“Can’t you put something in it to make it last longer? Maybe put it in some food or something?”
“Violet, if that were possible, I would be doing it that way already.”
“I’m sorry, Aurelia. I didn’t mean to…”
“It’s all right. I get it. It’s not exactly helpful information, given your situation, and I wish I had other means to assist you, but this is what is currently available to us. You can leave here tonight with it if you think you’ll see her tomorrow or the day after. Alternatively, you can come back and grab it once you’ve discussed it with Fiona and come up with a date that both of you can agree on. I will warn you, though, and make sure you pass this information on to Fiona as well: the sooner it’s done, the easier it will be on her body. If she is certain that this is what she wants, then I don’t recommend waiting much longer.”
Forrest stood up from his chair and turned to Violet. “I can make the trip into the village to drop it off at your store, if that is more helpful to you. Truth be told, I haven’t seen much of the village, and it would allow me to do so and also help you both out with this situation.” He looked between Violet and me expectantly, as if our answer would make or break something for him.
I spoke first. “Forrest, it means a lot to me that you want to help, but I think for this particular situation, it might not be for the best. This is a small village, and the people don’t know who you are, so you’re going to stand out right away. I would prefer not to draw more attention to Violet than is needed. I appreciate the offer, though.”
Forrest nodded, resigned, and sat back down.
“I think I’ll take it with me tonight,” Violet said. “We should limit our interactions as much as we can. I’ll figure out a way to get word to my sister to come see me at the store so I can give it to her.”
I nodded, then got up and went into the kitchen to make the tea using the incantation Magda had given me.
Several minutes later I came back into the living room and handed Violet the bottles of steeped tea and pain medication.
Violet reached into her pocket to retrieve payment and placed the silvers in my hand. She pulled me close. “Thank you, Aurelia,” she whispered, her voice quavering. “You have no idea how much good you bring to this nasty, awful realm. Don’t listen to those stupid fucks at the sanctuary. You’re not a blasphemous witch. You’re goddess-sent.” She gave me a small kiss on the cheek, grabbed the small glass bottles from me, and headed toward the door.
Forrest got up, grabbed her cloak, and helped her get it on.
“Violet, would you like Nocturna and Astra to walk you back into the village?” I asked. “I’ve had some other women who’ve come to visit me take advantage of this when leaving, so they aren’t confronted on the way home, if you know what I mean.”
Violet suddenly had the widest grin on her face. “Aurelia, I would fucking love that! I hope I do run into someone, just so I can see them shit their pants when they see those two beautiful beasts.”
Mothers Above, Violet was great.
I quickly called out for the girls, and within moments, they were there. “Nocturna, Astra, can you please walk Violet back to the village? Make sure she gets home safely. Feel free to attack anyone who looks at her the wrong way or says anything untoward.” I winked at the two mountain cats.
The girls chirped in approval and sat on either side of Violet. After a few more minutes of saying our goodbyes, the girls were on their way to the village, with Violet following proudly.
“That woman scares me a little,” Forrest admitted.
I laughed and pushed him back inside. “Same, Forrest. Same.”
Chapter 7
“Ineed a glass of wine. Like, right now. Do you want one too?” I asked over my shoulder as I went into the kitchen to retrieve a bottle of wine.
Forrest hummed in agreement.
“I think we went about that the best way we could, but I have this unsettling feeling that it’s going to blow up in our faces anyway.” I handed Forrest a large glass of wine and made my way to the opposite end of the sofa.
“Why do you say that? The plan seems to be fairly solid, in my opinion,” he replied before taking a sip of his wine.
“Most of the women I help aren’t so closely connected to the very group of people who cause me the most stress. I am essentially an enemy of the Cult of Children, and they are simply biding their time, waiting for a valid reason to attack me. This would give them more than enough to come after me and follow through on their threats. I can’t ignore my gut telling me that this is all going to end very badly for everyone involved.”
I brought my legs up underneath me and wrapped one of the quilts lying on the back of the sofa around me.
“That said, I think we should have some sort of escape plan, just in case.” I looked at Forrest. “Tomorrow we should each put together a bag with some clothes and supplies. That way, if anything happens, we can quickly grab them and head for the Nightwood. They won’t follow us into the forest. They’re too scared to do so. We can camp out there for a fewnights if needed.”
“What would we do after that?” Forrest asked. “I assume if the penalty for aiding Violet’s sister were death, they wouldn’t let up so easily.”
He wasn’t wrong. We would probably need to leave the village altogether. There were a few small villages northeast of here that we could hide in. The Cult of Children had a significantly reduced presence the further north one went up the continent. The people who lived in the more remote villages believed in the same goddesses as them, but they didn’t apply the scripture in the restrictive fashion that the Cult of Children chose to throughout the rest of the continent. If we made our way north, we’d at least be safe from the Cult of Children for a short while, until we could figure out a more thorough plan.
I drained the rest of my glass, my nerves no more settled. “If we need to, we’ll figure something out. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that, though.”
