“That leaves about thirty components,” Skylar said.
She was perched on a table inside an abandoned cottage with the parchment listing the healing potion’s ingredients laid out before her. Beside it, she had pulled more than a dozen components from her leather satchel.
“Luckily, I acquired some of the rarer ones from the Xylem garden,” she said. “We’ll need to get the rest from an apothecary.”
“Why don’t we just turn ourselves in to Galatea?” Gilbert asked. “We can tell her what we’ve discovered and have the ravens and palace healers conjure the potion.”
“What if we don’t make it that far?” Aldwyn countered. “What if they lock us back up in the dungeons again? We can’t risk it.”
They turned to Skylar for the deciding vote.
“I’m sorry, Gilbert,” she said. “We’ve already tried to reason with our closest allies, and look how that turned out. We need to see this through on our own.”
“Once again, I’m the odd frog out,” Gilbert said.
“There’s an apothecary not far from here,” Skylar continued. “It’s where Sorceress Edna always picks up her mugwort. She says the alchemist there carries the freshest components this side of the Ebs.”
“We’re still fugitives, you know,” Gilbert said. “By now, everyone in Vastia will be looking for us.”
“We’ll have to wait until the first sign of sun, travel under the guise of another one of Skylar’s illusions, and take what we need,” Aldwyn said. “If we save the queen, we’ll be heroes again and all will be forgiven.”
Skylar collected her things off the table, and the familiars rested their eyes and waited. A few hours passed before the earliest rays of light began creeping through the window. It was time. They exited the cottage into a quiet back alley.
“Skylar, lead the way,” Aldwyn said.
Gilbert and Skylar returned to their perch on Aldwyn’s back. The blue jay raised a wing and cast another illusion, making them again look like a bulldog.
“Go all the way to the end, then take the path along the edge of the park,” Skylar said.
Aldwyn followed her directions, moving as quickly as he could through the alleyway before emerging onto the street. As he hurried along, he could see the townsfolk gathered around a horse cart, all dressed in yellow mourner’s garb. They were holding vigil around a statue of Queen Loranella, which stood in the cart. It was covered in flowers. Slips of paper were tucked and folded into the floral arrangements. Some of the people were approaching the statue, placing valuables of their own all around it. Others chanted in unison, humming words in elvish. From the tired, defeated looks on their faces, they’d lost hope Loranella was on her way to recovery.
“Turn up there,” Skylar said. “The apothecary’s across the street.”
Aldwyn spotted it, a small shop with a sign above the door that read “The Bubbling Vial.” Beneath the name was a picture of a beaker that magically filled up with components and then boiled over before doing it again. A group of wizards entered and the familiars seized the opportunity to sneak in alongside them.
The shop was crowded with early morning customers, all browsing the alphabetized rows of glass jars. They were sniffing and examining each component before either placing it in their basket or returning it to the shelf. A middle-aged woman with a cane hobbled around the store selling her wares.
“I highly recommend the powdered rhubarb,” the woman said to an elder sorcerer whose basket was already overflowing with goods. “Just got it in from the western border jungles last night. Perfect for conjuring phantom swords.”
She turned to another customer.
“They should have everything we need,” Skylar said, clutching the parchment in her talon. “Grab a basket.”
Aldwyn used his mind to lift a wicker carrier and made it hover before them so it appeared that the illusion of the bulldog was actually holding the basket in its mouth.
“Let’s start with the As,” Skylar said. “Armadillo hair.”
Aldwyn telekinetically opened a jar, removed a tuft of brown fur, and dropped it into the basket. Bark of everwillow and bumble wasp honey followed. Then copper chips and dew drops. Aldwyn mentally collected each one.
“Eye of snail,” Skylar said, reading off the parchment.
Aldwyn added it to the basket. As they moved around the shop toward the Fs, the shop owner stepped in front of them.
“I don’t believe I’ve seen you here before,” the woman said. “Is there anything I can help you find?”
Skylar was quick to have the bulldog respond. “No, I’m fine, thanks.”
“Well, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.”
The familiars hurried to gather the remaining components on the list. One by one they collected the ingredients for the healing potion. By the time they finished going through the entire alphabet, there was only a single component missing. They approached the shop owner, who was tidying up at the front counter.
Skylar made the dog appear to speak again. “Excuse us.” She immediately realized her mistake. “Me. Excuse me. I didn’t see any porcupine needles on the shelf.”
“They’ve been in high demand of late,” the woman replied. “Unfortunately all that’s left has already been reserved.”
Behind the counter, Aldwyn could see a locked cabinet with a vial of thin spikes stored inside.
“My apprentices should be bringing more back from the Thistle Meadow this week. I’d be happy to set some aside for you.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Skylar said via the illusionary dog.
Aldwyn continued browsing, walking away from the counter.
“Now what?” Gilbert asked.
“We’ll have to distract her,” Skylar said. “I’ll create another illusion. Aldwyn, use your telekinesis to lift the key and unlock that cabinet.”
He nodded and Skylar raised a wing. On the opposite side of the shop, a dragonfly buzzed through an open window and began zipping around the customers. As they ducked and swatted, the store owner limped out from behind the counter, shooing at the insect with her cane. Aldwyn quickly turned his attention to the key ring dangling from her back pocket. He focused and mentally pulled the silver chain free.
While the lady was swinging at the dragonfly, Aldwyn used his mind to guide the key toward the tiny lock on the cabinet. He tried to line up the ridges inside the hole, but from his distance across the shop, the precise maneuver was too difficult to perform.
“What’s taking you so long?” Skylar asked.
“I can’t get it in,” Aldwyn replied.
“Gilbert, go, now,” Skylar said.
“What if she sees me?” Gilbert asked.
“Do it,” Skylar insisted.
The tree frog leaped down from Aldwyn’s back and hopped for the cabinet. The middle-aged woman was still too preoccupied with the dragonfly to see Gilbert bound over the counter and up to the cabinet. He swiped the key ring out of the air and used his webbed hand to slip it into the lock. With a quick turn it was open and the vial of porcupine needles was in his grasp.
Gilbert had made it only halfway back to the illusion of the bulldog when the store owner took a swing right through the dragonfly that sent her spinning. Once she regained her footing she was staring straight at Gilbert, who held the vial in his hand. The woman’s eyes darted to the cabinet and she instantly knew what he had done.
“Thief!” the woman yelled, pointing at Gilbert.
The shop’s customers, including the young wizards and elder sorcerer, turned.
“That’s no ordinary thief,” the sorcerer said. “That’s one of the Prophesized Three.”
The store owner flicked her wand at the bulldog, shouting, “Revelorsus!”
The illusion disappeared, exposing Aldwyn and Skylar beneath.
“Stop them!” one of the wizards called. “They’re the ones who tried to kill the queen.”
The alchemist pointed her wand at the front door, slamming it. Aldwyn grabbed the basket of components in his teeth and started sprinting. Skylar flapped above him and Gilbert hopped behind. The Three made a dash for the open window and escaped just before the store owner’s wand pulled it shut with a bang.
The familiars raced away from the shop. A moment later, the window behind them shattered as a messenger arrow cracked through the glass and went flying into the sky.
“We have to move fast,” Aldwyn said to his companions. “Every one of the queen’s soldiers will know where we are. And so will the Nightfall Battalion.”
“We’ll need a flame, a pot, and water to brew this healing potion,” Skylar said.
“Marianne takes me to get soup at a small inn around the corner from here,” Gilbert said. “They don’t start serving until after sundown. The kitchen should be empty now.”
Skylar and Gilbert returned to Aldwyn’s back, and a new illusion was cast, this time of a large raccoon. They hustled around the next bend in the road, and just as Gilbert had promised, there was a small inn before them.
“There’s a back door to the kitchen,” Gilbert said. “I’ve gotten pretty chummy with the chef.”
Sure enough, the rear entrance was left open a crack, allowing the trio easy access. The kitchen already had a pot hanging above the fire pit, and all that was needed was to ignite the logs and fill up the cauldron.
Skylar let the illusion fade and got to work. Aldwyn pulled the curtains closed, then locked the door to the dining room and the one leading to the outside to make sure no one disturbed them. With the help of a flame fairy, the wood was set ablaze, and Skylar began filling the pot with all forty-three components.
Aldwyn kept half an eye on her progress, but was more concerned with peeking through the curtains. Wizards and soldiers would run past, shouting and yelling to each other. One even stopped to turn the handle on the kitchen door, but upon finding it locked continued on. Aldwyn spied Urbaugh canvassing the area, too. The response to the messenger arrow had been quick. And no doubt Navid and Marati were also out there searching.
Once every last ingredient was mixed in, a sulfurous odor began to pour out from the cauldron. The liquid turned a shimmering gold.
“I think it’s ready,” Skylar said.
While the smell was wretched, it certainly seemed as if it might be strong enough to wake the queen from her slumber.
“Gilbert, fill up one of those bottles,” the blue jay ordered, pointing to a row of clear containers resting on a nearby shelf.
Gilbert grabbed one and dunked it into the cauldron. When he pulled it out it was filled to the brim with the healing potion. He put the cork top back in, sealing the bottle shut.
“Guys, I think I’ve got an idea of how we can get into the palace,” Aldwyn said.
He pointed a paw out the window to the queen’s memorial, which was now on the move. As the statue was paraded through the streets on the back of the horse cart, passersby ran up to it with more offerings.
“You see those flowers bunched up around the base?” Aldwyn asked. “If we can sneak our way onto that cart, they’ll deliver us right to the queen’s front door.”
“Every eye in Bronzhaven will be staring directly at us,” Skylar said.
“What better place to hide,” Aldwyn countered, “than somewhere no one would think we’d be stupid enough to be?”
Aldwyn used his mind to unlatch the back door, and the Three exited. They ran through the alley, hugging the wall, hiding in the morning shadows until they reached the street. The horse cart carrying the statue of the queen had already moved down the block. Aldwyn spotted Navid and Marati leading the Nightfall Battalion around the perimeter of the Bubbling Vial and all the neighboring buildings.
Ahead a group of the queens’ guard were on the lookout, with swords and wands at the ready. Some were wearing revealing glasses to ensure that the fugitive familiars couldn’t sneak by under the cover of an illusion.
“I’m afraid an illusion won’t help us,” Skylar said.
Just then, voices could be heard calling out from behind.
“Wait for us! We have something to add to the queen’s memorial!”
Aldwyn turned to see that it was a group of mourners carrying an enormous basket of flowers. Hurrying to catch up to the horse cart, they were going to be running right past Aldwyn, Skylar, and Gilbert.
“I think it’s time to hitch ourselves a ride,” Aldwyn said.
As the trio of mourners rushed by, Aldwyn used a nearby crate to vault himself into the tangle of flowers. Gilbert made a flying leap behind him, and Skylar soared in from above. The Three were nestled in the huge basket, the prickles of leaves and thorns brushing against Aldwyn’s fur. Through the flower stalks, it appeared to Aldwyn that the mourners were so eager to make their offering they had failed to notice all the extra weight.
The familiars were bounced and jostled as the mourners raced to meet the horse cart. Aldwyn peered out to see royal guardsmen passing them just feet away, completely unaware that Vastia’s most wanted were within their reach. The basket of flowers was added to the back of the memorial, and the horses continued on their procession to the palace.
“Now we just sit back and wait,” Aldwyn said.
The statue of Loranella and the memorial moved through the streets of Bronzhaven, crisscrossing so the citizens of Vastia could pay their respects. At first, Aldwyn could see clearly through the flowers, but as more and more gifts were added, his view became obstructed. There was still a sliver of an opening to peek out of. Standing along the side of the road were men, women, and animals holding wooden signs with pictures of Aldwyn, Skylar, and Gilbert painted on them. Xs were drawn through their faces. Devil horns had been added to Aldwyn’s head, flames came from Skylar’s eyes, and fangs crowded Gilbert’s mouth.
“Even after all we’ve done, they still think we’re the bad guys in this,” Skylar said.
“Cast off and hated,” Gilbert said. “As if we’re worse than Paksahara. I just wish they knew the truth.”
Aldwyn looked to his two friends.
“I know what it’s like to be an outcast,” Aldwyn said. “People viewed me as a nobody, nothing but an alley cat. Then I became a familiar, one of the Prophesized Three, a hero of the land. Now I’m even worse off than before. But I know I’m the same cat. And you are the same brilliant blue jay and loyal tree frog you always will be.”
Skylar and Gilbert brightened.
The horses were nearing the outer gates to the palace, and the line of guards standing outside cleared for them. They trotted through, stopping in the courtyard.
“Just leave the memorial out here,” a guard yelled. “Nothing goes into the queen’s chambers until it’s been examined for curses, poisons, and hexes.”
Aldwyn heard the horses being unharnessed from the cart and led back through the gates out of the palace.
“I think we better make a run for it now,” Aldwyn said.
“Gilbert, where’s the healing potion?” Skylar asked.
“I thought you had it,” the tree frog replied.
Aldwyn searched around. Skylar’s feathers began to ruffle. They both looked like they were ready to explode.
“I’m kidding,” Gilbert said, pulling the vial from behind some flowers. Skylar didn’t seem the least bit amused, and neither did Aldwyn. Gilbert gave a sheepish grin. “Now probably wasn’t the best time for a practical joke, was it?”