03 - Sworn (29 page)

“We could camp near the mountains tonight and go over tomorrow. We’d reach Stone Ridge the next day, easily.”

She turned and wrapped her arms around my neck. “Thank you.”

I kissed her, then transformed before my body could get any other ideas that might stall our departure. I took off and circled until Rowan had mounted Florizel. Their take-off was smooth this time, Florizel’s wing-beats strong and sure with only her single, familiar passenger. Rowan squeezed her eyes closed as they climbed, but this time she was smiling.

19

NOX

P
rogress along the road was slow, at best. Far from the hard-marching army that Ulric might have wished for, we were a large and motley band of men, women, and children, and not all in good health. The group could only move at the pace of its slowest members, and even when we stuck those on horses, our movement could best be described as glacial. But Ulric seemed to think he still needed them. People to prove his identity, to spread the word of his return. Perhaps he hoped to avoid challenging Severn. As long as he still had time to take the throne back by law, I supposed it wasn’t the worst plan.

But gods, was it painfully slow.

We would never have made it as far as we did without Mama Bunn. She insisted on having access to her potions and her equipment in the evening when we stopped, and went straight to work. Kel kept busy with the tasks Ulric gave him, and Mama pushed me hard as travel-weary folk showed up at her tent.

Keeping on top of her demands and my own work for Ulric exhausted me quickly after a long day of walking. The first night on the road, I’d closed my eyes for just a moment in her tent—and opened them as the sun rose. We’d packed up quickly the next day, and when we stopped for the evening Mama hurried off to tend to people while Kel and I set up her things again.

I had already learned much from Mama Bunn, though nothing I could apply to my own assignment. The woman worked true miracles in potions and more practical matters. She’d been quite serious about stretching the stew. She enlisted a group of energetic children to collect bulbous catweed roots along the way and bash them to mush, then combined that with what meat the hunters brought in to feed the community. Her potions kept the ill on their feet, and her treatments kept minor injuries from becoming infected. She strengthened the elderly and built up the weak, and beneath her intimidating exterior, her love for her people shone through.

As for me, I assisted, I watched, and I learned—and while my teacher was off ministering to the worthy folk she loved, I skulked about her tent and tried to concoct something that would heal a powerful man whom I hated. Though her work was harder than mine, I envied Mama Bunn. I longed to work more directly on a cause close to my heart. True, curing Ulric’s condition would get Severn off the throne. But still, it wasn’t enough to satisfy me.

Mama Bunn entered the tent just after supper. “Everything set up?”

I glanced up from the notes I’d scribbled the night before. “Hmm? Oh, yes. I was thinking about foraging tonight. We’re getting low on supplies.” I also hoped I might find something new that would inspire me. I wasn’t making much progress with what we had.

She sighed and sank into her chair, the first thing we’d unloaded. “We won’t have a chance to prepare most of it properly until we stop.”

“Might as well gather when we can, though. There’s no telling what we’re passing by out there.”

“What are you working on?”

“Oh, nothing.”

She closed her eyes. “Coming up with something for your mer friend?”

“Yes.” I wasn’t. I should have been. We’d run out of the ingredients for that nasty drink, and had no way of collecting more until we passed a lake with healthy plant life in it. If we found that, Kel’s problem would be fixed without potions. I might have been able to create an alternative, had I not been under so much pressure to work on Ulric’s problem.

I told myself that as soon as I came up with something for Ulric, I would be free to help Kel. It felt like that was the only thing that kept me from giving up entirely. No matter how many angles I looked at Ulric’s problem from, no matter how late I stayed up working it out in my mind, I simply didn’t have what I needed to even get a sense of how to move toward finding a cure.

Mama shuffled her feet around to rest them on a box. “Oh, that’s good.”

“Is there anything I can do for you?” I hesitated to ask, in case she wanted me to rub her feet. None of us had bathed in far too long for that to be an appealing prospect.

“No. Rest time is already over. That Rhina girl needs me to check to see if the baby’s coming early, and I have to try to keep him in there if he is. I just wanted peace for a moment.” She pushed herself up and hobbled to the table we’d made from crates and a wooden board. She reached for a thick sheep-oil base and several floral ingredients. “Where’s the wortweed?”

I found the bottle and passed it to her. “I can do that for you, if you tell me what you’re aiming for.”

“I don’t think you can.” She smiled secretively. She hummed as she worked, moving a dollop of oil to her bowl, adding this and that, seemingly at random. The sound didn’t match her appearance, or even her speech. Usually rough and earthy, her voice took on an ethereal tone when she focused on her work.

I watched over her shoulder. The powdered rose-thorns should have reacted with the wortweed to turn the whole thing green and lumpy, but under Mama’s experienced hands the mixture remained smooth and cream-colored, glowing slightly.

I found myself mesmerized by her skill, and stepped closer without thought. She was right. I knew absolutely nothing about this art.

She tapped her knife on the edge of the bowl. “Give it a test.”

I used the knife to smear a touch of the stuff on the back of my hand. The skin tightened, pulling my fingers straight and stiff. I gasped and shook the creeping numbness out of my fingers.

Mama Bunn chuckled. “That won’t last long. Just let it dry out and it’ll become less potent. Should do for my purposes, though.”

When I looked back at the bowl, the potion had stopped glowing, but retained its beautiful color.

“Mama, how did you do that? I never would have expected that reaction.”

She winked. “Haven’t you figured out the oak riddle yet?”

“No.” And suddenly, I had. A chill raced over my back and stood my hair on end. “Your humming. You’re changing the reactions somehow. Controlling them.”

“Just influencing them. Using my intentions to gently convince my ingredients to behave themselves.” The wrinkles around her eyes deepened as she looked over the array of jars and bottles on the table. “This is what you still need to learn, Nox, and what few Potioners ever do. There are natural reactions, and you have a good sense for those. You can predict with great accuracy what will happen with ingredients, even unfamiliar ones.”

I stiffened, sensing the
but
that had to be coming. “I believe I can.”

“But what many don’t know, and what most Sorcerers won’t acknowledge, is that we don’t only facilitate natural reactions. We, the greatest Potioners, can influence as well.”

My mouth went dry. “That’s not how our magic works.”

“Tell that to miss Rhina when I put this up her womanly bits and start humming.” She cackled. “It won’t hurt, but by the gods, she’ll feel it. The baby might, too, and he’ll give her a restless night. Clean up here, will you?”

I nodded, struck dumb. But before she left the tent, I found my voice. “Mama, are you sure it’s a boy? Rhina was calling it a girl when she visited yesterday. Said she wants another one.”

Mama Bunn smiled. “It’s a boy, and a little magic in him. I get a feeling about these things. I’m never wrong.”

I filled the big washbasin and added soap, then lit the fire underneath. Though we’d managed to refill our supplies at a few small streams and to collect large amounts of the dew that had been notably absent back at camp, the continuing lack of a solid rainfall meant no one was allowed to use our drinking water freely. Still, Mama Bunn’s services were essential, and this equipment needed to be washed even when everyone was slurping stew off of bark plates to save on dish-washing.

I swished my hands through the cool water and relaxed slightly. Water alone was good for so many ills.
And for some more than others.

I left the water behind and went out to find Kel. I didn’t have to go far. He sat outside of the tent with our bedroll spread out next to him.

“Are we sleeping under the stars tonight?” I asked.

“I don’t know. Do you plan on sleeping at all?” The strain around his eyes and the edge in his voice caught me off-guard.

“I’m sorry. I thought I had a good idea about Ulric last night. It didn’t work out, but Mama just told me something that might, if I can make it work. But right now, I have something just for you.” I reached for his hands and pulled him to his feet, and he followed me obediently into the tent.

He grimaced. “Is it another potion? I’m not sure I can take that.”

“No. Look.” I led him to the basin and placed his hands in the water. He drew in a long, deep breath and swished his hands around as a smile touched his lips.

“You want me to do the dishes?” he asked. “How alluring.”

I unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it off his broad shoulders. “Let the dishes wait. You’re more important.” I offered him a dry sponge and stepped back.

“You’re not going to help?”

I laughed. “You’re on your own, friend. I don’t need more trouble than we’ll already have if Mama comes back.”

He dipped the sponge in the water and rubbed over his shoulders, sending thick streams over the hills and valleys of his chest and arms that dripped to the floor. It reminded me of the night he’d revealed his true nature to me, the way I’d felt seeing his mer form for the first time.

I shivered in spite of the warmth that radiated through me.

“You sure this is okay?” he asked, even as he continued to spread water over his skin like it might drink the precious liquid in. “I don’t want to waste it.”

“I don’t think anyone will notice if we use a little extra, just this once. Get yourself clean. It might make you feel more like yourself.” I took a step toward him without meaning to. “I’ll keep watch outside.”

He grinned over his shoulder as he unlaced his pants. “You sure you don’t want to stay and help?”

I took in the sight of his warm brown skin, and wanted nothing more than to give him a hand. Both of them. Instead I took a backward step toward the door. “I can’t.”

He turned back to the basin and dunked his head into the water.

I re-directed a few people who came by looking for Mama Bunn, and a few minutes later, Kel whistled from inside the tent.

“Didn’t think I should go out with wet hair,” he said.

I moved closer and inhaled. “They’re going to be jealous when they smell you. I am.”

“What’s stopping you? There’s water left. Too hot for my liking now, but you could use it.”

I hesitated, then placed my hands back in the water. Warm. Soapy. Perfect. I peeked back at Kel and watched him slip back into his shirt, which clung to his still-damp skin. I’d been spending far too much energy lately resisting that temptation. I had no will power left to spend on resisting a stupid bath.

“I’m going to wash now,” I said.

“Good.” He made no move to leave, and grinned at what must have been my obvious discomfort. “Come on. You saw me naked when we barely even knew each other.”

“That was different! You had a tail. I couldn’t see your man stuff.”

His grin widened. “I don’t have to look.”

My cheeks flushed. “You can look. Just control yourself, mister.”

I turned away and pulled my shirts over my head, then untied my pants and let them fall to the floor. Kel took a sharp breath behind me, but I didn’t turn. Instead I closed my eyes and enjoyed the feeling of bubbles on my skin, washing away a week’s worth of stale sweat and dirt. I didn’t wash my hair, but made sure everything else got a thorough cleaning. When I was done, I felt renewed. The ground under my feet was dark with the water that had dripped down my legs, but that evidence would disappear soon enough. I dumped out what was left in the basin and re-filled it, then dropped the dishes in to soak while the water heated up again.

Kel sat in Mama Bunn’s chair and watched me put my dirty clothes back on. “You are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” he said.

I almost laughed at the awestruck sincerity in his voice. “I find that hard to believe, considering where you come from. I’ve seen your sister. I’ve heard that all merfolk are like you two.”

“Perfection is overrated.”

I went to him and placed a kiss on his forehead. “Do you feel better?”

“In some ways.” His hand on the back of my neck pulled my face lower, and he pressed his warm lips to mine. Though his motions were gentle, he was obviously struggling to keep them that way. “Don’t work tonight. We can sneak away from camp, just the two of us.”

I placed a hand on his shoulder to keep myself from collapsing into him. “Kel, I can’t.”

“Why?” Even as we spoke, his lips caressed mine, then continued the trail of kisses down my neck. I gripped his shirt tight in my fist, and he paused. “Is it because I’m not human?”

“No. Kel, it’s not that I don’t want you.” A flash of heat climbed through my torso, my body’s agreement with that statement. “It’s just that everything is so complicated. I was talking to Cassia about how things are with merfolk. About how for you, love is a forever thing in a way it’s not for humans.”

He nodded. “I do love you. I thought humans considered this a part of—”

“We do. And that’s the problem.” I pulled away, and he released his hold on me. I tried to pull my thoughts together, forcing myself to face things head-on. “This would be a big step for me, even without you being who you are. Cassia explained that this could go quite a bit deeper than I’d be risking with a human, emotionally speaking.”

He let out a long breath. “I’m glad she said it before I had to. I don’t know whether it would. Does it get deeper than this? It seems impossible.”