The guesthouse door opens before Maurice and Elianor can knock. A novice girl, scarcely past childhood, stands there in a grey wool habit, pale braid tucked beneath her veil, one ink-stained hand gripping the latch.
the novice
Sister Agnes asks you both to come to the infirmary. Old Martin woke asking for the Vale name, and then spoke of the baron’s seal.
She leads them through a limewashed passage smelling of boiled herbs. In the infirmary, Sister Agnes, an elderly woman with a narrow face and white brows, slight-built in a faded blue infirmary smock,, bends over Old Martin’s pallet.
Sister Agnes
He was a road porter before his legs failed. His memory has been broken for years, but today he recognized Elianor’s name without prompting.
Old Martin
Vale... the blue wagon. Baron’s seal on the chest. They said the girl was already promised, but the porter would not carry her.
Old Martin’s fingers, gnarled and liver-spotted, clutch a torn strip of oilcloth marked with faded red wax. Sister Agnes has placed it beside the pallet, careful not to disturb its brittle edge.
Sister Agnes
He cannot give us a date, destination, or complete account. But if this fragment concerns the same claim, it may change how the convent judges your papers and your protection.
✓ Quest Accepted
Establish whether Old Martin’s testimony supports Elianor’s lawful record