Marcus took the tuber in one hand, sniffed at it, and shrugged. “The Ottomans make a tea out of something similar, I think. Or something that looks similar. I’ve never been one for knowing plants.”
“I’ll try it,” Erik said. When Marcus and Raoul peered at him, he grinned. “Oh, I didn’t mention: it’s damned hard to poison us. Fatally, that is. We’re wonderful bodyguards that way. My cousin Moiread met her husband when she drank some ale meant for him that had hemlock in it, I think, or perhaps arsenic.”
“Wonderful,” said Toinette. “Very romantic.”
Erik continued, ignoring her. “I’ll try a bit, and if I don’t feel wretched, you’ll know you can most likely eat the thing.”
“Well, all right, m’lord,” said Raoul. “If you’re certain.”
“May as well be useful,” said Erik.
Toinette swept her chopped nettles into the pot, careful to get all of them. She had no way of knowing if Marcus and Raoul were staring at her now, nor, she told herself, should they have any reason to be. They’d had plenty of reminders that she wasn’t human; what was one more?
* * *
Raw, the root tasted a bit like nuts, a bit savory, and quite starchy. “Probably better cooked,” Erik said, “but so far edible enough. Talk to me again in the morning.”
“I thought,” said Raoul, “it’d be another bit of food for the winter, if it’s not poison. And it looks to be the kind of thing that’d keep well.”
“That it does,” said Marcus. “If m’lord here doesn’t have a bad night of it, we can harvest more when we go to start clearing land. Two birds with one stone—or three, if we’re lucky enough to catch one.” He chuckled at his own joke, then added in Erik and Toinette’s direction, “Four, if you do want to try anything with the Templars. Rings and bones are all there, aren’t they?”
“They are,” said Toinette thoughtfully, the first time she’d spoken for a little while. “And I think we should get all of them up. Whatever else we do, we can bury those men properly while we’re at it.”
“We don’t have a priest,” said Raoul. “But neither did we for our men.”
Toinette nodded. “Happens often enough, doesn’t it? We could bury them next to our crew, get a proper little graveyard going.”
“If there’s more than one,” Marcus said, “we might have to guess at whose bones are whose. And they might be a bit incomplete—but come the Judgment, I hear that’ll all be sorted.”
“God will figure it out, I assume.” Toinette leaned backward and took in Marcus and Raoul with a look. “In the meantime, our job’s to live like civilized men.”
The glint in her eyes, and the line of her jaw, dared anyone to point out any reason she might not qualify.
* * *
After Erik passed an uneventful night, a day of clearing, cutting, and digging resulted in a small circle of bare earth, a pile of felled trees to one side, and the bones of three men.Mostof the bones: there were three skulls and six hands, but only five feet, and nobody was quite sure about anything else. “Scavengers,” said Samuel.
“That didn’t get killed themselves?” Toinette asked.
“Not if they’re small enough—rats, say. Or the vines might sleep after a kill. Or only eat men.” He touched the burnt remnant of one of the vines and shook his head. “Truly, there are many strange beings in this world. I’d say it was a pity to kill the plants without learning more, if they weren’t so deadly.”
“Natural philosophy can wait until nothing’s trying to drink my blood, thank you,” said Marcus.
They found two more Templar rings with the hands, as well as a rusty chain shirt, two swords in crumbling scabbards, and the remnants of a boot top. “They must have been taken by surprise,” Toinette said. “Only one of them had time to draw steel.”
“Poor souls,” said Raoul.
Toinette remembered the quick strength of the vines. The Templars had been fewer, and none of them dragon-blooded. The fight would have been over quickly; God willing, they would have died quickly too. She shuddered.
Yauuuw.
The sound came from behind her: a low, scratching whisper that was almost a voice.Youas a drunk or a foreigner might pronounce it, but with a hollowness that neither wine nor unfamiliarity could explain. Toinette turned, nails already starting to extend.
The forest stood empty before her. The treetops swayed in the faint breeze, leaves and needles rustling. Had that been what she’d heard? It must have been.
Wind hadn’t sounded likethatbefore.
“Captain?” Samuel asked. “Did you hear—”
