Pearl for love. For the family I’d lost. For the confusing feelings now consuming me for a key player in this tragedy.
Sapphire for prophecy. For seeing the unseen.
Emerald for the past. To direct the potion to the right time.
It would be a complex potion, layers upon layers woven together to spell out a story lost to history. But if it worked, each gem would play its part in revealing the truth to me.
I could know for sure what had happened. And while it would be traumatic as Tartarus to see it all play out, the sights my young eyes were spared once upon a time, it would set the path for my future—and I was beginning to think that was worth anything.
“Jacinth?” Amatista called, looking worried as she placed her hands on my shoulders. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” I shook my head, though the hoarse tone of my voice didn’t go very far in convincing her. I laid my hands upon hers, squeezing lightly. “Truly, I just had an idea. I know what I’m going to make.”
“Oh,” Her eyes brightened, lighting up her purple orbs until they shone. “What’s your plan?”
“I’m going to see the past,” I whispered in her ear. When I pulled back, her eyes were now wide, and she cut a glance at the guards before nodding firmly and dragging me back to our rooms. When we were finally away from the scrutiny of Azurill’s men, she turned to face me.
“Okay, now explain,” she demanded, crossing her arms and looking like a stern teacher. I nearly giggled at her expression, but managed to contain myself.
“There’s something—” I bit my lip, suddenly realizing what I was doing. A heaviness settled in my chest, and I took a deep breath, bracing myself, and trying to find the right words that would offer truth without giving away a weapon that could turn around and stab me in turn.
“What is it?” Amatista asked, sobering, as her eyebrows creased in worry. She reached a hand out for mine, and I held onto her like a lifeline. I missed Ula so fiercely for a moment that I had to blink back tears.
“Something happened when I was young.” I whispered carefully, “Something I thought Azurill had been involved in. But now…” I trailed off and looked up through a curtain of pink hair at the woman before me.
She could clearly tell that this was quite serious, and her face was appropriately somber, but her eyes revealed that her thoughts were already spinning away. She wastoosmart, and I knew it would be too easy to put the pieces together if I said much more.
“I need to know the truth.” I finally said, feeling like the pressure on my chest had lifted some, allowing me to breathe. “This trial gives me the chance.”
“What happens if this potion shows you Azurill was involved?” she asked, equally as quiet.
My shoulders hunched slightly as I curled into myself on the sofa, but I managed to shrug them lightly. “Then everything is as it was.”
Her head cocked to the side curiously. “And if he wasn’t?”
I sucked in a sharp breath, unable to truly consider what that would mean—but unable to bear the alternative.
“I can’t really think of the outcome. Not yet.” I admitted, shame lacing every word as my head dropped onto her shoulder. Ula would berate me for showing such weakness, but I was…tired. So tired of having to navigate all of this.
“Once I know the truth,” I continued, barely a murmur at this point, “I’ll decide from there.”
Her fingers began running through my hair, letting me justbein a way I desperately needed. She shrugged her shoulders casually, and my head bobbed up and down with the movement.
“I’m with you, just let me know what you need,” she promised, making me blink quickly as I tried desperately to prevent the moisture welling in my eyes from escaping.
“Thanks, Tista,” I whispered, and let everything else slip away.
Chapter Twenty-nine
Jacinth
The morning dawned bright and clear, and I found my excitement for this challenge rising rapidly. The chance to play with gems and create a potion in a royal Gemlab was beyond my wildest dreams before I came here.
It certainly beat trying to do alchemy using subpar gems and cracked bottles, hoping against hope for the slightest bit of magic as I kneeled behind trash cans in a deserted alleyway.
And then there was the fact that all my hopes and future dreams rested on the potion I would create.
I was practically bouncing from excitement and anticipation by the time I finished dressing. With what I hoped to see today, I needed to feel like a piece of home was with me and had dared to dress in a way that could very well raise eyebrows.
