Page 7 of Queen of Vengeance

I tried to recall anything suspicious about him since his appearance a week ago.

I dropped my eyes and found myself distracted by the sight of deep red bleeding through Dineta’s white tunic. It wasn’t a small amount of blood either.

My throat closed up with anxiety.

My fingers prickled helplessly.

Suddenly, I couldn’t care less if Eniko was out to get me.

“She needs medical attention.” Eniko was quick to suggest.

“They won’t take her to the Infirmary if they threw her in here like this. It’s like they wanted her to—” I couldn’t bring myself to say the word. I needed to help her on my own.

My eyes darted around in thought.

What could I do?

My sights paused on the toilet on the far side of the room.

I gritted my teeth as I weighed my options.

It’s risky. Not to mention, I don’t have that much supply left.

I looked back at Eniko momentarily.

And what about him? What will he do when he sees what I am about to do?

I let out a deep sigh, consigning myself to my fate.

“It can’t be helped then.” I moved Dineta slowly so that I could stand up. I pushed the toilet, which was only a wooden box with a hole cut out, but it hid my contraband. I pulled out my purple satchel of ingredients and a small, poorly sewn-together book filled with potion recipes.

“There isn’t much here, but I should be able to make a healing potion from it,” I reassured her. “Eniko, hold the light over here, and don’t move.”

I removed some purple sand from the Gorrogan Sea and Etern Moss as a binder.

It was just missing one other thing…

Despite the fact that I was sure I didn’t have a heart anymore, I felt it ache as I looked over at my singular stand of mint leaves hanging out of a crack in the otherwise unblemished wall.

I plucked it, and whatever string held my heart in place snapped. I could feel it sinking into my stomach. I kept it to my nose and breathed in its hopeful scent one last time before crushing it into my mixture with my hands. I would have cried if I thought I was capable of it, but that was the old me. I didn’t feel deep, gentle things anymore.

I held the salve to my lips and whispered a prayer into it. “Dulcis mater sana, protege.”

Under what I said, Eniko repeated it in his native tongue: “Sweet healing mother, protect.”

I lifted Dineta’s tunic and rubbed the mixture on her deep lacerations.

She hissed at the pain at first, but the potion quickly diminished the pain.

“Sorry, it won’t be as effective unless you drink the rest of it.” I rubbed her shoulder, taking care not to touch her wounds. I helped her sit up, and she sipped down the remainder of the potion.

She smiled at me, barely lifting her head. “It tastes… minty. Thank you, Lea.”

I pulled her tunic back down carefully and moved away so she could lie down.

Only after this did I notice Eniko was still staring at me.

His demeanor had changed entirely.

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