Page 47 of Lake of Sorrow

Since the taybarri had thick fur, she was surprised Crenoch would have noticed a sting, but maybe a bee had targeted his nose or eyes. The druids might also have embedded magic in the nearby plants or the hives themselves that helped the bees defend their territory.

As if to demonstrate, Crenoch lifted a paw, reached toward the hive, then jerked it back.

“Did the dome zap you?” Kaylina remembered touching the soil of the plant in the castle tower and receiving a shock that had knocked her on her ass.

Crenoch gave an affirmative whuff.

“I can share some of my honey if we can’t get in, but… I wonder if that plant would enjoy this even more than my honey from back home.”

Her family’s honey was delicious, the best she’d ever tasted, but if these bees were taking pollen from altered flowers, what they stored here might be its equivalent. Further, it might be exactly what the plant would have received from the druids who’d placed it there, assuming they’d also made a fertilizer from honey.

“What are the odds that I could get a sample without being zapped, stung, or mutilated in any way?”

The taybarri looked at her intently, both swishing their tails and rustling the grass.

“You guys want honey. I don’t trust you as good resources on the odds of my mutilation.” Thinking of the castle curse, Kaylina slid off Crenoch’s back anyway. “It’s too bad I don’t have one of my grandpa’s smokers with me.”

Levitke tilted her head.

“Smoke puts bees to sleep. Well, not to sleep exactly, but it masks the alarm pheromones that they put out to warn the hive, so you’re less likely to get stung. But, as my brother recently pointed out, I’ve had good luck taking honey from hives without smoking them. He was trying to tell me that’s evidence that I’m an anrokk.”

The taybarri swished their tails encouragingly.

Kaylina crept forward, hands out and open, and attempted to stay calm and do nothing to alarm the bees. As she approached the hive, the hum of magic she’d felt since entering the valley grew stronger. She probably had to worry more about alarming it than the bees.

Not sure how to open the lid—did it even have a lid?—she circled the dome. Then she halted and stared, for there was a mark on the weathered ceramic. Though faint, it was distinct. A star-shaped leaf had been carved into one side. She looked at her hand, but she already knew it matched.

“If that isn’t a sign that I should get some honey to try on that plant, I don’t know what would be.”

The comment received a chorus of whuffs.

“It’s so great to have spectators.”

Bees buzzed past her head on the way in and out of the hive but didn’t react to her presence. Kaylina slowly stretched her fingers toward the dome but shifted before touching it, instead turning her hand over to press the brand against the larger leaf on the side.

Warmth flowed from her skin as it touched, followed by a soothing coolness.

A faint click reverberated through the dome, and the top opened, revealing slats partially full of honeycomb and covered in bees.

“I don’t have any tools or empty jars with me for collecting this stuff.” She had the jar of honey in her pack but was hesitant to mix the two substances. She wanted to isolate this to try on the plant.

The taybarri whuffed and lolled their tongues out.

Kaylina snorted. “Yeah, we’re not collecting anything with those.”

Carefully, she removed one of the slats. The bees flew off in a huff, but none stung her. It was almost eerie how easy it was to take their prized honey, and she wondered if the plant in the castle had somehow orchestrated this, marking her so that she could gain access and get honey for it. But how could it have known she would go to the preserve and find this place? She believed its magic instilled it with intelligence, but this much?

Levitke made a distressed noise and backed farther away. A few bees had been circling her head, buzzing aggressively. The hum from the dome intensified.

With the slat in hand, Kaylina backed slowly away. She hoped none of the flowers in the valley would start shrieking.

She patted Levitke and removed her pack, poking inside for something she could use to collect some of the comb. Other than food and a change of clothes, there wasn’t much. She was on the verge of using the half-empty jar of honey when her knuckles bumped the ranger handbook.

“You can be useful again,” she murmured to it and tore a page out of the back.

As she wiped some comb into it, Vlerion spoke.

“That is the most blasphemous thing I’ve seen you do, ranger trainee.”

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