The Baker’s Wife (part one)(scene three)

Links to previous scenes: scene one, scene two.

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Lily came by early that morning. Only the baby came with her this time.

“Double amount today,” she grinned. “We’re having company tonight.”

“Oh?” Krysilla waved a spell over the dough. She was still tired, and yet, the thought of going to a party, any party, even one where she knew she would feel out of place and stiff with fear, made her nearly giddy with excitement. “Who is it?”

“I don’t know. My husband says he’s sworn to secrecy.”

Sounds like Parlay, she thought, and began writing the receipt.

I should tell her, she thought while Lily rambled on with her wild speculations. She’d need someone to help her with her hair and she’d always admired Lily’s. Plus, of all the women she knew, Lily was the only one she felt she could trust, in spite of her resentments.

Several times she paused in her writing, wanting to broach the subject yet unsure how. And Lejer’s still here, she thought. I can’t let Lejer hear us. Smoothing her apron, she nearly grabbed a fistful of it in hopes it would calm her down. “Would you mind helping me carry this?” she finally managed.

“Not at all.” She repositioned the baby on one hip, then took the basket of paper-wrapped loaves in the other.

Walking toward the outside ovens, Krysilla listened carefully for any sign that Lejer was awake. The moment the bread was in the oven and she’d cast the spell over it, she glanced at the window to make sure Lejer wasn’t awake and watching. “This way,” she said and went behind the large structure.

Lily followed with a puzzled frown and narrowed eyes. “What is it?”

Once they were out of sight, Krysilla said, “I need your help.”