“You druggedeveryone?” Another witch asked.
I coughed. “Well, everyone that tried my chili.”
“I was wondering why you looked so pretty today. Fates! I ate some of that!” Hyacinth groaned in exasperation.
I winced. “I’m sorry about that.”
“I did too!”
“Most of the town did. Everyone was so shocked that Kizzi brought somethingedibleto the potluck this year that they just had to try it for themselves.” Hyacinth glanced at me abruptly. “No offense.”
I brushed that off. “None taken. I thought the same thing, honestly.”
“What do we do?” someone else asked.
I shrugged helplessly. “That’s what I came here to ask. Does anyone have any ideas?”
“Is there an antidote? A cure?”
“If there is, I don’t have any.” I glanced at Ani. She simply shrugged.
The coven leader drifted to a shelf on the wall, pulling out a massive, haggard grimoire, and began flipping through it.
“Maybe it will wear off on its own? Has anyone ever taken a love potion before?” I asked.
“Love potions are outlawed…” Hyacinth murmured.
I quirked a brow.
“Okay fine, I might have tried one before, but I screwed it up. I could never get it to work. Did yours work? Or do I just think you’re hot?”
“I think so…” I recounted the story of Linc, of Mayor Tommins, of the weird behavior I had been seeing.
“It sounds like it definitely works. Old Gods be damned!”
“Shh!” someone hissed. “Blasphemous!”
“Oh, whatever?—”
“I think I found something.” Ani’s voice broke through the discussion. She flipped the grimoire around, showing us the pages. “It says here, spells cast from strong potions can be broken by ingesting the powdered shell of a dragon egg. They’re extremely rare, and only ever spoken about in whispers. As I’m sure you know, dragons haven’t hatched since before the OldGods left the realm.” She flipped the page. “In old times, dragon eggs only hatched in certain regions.”
“Where?” I asked.
“The belly of the mountain. Rockward, I would assume—that’s the farthest mountain town. Though, this many years later, they could be anywhere.”
I sighed. “Well, I guess I’m going to Rockward, too.”
“Too?” Hyacinth prodded.
I glanced at Ani for help.
“She’s buying a new cauldron,” the coven leader explained.
“A new cauldron! A big one? How are you going to carry that?”
I shrugged. “Does anyone want to come with me? I’m sure two witches can carry a large cauldron. Probably.”
“No way, those things weigh as much as five folk. Why don’t you ask Tandor? That orc has arms the size of tree trunks,” Hyacinth joked.
