it.
He placed various plants on the drying racks where they would rest for days, and put the lizards in a large glass jar on one of the countless shelves that lined the lab's storerooms.
Master Linus came into the lab, rubbing his bald head.
"Is that fresh nightgold I smell? Is the year already as old as that?"
"It is a bit early for it, but the best harvesters know just where to look."
Master Linus looked over the tables and racks. "Good, good. Nearly everything we needed, and most of it is quite fresh!"
Linus picked up a redfelt leaf between his fingers as he completed his inventory of the morning's take.
"But no mero's breath? It's been too long, Cassian, too long."
Linus was absentmindedly crumbling the redfelt leaf. Cassian would have to sweep up if he wanted to keep the insects out. Bugs were not welcome guests in an alchemical lab, too many ingredients could be spoiled overnight! Cassian kept the room sealed as tightly as he could and spread repellants around the openings he could not avoid, but the redfelt would be too irresistible for hungry insects. The work of an apprentice was without end.
"No, none this week. And the season is nearly over."
"We're going to need at least a pouch of it by winter, Cassian. We must obtain some soon."
"I can make a special request with a harvester. But the cost will be high, Master, with some coin required in advance. And even so they're like as not to return empty-handed."
"If they can get nightgold this fresh, why can't they get my mero's breath?"
"You know it's not the same. And only one of them gets anything this fresh."
"Then that's the harvester to ask! Tell him we'll happily pay twice the usual fee."
"I'll offer, but the coin won't be why she'll do it. I think she enjoys the challenge."
"Then she will be perfect for this task!" The alchemist looked at his apprentice, considering him appraisingly.
"Cassian, I want you to go with her to find the mero's breath. "
Cassian was startled. "Go with her? But Master, I've got too much work to do here. And we both benefit more from my efforts in the lab than from a harvesting expedition."
"You will benefit from learning to find your own ingredients. There is much you must discover about our materials and their places in the world. It's true that you are better suited for work here, but that must not remain true!"
Linus gestured dismissively at the tables covered in the devices of science. "An alchemist must remember to never lock himself away with his books and his flasks. He must remember that his true work is in the world, and of the world. He is a part of the greater world. He cannot stray from the Path for too long. You must learn a balance."
Cassian thought it over. There was indeed much he could learn from Sera about the rare plants he used daily. And he truly would welcome a change from the sounds and smells of the city.
"It will take at least two days to reach any place that mero's breath might grow. And at least two days back. I may be gone for five or six days in total. Or more, if the weather does not side with us."
"I will manage, Cassian." Master Linus breathed deeply, surveying the lab. "I may even reorganize the cabinets!"
The old man chuckled at the youth's wincing.
"No, I will spend the days reacquainting myself with the feel of a mortar and pestle. Preparations must be made, and we both must maintain our own balances."
"I'm not certain I have everything I will need," Cassian said.
"I am certain you don't, which is why I want you to go."
The master left his apprentice to his work, fetching a slim leatherbound tome from the library and retreating to his upstairs rooms for a long afternoon and evening of study.
Cassian caught himself smiling several times throughout the day as he went through the steps of preparing and storing everything he'd acquired that morning. The work was time-consuming and repetitive, but Cassian found himself whisting and, from time to time, he let his thoughts wander to the prospect of spending several days in the forest with Sera. Yes, he would enjoy some time out of the city.
After he finished his work, he decided to take Sera's basket back to her that evening. He would propose the trip and if she agreed she would have time to prepare for an early morning departure.
He departed about an hour before sunset. She would be packing any goods remaining after the day's business, and then she'd go the the Trader's Inn just outside the market square.
He hurried across the bridge into the marketplace. Many of the traders had already left, making their own effort to outrace the falling sun. Those who lived close by were likely already at home, eating a warm meal. Or more likely at one of the surrounding inns, drinking a goodly portion of the day's take.
He hoped Sera had not already departed. If she had sold out of her stock early in the day, she may have decided to leave the city and head toward her home in the surrounding countryside.
No, there she was. She was putting the last of her remaining stock into a basket. Her back was turned as he arrived, and when he spoke she looked over her shoulder in surprise.
"I've returned with your basket. I'm glad I was able to catch you."
"You haven't caught me yet, though coming to see me at dusk is a step in a the right direction."
Cassian's face felt the tiniest bit warmer.
"I have a proposal."
"My, you do move fast."
"A proposition, then."
"And do you suppose that's better?"
He met her eyes with a grin, their banter was calming his usual nervousness.
"I need a supply of mero's breath and the season is running short."
She turned, continuing to pack her baskets and wares. "Yes, it is. But harvesters have to make choices, and for the next few weeks the gold will be found in the low forests near the river. Mero's breath only grows in a few mountain valleys, and this time of year there's nothing else of value there. We have to earn what we can before the winter months."
"Go with me to find it. Show me where and how to look."
Sera stopped arranging her equipment and looked up at him quizzically. "Go with you? Why not commission me to bring it back for you? The cost will be the same. There's no discount for coming with me on a harvest. In fact, I should properly charge you more."
"Master Linus says a true alchemist cannot master his work without a full understanding of his ingredients and how to find them for himself."
She considered this. "Yes. I can see the wisdom in that. `A true craftsman crafts his own tools'. But why not begin your studies closer to home? The nearest field of mero's breath is at least two day's travel away, and the more likely places are further still."
"I believe Master Linus wants me to spend more time outside the city, to understand the world and not just our laboratory." He paused thoughtfully. "And in truth, I think he would like some time to himself."
Sera laughed. "Truly, having an apprentice constantly underfoot would make any man grow weary."
Cassian protested, "Hey! I could use some time away from the old man myself."
"Alchemists are said to spend many lonely nights practicing their art." Her grin did not strike him as entirely wholesome.
"In any case," he said, trying to gain control, "will you accompany me to find a stock of mero's breath?"
Oh yes, I will accompany you as you wisely lead me to the grove where we may find the rare flower."
He surrendered. "Please guide me, harvester."
She handed him a stack of baskets. "Help me we with these. Just to the stables nearby. I must leave soon if I'm to make it home before the moon sets."
"You're leaving the city at night?"
Sera laughed again. "Yes, my apprentice. At times I even travel in the forests at night!"
Of course she did. How else did she offer such fresh night plants? Why did he make such a fool of himself with her?
Their arms full of baskets, they turned through the arch that connected the marketplace to the stables. Cassian was still wondering why he couldn't keep his footing with Sera when he suddenly noticed a thin, wiry man standing in their way. Where had he come from?
Then Cassian noticed the knife in the man's hand. This was a robbery? Here, in the capital city marketplace? The guards will tear this man apart, and that's before they haul him off to dank cell to literally rot away.
But there were no guards here. Just the three of them. And that knife.
Cassian's blood turned to ice.
"Give over your coin, and do it quick." The robber menaced Sera with the knife. "You. Put your baskets down and hand me that pouch from your waist. The boy's too."
Cassian bristled at the "boy", as if that were the part of this that made him angry.
Sera did as she was instructed, placing the stack of baskets on the ground. Cassian thought furiously about ways to escape. His arms were full, though, and the robber was not about to let him put his own baskets down. Perhaps if he tilted the stack forward and used the baskets as a battering ram...
"You don't want a hero's stone, son." The man pointed the knife at him.
And then things happened quickly.
Sera raised her left hand level with the man's eyes, and there was a blinding flash. The robber's head jerked back involuntarily, and Sera's hand dropped to encircle his wrist, just behind the hilt of the knife. The man screamed, dropping the knife, and when he ripped his wrist free of Sera's grasp, it was a bright red and covered in blisters.
"Flee!" she commanded in a strangely resounding