“But it could help us,” I said. “To know where it’ll light up next. We could set up a camp with traps and boulders and shoot them with poisoned arrows…” My mind started to run with possibilities.
“Poisoned arrows?” Caius asked with narrowed eyes.
“Yes. We could soak the tips of arrows in potent sedatives to put them to sleep or poison that could kill them once it absorbs into their flesh and reaches their heart. It’ll take a couple of minutes, but their defenses will weaken in the process, and they’ll become less of a threat in battle.”
Both men stared at me, equally baffled by what I’d said.
“What are arrows?” Caius asked.
“You—you don’t have bows and arrows?” I cocked my eyebrow. “All of your fighting is hand-to-hand combat?”
When they both looked confused, I had my answer.
“It’s hard to explain,” I said. “I’ll have to try to make them for you. The Knives don’t fire projectiles at you?”
Caius shook his head. “It’s sword against sword.”
“The sedatives and the poison, do you know how to make those things?” Morco asked.
“Yes,” I said. “Both come from flowers.”
“Then let’s find them,” Caius said with excitement in his voice. “We can look for them on our way.”
Morco didn’t seem as excited. If he did, he kept it buried deep beneath the surface.
“We can, but I’m not sure if we’ll find them,” I said. “The potatoes down here are different from the ones I know at home, so the flowers may be different too, may have different properties. And they require sunlight…”
Caius released a heavy sigh. “Of course they do.”
Morco stared at me for a while, his mind seeming to be far away in his thoughts. “Food is the priority right now. We’ll figure out a way to find these special flowers afterward. And trying to figure out where theapricumwill travel is probably a mystery we’ll never solve.”
“Probably,” I said. “But not impossible.” I hadn’t even touched my food because I’d been too engrossed in the conversation. I’d been there for a week, and these people already felt like my own. I felt useful with them because none of my skills were valuable on the surface. I’d sit in my bedchambers alone and watch the sun pass in the sky, having only my maid for company most of the time. But now, I felt like I was part of something important.
“Let me grab my pack, and we’ll be off.” Caius left the table and took his empty bowl to be cleaned before he headed to his cabin.
Morco stayed with me, his eyes on me but his mind elsewhere.
I could feel Allegra’s stare on the side of my face, feel her rage burn like fire. I’d consistently seen them apart, never together, and now I wondered if she’d lied straight to my face. Tried to deter my interest because she wanted him for herself. “Can I ask you something?”
His eyes were on me the whole time, but now they sharpened with attention.
“Are you and Allegra…together?”
Slowly, his eyebrows knit together at the question. A hint of anger moved into his face, his hollow cheeks. His jawline became sharper. The rivers in his neck looked like they were about to swell and flood. “No.”
I wanted to ask for more information, but that felt like a breach of his privacy.
“What did she say to you?”
I didn’t owe her anything, especially after she’d threatened me, but I didn’t want to give her the satisfaction that I ratted her out. “Nothing.”
His eyes narrowed farther. It was unclear if it was in anger or something else. “We were fucking. We aren’t anymore. End of story.”
I gave a slow nod of understanding. Allegra told a completely different tale, explicitly said that he was committed to her, but I believed Morco without reservation. I’d never seen themtogether, never seen him even acknowledge her. So she must have gotten her heart broken, and she wasn’t taking it very well.
“I haven’t slept with her since before you arrived here.”
My heart had been so calm just seconds ago, but now it palpitated in a similar fashion to when Krull cornered me. It was anxious and uncomfortable, but in a good way, an addictive way. I felt a rush through my body, a tightness that squeezed every muscle. I should say something in response to that, but I couldn’t find the words.
