To get out of Neveri, I hid under one of the queued carriages leaving the city. It was a bit nerve-wracking, especially as they started feeling around the bottom, but eventually, we were on our way. I held on as long as I could, then dropped onto the dusty road.
And with a smile on my face, I continued toward the east, away from the setting sun.
My estimation of the distance had been a bit skewed; on foot, I didn't see the forest in the distance until midday. By the time I reached the shade, I was exhausted and miserable. Whistles greeted me signaling my arrival, but none of them seemed to indicate I was an enemy. I wasn't sure what welcome I was expecting, but the small girl who'd bounded in my direction surely wasn't it. Her light brown hair and eyes were familiar, but it could've been that she had the same starved appearance as all the other kids in the camp.
"Elisha," she said after a moment. "Remember? You trained me once?"
"I trained a lot of kids," I said, turning to walk to the Nestori hut. Celia hadn't come to greet me, I wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing.
The girl wasn't deterred. "So what are you doing here? Did you finish your mission? Are you back for good?"
I ignored her. I hadn't thought I'd be given a parade, but Celia usually knew I was coming the moment I set foot in the forest, and, in the past, had come to speak to me in person. Making me come to her seemed like a bad sign for the favor I was about to ask.
"Are you leaving again? Can I go with you?"
"Look, kid," I said, spinning around, "I have a lot on my mind. So can you just run along and annoy somebody else?"
"Be nice to the little girl," came a sultry voice. "She's merely excited to see you. As are we all."
I looked up to see Celia standing in the doorway of her hut. Something about her scrutiny made me want to stand between her and Elisha.
"That will be all, Elisha," Celia said to the girl.
Elisha bowed at the hip and scampered out, clearly proud of herself for getting noticed. I had a feeling she wouldn't be too far away, and that I might have to find a way to keep her off my back.
"Are you queen yet?" Celia announced.
"Do I look like I'm queen?" I said with a scowl. I would've preferred she not announce it to the entire camp. "I'm working on it."
"You were working on it weeks ago. I hope your progress is better than that."
I sighed and motioned to her house. "May we talk?"
"Do you have anything of value to say?"
I swallowed, thinking quickly. I wouldn't tell her about the ond, but she might have some use for the hyblatha. "I have a new weapon for you."
My heart leapt when she tilted her head in agreement and walked back inside her hut. Calmly, I followed.
"I hear you've been on quite a trek," Celia began, settling down and surveying me as if I were a misbehaving child.
I sat on the edge of the chair, ready to pounce or run if things didn't go well. "Oh yeah? And where do you hear that?"
"My spies in the city report you boarded a ship with the pirate Kieran. They say a Forcadelian woman who bent the gates in Skorsa with her own two hands."
"I bribed the mayor," I replied dryly.
"And now you arrive in my camp from the west and Neveri, which tells me you've made a full circle." She caught my gaze. "Am I wrong?"
"No, you aren't wrong." I gave her the short version of my trek, from Ariadna's conditional help to Neshua's task. I left out Luard's involvement, not wanting to show my hand too much. I also didn't mention the Niemenian ore, partially out of respect to Luard, but also because I didn't want to have to give Celia any of it.
"And so now you're here to…what? Get twenty thieves to help you conduct a wildly outrageous mission?" She shook her head with a twitter of laughter. "Oh, dear Brynna. I told you a long time ago that you needed to lose your soft heart. And now here you are twisting and turning to make a complex solution to an easy problem to save yourself pain."
"What other solution do you have?" I asked, the back of my neck warm with nerves. She couldn't know about the ond, could she?
"Hm." Celia sat back and surveyed me. "Tell me about this new weapon."
"It's not new, per se," I said. "It's hyblatha. Apparently, you can use the seeds to cause hallucinations that last. Better than knockout powder."
"I already have something like that," she said.
"Yeah, but…" I tossed the small bag onto her desk. "This inoculates us from the effects."
She inhaled the scent and wiped a tear from her eyes. "Potent."
"Well?"
"It is certainly clever," she said, sliding the pouch back to me. "But before I agree to help you, I'm going to need a demonstration of this new combination. Make sure this weapon is as powerful as you say."
I would've rather just taken my herbs and soldiers and gone, but I would get nothing if I didn't play her game. I wasn't looking forward to feeling the effects again, but if it meant I would have help, I would.
"Of course."
Elisha had been loitering around the house, and so she was sent to gather the people and materials for our test. As she bounded away wearing an excited grin, I buried the unease I felt watching Celia speak to the young girl.
"You know, she reminds me a lot of you," Celia said, catching my gaze.
"I wasn't that much of an ass-kisser," I said, crossing my arms over my chest.
"You were eager," Celia said. "I've never seen a child throw herself at so many trainers in such a short amount of time. You, of course, were worried I might return you to your father. Elisha is driven by the fear I might cast her from the camp."
Perhaps someone should tell her there are worse fates. I kept my comments to myself, as I still needed Celia's approval.
Elisha returned shortly after with Nicolasa in tow. She carried with her two small leather pouches and wore a confused look on her face. Behind them, Jax, and Locke, a tall goon who'd been at the camp nearly as long as I had, were ambling toward the training rings.
"I was sure the child was mistaken," Nicolasa said, handing Celia the bags. "But you did want hyblatha pulverized into powder, correct?"
"I did," Celia said, nodding once to Jax, who barely cast me a second look, and the rest. "Larissa has brought us a new use for the plant. One of you will inhale the powder to test its effects. Another will inhale the powder with the antidote."
"What's supposed to happen?" Jax asked.
"Well, one of you will have intense hallucinations," Celia said with a small shrug. "And the other, we hope, won't."
Unsurprisingly, none of the men stepped forward. But Elisha did. "I'll test it."
"Your funeral," Jax muttered. "What's to say that's not poison?"
"Then you do it," Elisha said, casting him a scathing look that said exactly how she felt about him.
"Why don't we let Larissa do it?" Locke said. "She's the one who brought it in. Why's she so special?"
Celia held up her hand to silence everyone. "Larissa will test the antidote. Locke, since you've got an opinion, you'll take the other sample."
I pinched a bit of the tinneum out of the bag and stuck it in my mouth. The bitter taste brought tears to my eyes and softened some of the nerves I couldn't shake here. I took my place in the center of the training ring next to Locke, who was grumbling.
"Quiet," Celia barked at him. "Nicolasa."
The Nestori walked up to us and poured a little into her hand. She inhaled deeply and blew a pile into my eyes, causing me to cough as the sweet and salty taste melded with the bitter herb in my mouth. I chewed harder, forcing more of the sharp tang from the herb.
"Well?" Celia asked.
Before I could answer, Locke released a blood-curdling scream and fell to his knees. Elisha jumped back, scrambling away as if he would rip her face off. But whatever hell Locke was trapped in was his own. Tears dribbled down his face as he begged a faceless, nameless person for forgiveness and other things I couldn't make out.
Without missing a beat, I grabbed more of the tinneum out of my bag. "Jax, get your ass over here and help me fix him."
"Wait." Celia watched Locke with a cruel sort of look. "I want to see how long this lasts."
"Celia, you can't be serious," I snapped, stepping forward. Before I could get to him, Jax grabbed my arm and pulled me back.
Locke writhed on the floor, his voice echoing into the ring and drawing the attentions of everyone in the camp. Before long, a crowd had gathered, murmuring conversations about what was going on. Locke rocked himself in a fetal position, his face red and his body shaking with tears. His pants grew wet as he soiled himself, but he was too far gone to notice.
The minutes passed slowly as he continued to writhe on the ground. Those gathered looked on with a mix of horror and fear. Only Celia, with her greedy, calculating eyes, seemed not to care that a man was slowly going insane.
Finally, the rocking stopped, and Celia nodded to Jax to release me. I ran to Locke and pried his mouth open, pressing the tinneum into his mouth. His watering eyes blinked.
"Chew," I whispered, running a soothing hand over his sweaty head. "It'll pass. Just chew."
Slowly, my words got through to him, and the redness subsided. His eyes still bore the wild fear that had gripped him, but he was able to sit up. The more he chewed, the more he came back to himself. Finally, he realized who was holding him and pushed me away.
"Get off," he grumbled. "'m fine."
"What did you see?" Celia ordered.
"That's not important," I snapped, remembering my own visions. "You saw it worked. Now hold up your end of the bargain."
"Locke."
"I saw my parents," he said. "The day they sold me."
A collective hush descended on the group and my heart wrenched in my chest. Celia, however, didn't notice or didn't care.
"Excellent," she said. "Nicolasa, I want you to plant several new gardens of the hyblatha. Whatever we can spare will be diverted to this new weapon." She looked to me. "Whatever we have on hand, prepare and give to Larissa."
Nicolasa opened her mouth as if to argue but nodded. "Yes, ma'am."
"I want you to find tinneum—if we can't grow it here, we'll find a supplier."
"Yes, ma'am."
Celia cast a look around at the rest of those gathered, still shell-shocked at what this herb had done to one of the toughest in the camp.
"Get back to work," she barked. "Or there will be no dinner tonight."
Slowly, the crowd dissipated, casting nervous looks at Locke, who was blushing bright red with embarrassment. He rose to his feet and stumbled to the edge of the camp, refusing all overtures from those he passed. I watched him in silence until he disappeared through the front gates of the camp and into the darkness.
"Now, then," Celia said, drawing my attention back to her. "Jax, you will go with Larissa. Take the hyblatha with you and report back on its effectiveness."
"Jax is all I get?" I said, stepping forward. "I told you, I need at least twenty thieves. There are a hundred soldiers in there—"
"Well, you're going to fail, so I'm not wasting my time."
Her words echoed in my ears. "I'm sorry, what?"
"If you were serious, you would be asking me for twenty swords, not twenty thieves." She crossed her arms over her chest. "You're still afraid to get any blood on your hands. Even if it's the enemy's blood."
"It's not that I'm afraid," I spat, but my voice shook with uncertainty. "I'm walking a fine line—the people in this city won't be too happy to find out that I sold them for strategic advantage. So the fewer lives I take, the less trouble I'll have winning them over."
She cast me a long look that said she could see right through me. Even if she didn't know about the ond, she clearly knew I was hiding something from her. My voice cracked as I took a step toward her. "Please, Celia. I need more than one person."
"Fine, take two." She cast a gaze over to the young girl. "Elisha, you will accompany them as well."
She left the three of us in the training ring, and it was all I could do not to kick something.
"So…Boss," Jax drawled, crossing his arms over his chest. "What's the plan?"
I gave Jax the abridged version, not wanting to share it all until we were back in Neveri. He seemed as enthused at the idea as Luard had been, but since Celia had ordered him to help, he could do nothing but nod and agree. Elisha, on the other hand, gaped at me as if she'd never seen me before.
I patted her on the head. "Breathe. I'm still the same person."
"B-but you're a princess."
"Well, kind of."
"And a vigilante."
"Yes, I am that."
"You're a princess vigilante."
"Yes, I am," I said with a "please help me" look at Jax. Our third, however, was uninterested in doing more than the bare minimum. So I knelt down to Elisha's level. "Listen, I'm not really thrilled that you're coming."
That snapped her out of her reverie. "But I can help!"
"I know you can." I waved my hand to silence her. "However, you're just a kid. And what we're doing is going to be very dangerous."
"I know it is. That's why I want to help."
I pursed my lips. "You will help, if you'll let me finish. Your job will be to be our eyes. We'll need to know where the enemy is, and in order to do that, we'll need you in the trees to scout. Understand?"
She seemed to see through my ruse but nodded anyway.
"Also," I straightened, "you'll probably have to protect a prince, since I'm sure he'll want to come."
Her eyes grew three sizes. "A prince? Is he handsome? Is he charming?"
"He's neither, but I'm sure you'll find out sooner or later."
Things weren't looking up, but at least I had the hyblatha and some help. Jax wasn't wholly worthless, and Elisha could serve as a scout. Small blessings were still blessings, even if they scowled and smirked at me.
In the interest of time, I suggested we split up—I'd continue on to Ammon and Kulka and Jax and Elisha would get familiar with the city. At least, that's what I told Jax. In truth, I didn't want to mix Jax's clear disdain for me with Ammon's. I could only handle one smirking face at a time.
After leaving them to prepare for their journey, I stopped in the weapons hut to replenish my arrows and other trinkets that might be of use, like my weighted twine that could trip up an incoming soldier. I couldn't help but feel woefully underarmed, but I tried not to let it bother me. With my slingbag laden with what I could carry, I made one final stop before I would head north toward Ammon, to retrieve the hyblatha from Nicolasa.
The Nestori looked up at me from her mortar and pestle. She wore a mask, but the scent of hyblatha was thick in the air. I chewed the small piece of tinneum I still had in my mouth to stave off the effects.
"I had a feeling you'd be back," she said. "The winds have been shifting."
"I'm sure the winds are very concerned with my movements," I said with a laugh as I walked to their powder stores, shelves of woven baskets with small name tags.
"You're a force of nature," she replied softly. "And the Mother knows a queen in the making."
Celia's words came whistling back through my mind and I turned to the basket, pulling down one marked knockout powder and grabbing a few small leather bags.
"You've certainly become well-versed in Nestori magic," she said softly. "I'd hoped to keep the hyblatha secret from Celia for as long as possible."
I stopped, looking at her over my shoulder. It had never occurred to me that she might have known about it. "I had to give her something."
"I know," she said. "The knockout powder is more humane. Unfortunately, the hyblatha is more plentiful. And once we obtain the tinneum plant…"
I stared at the ground, remembering how real it had seemed to see Oleander's body. To smell Felix's blood as he stumbled forward. "I'm sorry."
"The Mother doesn't like Her magic used to hurt others, but sometimes…sometimes we must make the hard choices." The grinding sound stopped, and she caught me with her gaze. "And just hope the Mother judges us fairly for doing the best we can under the circumstances."