded and the noise of booted footsteps faded with it. I don’t believe it right now, Darya said. I don’t know that I ever did. When they sent me here I never thought I would make it out.
But you’ve got your home, ia? Your sweetmate, I forgot her name, starts with an F, ia?
Think of her. What did you do when you were with her?
Cooked. Mostly. We made anything we could get a recipe for, tried new things when we couldn’t get the ingredients. Lots of bread.
What was your favorite meal?
Oh, there was this spiced stew, used about every vegetable they had at market...
What was it called, or did it have a name?
Gatherer’s Stew was all. We called it Fenn’s Stew after a friend who gave us the recipe, he made it for us first and we had to make it ourselves. We changed how much spice it had, every time, we always made it more—
Peppers most times, but there were some other things. By the time we had it last no one else could stand to be in the room with it, we’d made it so strong. Another friend tried it and burned his throat ragged.
Tannah smiled. And what was your kitchen like?
I know what you’re doing, you know.
Then keep going. I want to know, even if it’s meant to help.
Darya took a steady breath in the dark, and Tannah could hear clearly the switch between inhale and exhale.
It was small, she said. We had a woodstove that could be converted to an oven, heavy black iron thing. That’s where we’d make the bread, small bits at a time. A few counters, it was barely a closet really. We didn’t own the apartment, it was a secondstory in Mid, a few streets up from Low.
I lived in the top of Low, west side. Not a bad place as people say but it wasn’t pleasant to have the guards come knock down my door.
They were searching for someone else and I’d guess someone had switched the numbers on my door so they smashed it in. God knows what they thought when they found me.
Naked on top of someone. They pulled me off before anything else and chained him too. Was the last time was we saw each other, poor thing. He was scared off I suppose.
Tarya was badly hiding a laugh and Tannah tutted quietly. Don’t you laugh, it may happen to you yet.
But I want to tell you more, is that okay?
So long as it keeps you sane.
