"A little," Cassandra said. "Although I could never really master the art of blue die. The plants are very rare where I come from. I was never able to make enough of it. We had to buy blue thread from the east."

And speaking of blue, her eyes fell upon a gorgeous bolt of blue fabric. It was cobalt blue, like the color of Helen's eyes. There was a pattern of spirals in the thread, of the same color, but going against the rest of the stitching. She ran her fingers over it, luxuriating in the feel of it. This was something she would definitely have to return for, once she has some more money.

"How many siblings did you have?" she asked, turning back to Malcolm. She could actually understand the monster comment. She had quite a few younger brothers and sisters herself.