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I blinked.
“I was the one who sent for Kierden, so you could drink his blood and recover from your meeting with the Beast,” the woman explained.
“Thank you, then.”
“Of course. Come in.” She opened the door, and I walked inside a bit cautiously.
My eyes slid over the interior of the large tree she had made her home. It looked a lot like all the others, with the smooth wood floors and walls. There were no dividers between the bed and living area.
My gaze was drawn to three large shelves of plants at the far end of the space, near a slim window that let in just a tiny bit of light. The bright green plants sat in matching white pots. Their leaves were small and delicate, growing off long, thin branches that stretched over the sides and grew down toward the ground.
“I’m Dirue,” she said. “What can I help you with?”
My cheeks warmed. “I’m hoping you might be willing to share some of the fertility-suppressing herb, actually.”
Her smile widened. “Of course.” She picked up a fabric bag from a pile to the left of the plants, and slowly looked over all of them. “You don’t intend to seal your mate bond, do you?”
“Oh, definitely not,” I said quickly.
She nodded.
A moment of silence followed. It was an awkward one, honestly.
“Have King Kier and the elves found anything about the murders yet?” Dirue asked, making conversation as she slowly and carefully began pulling a leaf from one of the plants.
“Not yet, but I’m sure they will.” Another awkward silence followed, and I felt inclined to fill it. “It’s surprising that someone here is willing to kill people just because they fall in love. Among humans, love is treasured.”
Or at least in an ideal world it was.
“Love isn’t what’s getting them killed,” Dirue said absentmindedly. “The cult never feared or hated love—they just believed a mated pair could destroy our world.”
Kierden had told me that, but he hadn’t given many other details. “How was the cult destroyed?”
“Oh, the elves’ numbers were being decimated by the cult. The elves used to form mate bonds with the gargoyles; it was a vital part of their culture, so they were a large target. They grew desperate after their queen was killed, and created their assassins to hunt the cult members down. The cultists were picked off one by one until the elves lost control of the assassins, and that gave the rest of them time to go into hiding.”
“Damn, that’s terrible,” I murmured. My eyes swept over the plants again, lingering on one in the middle. Though it looked identical to the others, something about it just sort offeltthe tiniest bit different to me. When I focused on the flow of my magic and followed it to the plant, I realized its energy was different than the others.
I assumed it was the original plant, perhaps one that had been taken from the human lands since the fertility-suppressing herbs grew wildly there. “Would you mind if I took a clipping so I could grow my own?”
“Unfortunately, these plants are too delicate to clip, even for someone as gifted as yourself.” She winked at me and finally tied the top of the pouch. “You’re welcome to come back any time you need more. Tuck a leaf beneath your tongue for about ten minutes once a week, and you won’t find yourself with child. Swallow it if you want, or discard it. It’ll work the same either way. And you can take them twice a week for extra protection, if desired.”
“Thank you.” I gave her a quick smile as I tucked the pouch of leaves into the top of my dress. Reo had come through with some gorgeous ones that actually fit me, in colors that made me ridiculously happy. “I’ve got to get back, but it was nice to meet you.”
“And you as well.” She led me to the door, waving at me as I slipped onto Bright’s back. I waved too, and then held on as Bright began to move.
“That was odd. I’m sure her plants aren’t that delicate. The herbs taste good—we plucked wild ones all the time as children without damaging anything, and we were never careful.”
“She’s probably just protective of them because they enable her to hold her role as healer,”Bright mused.“If you started growing them for everyone, no one would need to visit her, and she might feel purposeless. Magical beings are known to start losing their minds when they get too old. Given how long the wars have been going, there may be some insanity beginning to brew for a lot of the warriors. They call that insanity immis.”
She pronounced the word ihm-iss.
Well, that sounded terrifying.
“Immis doesn’t happen for esu?”
“Oh, no. We’re smart enough to take mates before immis begins to set in,”she said with a chuff.“And we have our bonds with the fae to ground us, too.”
“Taking a mate prevents insanity?”
