The farm functioned smoothly that night, with a decent, if plain, dinner prepared, Jonas’s energy boosted to get him through the night, and overnight watch negotiated among the Turhmos soldiers. After once again checking and soothing the house cows, Llew luxuriated in a full, deep sleep, bundled beside, though separately from Jonas, and woke feeling ready to take whatever the day had to throw at her. Jonas, too, seemed brighter on waking. Llew had been sure to give him more blood than what he merely needed for sleeping, no matter how much he assured her she’d given enough. It would never be enough, not while he remained infected.

  Sam, who’d taken on the role of primary emissary between the Turhmos soldiers and Llew, reported no signs of search parties in the night. Their own group hadn’t been expected to report back for another day or two, so they supposed they had about that long before anyone suspected trouble in their neighborhood. With so many hands and sets of eyes available, more eggs were found for breakfast, and the first sourdough loaf was baked fresh and sliced to share. Even Karlani didn’t complain at the servings available.

  Conversations were cordial, and mostly about running the farm. Extra hands and extra feet meant the whole farm had been explored between them in the earliest light. Rowan, Karlani, Alvaro, and the soldiers collated what they’d learned regarding how many animals required tending and the paddocks available to keep them over breakfast. Llew took particular interest when conversation turned to a small river several paddocks behind the house. It was generally agreed that the fence markers suggested the river indicated a boundary between properties. Care would need to be taken with regards crossing paths with the neighbors, since they had no idea where their loyalties would lie, but it was a relief to know the whole farm didn’t rely on the well as its single water source. And a wade in an isolated swimming hole sounded a preferable way to bathe than in a tub in such a busy household. She suggested as much to Jonas and he agreed.

  After breakfast, Rowan headed out to dig through more of Ard’s equipment to see what was already on site. Otherwise, he awaited the return of the soldiers who’d traveled to Hinden, though they were at least a day away, yet. Llew asked him to keep an eye out for the seeds from the ancient Ajnai.

  Llew, Jonas, Elka, Sam, and two other Turhmos soldiers, Edwyn and Lyneth, planned to head out to the Ajnais to show the Turhmosians how the blood transfers worked, which would free up Elka. She wanted to study Ard’s ledgers, learn the rhythms of the farm along with plans he’d jotted for the coming months, such as crop and livestock rotations. Sam wasn’t to do the transfers himself, with the risk he might brush up against Jonas and heal his own muscle aches, but he could relieve any aches the others developed in the process.

  As soon as she stepped outdoors, Llew’s eye was drawn to the dead Ajnai; an ache lancing her heart at the sight. She strode straight out to it, everything else fading from her awareness. It was the tree that had allowed her to heal Anya – to give back what she had taken – to break some ancient rule. She touched it and it remained silent. It had assured her it would heal. Why was it now dead? They couldn’t afford to keep doing this.

  She glanced up into the brown leaves. Such a painful sight. But, off the ends of some branches hung bunches of seeds, just like those left by the ancient Ajnai.

  “I thought you couldn’t …”

  Of course, there was no response from the dead tree. She moved to the next one over and placed her palm on the living bark. While it didn’t overflow with joy at the gift bestowed by the dead tree, it gave off a sense of grudging acceptance, even some appreciation, for Jonas and what he had done and promised to do for the Aenuks. And Llew couldn’t help the flush of pride in these trees she and her fellow Aenuks relied on and their acceptance of Jonas’s place in her life.

  She turned back, beaming at the sorrowful faces, and held her arms above her head. “Seeds! It’s given us seeds. There might be enough for one for every Aenuk. Just imagine …”

  They did. She could see it in their faces. Sam came forward, evidently, and rightfully, awed.

  “I could plant a tree of my own?”

  “I think so.” Llew tried to estimate how many seeds now hung from the dead tree.

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  How many Aenuks still lived in tiny, plain rooms beneath the Duffirk palace? Llew wished she could’ve opened every door as she’d run that corridor, but then where could they have gone? Then, there had been nowhere for so many free Aenuks. Now, above Llew’s head hung the way forward: Ajnais everywhere.

  So it was that despite another dead Ajnai in their midst, Llew rolled up her sleeve and they continued on with the planned blood transfers for Jonas while Elka returned indoors to redirect the remaining Turhmos soldiers to locate a saw to bring the dead Ajnai down and collect its seeds. Llew didn’t love the idea of cutting down the tree, but it was already dead and better off making way for a replacement. Unlike the ancient Ajnai, it wasn’t a community of nature in its own right, its demise a tragedy for sure, but a relatively small cost in the long run. Such cold, practical thoughts seemed to be coming all too easily to Llew, such seemed to be the trajectory of her life. Plants, animals, and people lived and died around her. For some, she had the power to help them live, for others she had to learn to let them go.

  Alvaro and Karlani refused to help in any way, disappearing off together and only returning for lunch. By then, some two hundred and forty-seven seeds had been collected from the fallen tree. Sam couldn’t guess at how many Aenuks remained in Turhmos prisons either, so they cautiously only replaced the two trees that had given their lives – for Ard and these seeds – and took the rest of the seeds inside. The store solidified Llew’s plan to bring Aenuks to the farm to give them a chance to learn about the outside world before venturing out on their own, with their very own Ajnai seed. It’s what Merrid and Ard would’ve done, she was sure.

  After lunch, Elka finally settled to study Ard’s records. With so many extra hands available, the farm chores were divvied up and Llew was able to relax as much as one might despite having enemies plotting against her. More Turhmos soldiers would come and they would be dealt with. As for Braph, they could only guess at his ultimate plans and where Llew and Jonas might fit within them, and all they could do was what they were already doing: keep Jonas alive, get him to Taither and, hopefully, heal him fully. If they could achieve that with nary another thought spared for Braph, all the better.

  Of course, Llew couldn’t ignore the niggle that Braph very likely also had plans that involved their tree in Taither. Plus, he could fly …

  And they couldn’t.

  Llew and Jonas took some time to wander, continuing to improve Jonas’s competence with his crutches and prosthetic.

  Rowan stood at Ard’s workbench inside the three-sided shed where the cart was usually housed, sketching ideas, surrounded by plows and other pieces of equipment Llew had no name nor anticipated function for. Resting his free arm over a large wooden contraption on the bench beside him, he pointedly ignored them when first they approached, concentrating on what he wrote and drew. After a while, he gave them an acknowledging smile before scowling back down at his page.

  “A butter churn?” Jonas asked.

  Rowan looked up absently, then followed Jonas’s gaze to his armrest.

  “Oh! Yes. It certainly is. For now. Elka’s idea. She’s read that spinning blood in something called a centrifuge can make it separate into different components.” He patted the butter churn, then set about illustrating his ideas with expansive gestures, pulling Llew along on his theoretical journey. “We thought, perhaps, if we could isolate the thing in Aenuk blood that allows Bra— people to do magic, it might make it easier to make crystals with the machinery we have here on the farm, compared to working with whole blood. Even if we could inject it, your body wouldn’t have to waste energy healing itself from the damage caused by blood transfusions, which should mean you would need less blood for the same effect. It’s a sound theory, anyway. I’m doing some calculations on what the existing butter churn size and gearing might achieve … I’m going to have to modify it … a lot. So, if you were wanting to make butter, I’d do that today.” He flashed a grin. “Well, really you’ve got a couple of days. I need parts that will be coming from Hinden.”

  “We have no cream,” Llew murmured absently, her mind reeling at the new information. She supposed she didn’t have to fully understand what Rowan had in mind. Between him and Elka, they knew more about the human body and engineering than Llew would likely ever comprehend. “The cows!” In all the excitement of discovering the Ajnai seeds, Llew had forgotten to check on the cows that morning. She ran back to the small shed, grabbed the fragrant oil and headed into the paddock to soothe and administer to the cows, apologizing to them profusely. She loved the idea of settling here at the farm, but it was going to take some getting used to after a lifetime of only having to look out for herself. She took a few extra moments to check their water was clean and full. The Turhmos soldiers had been taking care of those needs, thankfully. And already there was a clear improvement in their udders. Still, they couldn’t afford for her to forget them like that. She apologized to them again and promised to do better.

  She returned to the large shed, where Rowan crouched before Jonas who had the trouser leg that usually covered the prosthetic rolled up.