Page 66 of Queen of Vengeance

She let me go, inspecting the things I clutched in my arms. “Now, what are these for?”

“Ingredients… To reach someone on the outside,” I whispered so that no one but us could hear.

“Lea, did you steal this stuff?” She poised herself to reprimand me.

“Of course not! Do you think I’m looking for my second beating of the week? The nurse gave them to me,” I explained, but it only confused her further.

“Why would the nurse—? Oh, no. Lea, are you dying?” Her eyes misted with tears as she grabbed a hold of my collar.

“I’m not dying!” Although there was a part of me that wished I was. “I’m just in a bit of a situation now.”

I placed my hand on my stomach, and her eyes followed down. “The nurse told me that I’m pregnant.”

Her face stretched into a wide smile before dropping into sheer horror. “I really don’t know how to feel about this.”

“Join the club. Now, would you mind keeping watch? I’m going to contact my mema.” I motioned my head over to the front of the cell.

“Shouldn’t you wait until everyone goes to bed?”

I knew she was only trying to protect me, but there wouldn’t be any perfect time to make a telepathic call. “It’ll be worse when everything is quiet. At least right now, the guards have something to distract themselves with.”

She didn’t seem comfortable with the plan, but she nodded and did as asked.

I took a deep breath and moved to the far back corner, where I was sure no guard would see me unless they were really looking for me. I removed all of the ingredients from the bowl and mapped out what to do next.

It took me a moment to get back into the mindset of making telepathic calls. We learned this lesson a year ago at the beginning of the school year.

Turmeric, dried dandelion, toes of a mollusk, and water from the Mirror River. Damn, it looks like I’m missing Juniper.

I was distracted by the feeling of a tall presence behind me. I snapped my head around to see Miller standing over me with his arms crossed, watching intently. “What do you want?”

“I just want to see you work your magic.” He amused himself, but I’d much rather him find amusement elsewhere.

I wasn’t in the mood to entertain him.

“It looks like you’re missing an ingredient there.” He pointed out and I gritted my teeth in annoyance.

“Thank you, you’re very unhelpful.” I hoped my rigid attitude would turn him away, but instead, he sat beside me, pressing his fist into his chin.

I began carefully mixing the ingredients together. Since I had no way of measuring them, I had to go entirely by instinct and memory alone.

“It’s not going to work. The Junipers are required to open up the telepathic wavelength,” he pointed out, but he didn’t seem to be mocking me this time.

“I have to try. I don’t have any other choice.” As soon as the dry ingredients were properly mixed together, I poured the remaining water into the bowl.

Please let this work. Lunaira, give this potion strength.

I grabbed the bowl on either side and lifted it to my lips so that I could breathe gently, excluding my magical essence from the potion.

The bowl hummed to life against my fingertips.

Ripples in the water glowed a light yellow before hitting the end of the bowl and disappearing completely.

“Impossible,” Miller barely breathed the word as he leaned over.

My lips parted slowly, and I drank as much as my stomach could handle.

When I opened my eyes again, I couldn’t see the stone wall of the cell. Instead, it was the view of my home in Dask.

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