She went to the one place forbidden: the home of Kael, a traveling botanist who had been studying the blight. He had been camped on the edge of the village for three weeks, tolerated only because the silkworms were dying faster than the Guild could hide it.
That night, Lina did not sleep. She sat in the mulberry orchard, watching the moon rise over the empty looms. She thought about her grandmother’s hands—steady, wise, but closed into fists. She thought about the word unblocked . Water, when blocked, stagnates. Silk, when blocked, suffocates. silk unblocked
The silk of Uram became finer than ever. And now, anyone could buy it. Anyone could learn to make it. She went to the one place forbidden: the