23. Aurelia

Chapter 23

Aurelia

S ometime around midmorning, the first gardener entered the work shed. Delaney, a middle-aged woman with brown skin, a moderate build, and zero tolerance for me, stopped at the end of my table. She was an incredibly smart person who knew an impressive amount about plants and various elixirs.

She ignored the glass canisters all simmering along the workstation and said, "I'm supposed to be nice to you."

Vemar glanced at her, quirked an eyebrow, and went back to watching the end canister, which was turning an alarming shade of red.

"My old coworker said that to me once," I replied. "He then went on to a lifetime of regret and misery. You may as well just be grumpy and try to ignore me. It would be better for us both."

Vemar started to laugh silently.

Delaney stared at me for a moment, seemed to realize I was dead serious, and nodded. "Works for me."

I'd have to ask Weston who said she was supposed to be nice to me, and why.

Arleth came in not long after Delaney, giving me a curt hello. I responded in kind, and then we ignored each other as well, going about our work in peaceful harmony. Except for one thing, of course: it seemed my work was a helluva lot more volatile than theirs. I'd never worked with anyone else, but my style seemed somewhat dangerous compared to theirs. Smoke and fire and fizzing happened all the time when I was creating. They kept looking over at me and at each other. I could tell they were wary.

Sometime around noon, after Vemar had brought me some lunch and ate beside me, Delaney looked around in a huff. A cursory glance didn't offer much insight, and Vemar ignored it entirely, so I went back to my work. After a foot stomp, though, I figured it was better to break the silence.

"Is something wrong?"

She was looking out the opened door. "Someone is supposed to be here to relieve me. Arleth is in a meeting. She won't be back in time to complete this elixir."

I hadn't even realized Arleth had left. But now I saw her corner by the two bubbling cauldrons was empty.

"Can I help?" I asked.

Her gaze was annoyed and speculative. "Can you follow directions?"

"Yes."

She pondered it for a moment. "Pay attention. Write this down."

Without looking up, Vemar held out a sheet of blank paper. I took it, readying my pencil. "Ready."

"In ten minutes, these dried leaves here"—she pointed to a dish on the table—"need to go into that cauldron there." She pointed again. "Those leaves"—point—"go into that one. Got that?"

I spoke as I wrote. "Ten minutes, put . . . leaves . . . next to cauldrons . . . into cauldrons. Got it."

"You do not stir them. You just drop the leaves on top of the boiling water and let it seep in by itself."

"Drop leaves . . . into pot. Do not stir. Perfect."

"The water needs to keep its slow boil. It's absolutely necessary."

"Tend fire. Okay."

"Can you handle that?" she asked me in a firm tone.

It was very hard to keep my sarcasm in check on this one. "Setting a timer and throwing some leaves into a pot? Yes, I can handle that."

"Even I could handle that," Vemar murmured.

Her look said she wasn't so sure, but she left anyway.

"If I was guarding one of them, I'd be bored out of my fucking mind," Vemar murmured. I laughed.

Before the timer had run out, another presence pulled my focus away from what I was doing.

I glanced up to find the queen, dressed down in her "work" attire that was still nicer than anything anyone in Granny's village had owned. Behind her came Hannon, his eyes filled with a strange sort of intensity, and it made my gut pinch. Something about it felt... that we were more than mere friends, somehow. More expectant, maybe. Deeper. The feelings made me pause, and my wolf growled within me.

The memory of last night was still so fresh, so delicious. The way Weston had left those secret hints to help me find him had been perfect. The new insight about his thoughtfulness. And the way he'd made love, so tender and careful and devoted, had swept my breath away. Something about Hannon's behavior right now felt disrespectful to that. It felt invasive in a way I didn't like.

He caught my wary look immediately, surely feeling all of that. His eyes were as soft as his smile, his understanding plain. It was really handy that he spoke in emotion.

"I'm sorry," I told him, thankful I didn't need to explain. I wouldn't even know what to say. It wasn't like he'd done anything specific.

Finley looked at me in confusion before realizing I was speaking to her brother. She furrowed her brow at him, shook her head, and went to check on the elixirs.

"Don't be," Hannon said. "I enjoy your company. Nothing has to change but the intent."

"And the flirting," Finley murmured.

Hannon laughed. "Fine, maybe the flirting. I look forward to our continued non-flirting friendship, Aurelia."

I stared at him with my mouth open. Was it rude to say I hadn't been flirting? I didn't think I even knew how. I'd never done it before.

He laughed again, so I just dropped it. I was relieved he understood, because I really did love talking to him. He was such a rock-solid human.

"I do too, Hannon. I mean that," I said.

"Her very first real friend was Hadriel." Vemar lifted his eyebrows at Hannon. "Let that sink in."

Even Finley laughed at that, and then looked around. "Where is everyone?"

"Gone." I pointed at the doorway as Hannon did a sniff test of the air.

"What's that smell?" Hannon asked.

My timer dinged, and I got up. Vemar immediately occupied my place and tended to the fire on the glass canister.

"That, my friend, is poison." I excused myself around him, then Finley, and reached for the leaves.

"Whoa, whoa." Finley put her hand out to stop me. "What are you doing?"

"She's fucking the leaves into the pot," Vemar said.

"Per Delaney's instructions," I added.

Finley's brow furrowed, but she let me, watching as I dropped the leaves into one cauldron before moving to the other. That done, I checked the fires, just to reiterate to everyone that I was paying attention, and went back to Vemar.

"Look at you! You got the hang of that no problem," I told him, patting him on the back. "You're a natural."

"I think I have found my calling," he responded.

"Don't say that—you'll be killed for it."

"I'd like to see them try."

"Sorry," Finley interrupted, "did you say that smell was poison?"

"Oh. Yes." I sat down next to Vemar, pulling away the pot lid so the interior could cool. "The toxicity is at a much lower level now, though. It'll be fine for you to breathe. We haven't thrown up in..."

"A couple hours," Vemar supplied.

"Yeah, a couple hours. It was a little unbearable earlier, but we made it through using your cure-all dragon weed?—"

Vemar held up a finger. "Respect the dragon."

I laughed. He was fun to poke. "Sorry, cure-all Everlass elixir. Arleth and Delaney left for a bit, but once those products were finished, we were able to air out the work shed. I do think it might be better to put me elsewhere, though. I think I'm too disruptive for their style."

"It's good for them. Tell her about the taste of the cure-all," Vemar said.

"Oh, right. Honestly, I think you should put some spices in that brew. It is incredibly bland, and the aftertaste is not great. A few spices shouldn't change any of the properties and would make a world of difference on the palate."

"She would know—she's an excellent cook," Vemar said. He leaned back. "There. I think that's it."

"Awesome." I checked his work, agreed, and pulled off the top of that pot to reduce the temperature.

"Sorry..." Finley braced against the table and cocked her head. "Can you just..." She pointed between all my stuff. "Just take me through all this, would you please?"

"Yeah, of course." I explained what I'd surmised about Granny's coating, how she'd gotten the idea, and what I thought she'd likely used to re-create it but make it stronger. "Basically, they just doubled up on some of the ingredients. I think , anyway. I've got these here to test." I pointed at one of the finished products. "I've got a lot of other tests, as well. Different ingredients, different amounts. Once I get a similar recipe, I'll start to refine. Now, the problem is going to be the finished product. I will very likely make a better version of Granny's coating. It will either be less poisonous or not poisonous at all, and either just as addictive or more so. This is because I know how to do my job, and whatever hack she is employing does not."

"Wait, how do you know what the poison is? A better question is, how are you making the poison?"

I explained the characteristics of some of the chemicals and how they reacted when heated, their properties changing from something that'd make a person mildly sick to killing them outright. The amount of heat and pressure applied was the catalyst.

"Previously I had thought it was the accumulation of the coating's chemicals building up in a person's body," I said. "And that is still true. But I also think it depends on the batch. If the person making it isn't careful, that product could be a killer all by itself."

"Is there a way to tell?" Finley asked, looking over my setup.

"For me? Yes. I just need to get some new supplies. I blew up all my others. For the person buying the product? None. And that doesn't factor in that semi-toxic coloring. I'm not sure what that paint is supposed to be used for, but it shouldn't be on fucking food. I have no idea what Granny is even thinking. Has she lost her mind? Her pure ignorance means she's creating problems that shouldn't exist!"

"Breathe," Vemar said slowly. "Breathe."

I took a deep breath as instructed. "Right. Sorry. Anyway, I can probably make something to test the toxicity level, but what's the point? It's just one more thing for people to buy that they very likely can't afford. I'd rather create something that can eat away that coating, thus making the product safer. But again, what's the point? It's yet another thing to buy, it'll make the product soggy and gross, and there might be some lasting toxicity. Those aren't realistic solutions."

Finley put a hand on her hip. "Then what is the solution?"

I shook my head, waving my hand to clear smoke. "Find the culprit and kill them?"

"Sounds familiar," Vemar murmured.

I huffed out a laugh and scratched my head. "Maybe I can create something that works much faster to stave off the addiction. But then again, it's not actually a solution. The danger is still there. Maybe people won't buy as much, but they'll still buy it."

"Can we negate the danger?"

"Possibly. Or maybe you can, if I find a better way to explain what creates it. You're the medicine woman, not me."

"Or . . ." Vemar leaned back and put his hands behind his head, flaring his big arms out like wings. "You flood the market with safe, non-habit-forming products that look messy but don't kill anyone."

"Non-addictive? Some products are habit forming for some people..." I muttered.

Finley scoffed. "We are not going to fight drugs with more drugs, Vemar. Don't be daft."

"Why not?" he asked. "Make it cheaper and make it a competitor to Granny. It'll dry up her business. Combine that with her not having quality product—since we kidnapped the original drugmaker—and that might just put her out of business. I mean, look. Some of the stuff Aurelia makes might as well be medicine. A relaxant? I tried one and barely saw a difference."

"You're pretty calm when you're not in a rage," I told him.

"And why would I want to calm a rage? I wouldn't. The replacement for the pregnancy tea? Not a drug. The product that makes you happy? I hate it. It made me very lovey, and I am not interested in hugging Liron, who immediately got the wrong idea. But if distributed by the right people who handle the more dangerous medicines? I can see it being necessary for some people. Then just throw the hallucinogens into the shadow market, put an actual warning on them, instructions on the wrapper that tell you how to get out of a bad trip, and you're good. I really don't see the problem here. Aurelia's product has been around for years. No one cared until three years ago when it started killing people."

"He really does make a lot of sense," Hannon told Finley.

She chewed her lip as she looked at her brother.

I pointed at the fire beneath the cauldrons. "My instructions note to tend that fire. Also, you all have modern materials in the other work sheds. Why are you still stoking fires here?"

Finley didn't answer me, just stood looking out the door.

"Look." I held up my hands as Hannon stood and headed for the cauldrons. "That is a pretty radical proposal. Let's just leave it in the air for now. Let me first figure out how to make the coating, okay? There could very well be a solution I haven't yet thought of. Or maybe I'll find something in my journals that'll help us locate the other production area. We can try to get records of cure-all Everlass elixirs being sold."

That snapped Finley out of her reverie. "Why would that be relevant?"

Vemar looked at me with raised eyebrows. "She didn't see us throwing up all over the place earlier."

"Whoever is making Granny's coating is doing it at the expense of their personal health," I told Finley. "They will need large quantities of something to reduce the sickness, or Granny's people would be dying. And honestly, maybe they are. If we can figure out the general vicinity of the production area, large shipments of elixir should lead us to the target."

Finley turned to me with an unreadable expression, and, for some reason, the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.