Chương 18: XVIII. Jasmine Carnwich

Spring 11th, 1380 ASSETS: 64 Minted Gold Coins 06 [Common] [Carrot Seeds] 00 [Common] [Green Clover Seeds] 06 [Common] [Potato Seeds] 01 [Common] [Lettuce Seeds] IN FIELD 009 TULIPS (Likely Poor) - Spring 11 036 CARROTS (Common, on Poor Soil) - Spring 11 135 GREEN CLOVER (Common, Fixing Soil) - Sprouts on Spring 12. No Plan to Harvest The Watcher's Gaze illuminated my fields with her pale light. Moths flew overhead, and ants continued their unending search for food and conquest.

The tulips had mostly finished growing, stuck at 99% and awaiting Amaril's Gaze to give them the permission to be. The Blood Carrots, like I had hypothesized, were greedily drinking in The Watcher's Gaze. The carrot sprouts throbbed and twitched like the undulating pulsations of a heart; black veins feeding whatever foul Symphony that had created it into the taproot. It still reeked of dying calves and afterbirth, but I had gotten used to it. There were only 18 growing, which was 182 short of my weekly goal.

I had two ways of approaching Elias' demand. I spun the quill on my hand and just began to write. FACTS It costs me 5 mL of blood to fertilize one tile. According to Sanguine Medical Theory, the human body is 10% sanguine of their total weight. On Fall 61, 1379, the Academy reported I was 120lb. I am likely thinner. Based on Nader's Formula with the two points I have – 181 cm and 120 lb – I have 4, 100 mL of blood. At 30% blood loss, I will likely die. 4100 ×.

30 = 1230 mL 1230 / 5 = 246 tiles And 30% was pushing it based on my old weight, using calculations that were being rather generous. I slipped my hand underneath the black robes and softly grazed my ribs. My skin clung to them, and while I had food now, I was always on the thin side. I exhaled, and redipped the quill into ink. Thankfully, I didn't need blood to write. All the time, at least. I gently stroked the cuts on my fingers and began to write again. KNOWN UNKNOWNS • How much blood…

There was so much writing about blood. Pa said that a [Farmer] gives all to his land; his sweat, his tears, his blood. In the academy, that soul was referred to as Anima. I smiled to myself, and crossed out the word blood. KNOWN UNKNOWNS How much ANIMA do others have? How much ANIMA from others do I need to grow a tile? How long does ANIMA last if I'm not using it? The ability mentioned Reagent Holders… How do I make a Reagent Holder? And that created a new category… which had one major consideration.

UNKNOWN UNKNOWNS • Is Addy going to– The quill shook in my hand, and my neat cursive wobbled. The ink trail smeared off, and I let the quill drop into the ink. I closed the book, and just stared upwards at the stars. They sparkled, and the cool dew on the grass met my hair. Pa and I used to look at them, and see if we could make any sense of them like the [Astrologians] did. Addy and I did too, but he was getting hitched. Maybe if I became friends with Missy, she'd let him come over sometime?

We could also just kill her. [Compost] the body, so the hard part is out of the way. I swallowed. Ignoring the ethical implication of that, I would be the first suspect. Then we get someone else to do it while we're out of town. They store the body and we get –"So, ya is growin' blood crops," Jasmine said. I jerked up from the grass and saw her standing there, her back coated in The Watcher's Gaze. It created a pale illumination to her dark maid outfit, and her shadow merged with the ground. I jolted upwards.

Copper tools made poor weapons, but she was a [Maid] at best. I could also call upon necrophages… but that wouldn't do well. Jasmine stared at me, and for once, there wasn't a smile on her face. The spring wind was unusually cold, and its winter words just left a thought in my head.

"Not yet." I broke eye contact with her first and stared at The Watcher. It wasn't currently her full face, though if Fenwick's Almanac was right, and it always was, that would be the 21st.

"Why do we even call her that? It should be Rhyvesta's Gaze, right?" This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Jasmine opened her mouth and closed it, and opened her mouth and closed it again. Her blue eyes shimmered again, and her lips trembled. She opened it once more, and still, nothing came out.

"Out with it, ya twi–""CanIWorkForYou? I know how to clean, I can do some basic numbers, an' I won' tell a soul, honest," she said, though it was more like someone spilling water and the entire cup overturning.

"What?" I said. I stepped towards her, and she trembled.

"Lady Hawthorne is nice an' all, but Lord Hawthorne doesn' see us people. I don' need much, but I need some other work if I is to quit. Natty is gettin' sicker, Ma's not well, and if I die… please Ashy? It's either this or being a [Whore], and I – " I stepped towards her again.

"Jasmi–" Liberté. Maddy's words rang in my head.

"Jazzy," I said. Addy adopted the drawl to talk to me. I closed my eyes.

"Rhyvesta's scorn, slow ya breath ya twit. What is ya jabberin' bout?" Jas–Jazzy smiled.

"Do.. ya remember Cynthia? Cynthia Larine?" My eyes shot to the left. The name seemed familiar, but I shook my head.

"She… was… a gal who was a year older than us. One of the first maids the Hawthorne's hired. They uh…" she began, and looked at The Watcher.

"Everytime The Watcher hides Amaril, the [Night-Things] have their feast. She… drew the short straw last year, Ashy. She's dea–""Does Addy know?" I said.

"50 gold pieces. That's the [Blood Debt] for killing a Non-Preferred Class, Ashy. They gave Cynthia's husband 50 gold pieces, and made the rest of us bury what was left of the body." I glanced up at Rhyvesta. Fenwick said the next [Spirit Break] was on Spring 62.

"If Addy ain' gonna do nothin' bout it, what do you want me to do, Jazzy?"

"I want to work for you! Missy won' hire me since she says she don' want money to get in the way of our friendship, and you is constantly sayin' we isn' friends, so, please?" There was this weird… pain in my chest. The only other time I felt it was when Pa, Ma, or Addy scolded me for doing something wrong. Égalité. Did I owe something to someone who wanted to be part of my life? Crowe, and his dumb talk about worms, firmly said it was yes. I stepped towards her again.

Her eyes were tired and heavy, but they constantly kept moving. I had her join my cult, but she wasn't Missy. I dropped my [Veil].

"Jazzy, [Inspect] me," I said, and spread my arms. Jasmine's eyes twitched, before she started reading something beside my head. Her eyes shot open and she turned her head to the field.

"Th-I I thought Lord Hawthorne or Madsy or someone just gave ya seeds! But… ya is wor–" Sororité. I didn't need justification to understand this one. It wasn't an investment.

"Nah, Jazzy. I'm just tryin' to save my farm by any means. I ain' different than ya, and I only wan' to be here. Ya already joined my [Cult], so ya ain' workin' for me." I said. Instead, I extended my hand to her.

"I, Ashley 'Amelia' Hart, under sworn sanctimony with Ma an' Rhyvesta as my witness, will henceforth see Jasmine Carnwich as my sworn sister." The winter winds encircled me as I evoked Elora's Binding. The spring air dropped to the sounds of snowfall and the unending stillness that followed it. Maggots, worms, and blowflies buzzed in the background, dancing together to become me. And even now, his stupid scent was part of my notes. Jasmine inspected my hand, and then looked at the field.

Her lips curled into a wry, dry smile and she slowly laughed. It sounded forced, but there was… relief in her eyes.

"I had jus'... figured you was goin' to say no, or ask me to be a [Farm Hand], Ashy, but…" she swallowed and her hand clasped against mine. I locked my fingers with hers.

"I, Jasmine 'Isabelle' Carnwich, under sworn sanctimony with Elora as my witness, will henceforth see Ashley Hart as my sworn sister." Jasmine, at the best of times, had no Symphony, save for the [Cantrips] she could cast. Both now, her music was a crushing force and her notes felt like pressure. It sounded like the sensation of being squeezed and connected, and felt like thread sewing torn skin together. [A CONTRACT HAS BEEN FORMED] My hand lingered with Jasmine's for a moment longer before we both broke it.

I wasn't sure what to say, and she was still looking at me. What would Adrian do?

"Want somethin' to eat, Jazzy?"

"Good Protector, yer pantry is stocked, Ashy. How is that you'se look like a [Skeleton]? Is that cuz of uh… am I allowed to say Her name too now?" Jasmine said. She pulled out hard biscuit from the pantry alongside tea leaves, some jam, and corned beef. She looked around to find my small pail of water, and quickly got to work making something.

"I don' know how to cook, Jazzy," I said. I took a seat on the good chair before Jazzy could take it, but she just kept moving around my place, taking things out of the pantry. Like the wooden bowl.

"Ah! Don' use tha–" I started, but it was too late. She poured flour into it, and it immediately rotted to worms.

"... Ashy, I think ya'se bowl is broken. How is ya a [Hero] and livin' like this?"

"I ain'! I'm an [Adventurer], first of all, and secon' of all, that bowl is cursed," I said.

"... Why? And Why haven't you thrown it out then?" I looked away from her, and pursed my lips. She stared at me, then the bowl, and put it back in the cabinet.

"I don't think you're not allowed to say Rhyvesta, I just think no one does it. For some reason."

"... Because She's evil?" she said, and I swear, the window became frosted. Jasmine must have noticed too, since she swallowed and made Amaril's sign over her head.

"Is she? I… think I keep seein' her. I think. Or it might be Ma, but Rhyvesta is the Goddess of the Dead and the Damned so its – ""Bless your heart – an' I mean, bless your heart, Ashy. You ought to talk to a [Cleric] if you has Death itself followin' you'se around." I shook my head.

"Death is natural, Jazzy. It's just part of the cycle." I turned my head to the window and stared right at it.

"What has happened, will happen. What can happen, has already happened." And Jasmine shivered.

"The other [Maids] was talkin' bout that… said ya made their ears bleed. Luckily, no one recognized ya dolled up like that. I think I did a good job." I looked at her and bit my lip.

"You didn't understand me?"

"Uh… it sounded like… Rhea'vis … and then a whole lot of gibberish, Ashy…" The food began to cook. It was a mixture of oats, water, spices, and corned beef. The old stew Adrian had made was gone by now, so I was glad that there was something new.

"She wants me to finish making the [Cult] for her for my quest," I said. Jasmine stirred the cauldron, and hummed to herself.

"Ya has four signatures, right?" she said.

"Yeah. Jus' dont have a name or anythin' else."

"You an' Addy always called yaselves the rabbits after that pet bunny you two owned. And if it's yer [Cult], why not name it after yaself?"

"Cuz the [Cult] isn't important to me! I jus' want a way to sell my crops without havin' to deal with the tax collectors!" Jasmine stopped stirring for a moment and turned to me.

"So, this [Acolyte] madness is jus'... a plot to make a farm? If that's the case, when Amaril's up and you get your crops, lets see Maddy. I worked for Lady Hawthorne enough to know how to do that much at least." Nonetheless, Jasmine poured me a cup of tea. We then just began to talk, and she wasn't even a [Lamplighter]. My first… seco… third? I had friends in Oakheart now. Not many, but some.