I was pulled aside again before we got close to the settlement, and I finally learned Rayden’s sister was named Jayne.
She passed me a bundle of fabric and told me I needed to put it on.
When I opened it out I saw that it was a cloak. The fabric was a beautifully soft dark green wool and when I threw it around my shoulders it made me feel like I had more status than I ever had before even though it was trailing at my feet, and it was far too big for me. I fastened it at the neck with an unusual gold pin that was engraved with an elaborate Celtic design; it made me wonder who it actually belonged to.
“It suits you,” Jayne smiled as she reached out to me and I shied away, “you just need to put the hood up.”
She pulled the hood up over my head in a way that felt very motherly, and I imag
