“Oh, I’ve read about him,” Kiela said, interested. “It was never confirmed that he’d created sentient plants, but it was whispered. You said he died? Of course, he must have. He’d be ancient by now, though I have read that some sorcerers do find ways to extend their lives…” She looked down at Caz. “Do you think they’d like…” She trailed off and raised her eyebrows.
“I think they absolutely would like,” Caz said.
“I was thinking of adding a few more entries,” Kiela said.
“There’s nothing that says we can’t do multiple editions,” Caz said. “If you keep fiddling with it, you’ll never release it, and I think a plant from Belde would know exactly what to do with it.”
Marin looked from the spider plant to the blue woman and back again. “What are we talking about?”
“Knowledge is meant to be shared,” Kiela said. “Books were never meant to be locked up. Hoarding them, keeping knowledge from people, is the same as hoarding magic. It’s wrong.”
“You sound like a revolutionary,” Dax commented.
Kiela shot him a look.
He held up his hands. “Which is great. They weren’t wrong. It’s true for music too—it’s not meant to be limited to concert halls only attended by the wealthy. It should be spread and shared.”
“Exactly,” Kiela said, mollified. “Larran, can you bring…”
A man poked his head around the corner, smiled at them, and handed Kiela a book. “Are there any other words that shouldn’t be included when I alphabetize?”
“Skip ‘A’ and ‘An’ also.”
“What about ‘Of’?”
“Just ‘A,’ ‘An,’ and ‘The.’ ‘Of’ is considered a significant enough word. You don’t have to—”
He smiled at her adoringly. “I want to.” He then disappeared back behind the jam shelves into the heart of the cottage.Wow, that man is smitten,Marin thought.
Kiela held the book out to Marin. “It’s designed for use by ordinary people, with an emphasis on remedies—spells, if we’re speaking plainly—that help with gardening. This is an early sample. As soon as we can figure out how to efficiently create multiple copies, we’re planning to circulate them to as many islands as possible, to help counter the damage that’s been done over the years by the empire.”
Marin studied it. This would be perfect for Terlu Perna. It would convince her like nothing else would that the law had truly changed,and she was safe from punishment. She dug into her pocket and pulled out several coins. “How much?”
“Also, a jar of raspberry jam,” Dax added.
“Good choice,” Caz said. To Ree, he said conspiratorially, “You probably won’t like it. It’s sticky. But humans seem to love it.”
“Humans are weird,” Ree agreed. “But I like mine.” Affectionately, he patted Marin’s ankle with a branch.
“Same,” Caz said.
The two plants chatted more as Marin completed her transaction with the jam-maker. They exchanged pleasantries, and Marin let her know about the chicken and the cactus. Kiela said it was nothing to worry about—they liked to play together.
With their purchases, Marin, Dax, and Ree headed back through the forest. Marin thought she heard the squawk of a chicken, but she wasn’t certain. She also thought she saw a wisp of cloud between the trees, but she was certainthatwas just her imagination. She’d heard of “cloud bears,” or forest spirits, but they were said to live near the flying islands, way to the west beyond where she’d ever sailed.
Marin held the spellbook in one hand and the railing with the other as she descended the cliff down to the beach. Dax and Ree followed her, and she heard the light plop of branches as Ree hopped from step to step. Offshore, she saw a herd of merhorses playing at the end of a stone jetty. She tried not to think too hard about the fact that they were merhorses, not a certain special sea serpent.
The spellbook was a nice find. She just hoped it wouldn’t turn out to be a consolation gift for failing to find Rijes Velk. It wasn’t worth the cost of the ruby. Still, she thought that Terlu would appreciate it. Hopefully, she’d be able to deliver both news of the head librarian and the spellbook to Belde.
As soon as the sail is mended, we’ll be on our way.
Marin tried to focus on that. Itshouldmake her happy—they were nearly to Alyssium. This was their final stop. Once the sail was fixed, they’d be able to make the last leg in just a couple days, if the weather cooperated.
They spent the rest of the afternoon in the tiny town, until it was time to check with the tailor on his progress with the sails. As they were heading for the shop, they heard shouting from the harbor. Marin glanced up as all the winged cats took off from their perches and flew toward the harbor.
“What’s going on?” Dax asked a villager who was hurrying past them.
“Most amazing thing,” the man said. “There’s a sea serpent in the harbor. And it’s tossing fish to the winged cats.”
