Poison. Part 15

"No, not as a friend. I really love you, Kyra. Working here beside you these past months, I've never been happier. I think we should get married."

Kyra had almost fallen off her lab stool.

It had taken him months to convince her, and when she'd said yes-shortly before her sixteenth birthday and the silly underwear gift from Ariana-she'd thought she was sure. It was the right thing to do, wasn't it? And working well with someone, doing something you cared about-that was more or less love, wasn't it?

Kyra tried to push away the memory of that moment. She knew now that she wasn't in love with Hal, not by a long shot, but she missed the easy companionship she'd had with him and Ned. She'd been happy. And now- If they caught her, the least that could happen would be imprisonment.

More likely she'd hang.

As the sun sank beneath the trees, Kyra saw a sparkle of water up ahead. She stopped and set Rosie and her pack beneath a tree, then got out her waterskins.

The bank down to the water was carpeted in browned pine needles, and their sharp scent revived Kyra, who felt like she almost couldn't take one more step. She was tired and forlorn. No closer to the princess than she was three months ago. And now she was tagged. Things couldn't get any worse for her.

At the edge of the stream she reached down to fill the first skin, the water icy over her hands. She watched the reflection of the trees on the water, the small yellow leaves twirling in the eddies.

A shriek burst out from Rosie.

Kyra turned, and there was Rosie being attacked by a wild dog. The pig squealed again.

Even as Kyra leaped up, shouting, the wild dog sank its teeth into Rosie and started shaking her back and forth.

"NO!" Kyra shouted, letting the waterskin fall to the ground and throwing a needle. "Drop her!"

She hit the wild dog square on the side. It fell to the ground, its jaws releasing Rosie. She tumbled to the earth and lay absolutely still. There were b.l.o.o.d.y puncture holes where the dog's teeth had sunk into her belly.

The sight of the little wounded pig drove Kyra to her knees.

Cold fear gripped her heart, and all thoughts of her mission fled her mind.

She couldn't lose Rosie.

Kyra touched a hand to Rosie's chest. The pit-pat of a beating heart pulsed under her fingers. She tore off the hem of her shirt and wrapped it around the pig.

"Rosie, I'm so, so sorry." Why hadn't she brought a single healing potion with her? Her only friend in the entire world lay bleeding to death at her feet, and she was too exhausted to think clearly enough to come up with a way to keep Rosie alive. Kyra felt again like things could get no worse.

That's when she heard the voices behind her. "She's here. Close by." Ned.

"Spread out the troops, Sergeant." Hal's voice was so cold, so sure of himself.

"You heard him!" a harsh man's voice barked out. "Fan out!"

Kyra gingerly scooped up Rosie and ran as quickly and as quietly as she could in the opposite direction, tears streaming down her face, her body racked with fatigue.

It took a good long while before the voices faded. But Kyra didn't think for a moment that she'd lost them. They were right on her trail.

She didn't dare look down to see if Rosie was still with her. She convinced herself that she could feel the little pig breathing, but couldn't bring herself to check.

She'd been jogging along for hours, feeling so tired it was an effort to keep her eyes on the trail and her legs moving, when the trail ended in the shallows of a wicked-looking bog. It appeared from nowhere and stretched in front of her as far as she could see, a swampy mess of fallen trees bearded with moss, and low-lying fog clinging to the water, and the stink of things decomposing in murk.

Kyra tried to pull herself up short at the marshy edge.

But she was unsteady on her feet from running for hours straight. And instead of stopping, she tripped over her own feet and tumbled directly into the mucky water.

Only it wasn't mucky water at all. The ground beneath her looked exactly like regular dirt. It was regular dirt.

Kyra raised herself up, keeping Rosie tucked under her arm, and looked around. As she got to her feet, she could see the bog take form in the air, coalescing out of nothingness. She felt the cold cling of the fog, smelled the stench of rotting things, heard the lapping of the swamp water. Then she ducked her head down and watched it all vanish.

The bog was an illusion.

She stumbled forward, hunched over, working her way deeper into the bog glamour, knowing the magic of it would help confuse Ned's tag.

Kyra had read about such large-scale illusions but never seen one: it took many magic workers to pull one off, and finding that many powerful people together was rare. Potioners' schools, or witches' covens, or- Gypsies.

Kyra saw the glimmer of the caravans' lanterns before she saw any people-their wagons were ringed around a large fire. She staggered toward the nearest wagon, but it only seemed to get farther and farther away the more steps she took, until finally she fell to her knees, the lantern light an ever-distant glow.

Of course they'd have other protection spells, she thought, realizing her confusion was another ward placed by the Gypsies on the caravan.

It was her last thought before she collapsed in exhaustion.

A SCENT OF INCENSE and honey was floating on the air.

Mmmm...honey. Kyra's stomach growled in response. She was lying on her back on a soft pallet, and when she opened her eyes she was staring up at a brilliant multicolored cloth roof lit by sunshine. Images of red and gold b.u.t.terflies flew among the flowers on the ceiling tapestry.

The warmth of the sun made her want to shut her eyes again and sink back into sleep. But then a thought darted into her brain and p.r.i.c.ked her skin.

Rosie!

She sat up and looked around, but the pig was nowhere in sight.

Struggling to get out of bed, Kyra felt warm hands rest on top of her shoulders. "It's okay," a melodious voice said. "Your little friend is fine."

Kyra turned and faced the woman who spoke. "Fine? But she was bleeding to death!"

"It's been taken care of." The old woman looked like a dragon, her skin wrinkled and scaly, her gaze glinty-eyed and wily.

"How?" Kyra asked, then knew the answer. "Potions." Her insides relaxed. "You must be a potioner."

The woman nodded. "I'm Nadya." She handed a steaming mug to Kyra, and the honey smell intensified. "Drink this, and I'll get her for you."

The liquid was warm and sweet and filled her with a delicious buzzing. Kyra felt a dull shock when she realized she was actually too worn out to work out what potions could have been put in it. She just didn't care.

The woman came around with a bundled-up Rosie. "She needs sleep after the healing she's had."

Kyra hugged the bundle close and was completely embarra.s.sed when two tears plopped down on the sleeping pig. She brushed her eyes with one hand as Rosie snuggled in with a contented grunt. "Thank you so much. I thought I'd lost her."

The woman's amber eyes met Kyra's olive ones. "It was my pleasure."

Then, the pig clasped against her chest, Kyra fell back into a deep sleep.

Kyra woke the next morning with a feeling of panic running through her-she needed to set off again immediately. She turned over and discovered Nadya working at a table across the room, mixing up a brew that smelled of mint and lavender.

Kyra shifted Rosie in her lap and sat up, stretching her arms above her head. "Nadya, I can't thank you enough for what you've done. If there's anything I can do to repay you before we leave-"

"You aren't leaving today," the older woman said.

"But-"

"If you want your friend to heal, you will stay put. I've done what I can, but she needs more time."

Kyra looked down at the little pig in her lap: eyes shut, Rosie let out a happy huff of breath and scrunched up tighter.

Kyra couldn't leave her behind again.

"And if you, too, want to heal, you will rest. Here." Nadya gave her a mug of the minty, lavender mixture, and without even questioning what it was, Kyra drank deep.

"Nadya," Kyra said the next day, after she woke and felt fully herself for the first time in...days? No-months. "I have to leave."

"Come with me," Nadya commanded.

Kyra followed her out of the tent, Rosie napping in her arms. Around them, the encampment was alive with a quiet, happy industry. The men fixed wagons and scrubbed laundry in a nearby stream and talked, while a group of women prepared to go off into the woods to hunt berries and small game. The Gypsies' small wooden homes were all on wheels, but they were set up like a village. There was a pleasant rhythm and flow to it all, and Kyra felt as though she and Rosie had been living there for years instead of mere days. The Gypsies had been driven out of Wexford in advance of the festival, Nadya told her, and they were camping here for a spell until they figured out where to go next.

Nadya sat down across from Kyra under an enormous tree at the edge of the camp.

"You don't have to leave," she said, crossing her legs in front of her and picking some sewing out of her bag. "You could come with us when we move north. A second potioner would be a blessing."

So Nadya knew Kyra was a potioner-it was probably obvious from her potions bag. Kyra absently stroked Rosie's snout, and the pig grunted in contentment. "There's something I should tell you. There's a tracking potion on me. There are people looking for me, and if I don't leave soon, they'll find me here." The moment Hal and Ned figured out how to find her through the illusion of the bog, the whole tribe would be in danger for harboring a fugitive. The thought of the Gypsies wounded and torn away from the sun, cast into the cold and wet of the palace dungeon, sent chills through her.

Nadya didn't even look up from her st.i.tches. "There is no tracking mark on you anymore. I took it off when we first found you."

"There's no way to remove a tracking potion, and believe me, I was tagged."

Nadya's eyes twinkled. "It's always fun to spend time with young people." She shook her head. "Always think they know everything. There are more things in this world that you don't know than you will ever imagine."

"How? Did you concoct a counter-potion?"

"No, actually, it was a bit of witchcraft."

Kyra heard herself gasp. "I thought you were a potioner."

"Now, don't go getting that look of utter fear on your face-it's a very uncommon bit of witchcraft. You aren't going to find many other witches who know it, if any."

"But a witch can't-"

"I can't be both witch and potioner?"

"No." Kyra shook her head violently.

"Of course I can. And so can you." Nadya picked up another piece of cloth. "Just touch the spark inside of you for a moment, and you'll know that what I say is true."

Kyra couldn't help herself; she immediately tried to shut down the feeling from that place inside her-the place she'd tried to eradicate. "How did you know?"

"I'm a Seer too."

Kyra picked up the pillowcase Nadya had sewn and ran her fingers over the small perfect st.i.tches. "What coven did you train with?"

"I didn't. Not in the way you're thinking. I spent time with a Gypsy potioner, and some more time with a Gypsy witch." Nadya set her work down and smiled at Kyra. "Look, I don't know what you're running from, and I haven't pried using my Sight. But I can offer you shelter and training, and I wouldn't be surprised if you found yourself some companionship among the tribe, either."

Kyra made to stand up. "I can't-"

"Sit. There's no hurry to make a decision," Nadya said. "I'm not saying it's an easy life. Moving around as much as we do has its challenges, but it might be better than where you're coming from."

Kyra trembled all over. The horizon stretched out in front of her.

A new life.

But...

"You know what helps me make decisions?" Nadya said. "A good sweat. Nothing clears the mind like a really hot steamy sauna."

Kyra felt completely naked when, after dinner that night, she wrapped herself in nothing but a sheet and made her way across the encampment to a small caravan with smoke pouring out of the chimney. But no one gave her a second glance.

She stepped inside the sauna and was smacked by a wave of intense heat. A bench ran along one wall, a wood stove across from it. The door closed, leaving her in complete darkness. She sat on the bench and her eyes began to adjust. The stove flamed and crackled in front of her, radiating more heat than she had ever felt in her life.

Kyra had never especially liked heat, always sought shade on hot days, and never liked overheated rooms. But this was different. The steamy heat overwhelmed her, and soon an extraordinary feeling spread through her limbs. She lay down on the long bench, stretching her body out full length.

The instant her head touched the bench, she felt herself falling back-back into a memory.

It was after she'd left Hal and moved back to Wexford to be closer to Ariana. After she'd had her vision.

She was standing in front of the queen, in the throne room, her hands clutched tight behind her as she tried to think of the best way to explain what she had to say. "Your Highness, I'm worried about Ariana."

The queen quirked a razor-thin eyebrow but said nothing.

"She's not herself at all. There's something seriously wrong with her." The queen's eyes pierced Kyra. Queen Lilly, the Clear-Sighted One, seemed to look right into Kyra's soul.

"Did Ariana send you? Is this her latest scheme to get out of marriage and her duty to her country?" Obviously the queen had no idea what was going on with Ari.

"Your Highness," Kyra said, "that's just it. Ariana doesn't want to cancel the wedding at all. She seems to be looking forward to it-and we both know that's not her. Have you seen the new dress she's designing? It's bright pink and covered in more ruffles and bows than you'd find on all of the n.o.blewomen's dresses put together."

The queen's response was dismissive. "Not everyone wears green to their wedding, Kyra. Pink has a long tradition. Do you object to a tribute to the G.o.ddess of Love?"

Kyra wanted to scream. The queen was completely missing the point. Was a gaudy pink dress the sort of dress Ariana would ever wear on purpose? "It isn't just the dress. She barely acknowledges me. I'm lucky to be invited to sit in with her sewing circle. The one time I tried to talk to her alone, she pushed me away. Now she won't even look at me."

"Ariana is growing up, Kyra. I appreciate the friendship you've shown her over the years, but right now perhaps it's the ladies in her sewing circle she needs. She's about to become a married woman and take the first step to ascending the throne. The free-spirited life you lead doesn't fit who she must become right now."

Kyra stared at her.

The queen smiled unexpectedly. "She'll come back to you in the end. Just give her time. Ariana will no doubt see the value in keeping the kingdom's leading potions weapons master close to her."