Olivia trusted her son completely. Ivan was the only one with Sienna-Rose when she collapsed, and he stayed by her side the whole time. When she passed out, it was Ivan who caught her, who carried her, who stayed calm.
Before she lost consciousness, Sienna-Rose gave him two important tasks: first, to tell the wives not to worry, she would only be unconscious for two days. Second, to let Simmons know the newly purified land would be used to grow hops and coffee beans.
No one really understood why she wanted to grow those two things. Coffee made some sense—it was a rare treat. But hops? That plant was strange and wild, and no one in the village had tried to grow it before.
She had told them once that the hops would make better beer. The usual beer in their world was sweet and used an herb mix called gruit. It tasted okay at first, but it spoiled quickly and left a thick, sticky taste on the tongue. No matter who brewed it, the beer always went bad within a few days.
