Chapter 47 Odessa
Forty-Seven
Odessa
With every step we took toward Healer Alore’s workshop, more muscles in Ransom’s body bunched and tensed. His shoulders had practically crept to his ears.
The message I’d received from Healer Alore this morning over breakfast was short and succinct.
My workshop. Midmorning. Bring him along.
The last place he wanted to be was this infirmary, but I’d asked him to come, and he was humoring me at the moment.
When he’d finally returned to the suite last night, well after dark, he’d been quiet and withdrawn, forcing smiles for Evie’s benefit. After we tucked her into bed, I asked him about the guard in the stables.
The man had been whipping a mare so violently that the animal had been on her knees, bloody and beaten. Her entire backside had been flayed with gashes.
Ransom went to stop the assault, and the guard, in a frenzy, turned the whip on him instead of the horse. The broken arm was the guard’s consequence.
I didn’t feel sorry for the bastard at all.
After the son of a bitch was taken to the infirmary, Ransom took Aurinda for a long ride in the countryside. When he returned to the stables, the mare the guard was whipping had been put down.
It was probably a good thing the guard had already been released from the infirmary.
I might have stopped by his room and slipped a small dose of fenek tusk powder in his tea.
Not that I had fenek tusk powder, but that man deserved a little taste of poison.
Not enough to kill him, but enough to make him reconsider every choice he’d ever made.
At this point, I was angrier than Ransom. Mostly because my father had jumped to the wrong conclusion and had the gall to blame my husband.
“Dess.” Ransom took my wrist in a hand, giving it a gentle shake so I’d unclench my fists.
So maybe we were both a little tense this morning.
We reached the end of the hallway and Alore’s arched door. I tapped the knocker twice, and the same man who greeted me the other day opened the door, waving us inside.
Alore was at her workshop table wearing a maroon frock and canvas apron with countless stains. She had five different-colored pairs of spectacles tucked in various pockets. A set with a white frame sat perched on the tip of her nose. A blue pair was on top of her head.
Her gaze shot straight to Ransom as we walked into the room. “Good. You’re here. Sit. Tea?”
“No.” He took the one and only stool beside the table.
Alore came to stand in front of him, planting her hands on her hips as she studied his eyes. Silver, like they had been since yesterday.
He hadn’t worn his circlet since the nightmare when he pinned my wrists to the headboard.
“This elixir of your mother’s, I believe I’ve managed to recreate it,” Alore said. “There’s no way to know for certain, but I think I’m close based on the notes in her book.”
My mouth fell open. “You’ve already created the elixir?”
“Don’t give me too much credit,” she said. “The notes were impeccable once I figured out how to interpret them. We were lucky I had most of the ingredients, and a quick dash to the docks is where I found the rest. But the elixir is the easy part. Now I’ve got to try to recreate the infection.”
“What? No. I said you could research a cure, but we’re not recreating the infection.” Ransom moved to stand, but Alore planted a firm hand on his shoulder, pushing him back to a seat.
“Odessa told me about your father. Please trust me when I say that I have no intention of weaponizing this infection and giving it to others. Any notes I take in creating Lyssa will be destroyed. You have my word. But I can’t make a cure if I can’t replicate the infection. I need to start at the beginning.”
Ransom’s jaw clenched.
Alore rolled her eyes, entirely unfazed. She snatched a glass tube from her table and handed it to him. “Spit. All the way to the top.”
He arched an eyebrow. “Spit?”
“You were bitten, yes?”
“Yes,” he grumbled.
“And Lyssa seems to travel by bite, yes? I’m getting nowhere with your blood. So let’s try your saliva. Spit.”
He growled but tipped the tube to his lips.
She crossed her arms over her chest as she looked between the two of us. “You two are intimate, yes?”
My cheeks flushed. “We’re married.”
“That doesn’t always mean anything.” She arched an eyebrow at Ransom. “I assume you’re not biting her.”
Ransom answered that one with a glare.
“Good. Don’t. I believe the infection has manifested differently in you than it does monsters, but let’s not risk the princess, all right?”
Ranse and I shared a look. Then he kept on spitting.
“Your mother believed the elixir in your blood mingled with the bariwolf’s saliva from the bite, thereby creating Lyssa.” Alore began to pace the length of the small room. “It’s a solid theory. There are many elements about monsters we don’t understand and a magic to their bodies.”
Alore swept up a book from the table, one of Luella’s journals, and traded out the white glasses on her nose for the blue pair tucked into her hair.
“She wrote here that the elixir was the fundamental magic for Lyssa and the bariwolf’s saliva was the missing piece.
She believed a bond formed when the monster attacked.
The Lyssa then morphed into one version for the wolf and another for you.
Well, I’m doing a few tests. Forgive me, but I borrowed your tarkin from the nursery yesterday. ”
“Faze?”
“I needed monster saliva to mix with the elixir. Don’t worry, he was unharmed.” She set the book down, then breezed into the adjacent room, returning a moment later with a small metal cage full of gray rats with pink ears.
“You’re giving them Lyssa,” Ransom said.
“That’s what we’re going to test.” Alore snatched the tube from his hand and put it in a wire holder.
There were already two vials in the tray, one labeled with her name, the other with tarkin.
“If Luella’s theory is correct, the one injected with both the elixir and the tarkin’s saliva will develop Lyssa.
My saliva won’t do a thing. Yours is the question mark. ”
“And then you’ll find a cure?” I asked.
Alore braced her hands on the table. “I’m going to try.”
It was more hope than I’d felt in days.
Ransom stood, not waiting to be dismissed as he left the workshop.
“Thank you,” I told her.
She watched him stalk out of the room. Then she gave me a single nod and got back to work.
By the time I left to catch up to him in the hallway, he was already gone.
The training center was swarming with people. The center of the room was taken by a dozen sparring guards, and a small troop of legionnaires was practicing archery at the indoor range, escaping the rain outside.
Gable was working with a young boy with black hair, teaching the child how to punch an invisible opponent. His gaze lifted as I walked inside. He gave me the slightest of headshakes and went back to instructing the boy.
My father must have known I’d ignore his order to stay away from the weapons master and in turn made sure that the weapons master would stay away from me.
I swallowed the disappointment and lifted onto my toes, searching past the soldiers in the hope of finding Ransom.
Instead, I saw my sister. Her training partner for today made my blood run cold.
Evie held a dagger in her fist as she stared up at Mae. She nodded intently at whatever my sister was saying.
Maybe if Mae hadn’t been so snide and secretive since our return, my stomach wouldn’t have dropped at the sight of them together. But then I saw Faze.
He was chained to the wall, struggling against a metal collar much too small that was clamped around his throat.
A jolt of icy panic ran through my veins as Mae unsheathed her own dagger and shifted into a fighting stance.
Children trained with wooden knives and swords, not sharpened blades. What the fuck was Mae thinking? When she was younger, she’d arrive at meals with more than one cut on her arm. But real lessons with real weapons hadn’t started until she was bigger, twice Evie’s age.
I took off running, pushing past soldiers as they blocked my view.
A man’s shoulder slammed into me, nearly knocking me over. “Watch out.”
I caught my balance and kept moving, eyes locked on Evie as Mae sliced her knife through the air.
“Stop,” I called.
Either Mae didn’t hear my shout over the commotion in the room or she ignored me.
Evie backed away and to the side, dodging my sister’s blade.
When Mae’s blue eyes flicked to me, her smile was full of spite. She slashed, and the tip of her knife cut a long gash into Evie’s shirt.
Her favorite nightshirt. The shirt from Ellder. She’d asked to wear it again today.
Evie froze. Horror etched on her face as she took in her ruined sleeve. Then her cheeks flushed a furious red as her grip on the dagger tightened, her knuckles turning white. She lunged for Mae, knife raised above her head.
I swooped her off her feet, pulling her away as she kicked and squirmed. “Calm down, little star.”
“She wrecked my shirt!” She screamed so loud the sound filled the cavernous room.
Every soldier fighting came to a stop.
Evie let loose another furious scream before she dissolved into tears, folding forward as the dagger slipped from her hand and clattered on the floor. She twisted in my arms, burying her face in my neck as she sobbed.
“We’ll stitch it.” I stroked her hair, wishing I could tell her Zavier was on his way. That her father was alive and this shirt didn’t matter.
But not yet. Not until I saw Zavier alive with my own eyes.
“What the hell, Mae?” I glared at my sister.
She shrugged. “Oh, I’ll buy her a new one. It’s just a shirt.”
“Not to her.” I held out my hand and snapped my fingers. “Give me the key to that collar on Faze. Now.”
Mae flipped her hair over a shoulder, then pulled it from her pocket, dropping it into my palm. “He chewed through the rope leash.”
“Then find another one.”
“So touchy these days. I liked you better when your hair was brown.”
“You liked me better when I let you get your way.” The spoiled brat.
I marched to Faze and dropped to a knee, shifting Evie down. “Can you unlock Faze for me?”
She dried her eyes with her hands, then took the key.
I surged to my feet and whirled on Mae. “You had no right to bring her here.”
“Arthy comes nearly every day. I thought she might like it, too.”
As much as I loved Nathalia, she shouldn’t have let Evie go with Mae. But our nursemaid still had a soft spot for Mae. A soft spot that my sister exploited.
Mae walked to a nearby bench and picked up two swords. She tossed one over. “Was it all just a show?”
“Was what a show?”
“That little performance with the Guardian.” She took two quick steps, the sword slicing through the air.
I backed away. “What are you doing?”
“You just stole my training partner.” Her gaze darted to Evie. “You can at least take her place.”
“No.” I scowled. “We’re done here.”
“Come on. Indulge me.” Her blade swung much too close to my face.
I kept my attention on Mae but felt the eyes of every person in this room. “I don’t understand why you’re doing this.”
“No, you don’t understand.” She held the blade up, pointing the tip at my nose. The haughty, conceited lilt in her voice became hollow and cold. “You never will.”
This was not my sister. Something had happened while I’d been gone. Something had changed.
“Mae, what’s wrong?”
Before she could answer, the sword was ripped from her hold, Ransom’s grip bruising as he yanked it from her hands.
She hissed in pain as he threw the weapon on the floor. Then he stood between us, staring at Mae with an icy fury that sent her back three steps.
But her fear flipped in a blink, shifting to white-hot rage. Quicker than I’d ever seen her move, she took a small knife hidden up her sleeve and threw it at Ransom.
Time slowed, and for a moment, I was back in Ellder, watching Banner throw a knife into Zavier’s stomach. I heard Evie’s scream from that horrible night. It mingled with her scream in the training center.
Except Mae’s knife never hit its mark.
Ransom caught it in midair, spinning it back at her with a flick of his wrist.
Her hair rustled in its wake as the blade flew past her shoulder, embedding itself into the wall.
A collective inhale echoed in the room. Then silence.
“Dismissed.” Gable’s voice boomed.
The center emptied like a cup of spilled tea.
Even the weapons master slipped away, taking the boy he’d been training through a side door, leaving us alone.
A tear dripped down Mae’s cheek.
I couldn’t remember the last time I saw her cry.
“I was supposed to be the Sparrow. I should have been the one to leave,” she whispered, then fisted her skirts and ran.
“Mae,” I called after her, but she was already out the door.
What the hell had happened here while I was gone?
“Take Evie out of here.” Ransom’s order was almost a growl.
“Ranse—”
“Now, Odessa.” He swallowed hard, his hands fisting. His entire body vibrated with rage. “I don’t trust myself right now.”
He didn’t. But I did.
I closed the gap between us, taking his hand and prying his fist apart. Then I flattened the scar on my palm against the scar on his. “I trust you.”
He closed his eyes and swallowed hard. “Go, Dess.”
Evie sniffled, clutching Faze as she walked over. She peered up at us through tear-soaked lashes. Her little fingers folded around Ransom’s other fist.
His shoulders relaxed. His eyes opened. Still silver but not as angry. He stared down at her mouth, pulled into a pout. And then he crashed to a knee and hauled her into his arms. “Are you okay?”
“I wanna go home.” She sniffled.
“Me too,” Ransom and I murmured in unison.
He reached for me, tugging me down and drawing me into their embrace. “Together.”
“Together.” I buried my face in Ransom’s shoulder, breathing him in.
We held on to each other, even as Faze squirmed to be set free. As the tarkin bounded away, I tracked him through the empty center until movement beyond the doorway drew my focus.
Whoever was watching us was quick to duck away.
But I could have sworn I saw the glint of my father’s golden crown.