I wish I had a soap that could wash away my sins – it would save me a lot of trouble

Steig watched Ken's mum with rapt attention as she went about explaining what they would be doing today. His thoughts turned to his own mother and what sort of scents she might like. He sniffed each of those on offer and settled for a woody smell that had an underlying sweetness to it, and another that had the same earthiness to it but had an underlying spiciness. He gently stirred his milk and oils and noted the way it got harder to stir as the mixture thickened once the mum that wasn't his own added the ash water to the blend. He noted the floating egg and wondered if it added to the mixture or if it was some sort of indicator. “What's the egg for?” He finally asked, breathing in the scent of the mixture as it continued to cure.

“Speech”