“I prefer it fresh,” Kandah said. “And I’d rather not search through the archives. They are useful for comparison.”

Taul plucked a hair from the side of his temple and handed it to the man. He nodded to Balniss, who plucked a hair from the dark gray tuft on his chin.

Kandah separated them on the table and hummed to himself.

Taul cleared his throat.

“You can sit if you like,” Kandah said.

“I’m fine standing.”

“As you wish.”

He held up Taul’s hair, turning it this way and that, eyes closed to slits. “Yes, I recall you. My condolences on your recent loss. I expected a different outcome. The goddess can be fickle.”

“I was not the first choice.”

Kandah closed his eyes. “Oh, yes. The younger brother. The tender. Of course, it all makes sense now. Still, a shame.” He stole a glance at Balniss and pushed his hairs away from the rest. He turned back to the samples, pulled a large, thick ledger close, and flipped pages back and forth.

Taul got the impression that he didn’t need to search the pages but did it for their benefit. He wasn’t even looking closely at the columns of entries. Taul knew what it was to look at such columns.

“Excellent,” Kandah said. “Ah yes… there… lovely.”

There was bitterness, an edge in Kandah’s voice as he cooed and fawned over the samples, but with his left hand he slid aside the three that Taul knew to have tender potential. Kandah tied a bone-white thread around those, whereas the others he tied with gray.

“Very good,” Kandah said, still inspecting the new samples. “Thank you, minister.”

Taul nodded to Balniss.

“The marks you make in the ledgers. The white thread. The tenders,” Balniss said. “You’ve known the remedy all along.”

Kandah stopped and sat up, turning to them, a sly smirk on his face, not even trying to feign ignorance.

“I won’t tell her about your deception,” Taul said. “But we will cure this rot.”

“Which one?” Kandah asked sharply. “Orchard or the taint?”

“You know the answer to that,” Balniss said. “They are the same.”

“It would displease her to learn it,” Taul said. “Nor her consort and his knights.”

Kandah chuckled to himself and nodded, as if he spoke to someone else. “And you think the high matron’s spears and knives frighten me? I am here at her invitation. I can leave at any time. I’m not bound to anything here.”

“Except she offers what you crave,” Balniss said.

Kandah stared stone-faced.

“Knowledge. Isn’t that what valmasin crave?” Balniss asked. “A safe way to study us? To what end, I wonder.”

Kandah glared at Balniss. “You are quite knowledgeable.”

“I can get you samples that you might never get otherwise. With history. Like this one,” Balniss said, handing him a fold of white cloth. “Including all the knowledge we can share. We will make it worth your while.”

“Who is ‘we’ I wonder? Hmm?” Kandah asked, taking the sample. He glanced at the contents. He set the cloth down, running his finger along the black hair. “Thick, but not coarse… Baikal?” Kandah’s gaze shifted. “No, not Baikal.” He folded up the cloth and pushed it aside. “I will do what I can.”

“There can be others,” Balniss said.

“In exchange for?” Kandah snapped.

“Truth,” Taul said.

“As you wish,” Kandah said.

“I will have the best tenders,” Taul said. “I don’t care where we find them, even nomads and barbarians if necessary. I don’t care if we must dye their hair and stain their skin to attend the high matron.”

At this, Kandah’s eyes smiled at him for the first time. “Truly? Are you prepared for it? It will require something quite different from you. Like the way a sheep herder decides which sheep to slaughter. You’ll need to tolerate inconvenience.”

“I can do it,” Taul said. “It must be done.”

“Let us work together, then,” Kandah said gleefully.

“We should go,” Taul said, reaching for the door handle.

“Stay, minister!” Kandah pleaded. “I may have questions about these new samples.” He glanced at Balniss. “That book there, at the end. The leather one with the silver frame. You may find it interesting, Master Diviner. Though be careful with its pages. Quite old.”

His eyes shone brightly as Balniss stepped toward the tome. Balniss opened the front cover and sat down, mesmerized.

Taul huffed.

Kandah only smiled. “Sit with me, minister. Let us look at these samples more closely.”

He inspected each sample, gently turning each over with his ink-stained fingers. The same as the care a tender took with a young shoot.

Taul leaned close and asked, “Can we save it?”

Kandah looked dazed, pulled back from a faraway place.

“What? The orchard?” Kandah shrugged. “Not my area of expertise. But as with all things, the goddess will decide.”

Taul’s brow furrowed, and Kandah chuckled.

“Don’t like that, do you? Neither does the High Matron. But it’s not my saying.”

“Why stay here, then?” Balniss asked, looking up from the tome.

“I thought I might be one to aid rather than hinder this time. The high matron is heavy-handed with her power. It happens to all with little sorcery. To those of us with power, well, it is like the air we breathe. A necessity. She is learning, but I fear it is too late. And her daughter…” He sighed. “But you,” he said to Taul, “you are what I have been waiting for.”

“How’s that?” Taul asked.