Chapter one
Thecabinatthebottom of the mountain stunk of sour berries and dead things, and inside, Lux Thorn held out a twig. It was black and curled, knotted like a crone’s finger, and it came from a devouring tree.
The gallow, she’d only recently learned.
The man who told her of it lived in the mountainside cabin. He was old. So old, his pallid skin was spotted, and his eyes were filmy. He had calloused, cracked fingers thickened with gout, and he used them now to relay an animated story. As his excitement grew, Lux’s horror did the same.
“—and yes, my grandfather traded them. A fair trade for the woman, I was told. An appendix for that last seed and two means to contain it. I still remember the jar it was kept in. How it was so thick, it didn’t move when you’d tap the glass.” He bent to peer closer at the rotting twig. His expression collapsed into awe. “Gallows are certainly one of the rarest and most unique species in the world.”
His fingertips barely pinching, he took the branch from her cold hand and promptly threw it into the hearth.
“No!Why—” She almost lunged for it, that last remnant of a devouring tree, but it went up in a blaze. She supposed that after having been detached from its frozen host for so long, it didn’t hold further moisture to delay it.
“Plants hold power—even the rotted ones—as they live and grow, same as you. I apologize, but we do not desecrate the dead by carrying about theirfingers.”
A muted cry of outrage left her lips. “As you keep a collection of…this!” Lux couldn’t help but splutter as she gestured wildly to the shelves behind him. Snow tumbled from the folds of her cloak.
The man shuffled around to look as if he didn’t know what he would find.
The horror. Lux hadn’t journeyed far into the mountain range known as Barnabus Pass before she’d come upon her destination. With an excellent ear for indecent conversation, she’d learned a week ago of a man who offered the wildest and rare flora in all the land. She sprang upon the news as the twig she carried had started stinking. But what the gossip uttered next had unnerved her.
“He’s a nattering recluse, that Edgar Dosem. Why, I heard he’ll only barter for your parts!”
Lux herself had been on the receiving end of rumors and twisted tales; she knew they couldn’t always be believed outright. But as it turned out, in this case, they could.
Assorted glass jars filled with liquids lined the narrow shelving before her. And inside—human things floated. Lashes and locks of curls. Various items of pink and beige and a single eye that rotated when Edgar reached up and rapped upon it.
“You are not a botanist, and it shows, young lady. Did you happen to bring a seed along with you too? Or do you only cart around dead things?”
Her lip curled. “No, I didn’t bring a seed! How does someone even fetch a seed from a devouring tree? Nothing falls from them.”
The old man couldn’t have looked more disappointed in her. “The roots, the roots! There’re pockets of them. Surely, you must have seen it? Fine then. Dangle the carrot. I see that’s all you’re good for. You know my knees are too bad to leave the mountainside and you’re taunting me with it.” His so-named bad knees bent slightly as he meant to lower himself onto the stool. He collapsed upon it instead. “It’s just as well.” His sigh filled the cabin.
“Itisjust as well. I’ve seen what those things are capable of. We should chop them all down and be rid of them for good.”
Edgar whipped his head toward her, abrupt disgust in his eyes. “How dareyou. So ungrateful. So self-centered. Soimmature!” He took a healthy swig of tea, muttering into his cup. “You are not good for my heart, girl.” He sighed again, patting his chest and appearing to calm. “Balance. The living world is a beautiful work ofbalance.Demolish a species at your whim and you begin a landslide. It might take more than your lifetime, but it’ll come, mark my words. Of course, a lot of you young people are too shortsighted for all that.”
“Your so-calledgallowsconsumed more than half of my city!”
“Nature only fights back if it’s been wronged for too long. What’d you do to aggravate it?”
Lux’s mouth opened and closed without comment.
“Precisely.” His stare swept her up and down. He harrumphed. “It’s good you’re traveling. Maybe it’ll give you some perspective.”
But her mind conjured the terror of what she’d witnessed in Ghadra, blocking everything he’d said.
We have been cheated, Lucena. We will take them all.
Goosebumps rose all over her skin. Truth be told, she was relieved he’d burned the twig. Carting it all this way had felt too much like pressing at a mouth sore with her tongue; it was better to be rid of it. She glanced at the pile of dark ash. Already, the dead smell was dissipating.
“As enlightening as this has been,” she said. “I think I’ve gotten what I came for.”
The botanist did not have any further seedlings, nor did he know of any around. His grandfather had been the only one to have ever held one, and he was long dead. It was a great relief to discover that truth, even if he was upset about it.
“Wait, wait, wait.” A cane rapped against her knees. Lux turned back. “You came all this way but not to trade foranything?”
She stepped over the cane. “I have no interest in your cutting out my organs in exchange for a vine. Even if it promised to reach through the clouds or grant wishes.”
