On the way home one afternoon, I clasped my shaking hands together and turned into the herbalists’ shop. Despite spring’s arrival, a warm fireplace still crackled in the shop’s corner, a tea kettle dangling above with a gentle whistle. The shop owner, Mama’s dearest friend, smiled warmly at me beneath thick brows and round cheeks.
“Lilyan send you out for something?”
I nodded. Ever since Asha had fallen ill, Mama worked fewer hours at the shop to help more at home. It also gave Kelara an excuse to get out of the house more and focus on her business rather than Asha’s health.
“Lotus leaves?” the shopkeeper asked.
“Yes.”
“I’ll grab them from the back.” She disappeared around the corner behind a doorframe covered with hanging flower garlands.
My eyes wandered over the shelves. I’d been here many times since I was a child, yet the shop’s wild assortment of trinkets and remedies still fascinated me. The most exotic ingredients would be kept in the back, such as their mammoth tusks and pixie dust. But even within the receiving area, the shelves housed troll shoes and lilyflower houses, goblin earwax, and “lucky” eyelashes from giants. Each jar had a fascinating story to tell from a place beyond the Capitol, beyond even the borders of Amouridia.
I remembered Papa’s atlas, the words I’d said to him on the last day of his life. About our dream of exploring the world.
We’d never be able to do that together. But now, with Junira’s offer, there was a chance I could travel in memory of him.
My stomach sank.IfAsha was ever to get better.
My eyes roamed over a large section of shelves lined with Blackwood potions, from headache cures to energy elixirs. Thename was familiar beyond its fame. Hadn’t Thomas and I discussed the Blackwood family once or twice?
Stephen’s note, that was it. There had been a request to remove the young prince from the line of succession. And that evening by the pond… Master Blackwood had heard Thomas discussing how close he was to perfecting the cure.
Yes, the Blackwoods had come up a few times during my friendship with the prince.
I disliked them, now that I could remember it. But I also knew one thing—their potions were famed throughout the land for a reason. My gaze caught on one in particular:
A Sleeping Sickness Delay Draught
Slows the spread of sickness through the body. Keeps loved ones alive, in hopes of a future cure.
My fingers curled around the cold bottle. Why had Mama never brought this one home? Was it not worth at least trying?
A cleared throat made me whirl around. The shopkeeper caught my eye, a sack of dried lotus leaves beside her.
“Anything else?”
I rubbed my finger against the potion’s tag, the soft clink of glass cementing my decision.
“Just one more item,” I told her.
On my walk home, birds trilled in the trees lining our city streets while I twisted my lips in thought. I imagined the conversationThom and I would have upon reuniting, imagined an ending where perhaps we could be given a second chance.
Perhaps I’d finally admit to him that I was, on occasion, just as arrogant as he was.
Mama was sitting hunched over in the living room when I arrived. Her face was buried in her hands. Her shoulders shook.
The house was heavy and silent.
My stomach churned with dread. There was only one threat to our home’s peace, one that sucked the air out of my lungs at the very thought.
“Asha?” I could barely force the word out. The elixir I’d just purchased weighed heavily in my pocket.
I took a shuddering breath and pressed my fingers to my eyes. “Great Mage,” I muttered, my voice cracking.
Mama’s arms wrapped around me. “Oh Lyra.”
My vision blurred. “No.”
