Elderberry Tea

In The Deadliest Hate, Phoebe rushes into Miriam’s sitting room with a letter from a goldsmith’s shop in Caesarea. Miriam explains:

One of the maids had just cleared away the remains of my breakfast of dates, almonds, goat cheese, and a wedge of wheat bread flavored with cinnamon, but the aroma of the tea she’d made from elderflowers still perfumed the air.

Elderberry fruit or flowers have been served as a tea for centuries. Aside from their sweet floral flavor, they are enjoyed as a dietary supplement to prevent or provide relief from minor diseases, such as colds and flu. Now there is even some preliminary scientific evidence for their efficacy.

Miriam continues: I rose from the cushioned mahogany sofa of my sitting room and walked around the marble-topped, wicker writing desk to bring the tablets into the trapezoid of light the morning sun had painted on the mosaic floor. Then I broke through the seal, untied the leather bands that bound the hinged tablets, and opened the leaves to their waxed surfaces.

Miriam might have hoped for some tender phrases in that letter, but the news instead rocked her like an uppercut to the jaw. Still, you can help. Go to Caesarea with her to cushion the blow and save her from the terrorists who target her for assassination. Just click here.