What Brings Silence (cont.)
The bell chimed as the door eased open, welcoming the stranger into the dreary shop. Tendrils of light poking out from beneath the drawn curtains sent long shadows extending into the shop’s far corners. Max crossed over to the work table and lit a candle. Its light cast a warm glow over the Alchemist as she leveled her gaze with the ren’dorei.
The elf inclined her head to acknowledge Maxine’s obviously reluctant invitation, fluid steps bringing Seraanna through the doorway and into the small shop rife with alchemy’s accouterments. Her shadow followed, eagerly.
But as Max lit a candle at her work table to make all indications of direct business, Seraa’s movements took her instead on a meandering path of inspection, her gaze drifting over the array of living plants and dried herbs that filled the dimly lit space.
“It is that I possess some familiarity with the… nature of your stock, Miss Parkhurst,” she murmured, “but of my own purposes, not the uses to which you bend your… attentions. I practice the art of a scribe, you see. Calligraphy, papers, and… inks.”
Seraa paused at one pot, a plant with groups of four to six-pointed leaves and groups of small, star-shaped blossoms. Her fingers lightly brushed a stem, then cupped a bloom for a moment.
“This, for example. Should the dried root be treated with alum, then with salts of alkali, it will render a pigment of color… crimson.”
Seraanna turned her head to regard Max, a faintly sly smile upon the ren’dorei’s lips. “Unusual to find such, so far from where it… is most often known to grow.”
Those same fluid steps took Seraanna to the worktable, into the candle’s warm glow. Her languid gaze remained fixed upon the Alchemist, and it could have been that shadows eddied behind her. Or it may have only been a trick of flickering candlelight.
“It is a specific need to which I would ask… you to apply your skills, one of my own and no other. I do not expect to leave with fruits in hand, only a commitment to your effort… and expertise.”
“Do I possess your interest?”
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