"I'll show you where I keep my mortar and pestle and the like, as well as where to find the most common herbs. The recipes early on are simple and don't take much watching. I can't imagine it would take you long to learn them."

Ysalwen taps Hera's blade with her own, then reverses her own movement and shifts her stance again.

"If you want something more complicated -- a stamina draught, protection from fire, something that will mend very great wounds -- those are a lot more difficult, perhaps unsurprisingly. But if you do need those things . . . I'm always glad to help."