Chapter 25

25

The mother of thy mate can determine your fate.

~ Kar'ruk proverb

Kaylina and Silana didn't speak while they were explaining tasting notes and taking orders from the guests, but every time they ended up in the kitchen together, Kaylina told her sister about her experiences with the plant and druid magic. She also explained that she now believed the green-haired man who'd visited Mom years ago had not only been her father but a full-blooded Daygarii. She emphasized what she'd done and seen firsthand rather than mentioning that the plant gave her visions. Her sister wouldn't believe in those, however accurate and prophetic they'd thus far been.

Now and then, Frayvar chimed in when he wasn't too busy carefully cutting and placing his food on plates, then wiping the rims to ensure that not a stray speck of sauce marred what he called the frames for his masterpieces . Every time they carried plates out for him, he rushed to the door and held it so they could make it to the courtyard tables without jostling his precisely crafted meals.

Kaylina expected her sister to be more skeptical of everything and to balk at the idea of magical blood and Kaylina having a Daygarii ancestor. The way Silana remained quiet through most of the explaining, except to glance often at her with pursed lips, did nothing to ameliorate that expectation.

But in the end, while they poured flights of mead in the kitchen for guests who'd laid down hundred liviti bills, asking to try every variety in the cellar, Silana said, "You were always different. Our whole family is a little quirky, with Grandma the Head Quirk, even though she'd glower in exasperation at you if you said anything like that, so I never thought much about it, but Grandpa's hounds did always love you and show off for you. And then there were those stray cats that would show up at your window and follow you every time you did chores outside. Oh, and remember the summer the jaguar was sleeping on the roof over your room?"

"I'd actually forgotten about that."

"Mom thought it was going to eat you. Grandpa said it would be fine. Grandma hired an artist to draw it and said it would have to become a mascot if it stayed. She's always the business-minded opportunist."

"Yeah."

"And the green-haired guy being a druid… I never would have guessed that, but he really didn't seem fully human. And Mom was so into him. After he left—" Silana set down the bottle she'd been pouring from. "Like I said before, that's when Mom got depressed and started taking the tarmav weed. I'm pretty sure. We could ask Grandma, but she was more of a normal mother before that. She took me to the beach to play and taught me to read and write before school started. After he left, she seemed lost, and she forgot how to be happy. Or even normal ."

"Normal is overrated," Kaylina murmured.

"I'm not surprised you would say that."

"I'd say that too," Frayvar added from the hearth.

Silana gave them both exasperated looks, then called in one of the servers they'd hired to help for the night, and they carried the mead flights out together.

"This all reminds me…" Frayvar set his stew pot on a back hook and walked to a drawer. "We've been so busy that I forget to tell you I got a chance to research that rubbing you gave me."

It took Kaylina a few seconds to remember what he was talking about.

At her blank expression, he said, "The rubbing made with a horrific pollen that made me sneeze up and down every aisle of the library when I was looking up druid runes."

"Don't you sneeze up and down every aisle every time you go to the library?" Kaylina joined him at the drawer as he pulled out the rubbing and a page of notes. "You're allergic to dust mites, after all."

"Usually, I only sneeze in every other aisle." Frayvar handed her the notes and went to the oven to pull out fresh loaves of bread, scents of herbs mingling in the air with the black-currant glazed baked salmon and roasted lamb. "Anyway, that's the translation of those runes. A rough one. Even though the university library has more information on the Daygarii than I'd ever seen before, they were a reclusive and secretive people, and they had more than one written language. Much of the work we have was done by archaeologists piecing things together from old ruins and cave paintings rather than anything the druids provided to our people when they visited."

"I've gathered they didn't like humans much."

"No. One wonders why your father was drawn to Mom."

"She's beautiful. Even now, she still is."

Frayvar grunted, as if he couldn't imagine someone being drawn by such a thing. Kaylina did not mention his instant adoration of Lady Ghara.

"Maybe he was lonely," she added. "If most of the druids left and he remained behind for some reason, he might have missed his people and sought out what company he could find. Silana said he liked the mead. Since the honey has always been made by bees foraging on altered plants—altered by the druids—it might have been comforting for him."

"I guess. Anyway, read that. It's interesting." Frayvar pointed a spatula at his pages of chicken scratches. "You said you found the runes on a plaque in the middle of some flowers?"

"What had probably once been a cultivated flower garden, yes."

"Huh. Did your weird hand lead you to it?"

"My hand isn't weird. The brand may be." Kaylina glanced at it. Fortunately, the green glow had faded before she'd had to serve guests. It must have been stirred up by her interaction with the plant—and it draping vines all over her.

"Whatever."

Silana returned to the kitchen to take out more goblets of mead, and Frayvar didn't say more. Kaylina read his translation.

These lands are protected by the magic of the Daygarii, the first race to walk on Keyvilar, the only race sworn to protect this world and others. Step with care. Enemies of the Daygarii and the world will be slain. One species may not subsume another. When imbalances occur, and one species dominates, fear not, for all will return to equilibrium eventually. The universe watches over all and appoints protectors to ensure that in balance the world thrives.

"That's… less helpful than I'd hoped," Kaylina said.

"It says something about what the druids believe their role in the world is. In the worlds . Do you think there are others in the cosmos?" Frayvar gazed wistfully toward the ceiling. "I found it fascinating."

"I was hoping for instructions on how to lift curses, so Vlerion and I can…" Have sex, she thought, before deciding that sounded selfish. Besides, she hadn't told Frayvar about the beast curse. "Just to lift curses," she said.

"I doubt instructions on that are found on garden plaques, but maybe there's a clue there for you. If the Daygarii believe in balance, maybe they placed the curse to bring this area back into what they would consider alignment."

"By putting a killer plant in a castle?" Kaylina was tempted to bring up the beast—how could he offer alignment?—but she was still sworn not to share that secret with her brother.

"Nobody has hunted in the preserve since then, at least from what I've heard. The curse is probably a reminder that the druids still protect that area and will punish those who do."

"So, what? To lift the curse, I have to make sure people won't hunt in the preserve even without a reminder? Fray, I don't think most people know the castle has anything to do with the druids and that forest out there."

The words made her pause to wonder if the beast might have been intended to prowl the lands around the preserve and keep people out. But Vlerion had never mentioned urges to do that. And the beast came forth when he lost control of his emotions, not when people wandered into the forest with bows. She shook her head.

"Oh, I don't think that's true. The people who live here know the castle's curse was a result of the rangers poaching in the preserve. That's part of the story." Frayvar used the handle of his spatula to scratch his cheek as he looked thoughtfully toward the tower again. "But the plant is content now that you're here feeding it, isn't it? The castle has stopped moaning creepily, I haven't woken to unexplained noises at night, and a chandelier hasn't fallen in weeks."

"A sure sign of contentment."

"We haven't had nightmares either. Those horrible visions about the castle killing people. At least I haven't." He peered at her.

Before she could respond and tartly say she had experienced nightmares, the kitchen door opened with a bang.

"Kaylina, Frayvar," Sevarli, one of their young helpers, blurted. A blonde freckled girl a year younger than Frayvar, she had experience in the eating-house business and had taken right to the work. "A fancy carriage with two drivers just rolled up. It's an aristocrat, I think. Maybe more than one! And did you see that Professora Vesimoor is here? She's a retired enologist who started a column in her hometown of Potato Patch, and she's making vintners famous. She's got a flight of mead right now and is penning notes in a binder. If she does a favorable write-up, you could get visitors from all up and down the coast."

"That's good news." Frayvar twirled like an eight-year-old girl. "It took years for the Spitting Gull to receive its first critic. How did the professora find out about us? Was it the pamphlets I sent out?"

"I overheard some discussions and know that a number of people are here because of Lord Vlerion," Sevarli said. "He's been telling other nobles about the grand opening, and you know everyone listens to the Havartafts. They used to rule the kingdom, and there are even rumors that Lord Vlerion is going to storm the castle one day and take back the crown." Her young eyes gleamed at this notion.

Since Kaylina hadn't heard any of those rumors, she was surprised by the words, but she was also touched that Vlerion had made an effort to tell people about her endeavor. When had he found the time?

"Oh, Lord Vlerion." Frayvar beamed at Kaylina. "He's turned into a wonderful benefactor. Are you having sex with him? You should definitely have sex with him."

Kaylina's jaw dropped, not because she wouldn't enjoy doing exactly that, but her brother wasn't someone who usually brought up such topics. After the words came out, Frayvar looked at Sevarli, as if wondering if he'd made the right suggestion, if sex was the appropriate reward for someone getting the word out about one's grand opening.

The server nodded encouragingly, her eyes still gleaming.

Kaylina cleared her throat. "For now, let's just focus on making sure the guests enjoy the food and drink."

"Yes. Especially Professora Vesimoor," Frayvar said. "I do hope she likes the mead. Did she order a meal? Maybe I should bring her something special to complement the different varieties." He sprang for the cupboard to grab plates to prepare a fresh masterpiece.

"An excellent idea." Sevarli smiled as she watched Frayvar's enthusiasm—or maybe just as she watched him . "I've heard she likes lamb."

"I have lamb. Delicious lamb. I'll put extra glaze on hers. Oh, and the bread." He darted to the oven.

Kaylina put the translation away and vowed to follow her own advice, focusing on guest satisfaction, at least for the evening. The meadery was her dream, after all. Even though a few million things had happened to derail it, or at least distract her from it, she wanted to savor that things were finally going well. A write-up by Professor Vesimoor would be amazing. Kaylina had heard of the wine reviewer and read some of her articles. Some were scathing, but Kaylina knew her mead was good. The woman wouldn't write anything bad about it. She couldn't .

"What color is the carriage that you mentioned?" Kaylina asked, following Sevarli out with a couple of orders. She didn't know the emblems and colors of the various noble families well, but after a couple of months in the capital, she'd come to recognize some.

"Black with silver trim."

Kaylina stutter-stepped, almost sloshing gravy onto the side of the plate. There were a lot of family crests that used black, but she had a feeling…

"Are you okay?" Sevarli had noticed her misstep.

"Yes, but will you deliver these to the right tables? I want to check on our visitor." Kaylina nodded toward the open front gate as she handed the plates to Sevarli.

"Of course. Don't get too excited and fawn over an aristocrat though. You're a dignified master mead maker, even if you've common blood." Sevarli winked with encouragement.

Kaylina almost pointed out that she'd never fawned over anyone in her life—Captain Targon would have preferred it if she had —but she glimpsed a familiar chauffeur through the gate and only waved an absent acknowledgment.

The chauffeur caught her eye and pointed toward the carriage door. He couldn't have come to retrieve her for another meeting with Lady Isla, could he? This late in the day? Twilight was descending.

The chauffeur nodded and pointed again at the carriage. Two lamps burned to either side of the door, and a shadow moved behind the window. It already had an occupant? Was it possible Lady Isla had come to the grand opening? Maybe Vlerion had talked her out of the kidnapping quest. Maybe he was even in the carriage with his mother, and they'd come to eat.

Uncertainty and hope mingled in Kaylina's gut as she walked through the courtyard and past the occupied tables, guests chewing, drinking, and chatting amiably. Focused on the meals, they hardly glanced at the glowing tower.

Wistfulness filled her as she envisioned Lady Isla sitting at a table, having come to enjoy the mead and support Kaylina, not check to see if she'd been successfully kidnapped yet.

As she walked through the gate, passing a couple with linked arms perusing the menu, the chauffeur opened the carriage door. Kaylina glanced at the man and woman, wondering what it would be like for her and Vlerion to be able to visit an eating house together without having to worry about kidnappers, assassins, or beasts being roused.

One day, she promised herself. One day.

Inside the carriage, a woman sat alone. It was, indeed, Lady Isla, her graying auburn hair drawn back with ivory combs, her skin pale in contrast to the navy-blue dress and shawl she wore. As usual, her attire was far more somber than festive, a sign that she still mourned her deceased husband and son—and that she hadn't likely come to enjoy a night of fine dining and mead tasting.

"Will you join me, Ms. Korbian?" Isla patted the empty portion of the upholstered bench beside her.

"If it's about your interest in investing in the business…" Kaylina barely kept herself from using the word bribe , "…my brother and I have decided not to take money from anyone outside the family at this time." She lifted her chin, letting her eyes add the rest: I'm not leaving Port Jirador or abandoning Vlerion.

"So I gathered when you left the envelope unopened on the table." Isla smiled gently.

Kaylina hoped the woman respected her for that, even if Isla still wanted to get rid of her.

"I spoke with Vlerion today," Isla added. "He was quite stern."

Kaylina was glad. "Where is he now? I have good news and alarming news for him." She waved toward the tower at the mention of the former and pointed in the direction of the royal castle at the latter.

A troubled expression lined Isla's face. "Vlerion said he would hunt down the assassins that are after him, that he would finish them off."

"I have some information for him about that, about who hired them."

"Oh? Then you must join me." Isla patted the seat again. "I received an invitation to a meeting with Spymaster Sabor."

"Uh." Kaylina debated whether to blurt out that Sabor was the one who'd hired the assassins. But Vlerion was the only one who would believe her if she admitted she'd learned that from a plant-induced vision.

"He wishes to see us together," Isla added. "That's why I came here first to collect you."

"Uh," Kaylina repeated. How was she supposed to rat out Spymaster Sabor in front of him? "It's our grand opening."

"Yes, I heard. It looks like it's going well. I'm pleased for you, but…" Isla looked wistfully toward the courtyard.

But she still wanted Kaylina gone?

"My lady, did Vlerion talk you out of… Look, I know you hired the thugs who've been trying to kidnap me."

Isla winced.

"I understand that you want to protect your son—I want him to be safe too—but I'm not leaving Port Jirador. And I'm not leaving him. We're not doing anything that's going to cause him to be hunted down like his brother." Kaylina tried to make herself add I promise , but could she? Hadn't she and Vlerion come close, more than once, to letting their desire for each other rouse the beast?

Yes.

"I wish I could believe that, Ms. Korbian. Kaylina. But just this morning, Lady Ghara came to see me and?—"

"I'm not spending time with Vlerion because I care about his money. Or because he's an aristocrat." The heat of indignation seared Kaylina's cheeks as she imagined Ghara repeating her loathsome accusations to Isla—and Isla believing them.

"Oh, I know that." Isla waved in the air to dismiss the idea. "But she spoke of the way you stood together, how possessive and devoted to you he was, and it reinforced what I have known since the beginning." She lowered her voice to finish. "That the beast part of him is drawn to the anrokk part of you. That he's obsessed."

"He's not obsessed. Neither am I. We just enjoy each other's company."

"Even though you met when he arrested you, and you struck him in the head with a rock?"

"It was a lead round, and yes. We're the kind of people who enjoy overcoming adversity."

Isla laughed softly. "That may be true. Vlerion has certainly never walked away from it. To answer your question, my son did talk me out of… I refuse to call it misguided maternal interference, as he did. It was a plan that I sought due to desperation, because I didn't want to lose another son. I do apologize that you were necessarily the recipient of it. I'm relieved that it doesn't look like you've been hurt. If it mollifies you at all, I did start out by requesting that Captain Targon station Vlerion far away from here."

"Far away from me?"

Isla tilted an apologetic hand toward the night sky. "I would have missed him, of course, but it would have been a more reasonable choice than kidnapping you."

A less criminal choice.

"I also believe that he would have, despite his obsession, obeyed his captain and left," Isla said.

Kaylina hated the word obsession . It sounded so negative, when what she felt for Vlerion was… As she'd been thinking earlier, she was falling in love with him. It was a positive emotion that spoke of their bond, the bond forming from more than magic and being drawn. She was sure of it.

And yet… the plant's memory of her embrace with Vlerion in the courtyard came to mind. Her sentinel would probably agree that they were obsessed with each other.

"Targon refused to send his best fighter away," Isla said. "He was adamant that Vlerion is needed in the capital."

"I don't want to make life difficult for him or you, my lady. I care about him."

"I believe you. Come, let us face Spymaster Sabor together."

Kaylina hesitated, but she did want to talk to Sabor. She didn't know what she would say, but with an aristocratic lady there, he ought to be on better behavior than if Kaylina went alone.

"Did he say why he wanted to see me?" She couldn't help but feel suspicious.

"He said he wants to give you another chance to consider his proposal." Isla arched her eyebrows. "I received a message from him. We haven't yet spoken. So I couldn't ask for clarification."

"He ran that proposal by Vlerion and me earlier." Kaylina bared her teeth.

"It was that appealing?"

"Nothing about that man is appealing."

"Agreed. Visiting him in numbers is generally wise."

"All right. I'll tell my brother I'm leaving." Kaylina stepped into the courtyard and asked Sevarli to let her siblings know.

The serving girl looked frazzled, with numerous patrons asking for more bread, water, mead. One also wanted to know if it was safe to go into the lavatory, despite the vines flickering around the doorway. What were they doing? Keeping an eye on all the visitors?

"I'll be back as soon as possible," Kaylina added, feeling guilty about abandoning her family.

She was halfway out the gate when she remembered the sword. It would be best to visit Sabor armed with more than lead rounds. Just in case. She ran up to her room and grabbed it.

"Thank you for being reasonable, Kaylina," Isla said as she slid into the carriage. "I do apologize for my choice earlier. I—" She spotted the sword as Kaylina rested it between her knees. "Is that… That looks like Vlarek's scabbard. His sword."

"Yes, my lady." Kaylina licked her lips, assuming from the words and stunned expression that Vlerion hadn't told his mother. "Vlerion gave it to me. I'm learning sword fighting as part of my ranger training."

" Gave it ," Isla mouthed, still looking stunned.

"It's too nice a gift to accept," Kaylina hurried to say. "I'm thinking of it as a loaner. That's all. I'm sorry if he didn't tell you."

"I…" Isla pressed her lips together and shook her head.

"The royal castle, my lady?" the chauffeur asked.

Isla looked away from the sword—and Kaylina—and nodded curtly at him. "As we discussed."

"Yes, my lady." He closed the door.

As the carriage rolled into motion, Kaylina hoped she wasn't making a mistake.

"Has Vlerion told you anything about how powerful and intelligent the plant in Stillguard Castle is, my lady?" she asked, both to take Isla's mind off the sword and because she had to figure out how to warn her about Sabor in such a way that she would believe it. Especially since they were going to see him. For all Kaylina knew, Sabor was inviting them up there to get rid of them since he hadn't succeeded in having Vlerion killed. Or maybe he intended to set a trap for Vlerion.

"He's spoken of it and that you seem to be linked to it."

"It's linked itself to me ."

"Hm." Isla's face suggested she found the whole notion unappealing.

Kaylina did too. She looked out the window as the carriage rolled through intersections, streetlamps burning in what would soon be full darkness. A misty haze wreathed the flames, fog rolling in from the harbor.

"It won't take long for us to get to the royal castle, so I'll spit this out," Kaylina said. "The plant uses its power—power given to it long ago by the druids—to see what's going on around the city. It shared a vision with me of something it saw recently."

Isla mouthed, " A vision ," but didn't interrupt.

"Sabor is after Vlerion." Kaylina explained what she'd seen.

"That doesn't make sense. Sabor wants to use my son. I'm not pleased about that either, but you—ah, your plant—must be mistaken."

"I don't understand it either, but the plant's visions have thus far…" Kaylina paused before saying always been right . That wasn't quite true. They were in the right vein, but the beast hadn't ripped her to shreds after defeating the Kar'ruk in that mountain valley. "The ones it shares of past events have always been accurate," she said instead.

That was the truth. It was the prognostications that needed work.

"It's given you… many visions?"

"Quite a few now. Other plants have too." Maybe Kaylina shouldn't have added that because Isla's expression only grew more dubious. "Altered plants. Regular ones don't give me visions."

The nose wrinkle and forehead crease promised the addition didn't help alleviate Isla's dubiousness.

Kaylina spread her arms. She didn't know what else to say, and the carriage was rolling to a stop.

Wait, why were they stopping? They hadn't yet gone up the steep switchbacks that led up the royal castle's plateau. Kaylina would have felt that.

A horse neighed. She looked out the window, but the fog had grown denser. Because they were closer to the water?

"Where are we? The harbor?" Through the fog, Kaylina could make out the muted light from lampposts and the masts of ships.

"Yes. This is where Spymaster Sabor asked to meet us."

"And you agreed? This isn't where normal people have meetings. And, wait, you told your chauffeur to take us to the castle."

The carriage door opened. It wasn't the chauffeur but two burly men in Havartaft uniforms with swords drawn.

Isla smiled sadly. "You're sharp, aren't you?"

"Sharp, maybe. Wise, no." Kaylina slumped against the seat as the obvious sank in. Lady Isla was still trying to have her kidnapped. And there wasn't a sentient plant here to defend her.