14. Eleven

Eleven

L ily wiped her face with her hand, smudging the dirt from her fingers on her cheek. The sun was warm, but the humid air made her feel sticky. She got to her feet, dusting her skirts and robes in the same movement. She had been hard at work in the greenhouse all morning, pulling weeds and harvesting the few plants or their components that were ready.

Percy was useless and ended up digging a hole in the corner to bite the wooden edge of the planter box.

She carried the few bundles of leaves, sticks, and roots to the desk to prepare them as necessary. She laid out the roots to dry, stripped the outside of the sticks to put the bark into a vial and left it open, then placed the remainder of the stick inside of a separate vial, which she sealed.

Percy trotted over to the door and scratched, then peered up at her and let out a whine.

"Do you need some water?" she asked.

His big chocolate eyes blinked at her uncertainly.

"I do too." She wiped her hands on her robes and opened the door. "Maybe we can go on a walk through the castle too. I need to walk."

Percy sprinted outside and into the open space between the greenhouse and castle.

She laughed and walked toward the building while Percy spun in a circle. "Your water is in here, silly!" She guided him to the kitchen door.

He hopped up and nipped at her fingers playfully.

Lily entered the kitchen and filled a bowl with water. "Percy, come." She set the bowl on the floor and heard the clicking of the puppy's toenails as he excitedly scampered back to her. "There you go. You silly thing." She chuckled and gave him scratches down his back as he lapped at the water.

As soon as Percy was done getting his drink, he turned his head and licked her hand.

"All right. Let's go on a little walk." She scooped him up, nuzzled him on the head, and then set him back down so they could wander the castle for a few minutes.

Lily's chores were the same on Thursdays—practice her newest spells for two hours, tend to the garden and restock the herbs as necessary, go on a short walk, and then spend the rest of the day working on her alchemy. Wednesdays were for taking and restocking inventory they couldn't grow in the greenhouse, and every day had cleaning and practicing magic to some degree. Of course, her daily chores and especially spell practice had been greatly disrupted with the arrival of the prisoners from Vasha.

Percy trotted alongside her as they walked, darted ahead, and then ran back to her, his tail wagging the entire time.

They were passing the hallway where she knew Liam's office was when she heard voices drifting through an open doorway. She really should apologize for slapping him. And he did say he wanted to meet Percy. Lily walked to the door and raised her hand to knock, but paused.

"He is in bad shape, Liam."

"I know. I saw, in case you forgot," Liam answered sharply.

Lily leaned closer, her interest piqued.

"I know it's wrong, but we need the location," Liam continued. "How else are we supposed to obtain it?"

"I heard what your father said about executing them once he gets the location. Are you going to allow that?"

"Of course not, Takai! But I have to be careful. This is my father . My family. If there's any chance of getting my mom back, I have to take it."

"And why aren't the elves the ones doing this? It's their king and queen you're trying to free, not ours. What could possibly benefit our kingdom in attacking Vasha?"

Lily peeked through the slit to peer inside.

Liam sat at his desk, massaging his temple, but she couldn't see Takai. "My father has been making new arrangements with Yoresh, Wester, and Sraylin. Yoresh claims that Vasha is rich in iron deposits. Back then, Yoresh was supposed to take the throne in Vasha and open trading. Quite frankly, I don't care who is in charge. I just want my mother back."

"Imagine how much better our alliance with Vasha could be if you released their king and prince. Better yet, escort them home! Walk alongside Asher and build a friendship and I bet he will tell you the location of the tree."

"You can't possibly know that," Liam objected.

Takai heaved a sigh. "You're right. I can't. But I also can't let your father fallow through with executing them."

"Takai, such talk is treason," he warned.

Percy let out a bark at Lily's feet, clearly annoyed with being ignored. She'd completely forgotten about him and scooped him into her arms.

"Hold a moment," Prince Liam said.

Lily knew he was headed her way and ran down the hallway and around a corner before she could be caught eavesdropping. "You rascal," she scolded softly.

He caught the tail of her braid and tugged.

Lily set Percy down once she reached the tower and walked into the experiment room to work on a new potion. She paused with her hand on the door. A cot had been moved to the room, and there was a form lying on it.

Her heart stopped and her mind reeled back to the conversation she'd had with Asher that morning. He was going to be moved to Wester's tower. Lily could only hope she had arrived before they had tortured him again.

She rushed to Asher's side, a flurry of emotions she didn't understand arguing inside of her.

Asher lay on his stomach breathing softly with sleep, but he didn't appear to be any more physically wounded than before. She crouched and gently brushed aside his hair to see his face.

His eyes darted behind his eyelids until they slowly opened. His eyebrows dipped for a second, his eyes distant. He finally recognized who was in front of him and licked his lips.

"You're in the wizard tower. Have they hurt you any more?"

He swallowed and shook his head.

Lily didn't know why, but she grasped his hand. She barely knew him, but she wanted him to feel better, that there was hope and she could help and everything would be okay—even if it wouldn't.

This time, when their hands touched, she was able to see the energy surrounding him. It was lavender, an energy color she had never seen other than in Wester. A warmth filled her entire body and she looked at Asher differently. She knew him. She'd known him her entire life. And yet they'd only just met. The aura around him grew warm, almost hot, and she dropped his hand with a gasp.

"Who are you, Lily?" Asher asked.

"I . . . don't know," she replied honestly.

"Where did Wester save you from? What city did you grow up in?"

"A farm town that was so small it didn't have a name. Why?"

He looked his hand. "You just feel . . . familiar."

"You felt it too?"

He nodded, his mismatched eyes studying her.

She looked around the room, as if the answer might be written on the wall. In truth, it made her uncomfortable, the way he looked at her. "It may have to do with our energies. I don't know. Let me fetch you some water." Lily quickly hurried to the lower level of the wizard tower and retrieved some water for Asher before immediately returning to his side.

He'd adjusted so he was sitting up with his bare feet resting on the floor, but his shoulders were slumped forward. He still had no shirt on. Percy's paws were on Asher's knee, and Asher was lazily petting his head and ears.

"Here," she offered. "Your shoulder looks like it's healing nicely. And your back."

"Thank you." He accepted the water and took a long drink. Asher looked at Percy, letting the puppy lick his hand. "Do you know what the wizard is going to do to me?" He lifted his gaze to Lily.

Lily wished she did, but she had never seen Wester perform any magic like this.

"Lily?"

She looked at him. "I don't know, exactly. He has a lot of books on memories and the mind, and I believe those spells are his area of expertise. But I've personally never seen him do any of those spells."

He carefully leaned his back against the wall. "Are you going to help him?"

"No," Lily answered before thinking. Wester had mentioned at dinner that she was going to be taking on more responsibility, and she wondered if this might be one of her new tasks. She really hoped not.

Asher took another drink of his water while Percy jumped up onto the cot beside him and climbed into his lap. Asher's eyes darted to the door and back at her.

Lily folded her arms. "I have noticed that you keep looking at the door. Are you thinking of fleeing?"

He didn't answer. But she noticed that his wrists weren't chained for the first time, which meant he could transform if he wanted to. That thought made her uncomfortable.

She glanced over her shoulder at the door. "Even if you escaped the tower, you would have to find your way out of the castle, and then you have to make it through the streets and the guarded outer wall."

"Are you trying to discourage me? Or have you thought of an escape plan yourself?"

Lily's ears grew hot and she turned to him. Of course she'd dreamed of adventures, like those in the stories she read. Didn't everyone? But to have those dreams brought up by a young man she'd just met made her feel...vulnerable. She frowned at him. "I would imagine they'll be keeping a closer eye on you, Prince Asher."

His eyebrow twitched. "You say that with accusation. You didn't know before?"

"I found out when they mentioned your father was a king."

Asher's brows dipped. "You truly didn't know? Does it matter?"

"I would have been more respectful." She ran her hands over her robes.

His lip tugged in a little grin, and Lily's heart sputtered.

The main door of the tower slammed shut, and Lily quickly made her way to the experiment room door. Wester never slammed the doors.

"Are you ready to torture him some more?" King Barith said.

"I've been preparing myself all morning," Wester replied. "I'm ready to prod his mind, yes. I tried a little while he was resting, but all I can see is him hiding under the rubble of a destroyed home, trembling in fear. I see the black shadows grab on to Sraylin and drag him away, and then I see a white flash of light. I cannot see where in Vasha this takes place. But I may be able to see past that memory. Which is why I brought him here. Lily's skills in alchemy are flourishing. She has made a potion I believe can help us move past these memories quickly and enable Asher to see if the home he hid under was ever rebuilt. If it was, we can dig through these memories more easily and find the tree's location. If not, I will have to consult my spell books for some more...difficult spells."

Lily took a step back, her breaths short and chest tight. The potion she'd been asked to make, that she had been practicing for weeks, was for this ? For torture? Wester had planned the potion for this purpose? This wasn't the Wester she knew, whom she'd grown to admire and respect.

She heard footsteps and quickly looked around, eyes pausing on Asher. Wester had revealed a side of himself she wouldn't have believed had she not heard it from his own lips.

Asher's face had paled a little and he swallowed the rest of the water. "It's to be torture, then." He patted Percy on the head, his jaw tight and all hints of the earlier smile gone.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know," Lily blurted.

The door opened and Lily took a deep breath, hoping the wizard and king couldn't see she was afraid.

Wester made eye contact with her and smiled. "Ah, Lily, you made it back before I could speak with you."

"I came to practice my spells and didn't realize Asher was already here," she said, gesturing to Asher. "His shoulder seems to be healing very well. I'm impressed by that stronger healing potion. We should continue to have it in our supplies." If Wester was an expert in minds, she really hoped he couldn't read hers in that moment.

Wester nodded. "I agree. I mentioned to King Barith that your skills in alchemy are just blossoming." The pride in his eyes revealed to Lily that he had no apprehension at having found her in the experiment room with the prince.

Lily looked over his shoulder to the king, who had followed Wester into the room. "Do you need me to stay?" She looked back up at Wester.

"I do. I want you to get that special potion you've been working on. The black one." Wester turned to face Asher.

He had moved so silently, Wester hadn't heard Asher rise to his feet. He stood with his back straight, hands in fists, and eyes narrowed. His muscles were taut. For the first time, Lily saw the prince in him. Although he was focused on Wester, she knew he watched her from the corner of his eye.

Because she'd told him she wouldn't help Wester torture him.

She couldn't swallow, her throat was too dry. She turned to the cabinet and opened the doors. Her fingers closed around the vial of blue-and-purple swirling potion. She had two choices: drop it on the way there, shatter it, protect Asher from whatever results could happen. Or she could hand it over to Wester.

She chewed her bottom lip. "Wester, we haven't had a chance to even test it to see if there are any side—"

"Which is why we're testing it now."

As she began to walk back to him, a warm feeling wrapped around her and a thought entered her mind. If you don't give him the potion, Wester will continue to do whatever it takes to get the answer, including physical harm. They will do whatever it takes to get their answers.

Lily hesitated. "This potion won't hurt him?"

"Certainly not." Wester held out his hand.

Lily glanced at Asher and reluctantly held the vial out to Wester.

Asher's jaw tightened. She had betrayed him.

Wester stepped closer to Asher and held out the vial. "You can drink it willingly or I can force it. Your choice."

Asher snatched it from the wizard's hand and flung it across the room as hard as he could. The glass vial ricocheted off the wall and hit the ground, shattering.

Percy jumped off of the bed and began barking at the broken glass.

Lily's hands flew to her mouth and she stared with wide eyes as a little puff of black smoke dissipated from the spilled potion. She ran over and snatched him up into her arms before he could lick it or step on the shards.

Wester heaved a sigh. "You truly want to make things difficult."

Asher scoffed. "Did you really think I would let you torture me?"

The wizard withdrew an identical vial from his sleeve. "Did you really think I wouldn't expect you to pull something like that?"

King Barith chuckled.

Asher's lips tightened.

"Is there really no good way for us to get this information without causing him more pain?" Lily blurted.

All three of them looked at her.

"He's already been through so much, Wester."

"Lily, the secret is hidden in his mind. He truly doesn't recall, but this potion will help me enhance my magic and find that hidden secret." He shrugged. "You may find him attractive, but he is an enemy to our people. If you can't do your duty, that is disappointing to me, and we will have to deal with it at a later time."

Lily held Percy close to her chest, embarrassed and nervous.

"Let's try this again, Asher. Drink the potion." Wester held it out.

Asher looked at the vial and then glanced at Lily. She didn't know what he was thinking, or why he stared at her so intensely, but he finally accepted the vial, pulled off the cork, and swallowed the liquid. Instantly, his face puckered and he shook his head. "It's sour," he mumbled.

Lily stepped closer to him, but stopped herself.

According to her potion book, the potion was supposed to relax the subject and prevent them from being allowed to block things from their memories. In other words, the effects of the potion created doors between memories. That was what the book had said.

Asher stumbled to the side. "I feel . . . strange."

Lily set Percy on the ground and closed the space between them. She grabbed Asher's arms and guided him to sit on the bed. "Lie down."

"You said you wouldn't help," he whispered and looked at her with pain in his eyes.

"I...I'm sorry. I don't know what else to do. I will do what I can to keep you safe," she whispered back to him.

Asher's different-colored eyes slowly closed.

"You already care for him and you've only known him two days." When she looked at Wester, he was scowling. "I thought you would be smarter than that."

"You asked me to take care of him," Lily replied and straightened.

" That isn't what I asked." He motioned his hand between them. "I asked you to heal his shoulder, nothing more.

"I don't have feelings for him, I pity him!" Lily said firmly. "What you are both doing is inhumane!"

King Barith slowly raised an eyebrow. "And you have no say in anything we do because you're a woman and nothing more than an apprentice. Move aside, girl."

Lily stood her ground, looking directly at her master. "You've kept me in the dark on many of your intentions, including the purpose of this potion. At dinner, you revealed secrets to me and said you would let me know more. What else are you keeping from me?"

"You insolent little brat!" the king scolded.

Lily stepped back, bumping her leg against Asher's bed.

Wester stuck his arm out, blocking King Barith from advancing on her. "Let me calm her. You're powerful, Lily. More powerful than you even realize. I have been doing everything I can to help you grow and control those powers. You're destined for a future where you can be a leader more important than any queen or king."

"How can anyone be more important?"

He shook his head. "You're asking the wrong question. Lily, you have more talent in magic than anyone I have ever met. I'm trying to develop that within you."

"By having me make potions you can use to torture the prince of another land?" She pointed to Asher. "I don't understand."

Wester stepped forward and took her hands. "I will tell you all you need to know, but we don't know how long the effects of the potion will last. We need to act now, and I will answer everything after. All right?"

She frowned and reluctantly said, "Okay."

He nodded and let go of her, then took the chair from the desk and sat down at Asher's head. He placed his hands on the sides of Asher's head with his thumbs on Asher's forehead and his middle fingers on his temples.

Wester closed his eyes and took a deep breath.