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Aein grabbed the beast's body and dragged it out into the kitchen. "Get a taper. Light it from the fire," she commanded Finn. He did not protest, bringing the light in with him as she returned to the larder.
Aein closed the door behind them both. It was not the best shelter, but it would do until they figured out what was going on.
Cook Bolstad was clutching his belly. Dark crimson stained all his clothes. Even though he held himself together, thought Aein, his punctured innards would have poisoned him. He would have been better off if the werewolf had killed him and saved him this suffering. He was not long for this world.
Tears sprang up in her eyes. For the first time since all of this began, she felt the enormous sorrow of everything that had happened. This man was supposed to be her home. This man was supposed to be her safety, and here he was, dying. And she was powerless to do anything about it.
She sat down next to him and rested her hand upon his, lending him pressure for his wounds.
"Took you long enough to get here," he said.
"I decided to take a scenic route," she replied.
Cook Bolstad gasped in pain. "Do not make me laugh, girl." He then grimaced and settled back in. "Oh, I thought those wolves would have done me in long before now."
"Stop your moaning," she replied, brushing back his blood-soaked hair. "You're too mean to die."
"You're probably right," he said. "With my luck, you are probably right."
"What happened here?"
"What does it look like happened here? Those damned dogs got into my kitchen. Ruined my dinner."
Finn crouched down on the other side of Aein, bringing the light closer to Cook Bolstad. As Bolstad talked, he scanned his wounds, but gave an almost imperceptible shake to his head, confirming what Aein already knew. There would be no recovering from this.
"Cook Bolstad. I must ask you something," said Aein, fearful of the words about to come out of her mouth.
"Ask quickly. I might not be around to give you an answer."
"You sent me out into the swamp to gather some mushrooms. Did you...?" She stopped herself and then tried again. "Did they cause all this?"
Cook Bolstad laughed, which caused him to cough, which caused him to spit the blood filling his lungs. "I always said you were too smart to be a warrior. Too smart to be taking commands from the likes of Arnkell."
Aein felt like she had just been slapped. "You knew. You knew what they would do."
Cook Bolstad nodded. "Unfortunately, I was not smart enough. You and I, Aein. We're good at taking orders, aren't we?"
"How do we stop it?" asked Aein.
"Why did you do this?" asked Finn.
Cook Bolstad, not thinking, raised both his hands to calm them down, and in doing so, the blood began to seep out of his gut once more. His skin paled and his eyes rolled into the back of his head.
"Stay with me!" said Aein, shaking him.
"Lord Arnkell..." gasped Cook Bolstad. "He is not a good man... I had to... I had to do this... to keep you safe..."
And with those words, Cook Bolstad slumped over and in just a few breaths more, he was gone.
A strangled sound came from Aein's throat. How could he? How... it felt as if her entire world was crumbling. White hot tears rolled out of her eyes. Silently, she tried to force them back inside.
But Finn came over and gathered her up into his arms. He smelled of leather and war. She fought him for just a moment, tried to pretend like she could handle this, but then collapsed into him, resting her cheek upon his shoulder as the tears rolled down and sobs wracked her body. Finn said nothing. He just quietly rocked her and murmured, "Shhh..."
When at last every sob had been ripped from her, every emotion rung from her heart, she pulled back from him. He brushed aside the tears from her cheeks and smoothed her sweaty hair, despite the chill of the larder. He gave her a brave smile, but did not insult her by trying to tell her that it would be all right. He knew. He knew it never would be. Not ever again.
Instead, all he asked was, "You okay?"
She nodded, not trusting herself yet with words.
"Good," he replied. "The night is continuing on and I want to make sure to get you somewhere safe before I make my change."
She stood, knowing he was right. There would be time to mourn later. Now, she just needed to focus on staying alive.
As they started back towards the stairs, Finn commented, "These mushrooms, you got them in the eastern swamps?"
She nodded. "He showed me a book—" She stopped herself and grabbed Finn's arm. "He showed me a book!"
She ran back into the larder. She scanned the floor, looking for the edge of the flagstone. Finn brought the taper over to give her more light. Finally, there, against in the corner was the stone she remembered. She dug at it with her fingertips. It was heavy, but it gave and she was able to pull it up. She reached around in the darkness. Her fingers brushed against something square and leather. It was the book. She pulled it out, her hands trembling, knowing what a sin it was for her to hold such an object. It didn't matter. She had to know. She flipped to the page she remembered. "Those," she said, pointing at the picture of the mushroom. "That's what he had me collect."
They both stared at the page, with the scribbles written all around the picture.
"I cannot read," admitted Aein.
Finn rubbed his lip nervously. "Neither can I," he confessed.
They looked at the book, knowing there was information in there they needed, but both powerless to do anything about it.
"We could bring it with us," said Aein. "We could try and find someone who can read."
Finn shook his head. "We are walking into a battlefield. We will need both our hands to keep alive."
She knew he spoke the truth.
"Perhaps you can go through the pages and see if there are any more drawings," offered Finn.
She began to flip. There seemed to be instructions on how to cut various meats. There were drawings of vegetables and herbs that she recognized, items common to the kitchen. And then something gave her pause. She pointed. "Those berries," she said.
Finn looked closer. "Blueberries? We eat them frequently at court."
Aein shook her head. "There were berries in the swamp. They looked like blueberries, but they weren't."
"And?" he asked, not following her stream of thought.
"I ate them," she replied. "I ate them, and even though I touched the mushrooms, I did not change. Lars." Her breath caught in her chest, realizing what had happened that night when the sentry was killed outside their camp ring. "He wouldn't eat them, he said they might be poisonous. But he was playing around and touched the mushrooms. He smelled them. He tasted one. It happened hours before the other guards were killed by some... creature. Lars was roaming the swamp when I found him the next morning. What if... what if that was when it started?"
"Oh my gods," said Finn.
"But the berries," Aein pressed on. "They stopped me from transforming. They protected me."
A light began to shine in Finn's eyes, a light that seemed to have been extinguished upon the moment that he discovered his true nature. "You mean," he said, "there might be a cure?"
Aein cautioned. "But the berries were late in their season. This was months ago. Even then, so many of the birds had eaten them. I don't know if there will be any more."
"If there aren't any," he said, "we will just wait in the swamp until they grow again. We will bring a whole harvest back to the people. We will save them!"