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A brisk chill encircled me, and I quickened my step. The shuffling of dried foliage soundednear.
“It’s just the wind,” I whispered and hurried down the slope, using the full moon overhead to guide me. I’d walked this path hundreds of times and knew it with my eyesclosed.
By the time I reached the store, the hairs on my arms stood on end and it felt as if the night stifled me. But I’d seen how lazy the guards were, and I prayed they weren’t hiding in the woods watching me. I once saw a guard let a thief pass him, insisting he was on his lunch break. I relied on their sloth-likenature.
I tippy-toed across the dark shop, stepping on broken things that once meant the world to me; now they were scattered across the floor like forgottenmemories.
My knee hit something, and I bit back the groan. I reached down and patted the corner of my counter on itsside.
I set the candle down and lit the wick. At once, the room glowed dimly, and the place still resembled a disaster zone. Shattered cabinets, jars, and years of hard work. What would Grandma have thought if she’d seen what I’dcaused?
I choked on my breath, unable to believe the mess I’d gotten myself into, and yet I still had no answer to how I’d deal with thepriestess.
In my house slept three men who each held a piece of my heart. Considering their support and love, I held little doubt we weren’t meant to be together. Whoever said a girl had to choose only one guy,anyway.
At my feet lay half a cup with a moon phasing image I’d painted, along with a sachet of tobacco, and the box I used to collect coins for purchases. I crouched and opened the container. Empty. Ofcourse.
More than anything else, I wished my grandma were alive. She’d know what to do next. How to dig myself out of mytroubles.
I searched for packets of herbs, and I found a handful, but then, shivering from an icy gust, I faced the hole in the wall.Bastards. The flickering candle from the wind painted shadows across the walls. Well, I couldn’t sit here feeling sorry for myself. Time to get thisdone.
Focus. That had been Dagen’sword.
Climbing over the mess behind the counter, my foot caught on something. I lost my balance. Pin-wheeling my arms, I yelped, but I fell and hit the floor with my knees. Pain raced up my thighs, and Iwinced.
With a sickening snap, the wooden floorboards gave way beneath me. I yelled, grasping for the shelf nearby. My knees hit solid ground a footdeep.
“Shit!” Yep, that situation called forswearing.
I pushed myself free, but something stuck to my knee, and I peeled it away. A book. It had a dusty leather jacket and it was tattered at the edges, as if a mouse had been nibbling on it. I’d never seen thisbefore.
Climbing out, I sat with my back to the wall and flipped through the pages, each page scribbled with handwriting. “Morning sickness” titled one page along with a list of ingredients. The next was for a headache, followed by healing brokenbones.
A text of remedies! Had it belonged toGrandma?
I flicked through the pages. Dozens of them. Why hadn’t she shared this with me? And here I’d thought she’d had all this knowledge memorized. I laughed as tears pooled in my eyes. She had always teased me about having a terrible memory, and yet she had been just thesame.
The wordtoxicgrabbed myattention.
Cure for ToxicWater.
I staggered to my feet and huddled closer to the candle, memorizing the ingredients. Five items, and I had all of them back in my house. This could work as an antidote for Oryn’s pack, as it talked about removing poison from a bucket of water. Maybe I could use it for theriver?
I hugged the book to my chest, imagining myself embracing Grandma. Even from the grave, she’d helped me. “Thankyou.”
Something fluttered out from the book and landed on my boot. I leaned over and plucked a folded piece ofpaper.
It was a handwritten letter. Grandma’s. The swirls on hergandyconfirmedit.
Dearest Scarlet,
My sweet girl,if you’re reading this, it means one thing. I’ve departed, and I knew you would discover my book. I counted on it. You had a knack for finding anything I hid from you. I can imagine you laughing at having discovered my secret… I will admit, my memory has never been great, so I kept the remedies in a journal. Now it’s yours, mydear.
But there is something else I have kept from you for too long. Please don’t hate me, but this was the only way I could keep you safe. Sometimes secrets serve apurpose.
Wolves didn’t kill yourparents.
I lied to protect you from the same fate. The same monster who had taken theirlives.
