She wipes her hands on her apron. “How convenient.”
The heat from the fire finally seems to reach my skin, and I shift uneasily on her sofa. “About what I said before… Perhaps I was a bit harsh.”
“No, you have a point, Eloise. The witches of Dimhollow have long been observers, but it is by necessity, not by intention. We are not warriors. Our magic is predominantly defensive by nature. We are small in number and limited in usefulness when it comes to war. However, we still protect and house the former queen and princess of Stygarde, and I assure you, after you’ve won this war, we will aid in healing those who survive.”
I twirl a finger in my hair. “So…if there were a way you could help, you would? You just believe there’s nothing you can do?”
“Exactly,” she says with some measure of relief.
Check and mate. “I’m glad to hear that, because there is something you can do.”
“I don’t understand.”
“The night Damien rescued me from Entrydal, you gave me an antidote that made me expel Nevina’s tracker. I need that antidote. We need to use it to free Stygarde’s children from Nevina’s enchantment.”
“Who said I gave you an antidote?” Catarina tilts her head inquisitively.
“Damien. He said you had a crystal that could detect the tracker inside me, a tracker I’d ingested weeks before, and that you’d given me a potion that made me expel it.”
“Yes, I have a potion that will make the children expel what magic is in their bodies, but what if the spell she’s given them isn’t a gumdrop like she fed you, but a tea fully absorbed into their blood? What if the magic has fused to their bones?”
“Can elven magic do that?”
She scoffs. “That and worse. When I gave you that elixir, I wasn’t sure you’d survive it. I risked it because none of us would have survived if I hadn’t. Without knowing the nature of the spell on the children, we risk injuring or even killing a great number of them.”
I cringe at the idea of intentionally hurting Stygarde’s children, but my mind keeps turning over her story, considering how she relieved me of Nevina’s tracker, the risk she took on me. “You gave me the antidote because you knew that even though there was a chance I might die, if you didn’t give it to me, we would all die.”
“Yes.”
“If we don’t cure those children, Catarina, they will all die, some of them at the hands of the people who love them most. Nevina will wield them as a weapon. The scenario is the same. It’s dangerous but necessary.”
She shakes her head. “I can’t guarantee it will work if?—”
“Life has no guarantees. All of us live in that knowledge every day. What we have now is hope. You and this potion are the best hope for saving these children and saving Tenebris.”
Quiet brews between us in the warm, herbal-scentedair, her fingers tangling in her apron. “The herbs necessary for the potion are few and difficult to obtain. How many children are compromised?”
“Hundreds.”
She scoffs and waves a hand in the air as if the mere idea she could make enough is ridiculous. “We believe they are being kept together in tents on Stygarde grounds. A brave shade has agreed to sneak it in and add it to the drinking water.”
Her eyes narrow. “If that’s the case, you’ll need it to be concentrated to achieve the correct dosage.”
I nod. “Enough for ten large barrels of drinking water. Teach me what I need to do. I’ll help you make it.”
Her eyes drift toward the ceiling. “It’s possible in theory, but I’ll have to check my stores.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” I release a deep sigh as she hustles out the door, leaving me to watch the crackling fire.
When the door opens again a second later, it’s not Catarina standing there. Damien’s sister, Karyl, lets herself in, a wide grin spreading across her face. “Eloise!”
32
Sludge
Eloise
Karyl embraces me in a tight squeeze. “I heard you were here! Mother and I have been so worried. We haven’t heard from you or Damien in ages. She’s coming, by the way. Catarina needed her help carrying something up from the cellar.”
