Of the Four Houses
Four drinks, one to a season. The workings are not printed. They are not withheld to be deduced either: word of them arrives in the world when it arrives, and it arrives a piece at a time.
Each page carries a name and nothing else. Whoever kept this book either did not know the working or would not write it.
Aurum Potabile
of the four houses | spring
SPRING. The Gilded Chapter of Saint Verrin has never written it down and has no intention of starting.
It is agreed by everyone and admitted by nobody that it costs a great deal of gold, and that the gold does not come out again.
Heartsblood
of the four houses | summer
SUMMER. Broached once a year at the Vintners Moot in Aelbring and never sold a mile beyond it.
It can only be made in the weeks when the fruit is full and the hives are full at the same time, which is to say: not for long, and never twice in a season by a careless house.
Lastlight
of the four houses | autumn
AUTUMN. Corran Hold breaks the seal at the Sheaf-Moot and the Hold does not say how it is done.
Only this much is ever admitted, usually by someone in drink: the fire comes first and the harvest comes LAST, which is the wrong way round from every other recipe you know, and that is precisely why yours has failed.
Emberglass
of the four houses | winter
WINTER. Beneath Karn Delve the Chandlers keep their vigil through the dark months and they are not a talkative order.
They will admit that it begins in the cold and is only later given fire, which is backwards, and they will admit that it wants VERY LITTLE of the light-fruit.
They will not say how little, and they would prefer you did not ask, because they want the rest of it for candles.
Keep the pressure down. Know when to cut.