There were too many things I wanted to say. But I merely folded his hands between mine. “You’re ruining Lana’s basil. She’ll throw a fit.” With a small smile, I squeezed his fingers and let go.
Rowena and Elowyn bustled out the back door at that moment.
“To the palace we go, then,” Rowena said to a bewildered Ash, clapping her hands together. “We’ll lead the way.”
––––––––
LANA WAS IN THE POTIONroom when I returned, brewing the antidote in her cauldron.
“Any luck?” I said.
She stirred the contents. “I believe I’ll be able to whip something together by morning,” she said. The counter was a mess of vials and herbs.
“And it’ll cure the queen?”
Lana pressed her lips together and sighed. “Not entirely. It will heal her for the time being, but her lifespan will be much, much shorter.”
“Isn’t there anything more you can do?” I asked.
“Well, I am missing an ingredient,” Lana said, crushing a sprig of nixgrass with her mortar and pestle. “Do you remember our first lesson?”
I nodded slowly. Antidotes needed a bit of poison in them to truly work. “Manbane. You need more manbane,” I said. “Can’t you make more?”
“I vowed I would never again,” Lana said, shaking her head. “But even if I were to, I no longer have the ingredients required for it. They were exceptionally foul.”
I paced the room, wishing I hadn’t sent Ash off so soon. “The duchess must still have some,” I said. “We could search her rooms for it and—”
Lana set her mortar down and crossed her arms. “You must have a death wish,” she said.
Frowning, I mirrored her pose. “Queen Cordelia has to be saved. How can I tell Ash we had a chance to heal his mother but didn’t take it?”
“Hecan take that chance. You were at death’s door several hours ago, have you forgotten?”
I opened my mouth to protest but realized she was right. I couldn’t enter the duchess’s suite again unless I wanted to be executed on the spot. But I certainly couldn’t let Ash do it alone.
A smile crept to my lips when I thought of a solution. “I can’t go with him, but someone else can,” I said. Lana gave me a look. “Can you disguise my face like you did with my witch traits?”
“Make you look like a completely different person?” Lana shook her head. “But I know someone who can.”
Ferdinand arrived within minutes, looking as decrepit and cheery as ever with a large box in his hands. After complimenting Lana on her various household items and sturdy shelves, he set to work on me. He smeared an odd-smelling ointment on my forehead and cheeks and murmured things I didn’t understand. I hardly felt any difference when he proclaimed he was done and thrust a mirror into my hands.
“It’ll only last for a couple of hours. Whatever you must do, do it quick.”
I was too entranced by my reflection to hear much of anything else he said. A stranger stared back from the mirror. She had straw-colored hair and no freckles. Her face was longer, her lips thinner, and her nose rounder, but she had my eyes.
“Ferdinand, this is amazing! Thank you,” I said, shaking the old charmwitch’s hand profusely. He shrugged and blushed.
“This stuff entertains my grandchildren. Never thought it’d be use to anyone, but I’m mighty glad you appreciate it.” He rubbed his hands together and leaned back in his seat. “Now. I could use a cup of tea.”
A few strong words from Lana sent him out the door without tea. Barely a minute passed when Rowena and Elowyn came back. They started when they saw me, but I quickly explained to them my plan.
“I’m going to need transportation back from the palace,” I said, giving Elowyn a hopeful look. She gladly accepted, but Rowena, who did not look pleased when I told her my plans, put her hands on her hips.
“What makes you think I’m going to let you waltz into the very place you should avoid?” she said.
“I’ll be fine, Rowena. I have my disguise. Besides, with Elowyn it’ll be quick in and quick out.”
She looked like she was about to protest again, but to my surprise, Lana intervened. “She has grown, Rowena. Let her go.”
