I awoke back in my bed and could tell from the pile of dresses now outside of my wardrobe and on the floor that Gobbersnot had been the one to take me back to my room. Goblins, for their size, were strong and capable of carrying ten times their weight. He was now sleeping away the daylight hours with a tummy full of royal blood.
A cut on my hand would heal faster than most people’s, but not with self-inflicted wounds. That was our own problem. Healing magic could work on others but not the caster, which meant I was still in need of getting medicine for myself and now for the queen. I was determined to make her a tea that would strengthen her body and mind, and I needed more wolfsbane for my own tea to keep my dreams at bay.
After spending most of the day in bed, I finally felt well enough to attend to my errands, and I sent Pru with a message for the prince.
After I had saved the queen’s life, Xander seemed a bit more generous to me and agreed to my request to travel to town, even arranging the trip for me. It seemed we were allowed to go to a local herbalist as long as guards escorted us.
I was surprised to see Gaven outside on the front steps waiting for me on a horse. I never expected he would personally escort me, my cheeks warming as Pru and I climbed into a carriage. It didn’t matter as long as I got what I needed.
The trip didn’t take long, maybe half a mark by carriage to get down the mountain and into town. When we stopped and exited the carriage to walk down the back alleys, I noticed children and dogs went silent at my passing. Clothed in darkness, surrounded by guards in royal blue, I was an enigma, a bad omen.
When we entered a small shop with a mistletoe branch on the sign, I thought we would receive privacy, but it wasn’t so. Gaven had apparently followed me and was right on my heels. An earthy scent tickled my nose, followed by a hint of sandalwood. Two long tables ran down the middle of the shop, filled with jars and butcher paper, twine, and potted fungi and plants. The rafters were covered with drying flowers and herbs. Light streamed in through a skylight in the ceiling. A sweet liquid was boiling in a pot over the fire, giving off a pleasant aroma. I stroked the soft leaves of a lavender plant as I inspected it for disease.
A petite elderly woman in her seventies waddled over to us, a red kerchief covering her hair, her warm smile exposing missing teeth.
“Hello, Auntie,” I said, bowing my head in greeting.
Her smile widened, revealing a third missing tooth. “Greetings, niece,” the old woman replied. I noticed the confused look that Prudence gave Gaven at our familiarity.
The elderly woman surveyed my companions carefully before reaching out for a hug. I obliged and leaned in close to whisper into her ear. “The sun and moon stood still.”
“Yes, yes,” she muttered and rubbed my back reassuringly. “What can Auntie Agress do for you fine folk?”
“I need these items,” I announced, handing her my handwritten list.
Auntie Agress’s yellowed eyes scanned the list, and her white overgrown eyebrows arched up at me in question.
I nodded slowly, confirming my order.
“Let’s see that.” Gaven stepped forward and snatched the sheet from her hand, flipping it over and then back before turning it around. “What language is this?” he asked.
“The language of Fey,” I replied coolly as I snatched the paper back and handed it to Auntie Agress. “Why are you here?” I asked Gaven.
“I’m here to make sure you’re not buying any black magic stuff. After all, word has spread that the queen was poisoned.”
“I know that,” I said stiffly.
I moved away from the fresh lavender and over to the rows of plants. Picking a leaf off a hyssop, I crushed it between my fingers and smelled the aroma. It had a thick, pleasant mint scent, which meant it would make a strong tea. “Auntie, I would also like a stone’s worth of feverfew.”
Auntie Agress mumbled, her head bobbing up and down as she moved farther down the aisle toward the fireplace, where she pulled a rope that lowered the drying rack down from the ceiling. With a few snips of her shears, she quickly trimmed the stems of various herbs and plants. Raising the drying rack once more, she then motioned for us to stay as she wandered into the back room.
“Auntie?” Gaven asked, stepping forward to pull the crushed leaf out of my fingers and sniffed himself. “I was led to believe you had no blood relatives.”
It took control to not snap at him. “I am adopted, yes, but among the hedge witches, it is courteous to call our elders ‘aunt.’”
“So you are a witch?” His eyes gleamed with distrust and he stepped back, his hand dropping to his sword hilt.
If he could only see my ugly glare under my veil. “What is a witch? A woman who brews a tea to relieve a headache? Someone who understands the ancient arts of pressure points, who can relieve a pregnant woman’s pain, or even a woman of faith who prays for healing? All have been cast out of villages and deemed witches whenever results are not understood. I believe a witch is nothing more than what people are afraid of and do not comprehend.”
During my speech, I had moved to the other side of the table and began to point to different plants. “This plant right here, cardix, if steeped for two minutes can relieve a fever, but if steeped for five becomes a poison. Mellinon, if harvested in the spring, causes welts to break out among the skin, but if harvested in autumn cures rashes. Do you understand the difference between each of these outcomes?”
Gaven and Pru shook their heads.
“Patience. Waiting is the tipping point between life and death, a cure or an ailment. And women are known to be very patient,” I said slyly.
“I see no reason that you couldn’t have sent along the list with your servant,” Gaven chastised, obviously uncomfortable with my quiet threat.
“For my medicine to work, I need to know that the herbalist knows their plants, knows what they’re doing, and that they keep a clean and orderly shop. Otherwise, how can you trust them?”
I pointed between the two tables and two very similar plants, one on each.
“Can you tell me the name of this plant?” I gestured to the plant on my right.
“Hellion’s kiss.”
“Are you sure?” I challenged.
“Yes?” He wasn’t.
“What about this one?” I pointed to the plant on my left.
“It’s the same,” Gaven said confidently.
“Actually it’s not,” I corrected. “All of the plants on the right table are poisonous; the ones on the left are not. You’re lucky we have come to a very organized auntie, or she may give you a few leaves of this, and you would be dead by morning.”
Auntie Agress came out with a small bag from the back room and began to wrap some of my items in pieces of silk, others in paper, and a few bottles.
“Excuse me, Auntie,” Gaven mimicked me. The hedge witch’s eyes filled with barely controlled laughter. “What would cause, um… someone to change drastically?”
Her shrewd eyes narrowed. “Their mind, body, or temperament?”
Gaven shifted his weight from foot to foot and leaned in close. “How about all of the above?”
“It’s probably a curse,” she said solemnly and beckoned him closer. He leaned in, clearly eager for the answer. “It’s called the moon cycle. Give her a week and she’ll be back to normal.” Auntie Agress cackled, elbowing him in the stomach.
Pru sputtered, and I covered my mouth to muffle the laughter, thankful my veil still hid my expression.
Gaven’s face burned red; he obviously didn’t appreciate the joke. “What about a girl who likes you and then doesn’t?” He looked off in the distance and then frowned. His shoulders slumped in dejection. “Never mind, you wouldn’t understand.”
“It could be a curse,” she said again, seriously this time. “Of course, one brought on by a powerful sorcerer or enchantress. Anger any of those lately?”
Gaven looked directly at me. “Yes.”
“Then you’re doomed.” She guffawed again and slapped his arm. After a few minutes of embarrassing him, she settled down and gave him a warning. “Listen, you might just need to woo her, or you can try this.” She handed him a small bottle, and he opened it and took a sniff.
“It smells nice. Is it a love potion?”
“Might as well be,” she chuckled. “It’s perfume, a special blend. Sure to make the ladies fall for you if you give it to them.”
He nodded and clutched the bottle to his chest protectively, and I wondered who he was thinking of the gift for. I became uncomfortable in the store and was grateful for my veil to disguise my true identity.
Auntie Agress grabbed my elbow and pulled me over to the corner of the room, urgently whispering, “I’ve been watching the stars, following their paths, and you’re surrounded by death. Be on your guard, young one.”
I gasped, remembering Xander’s words: “There will be more deaths before the moon runs a full cycle.” I feared I was the cause.
“Thank you.” I squeezed her arm back.
When it was time to pay, I pulled out my purse, looked inside at the few meager coins and sighed. I didn’t have enough for the price she was asking for all of the ingredients on my list, but that wouldn’t stop someone as smart as me.
“Maybe just the dried monkshood root and the feverfew.”
Gaven opened his own pouch and placed two gold coins on the table. “For the perfume and anything else she might need.” He looked distracted and left the store deep in thought.
Auntie Agress’s head bobbed, and she greedily bit one of his coins. Deeming it pure, she snatched the coins and disappeared into the back.
“I guess that means we’re done,” Pru said.
My hands were clutched tightly around my purse, trembling with anger. How dare he embarrass me! I turned and stormed into the street, catching Pru’s reflection in the front window as she swooped in to gather my packages. I had my own money. It wasn’t enough, but he didn’t need to know that. Part of the trade was knowing when to haggle with a hedge witch; it kept them honest and true. My mother taught me that. He didn’t need to step in and save the day. I didn’t need saving. Suddenly I was thankful for the dark veil that hid my red burning cheeks the whole ride back to the palace.
We were in a long receiving line of carriages waiting to disembark, while others were being loaded as nobles and guests were saying their farewells.
When our carriage pulled up, I stepped out and saw Prince Xander standing on the top step, head low, his fingers rubbing his temples. It seemed he needed to be here to see them off, though he obviously didn’t want to be. Rumors of the beast may have sent them packing.
Prince Xander finally noticed me, his body going rigid, his eyes taking in my dark veil again I imagined him trying to picture my hideous form.
“Did you get your potions?” he asked.
“They aren’t potions,” I corrected, surprised he made an effort to speak to me. “They’re medicines, for the queen and me.”
“Where is your medicine?” He pointed to my hand that only held my coin purse. I didn’t have to answer, because Gaven and Pru arrived just then. She scurried up to me with my purchases, and Xander waved her over. Reluctantly, she came forward, and he proceeded to search through my belongings, though for what, I wasn’t sure.
“Poisons?” He looked up at Gaven, not even addressing me.
“Yes,” I answered truthfully, and three sets of eyes stared at me in shock.
“Are you so unstable that you would admit to purchasing poison to murder me within my presence?” Prince Xander questioned.
“No, because I would never lie to you.” His face had gone stone cold, his eyes darkened, and I rushed forward to lift a dried herb and explain. “This is balinko. The leaves are dried and can be brewed into a tea for migraines, but the seeds, if ingested, are poisonous. As are most medicinal herbs. I use part of the monkshood root to cure blackouts, and yes, it is another name for wolfsbane, but I had nothing to do with harming your mother.”
“You say these purchases are for you. Are you injured?”
“Yes.”
“Show me,” he ordered. Holding up my hand, I showed him my bandaged palm and wrist. His eyes widened and he sucked in his breath.
“Come here,” he ground out between clenched teeth. His nimble fingers quickly unwound the bandage to look at the cut along my palm, the one I received from healing his mother. He ran his finger along my palm, and I shivered at his gentle touch.
“I’ve seen you heal the cut on my mother. Yet, you are unable to heal yourself?”
“That is correct. Magic is a very fickle thing.”
Xander didn’t release my wrist but slowly turned it over to reveal a smaller cut from when he cut away our wedding bindings. “And this one. Did I do this?”
“Yes,” I answered, blushing, not wishing to sugarcoat what his recklessness did. I could have healed it easily, but I wanted to let it be a lesson to myself.
“I’ll be more careful,” he said. Prince Xander looked at me, his eyes red, his chin unshaven. Effects of staying up too late hunting the beast, most likely. But his pained look made my stomach drop and my breath catch. I couldn’t let him affect me like this.
“So will I.” I yanked my hand from his and headed inside, Pru on my heels carrying my packages.
“Your Highness, I have received disturbing news.” A page bowed before the Prince and I slowed to hear his announcement.
“What is it?”
“The servant girl Herez has run away. A note was found saying she was too terrified to stay at the palace and would go home to her family in the country.”
My heart ached for poor Herez, and Pru’s head dropped in sadness.
“I see.” Xander sighed.
“There’s more. Other servants are gone as well. We do not know if it is because they ran away or because the b-beast got them.”
“Gaven, will you do me a favor?” Xander asked.
“Anything, my prince.” Gaven stepped forward.
“Please succeed where I have failed and find this mysterious beast. For I no longer believe we’re hunting a normal creature but something of myth and legend, and that is your specialty.”
Gaven nodded. “I will leave at once, Your Highness, and will not return until I have news.”