Chapter 21
Even though he said it would be quick, it still took more than three hours for Zafir to prepare the potion.
I couldn’t stop myself from occasionally leaning over his shoulder, trying to guess which step of the process he was on.
Each time I did that, Zafir would let out an irritated huff and push me back.
Just when I thought I may as well fall asleep since he was taking so long, Zafir announced, “It’s ready.”
Instantly, I snapped to attention and came over to examine the potion. It was a light pink color that bubbled faintly but remained cool to the touch.
“How exactly does it work?”
“It will cause the drinker to become infatuated with the first woman he sees, and the effect lasts for about two hours then slowly wears off.”
“When should I give it to Julian?”
“Hypothetically, and if I were to condone such a highly illegal course of action, which I’m not, I would say about an hour before you leave his company. Then he would associate those feelings with your company and continue to think about you after you parted.”
“I’ll take it with me to the Emberlight Revelry in two days,” I said, reaching out for the bottle, but Zafir blocked me.
“It has to be tested.”
“Oh, right. Well, go on and drink some then.”
Zafir hesitated. “I can’t say what will happen if I do. You must remember that whatever—”
“Yes, yes, whatever you say or do is off the record. It isn’t you talking; it’s the potion. I know you hate me otherwise.”
“Just so we’re clear. I’m not to be held accountable for any of my actions while under the influence of a potion that you insisted I make and—”
“Fine! Just drink it already!”
Zafir picked up the bottle like he was bracing himself to go through some dreadful ordeal, then hesitated. “I can’t drink it with you staring at me like a tiger about to pounce on her next meal.”
I growled in frustration and turned my back. After a moment, there was a slight sloshing sound, followed by a swallow. I pivoted back to face him. “How do you feel?”
He wiped a drop of the pink liquid from the corner of his mouth. “Exactly the same.”
“Do you need to drink more?”
“Most potions don’t work instantly. They need at least a few minutes to settle into the system.”
“So…we wait?”
“We wait.” Zafir cast a bemused eye over me. “You don’t have to stare at me while we wait. If it works, we’ll know.”
He settled back into his chair and went back to his notes.
I paced the room. Was I supposed to practice seducing Zafir the way I would Julian so it was a closer comparison?
Or would the potion be enough on its own?
Zafir said it would take a few minutes to begin working.
I should thank him for being willing to cooperate, but how was I supposed to word it?
Thanks for taking an illegal potion so you can pretend to fall in love with me sounded ridiculous, even in my own head.
The sand in the hourglass slowly trickled down to the bottom chamber, but still, Zafir simply sat at his desk, writing away and acting as though I didn’t exist.
“Do you feel anything yet?” I finally asked after a half hour, sliding over to peer into his face. Shouldn’t he be sweeping me into his arms and declaring undying love at this point?
“Nothing.”
I made a note about dosage on the blank paper I had for observations. “I think you need another drink, then. Maybe one sip isn’t strong enough. Or maybe you dislike me too much for it to work with a single dose.”
Zafir complied, taking a second, longer drink. At least this time he didn’t make me turn away. “It tastes like mango.”
“Better than sea serpent mucus.”
Zafir’s mouth twitched into a half-smile. “I suppose,” he said, then bent back over his writing.
Still, there was no serenading, no sonnets of love, and no passionate embraces.
Maybe the potion was a dud. I scanned the recipe.
Had Zafir left out an ingredient or missed a step?
Something wasn’t right. In the fine print at the bottom, it listed that the potion would begin to take effect within five to thirty minutes after consumption.
Should we have waited longer, or had Zafir not taken a high enough dosage in the first place like I suspected?
I flipped to the end of the potion book, where there were more detailed notes about the risks associated with each elixir.
There had been a few documented cases of frothing at the mouth and pupils that remained enlarged for several days, but nothing that made me feel that the elixir should be illegal.
They may as well market it as a mango beverage for all the effect it had.
“You need to know more about potions if this plan is going to work,” Zafir said in his same bored tone.
“I already have experience,” I said, not looking up from the book. “At Rahil’s, there was that alchemy lab I told you about. I brewed many potions there, and many that were much more dangerous than what you just cooked up.”
“Let’s quiz you then,” Zafir said. He rose and went to point at a bottle on a shelf. “Do you know what this is?”
“Dragon’s blood. It says so on the bottle.”
His mouth dropped open. “And here I was thinking you had no skills at all.”
“I thought I possessed an unparalleled skill at annoying you.”
“You most certainly do. But maybe I just like when you—” He caught himself. “I mean—maybe I’ve just grown accustomed to you annoying me.”
“Then I’ll have to continue. Should I disorganize your notes or turn your bottles so the labels aren’t showing?”
“You wouldn’t be so cruel.”
Zafir looked very much the same as he always did, calm and calculated.
I searched his face for any flicker of unhinged desire or wild passion.
Infatuation was supposed to be a crazed lust that drove someone insane, wasn’t it?
Was Zafir even able to feel such things?
Judging by this muted reaction, I would have to give Julian a quadruple dose if I was going to get any response at all.
“So where did you put the potions you stole from me?” Zafir asked suddenly. “I know you took them.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Zafir rolled his eyes. “Must I prove it to you?”
“And how do you plan to do that?”
In two long strides, Zafir was at my side. “Hold still.”
His hands ran down from my shoulders to my wrists, then wrapped around my waist and traveled up my back into my hair.
“I know you must keep the vials on your person; they weren’t under your pillow.”
I tried to pull away, but Zafir’s grip became iron around me and his hands patted down my legs.
“Aha,” he murmured when he reached my ankle. He withdrew the vials and waved them in front of my face.
“So strange. How did those get there?” I said with a slight smile. “Julian must’ve put them there.”
Zafir tucked them into his jacket’s breast pocket. “Did he now?”
I nodded solemnly and Zafir almost smiled. I wasn’t sure why he wasn’t angrier; I would have been, if someone had raided my stock of potions then lied to my face about it. Was the infatuation elixir helping to dampen his reaction?
“If men are hiding vials on your person, I ought to teach you more about potions just in case Julian gets any more bright ideas. Show me how you would mix a sleeping draught while we wait for this infernal infatuation elixir to kick in.” He flipped through the book until he found the page he was looking for.
“There’s the recipe. Don’t worry; it’s easy. ”
“I’m not incompetent,” I grumbled, but pulled off my bangles so I could get started. At least it would give me something to do. Zafir followed close to me, breathing down my neck so I nearly bumped him every time I turned around.
“You’re in my space,” I scolded him, reaching for a stirring rod.
“And you’re using my things. I want to make sure they aren’t being mishandled.” His hand shot out to close over mine. “See? You’re stirring too fast. You’ll churn the potion and make it froth prematurely.”
His hand was hot and slightly sweaty, very different from his normal cool temperature. A tiny droplet of perspiration beaded on his forehead and slowly cut a path down his face.
“It’s too warm in here,” he muttered, rubbing his neck then wiping his brow.
I raised an eyebrow. “It’s the same as always. It’s a hot climate and you wear heavy clothing.”
He shrugged off his dark jacket and untied the fastenings to release it from the chain, revealing his thinner shirt underneath, also black, and threw the jacket over his chair.
Then he turned his attention back to the recipe.
“Dragonsbane is a unique ingredient when combined with others,” he said, snaking a hand around my waist so I was forced to step closer.
“It’s harmless to humans, deadly to dragons, and when combined with the right catalyst, it heats up very quickly, so it’s good to keep on journeys to cold terrains. See, there are footnotes here.”
I stared at Zafir. Difficult as it was to tell, his pupils were dilated. I leaned closer and he didn’t move away. Was the potion starting to work? Had he realized it, if it was?
I wiped the back of my hand across my face and quickly finished mixing up the sleeping draught, glad that it was a simple recipe that was completed within a few minutes. He was still watching me closely. Was he about to declare his undying love right now?
“Your makeup is smudged,” he told me flatly, staring at a spot near my mouth. “It needs to be fixed.”
My heart sank a little. Even a love potion wasn’t enough to make him wildly attracted to me or think I was pretty enough on my own.
“Fine. Fix it, then.” I wordlessly sat and waited for him to pull out the brushes and tend to whatever mistake was there.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“It’s nothing,” I said automatically. There was no reason that I should care if Zafir was attracted to me, love potion or not. If anything, I should be glad he wasn’t.