Page 96 of Stars May Burn

He grinned. “We need the kitchen. That fire—the grand one—will work. The bellows there are as tall as me.”

I frowned at him. “I can’t commandeer the kitchen fire. They need it to cook. I’ll be in the way.”

Callum raised an eyebrow. “Are you or are you not lady of this house?”

“Yes…”

“Then does that not mean that the household all have to do as you say? I’ve borrowed their fire before, and they still deign to feed me. Come on.” He grabbed a bunch of the dried herbs. “Bring the whole lot. We might as well do one big batch. We can use the giant cauldron they have down there, too, instead of yours.”

“But they use that for food…” I broke off as Callum’s back disappeared through the door. He clearly wasn’t going to listen to me.

I hurried to grab the book and the rest of the ingredients before running after him and the precious bundle of herbs he carried. Bigsweed took a lot of effort to grow, and I didn’t trust him unsupervised with them.

The kitchen and pantries were the only rooms below ground level, lit by kryalcomy lights and multiple fireplaces the width of walls. Mistress Rose had mentioned to me before that they had a complex kryalcomy ventilation system which prevented the staff from overheating and kept the air fresh, while helping to heat the rest of the castle. Callum cleared the people from around the giant kitchen fire on the furthest side of the room, while I apologized to the staff as they moved away in confusion.

He took off his jacket with a flourish and stoked the fire, then followed my instructions as we brought a cauldron of water to boil.

I started to sprinkle the dried bigsweed into the pot while Callum alternated between stirring and pumping the enormous bellows with his feet. The heat was already becoming unbearable.

“What exactly are we doing?” he asked.

I ignored the twinge of nerves at the question. “First, we need to create a precipitate of the bigsweed. When you boil it down, a white rim of powder will appear around the top. That’s what we want. It’s a powerful treatment for infection, and Physician Harris has asked for some since its expensive to import. But I also discovered another use in this book that I’d never heard of before. Just before it precipitates, the top liquid layer can be extracted and applied to herbal-based mixtures to separate the component parts.”

Callum blinked at me. “Allllll right. And you want to separate what mixtures?”

I looked down and rubbed my upper arm. Would he approve of this or think I was being ridiculous? “The tonics Father gave me.”

Callum held up one finger. “Say no more. I’ll keep the fire at the right temperature.”

Some of the tension left my body, and I prepared the rest of the ingredients, impressed by the ease with which Callum used leather bellows that were taller than me. I supposed he would be used to working bellows when forging alloys for his kryalcomy. He was stronger than he looked.

I chopped up the last of the red cabbage, trying to wipe the stains from my hands as best as I could, and threw it into a smaller boiling pot next to Callum’s boiling cauldron.

The fire flared, and I took a step back, sweat dripping from my forehead.

Kasten’s deep voice startled me. “What in all the kingdoms are you two up to?”

I surveyed the roaring fire trying to escape the hearth, the soot all over my dress, my hands stained red from the cabbage, and the general mess around us. The kitchen staff were casting anxious glances from the other side of the room. Kasten was leaning in the doorway, his expression incredulous yet resigned.

My stomach dipped at the sight of my husband, and I let myself take him in for a moment. He looked…perfect.

How had I been so lucky to have married him?

I folded my hands across my dress and gave him a bright smile as if the situation was entirely under control. “We needed high temperatures to extract the right chemical from the bigsweed. Callum thought this would be the best place to do it.”

Callum stuck up one finger as he stirred the pot using a long stick tied to the spoon so he could stand back from the inferno. “Correction. The only place. Your way was never going to work.”

I placed my hands on my hips. “How do you know? You didn’t even let me?—”

I broke off as Kasten stepped up beside me, distracted by the way his proximity made my heart stutter. My thoughts returned to the night before and how it had felt to be kissed.

And now I was covered in sweat, soot, and red cabbage stains.

Kasten didn’t look at me, but I was sure my cheeks were blushing. “Is there no way to do this without risking burning down the entire castle? The fire is licking the lintel every time you work the bellows.”

“Oh, stop being overly dramatic. Her initial plan was far worse. I saved the castle.” Callum was enjoying himself far too much. “Right. Sophie, I think it’s ready for the first stage. How much of this stuff will we need to separate out the contents of your suspicious tonic?”

I wiped my forehead, the heat from the fire becoming unbearable. “Just a cupful. The rest can be boiled down to make the precipitate for Physician Harris.”

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