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He frowned, but snatched the book from me. “Murdock wrote his own symbols—probably a symbol for the herb—like his own damn codex. I can read the measurements.”
I nodded and removed several vials of powder, running them beneath my nose, drawing them into my lungs.
The burn of every scent sparked the heat of my magic, but it was difficult to focus on the properties with my fatigue. My mind seemed to wander. It questioned and second-guessed.
Royal blood on land, in most cases, birthed powerful fury. Jonas and Sander were horrifying when they truly struck with their nightmares. Mira’s magic could cast uncanny illusions. One might think they were trekking up a hillside, when really, they were falling headfirst over a cliff.
Fear of being monstrous as I’d been today had created a rift in my magic. I lacked trust in what I could do.
The slide of steel and leather drew my gaze from rummaging. My heart skipped as Tait held a knife over Erik.
“What are you—”
Tait sliced through the king’s tunic, cutting it away. Erik was silent, but adjusted enough for his cousin to ease the top off. Only once his skin was bare did Bloodsinger open his eyes to look at me.
In the brighter light of the room, I saw clearly the cruelty written on his skin.
Deep, jagged grooves were carved on all sides of his heart. Sideways, up and down, slanted gashes raised in puckered scars. His belly looked as though claws had scraped back and forth over his insides. Round scars in every divot of his ribs.
Blood still flowed down his side, his legs. Already the coverlets of his bed were soaked in it.
“Earth fae.” Tait’s sharp voice brought me back to focus. “Tell me the names of the herbs you select, and I will see if I can find any hint of them in the codex.”
Nerves wanted to muddy my brain. I fought against the spin of the room, the tremble of my hands. The pain etched on Erik’s skin—my jaw tightened—proved he’d endured enough blood loss in one lifetime.
Focus. I straightened my shoulders. I was no healer, but I knew how to find the herbs that could.
“Give me one moment.” I opened the feverroot and placed a sliver of the black leaves on my tongue.
A sharp, earthy flavor sank into my tongue. When I drew my mind to a still, when I held tight to the risks facing the only man who could both keep me safe and kill me, all the uses for such an herb grew clearer.
Feverroot could be used as a simple seasoning to counteract sweetness, or as a blood thickener.
“Feverroot. It can help clot the blood.”
Tait flipped through pages of the mender’s book, a grimace on his face. He tilted his head to one side. “There is an old language symbol for head heat right here, but the direct translation is close to the word feverish.”
I dipped my chin and measured out the dosages for a man Erik’s size, and prayed we were right and didn’t poison the king.
One by one, I went through the vials. Most were odd names of plants we did not have at home. Fury connected to them, broke them apart, revealed in my mind what uses I might find in each plant. White oak bark for pain and swelling. Hells Mouth nettles for infection.
Some were useless to us. Things like an ache in the tooth, or blurred vision. I set aside only herbs that had uses for wound care. After I spouted off the properties, Tait would offer any thoughts about old translations.
Erik’s breaths grew shallower. Tait lifted his eyes off the page of the codex. “We’re out of time.”
Across the bed were measured powders and liquids. I shook out my hands and took up a damp towel from the washbasin and stood beside Tait’s shoulder.
“Be ready,” he snarled at me. “There will be a lot of blood.”
Some moments I could hardly tell if Tait cared about Erik, the way he sneered and snapped. But now his face was locked in fierce concentration. A bead of sweat dripped over his brow, and it seemed as if it might take a thousand men to peel him back from the king.
Without another word, Tait pulled out the blade.
“Damn you.” The king jolted upright.
Tait held him back down. “Now, woman!”
Fury burned in my veins. I couldn’t heal bodies through magic, true, but I could add potency to herbs, I could enhance their natural healing properties. “I need the feverroot.”
