CHAPTER 36
“Are you certain this is safe?” Raena asked, cowering against the back wall of my bedchamber, specifically the corner that was furthest from the mysterious mound of silver- and honey-coloured powder on the floor.
“Absolutely,” I lied. In my hand was a goblet of water, ready to be thrown onto the mound. If I was being honest, I was about eighty-five percent certain that I was remembering the recipe correctly. Maybe closer to eighty, actually. Although, even if I was misremembering, that didn’t necessarily mean this would end in disaster. Only once did our cupboard experiments go completely wrong, and on that occasion, we only needed about a week with the healers before we could properly breathe again.
“We’ll be fine,” I assured her, though my hand trembled as it gripped the goblet. “All I need to do now is add the final ingredient.”
“Wait!” Raena squeaked, but she was too late. I jerked the cup forward and water splashed onto the powder. The moment it hit the mound, a huge purple flame roared up to the ceiling, filling the room with intense heat. Raena screamed. Then, barely a second passed before the door swung open and Erik barrelled in.
Face-to-face with the blaze, his jaw almost hit the floor. “What in the name of the Oceans…” he gasped.
In the centre of the room, the tall violet flame soon fizzled out, leaving only a monstrous smog behind. It glowed ominously as swirls of purple and green explored my bedchamber. Through the thick smoke cloud, I could just about make out Raena’s faint whimpers. Her chest heaved as she remained pressed against the wall.
“It’s alright,” I called over to her, relieved that my memory hadn’t failed me. “The smoke is harmless. It just looks scary.”
“This is magic!” Erik spat.
“Sci-ence,” I corrected, enunciating each syllable.
The guard dragged a nervous hand through his blonde waves. “Raena, you stay there. Don’t move. I’m alerting the generals.” He shot me a glare. “I always knew we couldn’t trust you. Faery scum!”
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes back into my skull. On the bright side, at least his reaction proved the goblins would fall for it.
“Don’t, Erik. Please. It’s not magic.” Raena spluttered while arching away from a glowing smog tendril. “I don’t really understand it, but I know it’s not magic. I saw her mix the powders.”
“What you’re seeing is just a natural reaction between Aethernite, powdered sulphur, and water,” I explained. Lifting my hand, I let the coloured smoke snake around my fingers. “I can make it even more exciting by adding some iron filings, if you’d like to see that too?”
“No!” Raena cried.
“Absolutely not!” Erik echoed.
I shrugged. “I’ll save it for the goblins then.”
Raena groaned, a thin layer of sweat forming on her forehead. “Please, can you just make it stop?”
“It’ll fade on its own after ten minutes or so. But I promise you, this smoke is harmless.” As I spoke, a thick tendril of green smog curled around my face. I coughed as it went up my nose, suddenly feeling unusually queasy. “Ah, perhaps not completely harmless.”
“What?” Panic flared across Raena’s face.
Quickly, I swatted the smog away with my hand. “It’s fine, we’re all fine,” I insisted. “Just hide in your chambers until the smoke clears. Meanwhile, Erik and I will leave for the woods. I’ve already made enough of this mixture to put on a good show. The goblins won’t know what hit them.” I grinned, swishing away another curious smog tendril with a flick of my hand.
“I am not going into the woods with her!” Erik thundered.
“Oh please, Erik, just do whatever she says,” Raena called back to him, her tone edging on desperation. “I fear if we let her mix up any more of these powders, she’ll kill us all.”
He looked at her with worry tugging at his brow. “But what about you? What if invaders come and I’m not here to protect you?”
“I’ll be fine. I have my dagger.”
“You have a what?” Erik’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets.
I chuckled. Beneath all the pretty dresses and perfect hair was a whole new side of Raena that he’d clearly never seen before – cunning, chess champion, and mighty quick with a dagger.
“Trust me, your lady will be fine,” I cut in.
Erik shot a scowl my way. “You know we’ll have to ride quickly if you want to catch up with the prince?”
I nodded.
“And since you’re not my princess, if there’s any trouble, I won’t hesitate to leave you.”
“Erik!” Raena coughed.
“I understand.” My focus remained on him, the smog making it easier to ignore Raena’s protests.
“Then fine. I’ll take you to him,” he conceded.
I could’ve screamed with joy.
“But once we find His Highness, I’m coming back here to watch over Lady Raena.” He turned towards Raena, searching for her through the wall of smoke. “I promised your father I would keep you safe. And I don’t break my promises.” There was something almost tender in his voice, and the way it coated each word made it sound like a random past promise wasn’t the only reason he didn’t want to leave her.
“Thank you, Erik.” Surprisingly, her tone was just as wistful as his. How could I have been so blind before? I’d definitely be asking her about this later – that’s assuming I return here alive and with Lukas.
A shudder ran through me. As much as I loved to play matchmaker, there was no time for this now.
Clearing my throat, I interrupted their exchange of longing looks. “Pardon my intrusion, but I really believe we ought to leave sooner rather than later.”
Erik grunted, shooting me another scowl. How Raena could stand him, I’d never understand. If she was like gold dust, he was no more than a frowning gargoyle.
“Right,” he grumbled, after the scowl had well and truly settled onto his face, “we’ll leave now, before I come to my senses and change my mind.”
This was going to be a long journey.