Chapter 81 #2
He shook his head in disbelief. “How can I trust you won’t kill my king?” As he cowered from her light shield, he seemed a decade older, his face holding fear and pain that made her ease up on the force of her light’s glow.
“I suppose you can’t,” she said. “But maybe after this is all over, you’ll be willing to trust me, because by then I’ll have proven to be true to my word.”
He hesitated, then barred the door, taking one last stand to force Aeliana’s hand. She didn’t have time for this.
The squeak of a ferret in a cage near her elbow reminded her they weren’t completely alone.
As the sounds turned to a bark that was picked up by the other caged animals, it dawned on her that the animals weren’t necessarily afraid of her light shield.
It was almost like they were rallying behind her.
She scanned each of the cages, noting the mechanisms to open the doors required no key, just opposable thumbs.
When she glanced back at Tobias, his eyes held the same understanding, and they shifted to fear.
“How long have you been torturing these animals?” she asked.
“We don’t torture them,” he said quickly. “We extract only what we need to create the remedies the royalty require.”
Aeliana snorted and reached for the cage door.
“Then they give it up freely, and you won’t mind if I let them loose.
” She opened the nearest cage, and as soon as the animal bolted from its prison, she let her shield drop.
Three more cages were open before she sensed the full force of Tobias’ magic crushing her chest.
She tried summoning another light shield, but it was an uphill battle with his somatic skills already on her, and she gasped as her power merely held off death from his energy targeted at her heart.
But then the onslaught suddenly ceased, and her light shield flared.
Tobias’ cries echoed in the cavernous room, and Aeliana was thankful her shield blocked her view of the animals’ retribution.
She rushed past the snarling forms surrounding the progeny and winced as their whimpers joined the fray.
She might have just sentenced these creatures to death in order to defend herself.
Hopefully they would have sense to escape, and hopefully the distraction would buy her enough time to escape as well.
She patted down her belt, reassured to find the herbs and roots still there, before rushing out of the apothecary and into the frigid night air.
She scanned the skies, the lack of dancing Stars ominous in the night.
At least it made it easier to spot Durriken’s dark form gliding in the glint of the moon.
He landed and skidded to a stop beside her, his frustration thick in the air around them. She ran up his tail to find purchase at his neck once more.
That was too close. His rumble held a disapproval that Aeliana felt in her core, and as much as she hated disappointing him, she couldn’t regret her actions.
As they flew, he dodged stray arrows from a handful of Ahmranans, who’d left the eastern gate to hunt for the dragon they’d spotted.
Aeliana winced as she felt the sharp pains along with Durriken from a few arrows hitting his side.
They’re like splinters. His reassurance only went so far when she felt it too.
Even so, his flight remained uninterrupted.
He made a wide berth around the north side of the palace, finally angling in close when he reached Emeris’ room.
Aeliana’s leap to her mother’s balcony felt reckless, the timing of such a small window of opportunity too precise for how little experience she had riding and dismounting a dragon.
Sure enough, she slammed into the wall with the grace of an elephant.
Thankfully, Lukai and Marnok had been watching for her, and their hands reached out to keep her from sliding down the palace wall’s surface to her death.
They pulled her across the balcony’s ridge before collapsing in a heap of three, and then Velden was grinning from above her.
“I wish Gaeren had been here to see that.”
She shoved his face out from in front of hers with a laugh. “Why?”
“Because then he could feed that memory back to me over and over again.” His chuckle was cut off by Kendalyhn’s elbow in his gut.
“I think they know we’re up to something,” she said. “They’re trying to get in the room now.”
Aeliana stood, dusting off her trousers and pulling out the root and herbs. “I’m guessing the sight of a dragon flying around the palace tipped them off.”
The others ushered her into the room, where her mother sat serenely at the tea table.
Marnok sat with a steaming kettle and teacups while Lukai held a knife.
Aeliana passed the valerian root and moon’s brew over, not trusting herself to know accurate measurements for steeping herbs.
The room grew somber as the reality of what they were about to do sank in.
“Are you sure you’re all right with this?” Aeliana asked her mother.
Emeris nodded. “It’s worth a try.”
Aeliana winced, hating the implication that if it didn’t work, her mother would die. Or if it worked too well, her mother would also die. There was too little margin for error in this plan.
Her father wrapped an arm around her mother, unwilling to leave her side through this trial.
Cyrus kneeled in the corner, fighting their battle the best way he knew how.
Even Brogdon’s lips moved with silent prayer along with him while Iris and Kendalyhn stood behind Marnok and Lukai, hovering as if desperate to help.
Marnok crushed the dried herbs and placed them in a pouch, his hands steady. Lukai mashed the valerian root until a pus-like substance oozed from it, which he then mixed with a paste.
“She has to eat that?” Aeliana asked.
“The moon’s brew infusion she can drink,” Marnok explained while he worked.
“That’s what will make her feel sick and reduce her focus and strength, counteracting her magic as well.
The valerian root can be dried and made into a powder to add to food and drink, but if she ingests both, the combination could be lethal.
Smearing the paste on her skin will allow her body to absorb it in a different way. ”
“A paste sounds too slow,” Aeliana said.
Marnok shrugged. “That’s why we’re tripling the concentration.”
Unlike Marnok, Lukai’s hands shook as he measured more of the valerian root and combined it with the paste.
“And it won’t kill her?” Aeliana asked.
“One dollop on her wrist will make her sleepy,” Marnok said. “Two will make her unconscious. A hair more will slow her heart enough to appear dead. But three full dollops will kill her.”
Pounding came from the hallway door, and the crack of wood splintered the air.
Everyone’s eyes widened, and Sylmar and Velden rushed to check on the security of the furniture blocking the door, fortifying it with their starlocks’ strength as well.
“Hurry, Marnok,” Aeliana murmured.
“If I don’t steep the moon’s brew long enough,” he said, “it won’t be strong enough to make her sick. Or if I put too much in to compensate for the lost time, it could be too strong.”
She bit her lip. Too strong and not strong enough both meant too deadly. She tried to rein in her impatience, but the pounding picked up again, and this time the shouts sounded louder.
“Marnok?” Sylmar drew out his name in warning.
“I can’t make it go any faster.” The strain in Marnok’s voice matched Sylmar’s.
Aeliana’s gaze volleyed between the steeping tea and the doorway, where she could only make out Velden’s and Sylmar’s cloaks as they strengthened the barricade of the door. Another crack splintered the air.
“There,” Marnok said, pouring the tea into a cup and blowing on it.
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Emeris grabbed the cup from his hand. “A burnt tongue is the least of my concerns right now.” She chugged it without hesitation. Her eyes watered as she set the cup down, and she beckoned for the water pitcher before drinking directly out of it in an undignified manner.
“Not too much,” Marnok said. “You don’t want to dilute the effects.”
She slowed her swallows and set the pitcher back, pressing her hands against her red cheeks.
“What about the paste?” Aeliana asked.
Marnok frowned. “We take it with us and hope we don’t have to use it. Incapacitating Mayvus with the moon’s brew might be enough.”
Lukai scooped the paste into a small container, careful not to let it touch his skin. After securing the lid, he passed it over to Aeliana. She hesitated, then shoved it in her trouser pocket with a shiver.
“I don’t feel well,” Emeris said, her eyes glazing over.
“That’s good, love,” Iris said while Rildan stroked Emeris’ brow.
Then a final crack rent the air, and Velden and Sylmar were thrown back in a cloud of dust.