Chapter 24
Elise arranged the many parchment sheets Susanne had given her into a neat pile beside the remaining seven baskets full of herbs. Shortly after, she set off to wander through the gardens. She would find the Stone of Raj at any cost, or so she promised herself.
With a slight tremble still lingering in her hands, she began her search with earnest determination.
Unknown to her, the arduous labor of collecting the blessed ingredients had left her with a most attractive flush and a healthy sheen.
Her figure appeared more defined as well.
The muscles of her arms contracted only to accentuate the ripened curves of her form.
She was the very vision of sin, the sort of woman men paid good coin to admire.
All in all, it was a fair reward for someone who had spent the morning at war with herbs.
With the effects of the potion still running through her veins, Elise scouted the palace gardens most efficiently. She searched every terrace, every flower bed, every path, and every corner she could find.
The gardens seemed endless, and it was difficult to judge their true size, for walls of greenery divided the grounds into countless sections. To Elise’s tired mind, it all appeared utterly confusing.
She was glad to have left everything perfectly arranged in the herbarium, should anyone go looking for her there. At least they would have no grounds to complain about her lack of labor since all the herbs had already been collected.
She walked for a couple of minutes more, feeling the heat touch her skin with increasing intensity.
Then, while wandering through a section of the gardens far from the castle, she heard voices.
She immediately hid behind a bush and peeked through the leaves to see who might be enjoying their leisure.
To her great horror, she discovered it was Kurt and Adelle who had chosen the very same spot.
Elise had no wish to eavesdrop. She remained hidden at a respectable distance, quiet as a mouse.
That was until a loud croak from Bruno brought the nobles’ conversation to a halt.
She looked around for a way to slip away without being seen.
Thankfully, Bruno’s interruption was soon forgotten, and the conversation ended not long after.
Even though Elise had not managed to make out a single word, she could tell Adelle was not pleased by whatever had been said.
Only moments after Adelle departed, Kurt turned to take his leave. Elise was relieved as this would allow her to search for the magic stone in peace. Not wishing to waste time following false leads, she took out her mirror to ask Morgaine for guidance.
“Morgaine, Morgaine,” she called, but nothing happened.
She rubbed the mirror like a magic lamp, shook it, and even offered a prayer, but nothing. There seemed to be no way to make the cursed thing work.
“Help me, Bruno,” she said.
To her surprise, the bird took flight and cawed so loudly she had to cover her ears.
Elise expected the mirror to be working, but it remained the same. Instead of calling Morgaine, the loud caw summoned a more masculine figure. The strong scent of leather and wood reached her nose in an almost indecent manner.
“Elise?”
She turned, feeling every inch of her skin awaken at the tall presence. A sudden warmth spread through all the sinful parts of her body at once.
Elise attributed the strong reaction to the lingering effects of the Dutiful Maid Potion, but even so, she could not help but shiver at the duke’s closeness.
Kurt stood motionless, his eyes wide, taking in every detail of Elise’s flushed appearance.
Torn between breaking into a sprint or pretending to faint on the spot, Elise must have looked like frightened game in hunting season. Kurt shook his head and, gentleman that he was, took a step back.
“Are you faring well?”
“Kurt...I was just...” Elise said, lowering her head. “I was just looking for my crow.”
When she finished what she thought was a perfectly reasonable explanation for why she was strolling through the castle gardens instead of attending to her duties with the fairies, Elise lifted her head and found that the duke had likely not heard a word she had spoken.
His eyes remained fixed on her dress, and even his slightly parted lips suggested his attention was entirely elsewhere.
In any other circumstances, Elise would have taken offense. Yet the warmth spreading through her chest made it difficult to object.
“I can help you find him,” Kurt said.
Elise shook her head. “You have already helped me enough.”
“It’s really no trouble,” he insisted, walking dangerously close toward her. He stopped within arm’s reach and brushed a twig from her hair.
Elise felt as if a demonic force took possession of her. A sudden urge to touch him proved impossible to ignore. She reached for his hand before she could think better of it.
“I have meant to thank you for the opportunity to find employment under the king’s service,” she said, meeting Kurt’s gaze and feeling her heart racing to her throat. “I did not wish to celebrate too soon, but now it seems everything should work out well.”
The duke was without words for a moment. His temperature seemed to rise as he took Elise’s arms and drew her closer.
“You are most welcome. I was certain you would be a good addition to the staff.”
Elise sighed. Her mind began to play all the romantic fantasies she liked to indulge in every now and then. Her cheeks grew warm and her eyelids betrayed her, half-closing while she wondered if those noble lips were about to move closer.
Sadly, and much against Elise’s wishes, Kurt’s lips did not move nearer. Instead, they opened to ask a rather dangerous question, one that appeared to have been troubling him a great deal.
“Who was the man at your house yesterday?”
A fear almost as intense as the stupor Elise had felt moments before drove her to pull away from him in a single breath.
“He’s...he’s no one,” she murmured nervously, breaking his gaze.
“The way he was treating you, I thought he was your—"
“No, no. That could never be,” she gasped.
“But then?”
“I have to return to my duties,” Elise managed. “Thank you again.”
She sprang away, leaving the poor duke with numerous questions on the tip of his tongue. This had been an impulse, a mistake she was already regretting. There were so many things she could never reveal to Kurt, and that was perhaps the most dangerous part of being near him.
*****
Elise returned to the herbarium breathless.
She did not know what had possessed her to reach for Kurt’s hand.
Everything suddenly seemed so complicated that all she wanted was to hide among the herbs and never emerge again.
She intended to remain there for the rest of the day and, with some luck, for the remainder of her employment.
But much to her surprise, once she had calmed her nerves, she realized all the baskets on the table were gone. In their place sat a small copper key and beneath it a note with a few lines.
Susanne?
Elise read the note with a measure of concern, though after the first few words all her worries eased.
Dear Elise,
I came looking for you before taking the road. It appeared you have performed a miracle, my child.
Try not to wear yourself down before I get back. Go home and prepare for tomorrow.
No need to report to Fabian.
Susanne.
She smiled when she finished reading. There was no mention of the key, but Elise already knew it had to belong to a chamber reserved for her in the castle. She had better hurry to Morgaine’s house if she hoped to make her way back before dusk.
She pulled up her mulberry hood and slipped out of the herbarium like a spy sent to murder the king in his sleep. Before she knew it, she was on the road to town and soon in the forest, where she could finally enjoy some peace.
How was she supposed to explain her relationship with Seth to anyone who happened to see them together? For the love of all benevolent divinities, she hoped he would not visit her at the castle, though she suspected that was almost certain to happen.
Perhaps she could claim he was her cousin.
Unfortunately, she would then have to explain why her cousin looked like royalty from a faraway kingdom and was forever trailing steam like a kettle.
No, it had to be something else. Not even a third cousin would make that story believable.
Perhaps Morgaine and Beth could help her with this infernal dilemma.
Whispering the chant of the Dutiful Maid Potion, she hurried toward the cottage with even greater determination than before. She was nearly flying down the path herself, much like Bruno overhead.
In less than an hour, she was drenched from the harsh sun and under Morgaine’s roof.
“Elise!” Beth greeted as soon as she turned the bone that served as a bolt in the door. “Did you take a swim on your way here? I hope it was with that handsome demon Devon assigned to you.”
She shook her head. “No, but he’s precisely who’s troubling me.”
“What happened?” Morgaine chimed in.
“I need to find a way to explain who he is if someone else happens to see him around.”
“Someone else?” Morgaine asked with a mischievous smile. “Did you speak with your duke again?”
The witch was as smart as she was beautiful, and seeing little reason to hide or deny anything, Elise set about recounting everything that had happened with Kurt in the gardens.
The two witches listened with all the delight usually reserved for one of the delicious meals Elise prepared. As the tale progressed, Beth began to squirm in her chair. She wrapped both arms around herself and began to make small sounds of rapturous approval.
“Beth!” Morgaine protested.
The older witch opened her eyes, jolting in surprise. “I apologize. I got carried away. It has been a long time since I heard such a romance, and of course I can only imagine what sort of stallion that duke must be to have Elise so tempted.”
“Well, my dear Beth, if you like Seth, you’ll definitely like this one,” Morgaine said. “They make your husband look like a kitchen rag in comparison.”
The old witch did not seem offended in the slightest. On the contrary, she seemed more taken with the comment.
“That is precisely why I enjoy hearing such tales from Elise, my darling,” Beth said. “I am simply imagining myself in her place. It has already been a few hundred years since I possessed a waist capable of inspiring this sort of trouble.”
Elise let out a chuckle. It was impossible not to find amusement with Beth.
“How about you say Seth is your suitor?” Morgaine mused.
While Elise was thankful the conversation had drifted back to her initial predicament, she could not say she was pleased with the solution.
“I can’t,” was all she said.
“It’s the duke, isn’t it?” Morgaine smiled.
“Of course it’s the duke, Morgaine,” Beth snapped. “Can’t you see this poor child? She’s smitten.”
Elise’s cheeks grew red as though the temperatures of Hell had suddenly reached her. There was no question that she was attracted to Kurt, and now that she could see those feelings might actually be returned, she felt completely overwhelmed.
“I’ll face Seth and tell him to give me the year I need,” Elise stated firmly.
Beth lifted her chin up. “Courage, my darling. That’s always the answer.”
“It is settled then,” Morgaine said. “Now we only need to keep looking for the Stone of Raj tomorrow, and you will be fine.”
“That is why I came earlier,” Elise said happily, lifting the shiny key to show the witches. “I was assigned a chamber at the castle.”
Morgaine’s smile grew wider. “Was it the duke’s doing?”
“No!” Elise protested. “It was a fairy. I believe she’s the Chancellor of Magic. I heard one of the guards call her that.”
“Mmm,” the witch hummed. “Either way, you are in, my darling!”
Beth grabbed a cup and raised it in celebration. “To magic, love, and the delicious nights Elise could spend there!”
This time Elise found herself blushing rather than amused.
“Beth!”