Page 96 of Prisoner of Darkness and Dreams
“What’s that got to do with the cleric’s movements?” Alastor asks, but I already have a sense of where Ana’s going with this.
“One of the ingredients is oil of saltzquill.”
“That’s what the clerics were doing in Ulmire,” Corrin says without hesitation, and Harman and Ana nod in agreement.
“Would someone care to enlighten us ignorant Filusians?” Stratton asks.
“Oil of saltzquill,” Corrin says. “It’s a fancy mineral extract that nobles like to put in their tea to make their skin better or something like that. It’s expensive and very, very rare. The crystal caves of Ulmire are the only place you can get it.”
“Then we have to assume Caledon has found some exiled dryad to recreate Etusca’s potion for him,” Harman summarizes. “But why, if it’s of no use to him?”
“No use for him totake,” I say darkly. “But what if he’s not planning to drink it himself?”
“That’s the point of all those raids,” Ana says, meeting my gaze. “All those rituals they’ve been encouraging and the edicts they’re posting. It’s so they can find solari.”
“They want people so terrified they’re looking for heretics in every shadowy corner,” I say. “Caledon’s desperate to root out any he’s missed. You think that’s why he wants the potion? So he can feed it to a solari?”
“A solari child, specifically,” Ana says. “If he can’t become powerful through the potion, he’ll make someone who can, and then drain them of their power.”
“Fattening a lamb up for slaughter,” Damia says, her voice thick with disgust.
“Yes, and when he’s slaughtered that poor child, he might just be powerful enough to use the tokens the dryads talked about,” says Ana.
“So Oclanna is queen, Caledon’s on his way to becoming even more powerful, and we have no idea where any of these artifacts are,” Alastor says, staring around at us. “Is it me or are we losing this war before it’s begun?”
“Alastor,” I say sharply. “You don’t always have to say everything that goes through your head.”
“That’s a bit like asking a fish not to swim,” Harman says. “But anyway, he’s wrong.”
“I am?” Alastor asks, bemused.
“Yes, because we only need to topple one piece of whatever Caledon’s building—ruin one part of his plans—and everything falls apart. We just need to work out exactly where the weak spot is in all this and hit it hard.”
“Harman’s right,” Ana says. “Caledon wants us hopeless and afraid, because that’s when we’ll be easiest to defeat. But the fight’s far from over yet.”
MORGANA
I hang back as the others return to the Crossed Keys, not sure I’m ready to face Leon. But eventually, I can’t stall any longer, and I return to the inn.
I’m just coming through the doorway when I recognize Damia’s voice in the hall around the corner. She’s talking to someone in a low, flirtatious tone I’ve never heard her use before, and I pause mid-step.
“Careful, Wadestaff. Barb might have gone all soft where you’re concerned, but you haven’t pulled the wool over my eyes.”
“Oh, we’re back to Wadestaff now, are we? What happened to calling me Corrin?”
“Momentary madness. I forgot I only use the first names of people I trust.”
“You seemed to trust me enough back when I had my hand on your?—”
Deciding I’ve eavesdropped enough, I keep walking toward them, deliberately making my footsteps louder than usual. When I turn the corner, Corrin and Damia are standing far apart, looking away from each other. I simply nod at them before climbing the stairs.
I’d laugh, if I wasn’t so surprised. I never saw the spiky, serious Damia falling for a man like Corrin. But then maybe shehasn’t. She might be attracted to the crime lord, but she said herself that she doesn’t trust him.And if she neverletsherself trust him, any relationship is doomed before it even begins.
Trust him like you trust Leon…right?
My treacherous brain brings my thoughts right back to him. Deciding to trust Leon was one of the biggest leaps I’ve had to take, and this is the first time I’ve seriously questioned whether it was the right decision.
The last time he kept something from me, it was because he wanted to decide my path for me—taking me to the Lyceum to grow my magic. This time, he said he had the opposite intention. He wanted meto still feel like I had a say. I wouldn’t say that makes it all okay…but maybe it does make it a little easier to see his point of view.
