Page 185 of Dare

I recalled additional symptoms, though his parents had never volunteered further information. Back when I’d cured Briar from the Willow Dime poisoning, I hadn’t bothered to ask questions, much less cared. Not that the princess or jester would have provided details about their son to the enemy. Regardless of our alliance against Rhys, we hadn’t been on trusted terms.

“A family’s knowledge would assist,” I said. “Give Winter the information we haven’t considered. I’ll do what I must to prove alternative ways of treating mental conditions. This is to say, the ones that actually require assistance. This, we must also learn to decipher correctly, in addition to identifying conditions with accuracy.”

Poet rubbed his absurdly sculpted jawline. “Winter needs Autumn’s advice. You do realize I won’t let you live this down.”

Over-confident motherfucker. I gritted out, “You do realize we’re standing within twenty feet of a lab equipped with sharp tools. I have a set of pinchers with your name on them.”

“Evidently, you’ve never seen my pleasure toy collection.”

“We accept your invitation,” Briar said, amused by our mutual antagonism. “Every step forward is a step closer to Flare’s return.”

The jester’s lips crooked. “Wine, first. Felony, second.”

“And soon enough when it’s safe, Flare will tell you where she is,” Briar avowed. “In her own way, she will find you.”

Her name burrowed into my skin. My baritone came out like a devoted hiss. “Not if I find her first.”

***

Our initial roundtable with Silvia, Doria, and the council didn’t go well. The meeting incited political upheaval, as well as a few tedious hissy fits from the advisors, chancellors, treasurers, chief physicians, and military leaders. Voices drifted from the throne room and into the halls, which filtered through the court, which led to gossip.

Had the prince gone mad in that rainforest?

Everyone speculated. They stared and whispered. They beseeched the queens behind my back and questioned my ability to rule.

I did my fucking job and proved them wrong. On a routine basis, I debated with my grandaunts and the council. I cut down the advisors’ theories with utilitarian facts and a surplus of icy stares that dared them to contradict me.

With the jester and princess as allies, wit and wisdom became its own power, sentiment and science aligning like weapons. This consisted of rebuttals and examples from Autumn, my experience in Summer, innovative ways to improve the kingdom and its treatment of born souls, and the reasons for its importance. To my intrigue, Poet and Briar had perfected a secret method of communication involving hand gestures, proving industrious during these sessions.

After they returned to Autumn, we continued our correspondence, which included Queen Avalea. I copied Winter documents procured from universities and medical halls, then had the scrolls delivered to Autumn: decrees, regulations, historical cases, technical assessments, and alternatives for integration. Many of them were solid, to which Briar replied by underlining passages, utilizing her talent for finding loopholes. Poet added his own brand of cunning to the missives, citing ironies and contradictions to the Seasons’ beliefs.

We proposed incentives to expand Autumn’s cause and sway Winter. A critical hindrance was medicine. Among numerous other cures, the former contents of my vial had been developed through experiments on born souls. Heinous as they were, Winter’s methods had resuscitated Flare.

It had saved her life. I would not have changed that.

As to future creations—that, I would change. The restoratives I’d created in the rainforest, along with new remedies including botanical specimens from the wild, would hopefully assist. After presenting these options to the queens, I listed solutions for replacing experimentation, including a novel form of treatment: physicians of the mind.

Moreover, we could study volunteers afflicted with various conditions, both mental and physical. The trials would be conducted with the subjects’ permission, and only providing they were fully capable of giving such consent. This allotted willing participants a chance to have their health assessed and treated at no cost to themselves. Rather, they were compensated with currency or other advantages.

Physicians listened with a vested interest. They could not deny the benefits, especially the bonus of unique ingredients.

A bargaining chip. A case that validated my sanity.

Relieved, my grandaunts granted me leave to shift Winter’s practices. To extract some born souls from confinement, on an individual basis.

Moderately. Slowly.

***

Weeks turned into months. Months turned into a year.

Rumors traveled from beyond Winter’s borders—talks of mysterious drawings appearing on Summer’s beaches. Intricate sketches on different shores materialized at random, the renderings created inconspicuously overnight.

Lovers on the shore, in the sea, in a wellspring, beside a waterfall, in a bed.

Guards in a tower. The faces of a hundred citizens. Depictions of a rainforest. Flora and fauna. Ruins with ancient chambers.

Renderings of moments Flare and I had shared, anonymously depicted. Reenactments of the memories Aire had sensed during the clan’s visit.

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