“Luelle?” Ael stopped her from leaving.
“Yes?” She turned around and looked at him.
“Keep an eye on Meir, too. He brought her here, and something really seems wrong with both of them.”
“Will do.” She left the room, and Ael remained sitting at the table, feeling disgusted by what he heard. He wanted to talk to Tahti and see if she had given her the potion. Why would she give her something like that? What sort of games was that tricky witch up to now?
He got up from the table, looked at the clock, saw he had some time before he had to hear petitions in the throne room, and made his way outside to find the damn witch.
He moved quicklyalong his usual path to her cabin in the woods. As he approached, he noticed the usual smoke stack from the fireplace was gone. He navigated through weeds that had grown over since his last visit, brushing aside the overgrowth to reach her door. He pushed through and knocked loudly.
Usually, he would hear rustling, grumbling, maybe some cursing, but now only silence responded. He knocked on the door once more.
When no reply came, he tried the handle, and it opened smoothly.
His eyes widened as he looked inside. The cabin was empty—no stack of pots against the far wall, no cauldron bubbling with the lingering smell of chemicals in the middle. It was a completely barren room with only an empty cauldron at the center.
The weight of absence pressed heavily around him, the stale air thick as forgotten memories. It seemed no one had lived there for decades. He cautiously entered and surveyed the space.Cobwebs decorated every corner of the walls, while a thick layer of dust covered the floor.
What the fuck?
He felt like his mind was playing tricks on him, so he walked back outside and looked at the cabin again, checking to make sure he was in the right place.
The small, shanty-looking cabin he knew so well came into view. He walked back inside through the curved front door and went to the small kitchen, opening the cabinets to look for any sign that she had been there, but they were lined with even more dust. He went into the bathroom, looked around, and had to push his way through cobwebs that blocked the entrance to the small room.
He scratched his head in confusion and walked over to the empty cauldron she usually brewed in. Inside was a weathered-looking book. He picked it up and examined the blank pages.
Tahti was gone.
Chapter 13
Seda
“The gardens here are so lovely, don’t you think?” Neoma asked Seda as they walked along paths lined with colorful roses, bordered by a tall brick edging. She wasn’t really looking at the flowers. Instead, she focused on the two Corvids that flew high in the sky above them, their shadows dancing across the ground below.
“Yes, they’re beautiful,” Seda grumbled, not even staring at the plants. She didn’t want to be walking around the gardens with Neoma, and she found it increasingly hard to stay polite. She kept thinking back to how Neoma had been watching Cahir, and how he seemed distant from her that morning.
Jealousy dragged its ugly claws through her body, stabbing through her like the rose thorns that were likely on those bushes. She thought about how Cahir had been up close and personal with this woman the night she arrived, and her fists clenched tightly together.
“What do you like to do for fun?” Neoma asked, obviously not getting the clue that Seda was over this wretched walk.
“I don’t have hobbies. I wasn’t allowed such frivolities in Joro,” she stated bluntly.
“That’s a shame. But now you’re here! I love to embroider. Would you like to try sometime? I brought some materials with me.”
“I don’t think so.” That sounded boring as hell.
“Oh! Look at this one! It has a honey-colored eye!” Neoma exclaimed as she examined a red rose.
Seda had no idea what the woman was talking about, so she stepped closer and peered at the colorful assortment of roses before them. Each rose featured gentle, curled petals surrounding a glassy eye with long, black eyelashes. Every flower switched its focus from Neoma to Seda as she neared, watching her warily.
“These roses are sentient?” she asked, curiosity piquing and forgetting her previous irritation with the woman. “They’rebeautiful.”
“Just another monstrous plant. Probably sapient. Beautiful but disgusting creatures. Their tears can burn your skin if they’re not plucked from their bushes,” Neoma said with a cheerful tone. “Would you like to pick a bouquet for your room?”
Before Seda could object, Neoma reached out and yanked roughly at one of the stems, revealing red sap that slowly oozed out.
The other flowers tried to shy away from her touch, but she kept reaching out and plucking the roses, their eyes closing and lashes trembling as if in pain as they were gathered into a bouquet.
