31
A sh didn’t ask any questions during our ride to Miriam’s shop. If he was bursting with curiosity, he didn’t show it, but he eventually spoke when I knocked on the door.
“This isn’t really a snail shop, is it?” he said.
The door swung open. “Yes, it is, sonny. It’s just that no one has had the good sense to purchase anything yet.” Miriam stood at the door frame, looking ridiculously short compared to the prince. She crossed her arms and glared at me. “I thought you were imprisoned.”
I pulled Ash inside without waiting for an invitation. “We need to go to Witch Village. Now.”
Miriam gave him a grave look. “The last time I let a human pass through it resulted in death and heartbreak,” she said. “Are you trustworthy?”
Ash looked to me, his brows drawn. He wanted me to answer for him, but his distrust still stung. That was something I wouldn’t easily forget. Yet he agreed to follow me here even when I told him of Lana’s role in the poisoning. Though I sensed his discomfort, he was trying. And that was enough for me.
“He is.”
Miriam sighed and made her usual route to the back room. Ash and I followed. She activated the bricks, revealing the gaping black passageway that only a month before I had been afraid of entering. Now, everything depended on where it led.
“Good luck with whatever you’re up to,” Miriam said. “But if you end up dead, it’s not my fault.”
I knelt and embraced her, burying my nose in her shawls. Her scent of incense and lavender oil was overwhelming up close. “Thank you. You’ve done more for me than I could ever repay you for.”
Miriam looked flustered when I pulled away. “Well, get on with it,” she said in a wavering voice, shooing us into the passageway.
When the wall sealed itself, Ash took my arm. His hold was as tight as mine was during our visit to the dungeons.
“I can’t see a thing,” he said.
I smiled in spite of myself. I didn’t want him to believe I had forgiven him, so I was grateful for the lack of light. “It discourages trespassers from going any further,” I said. “There are no real directions. We have to walk forward for long enough until the passageway opens.”
“Fascinating! We could use something like this for the treasury.”
Eventually the door to Witch Village appeared. I pushed it open. Hundreds of lights gleamed from the hill, the sky bejeweled with stars. Ash’s jaw hung open as he took in the fields of crops and the village in the distance.
“We’re not actually outside,” I said. “It’s magic. ”
He nodded in awe as we made our trek toward the hill.
Eventually, I spotted Lana’s cottage at the end of the winding road. The circular windows were bright, meaning she was home and awake. A lump appeared in my throat when we approached. She had removed the enchantment on the door. I stared.
Ash waited a beat. “Are you going to knock?”
“You do it.”
He tapped his knuckles on the wood. It swung open.
But instead of Lana, someone else stood at the threshold.
My lips parted. “Rowena? What are you doing here?”
She glared at me, but the tears that welled up in her dark eyes betrayed her feelings. “I thought you were rotting away in the dungeons, you ungrateful girl.”
I embraced her. Her arms held me tight.
“You came back.” Elowyn poked her head out behind her sister’s skirts. Her eyes widened when she noticed Ash. “Who’s that? He’s handsome.”
Ash cracked a smile. “Prince Ash of Olderea,” he said with a smart bow. “You’re quite handsome yourself.”
Elowyn darted back inside with a squeak.
Rowena released me and stared at Ash. “It looks like we all have some explaining to do.”
Lana was absent when we gathered inside on the benches near the fireplace. I told Rowena everything that had happened, though this time Ash jumped in to insert his part of the story.
After the duchess assigned my punishment, Ash set out to find Peter, who turned out to be alive. He was hiding in the outskirts of the forest with plans to flee the kingdom. When he was cornered, he admitted to using a witch-made sleeping elixir, but still refused to reveal whose orders he had been acting under.
“No doubt the duchess is threatening him with the death of his family,” Ash said darkly.
With no other choice, Ash ordered his men to interrogate shops rumored to be associated with the Witch Market, hoping to trace down the witch who sold Duchess Wilhelmina the poison. His search was cut off when I was accused and imprisoned.
“So, why are you here?” I asked Rowena after we finished.
“Olivia Sternfeld told me and Theodora everything,” she said.
Olivia again. I couldn’t have been more grateful for her newfound bravery.
Rowena sighed and glared at me. “Theodora went to Lord Strongfoot and I came here to notify Lana. All of us were trying to come up with a plan to rescue you. How did you escape?”
“I managed,” I said. “But now we need to save Queen Cordelia and expose the duchess.”
She thinned her lips. “Amarante, they all know you’re a witch. They won’t want your help.”
“Rowena—”
“Look what they’ve done to you,” Rowena said, taking my hands. They were covered in dirt and grime. The scratches and bruises inflicted by Karen and Narcissa were still red and angry. I had almost forgotten about them.
Ash looked at my arm, then looked away. “She’s right,” he said in a low voice. “You shouldn’t go back to the palace. It’s too dangerous.”
“What about the queen?” I demanded. “How will you save her? How will you expose Duchess Wilhelmina? ”
“I’ll manage,” he said with a tight smile.
“Listen to him,” Rowena said. Her eyes were rimmed red. “Lana agreed to let you stay here. Theodora and I will stay too. You’ll be safe again.”
“You want me to hide here for the rest of my life,” I said, disbelieving. I turned to Ash. “And you think you can save your mother without a witch-made antidote. You’re both insane.”
Rowena looked at a loss for words.
“Amarante, listen—” Ash started.
“No. You listen.” I gave him a hard look. “I spent ages helping you with this case. Why aren’t you letting me help now?”
“They were going to execute you!”
“Because of Narcissa. Because of the duchess,” I said. “I was making a truth potion that day. I wanted her to confess. It would solve half our problem. Captain Greenwood would’ve been freed.”
“And then what?” Rowena interjected. “Everyone knows it’s a witch-made poison. A witch will still be blamed, even if it isn’t you.”
“I refuse to cower when I can fix this,” I said.
A voice came from the back. “You’re right. But not without me.”
Lana strode in, her olive eyes flooded with unreadable emotion when they fixed on mine. “I was the one who caused this. Fifteen years ago, I created a foul poison and sold it out of spite for humans.
“A woman bought a vial from me—the only one I ever sold. Even then I realized the error of my ways. No human deserves what that vial contains.”
I stood. “Lana. ”
“I’m sorry, Amarante,” Lana said, shaking her head. “I was a fool. A hateful, bitter fool. I need to set this right.”
Tears welled up in spite of myself. “What changed your mind?”
She touched my arm. “You. And Seraphina. She never strayed from her morals. Neither did you.” Lana turned to Rowena and Ash. “Give Amarante a chance. She is not one to be protected.”
“But...but they’ll kill her!” Ash sputtered.
“They won’t if she saves the queen,” Lana said.
Rowena sighed. “You’re right. Seraphina would’ve wanted this.”
My throat tightened. “Thank you.”
Lana turned to me. “Now. I reckon you need my help.”
The next thirty minutes I spent finishing my truth potion, which involved boiling the duchess’s hair over high heat until it dissolved. I only had a small vial of potion, so I was careful with the flames lest it all evaporated. By the end of it, I had half a vial of coppery liquid.
I pressed it into Ash’s hand. “Make sure Duchess Wilhelmina ingests this during the ball.”
“I will,” he said.
We were out in Lana’s garden before her personal passageway. She had altered it to lead just outside the palace grounds after I told her Ash must go back for my plan.
“Rowena and Elowyn will show you there,” I said. I turned to the door to get them, but paused at Ash’s expression. I sighed. “What is it?”
“I never apologized,” he said.
I merely stared.
“For everything,” Ash continued. He paced the length of the garden, shoulders tense as his boots dug into the dirt. “ I put you in danger. I let you in on the investigation when I knew you were just a debutante. And when you needed my help most, I abandoned you. All this happened because of me. Amarante, you suffered because of me.”
He glared at the ground, his hands twisted in his sleeves. I had never seen him so agitated. His face said it all. Guilt. Anger. And if I wasn’t mistaken, self-loathing.
“Ash, I...” I shook my head.
There were too many things I wanted to say. But I merely folded his hands between mine. “You’re ruining Lana’s basil. She’ll throw a fit.” With a small smile, I squeezed his fingers and let go.
Rowena and Elowyn bustled out the back door at that moment.
“To the palace we go, then,” Rowena said to a bewildered Ash, clapping her hands together. “We’ll lead the way.”
LANA WAS IN THE POTION room when I returned, brewing the antidote in her cauldron.
“Any luck?” I said.
She stirred the contents. “I believe I’ll be able to whip something together by morning,” she said. The counter was a mess of vials and herbs.
“And it’ll cure the queen?”
Lana pressed her lips together and sighed. “Not entirely. It will heal her for the time being, but her lifespan will be much, much shorter.”
“Isn’t there anything more you can do?” I asked.
“Well, I am missing an ingredient,” Lana said, crushing a sprig of nixgrass with her mortar and pestle. “Do you remember our first lesson?”
I nodded slowly. Antidotes needed a bit of poison in them to truly work. “Manbane. You need more manbane,” I said. “Can’t you make more?”
“I vowed I would never again,” Lana said, shaking her head. “But even if I were to, I no longer have the ingredients required for it. They were exceptionally foul.”
I paced the room, wishing I hadn’t sent Ash off so soon. “The duchess must still have some,” I said. “We could search her rooms for it and—”
Lana set her mortar down and crossed her arms. “You must have a death wish,” she said.
Frowning, I mirrored her pose. “Queen Cordelia has to be saved. How can I tell Ash we had a chance to heal his mother but didn’t take it?”
“ He can take that chance. You were at death’s door several hours ago, have you forgotten?”
I opened my mouth to protest but realized she was right. I couldn’t enter the duchess’s suite again unless I wanted to be executed on the spot. But I certainly couldn’t let Ash do it alone.
A smile crept to my lips when I thought of a solution. “I can’t go with him, but someone else can,” I said. Lana gave me a look. “Can you disguise my face like you did with my witch traits?”
“Make you look like a completely different person?” Lana shook her head. “But I know someone who can.”
Ferdinand arrived within minutes, looking as decrepit and cheery as ever with a large box in his hands. After complimenting Lana on her various household items and sturdy shelves, he set to work on me. He smeared an odd-smelling ointment on my forehead and cheeks and murmured things I didn’t understand. I hardly felt any difference when he proclaimed he was done and thrust a mirror into my hands.
“It’ll only last for a couple of hours. Whatever you must do, do it quick.”
I was too entranced by my reflection to hear much of anything else he said. A stranger stared back from the mirror. She had straw-colored hair and no freckles. Her face was longer, her lips thinner, and her nose rounder, but she had my eyes.
“Ferdinand, this is amazing! Thank you,” I said, shaking the old charmwitch’s hand profusely. He shrugged and blushed.
“This stuff entertains my grandchildren. Never thought it’d be useful to anyone, but I’m mighty glad you appreciate it.” He rubbed his hands together and leaned back in his seat. “Now. I could use a cup of tea.”
A few strong words from Lana sent him out the door without tea. Barely a minute passed when Rowena and Elowyn came back. They started when they saw me, but I quickly explained to them my plan.
“I’m going to need transportation back from the palace,” I said, giving Elowyn a hopeful look. She gladly accepted, but Rowena, who did not look pleased when I told her my plans, put her hands on her hips.
“What makes you think I’m going to let you waltz into the very place you should avoid?” she said.
“I’ll be fine, Rowena. I have my disguise. Besides, with Elowyn it’ll be quick in and quick out.”
She looked like she was about to protest again, but to my surprise, Lana intervened. “She has grown, Rowena. Let her go. ”
Rowena wrung her hands and sighed. “Fine. But if you land yourself in trouble again, I will personally see to your punishment.”
I beamed.
Elowyn and I took Lana’s passageway, as charmwitches were not allowed to transport above ground from Witch Village.
“I’m sorry I’m making you walk so much,” I said as we strode through the pitch-black tunnel.
She giggled. “Don’t worry about it. This is the most excitement I’ve ever had.” We walked a little longer before she spoke again. “Do you mind if...I accompany you and Prince Ash?” Her voice was hopeful, but there was a hint of sheepishness as if she expected me to say no. She was right.
“Elowyn, it’ll be dangerous. What if someone finds you?” I said. I pictured her gold-streaked hair and silver eyes. She had no reason to have a concealment spell cast on her if she never went above ground. “You don’t exactly blend in.”
She let go of a breath. “But I want to help.”
“You are helping,” I said, reaching over haphazardly to pat her head. Luckily, my hand met soft curls. “Besides, I don’t think your sister would appreciate both of us running into danger.”
“I have an invisibility tonic from Ferdinand,” she said. “I’ve been saving it for a special occasion.”
“Elowyn...”
“Please! I’ll stay out of sight for as long as we’re in the palace. It’ll only be for a little while, until you find the duchess’s manbane.”
I held back a groan. The girl was relentless. I had to admire her for it no matter how much it irked me. Escorting Ash was perhaps her first taste of the world above ground. No doubt she insisted on following him all the way into the palace and got what she wanted. What was the harm in one more trip?
“Alright. Fine,” I said. “But you have to promise to stay invisible and do exactly as I tell you.”
Elowyn squealed and wrapped her arms around my middle. “I promise! Thank you!”
I was glad at least one of us was in a good mood. We emerged from the passageway outside palace grounds. Before I could whisper to Elowyn about sneaking past the guards, she grabbed my hand and transported us to the middle of an unfamiliar room.
I lurched forward, gasping for breath. “Elowyn! You really should warn me before—”
I stopped and stared at the indigo carpet and velvet drapes. A lavish, though untidy, double bed was in the center, elevated on a rounded platform.
“Where are we? I thought you could only transport to places you’ve been,” I said.
“Prince Ash’s room.”
I sputtered. “You followed him to his room ?”
Elowyn looked at me innocently. “He said I could. He also showed me the ballroom.”
Before I could give her a lecture about the impropriety of the offer if given by anyone else in other circumstances, a door swung open and Ash himself walked out in nothing more than a pair of breeches. He stumbled back at the sight of me. “Who in the blazing fires are you?”
I was too mortified to do anything more than stare at the ground, so Elowyn answered for me. “That’s Amarante. She’s in disguise.”
“Amarante?” Ash said. He gaped at me, no doubt marveling at the effect of Ferdinand’s magic .
“What are you doing here? And why are you disguised?” He took a step closer, but I turned away.
“We’ll talk when you’re dressed,” I said as evenly as my embarrassment allowed.
“Oh! Er...I’ll be a moment.”
The door shut. I deemed it safe to look up again.
“He’s rather fit for a prince,” Elowyn whispered loudly. “My grandmother told me all royals are fat and lazy.”
I was still somewhat flustered when Ash emerged, this time fully dressed and with a faint blush on his cheeks. Elowyn and I explained to him how Lana needed manbane to complete her antidote.
The look on his face mirrored Rowena’s. “I’m not letting either of you go in there,” Ash said. “It’s much too dangerous.”
I frowned and Elowyn crossed her arms. It seemed that both of us were tired of being told no.
“I look like a completely different person and Elowyn will be invisible,” I said. “Is that enough for you?”