As Xander injected the base of the tree with the poison, Bisma held her breath.
The poison spread through the branches, giving the leaves a darker tint. She waited to see if the tree would wither and die, but it continued to hold on.
It had worked!
‘Brilliant,’ Xander said, turning to her. ‘You’re absolutely brilliant, Bis.’
The validation sparked embers deep within her. She lifted her chin, trying not to smile. ‘Was there any doubt?’
He laughed out loud. ‘None whatsoever, but credit must, of course, also be given to me.’ His eyes crinkled. ‘We make a good team.’
The sparks inside her fizzed into a fuzzy feeling at that. She cleared her throat. ‘So this is our test subject,’ she said.
‘Now for the cure …’
They started their work. It was difficult to figure out how to treat something when they could not diagnose what was causing the symptoms. If Bisma knew exactly what the poison was, she could simply grow something to counteract it. Cures were the opposite of poisons; they canceled one another out.
But it was near impossible to make a cure from nothing, which was why they focused on a mixing approach rather than growing.
Bisma’s lessons began, as Xander enthusiastically told her the theory behind the magic, explaining that much of the knowledge witches based their potions or magic on was already pre-established by other witches, kind of like tried-and-true recipes in cookbooks.
‘I’ll lend you one of my beginner-level books,’ Xander said. ‘It has all the common mixtures and their effects. As you learnmore, you can use those common mixtures as your base, then add onto it.’
She listened intently, absorbing every word, thrilled to be learning.
‘So for the cure to this poison, I’ve been using myrrh, which is a common base for cures,’ he said, moving to another table, where there was a pile of the sap-like yellow resin.
He threw some into a bowl, then used his magic to turn the little rocks into a thick syrup, stirring it with a spatula. ‘And then yarrow leaves are also often used for cures; I’ve found drying the leaves in direct sunlight helps bring out their properties.’ He had a case of dried leaves, which he measured out into a spoon, which he added.
‘Can you mix that?’ he asked.
She did as she was told, watching as the dried leaves blended into the myrrh syrup.
Xander looked at the color and consistency, then added in a touch more of the dried leaves. ‘Perfect.’
She stopped stirring.
‘Now, I’ve found that adding fresh flower petals of yarrow brings out different benefits of the plant, which might be beneficial for this. Since the poison is strong, we want our cure to be stronger.’ He brought over a pot with little white flowers. ‘I haven’t tried it yet, so let’s see, but this won’t be nearly enough—’
He stuck his hand into the soil, and the plant grew. Quite slowly actually, compared to Bisma’s magic. Wanting to help, Bisma put her hand in the soil as well, and the plant immediately sprouted, the flowers tripling.
Xander’s eyes widened. ‘I felt some of your magic there,’ he said in awe. ‘It was like a roaring fire compared to my candle flame.’ He blinked. ‘Incredible.’
She bit back a smile, her cheeks warm.
‘Now we want to make a paste of these leaves,’ Xander said. ‘Why don’t you try?’
He slid over a mortar and pestle, then plucked the white petals and added them in.
She began to crush it, and his eyes widened.
‘Goodness, not like that,’ he said, coming closer. ‘Use your wrist. Clockwise and—no, no.’
With an impatient sound, he came behind her, his head above her shoulder.
One of his hands covered hers above the mortar, holding it in place, as he placed his other hand around hers on the pestle. His palm enveloped her knuckles, his long fingers slotting just above hers.
‘Like this,’ he said, his voice soft. His breath moved a tendril of hair against her cheek, and it tickled her jaw. She blinked twice, trying to focus.
