Mercy returns quickly from the bathroom with a cream and settles next to Aelwyn. "I got things for the burn, but I don't know what'll help with yours. It's..." How does she describe it without coming off like there's a horrible madness that's taken her? "You wear them as well as you wear everything." That's safe enough, right? "Might be they'll fade on their own. If they ain't hurting, that's good."

She sets the cream in the other woman's lap. "Would you mind...? I'd rightly appreciate your touch. I didn't even realize we were dreaming there. It's all so different from what it was last year."