Poison. Part 16

See the value in keeping the kingdom's leading potions weapons master close to her? Kyra's knees trembled. The idea that their friends.h.i.+p would be reduced to a wise monarchical business relations.h.i.+p left her with an empty feeling.

The queen was wrong. Kyra knew it. But she couldn't tell her about her Sight. Kyra would have to save the kingdom-and the princess-another way.

She spent days in the library trying to find some clue as to what had happened to her friend. One by one, she ruled out every possible explanation: it wasn't a spell, a curse, the effects of a potion.

That left only the possibility of possession. The soul crushed inside the body by the weight of another.

There was no recovery from possession.

Ariana-whoever she now was-remained a threat to the kingdom. She had to be stopped.

And Kyra was going to have to be the one to do it.

She felt again the heat of the sauna and the hard bench beneath her, and for the first time in her life, embraced her spark. Her inner vision flared, this time flinging her forward. Images flooded her mind-some memories, others something more. The leering face of the witch who'd captured her and Fred. Rosie gazing up at her with trusting eyes. Her parents silently eating breakfast together. Fred, all rumpled hair and green eyes, in the garb of a king's soldier, wielding a full-length fighting staff, its sharp end glowing with a deadly poison.

And she saw the Gypsy band marching north-the apple harvest they'd find that fall, the kitten Nadya would adopt, and most of all, the empty s.p.a.ce in the caravan where Kyra was not.

Because she wasn't going with them.

And she knew it.

Her duty lay with the Kingdom of Mohr.

Kyra felt as though she'd melted into the sauna bench. Light-headed, she got up and stepped outside, welcoming the stinging embrace of the cool spring evening.

"How was it?" Nadya asked from her perch on a bench a few feet from the door. She was whittling a small figure with her knife. "Easier to See?"

Kyra nodded grimly.

Nadya's cheeks rounded in a smile. "I thought it would be."

"But horrible," Kyra added. "Is it always like that? A big rush of random images?"

"Sometimes. With training you can direct it, to bring it out when you want to know something. But it is never an exact art." Nadya set down her knife. "This doesn't have to be a burden, but you do need to prepare yourself. The Sight will not be denied. It's only going to get stronger with each vision you have."

"I see the future," Kyra said. "It just seems so hopeless. Is it set?"

"You see possible futures, but that doesn't mean the future can't change. Or be changed."

"Oh." Kyra sat down on the wagon steps. "I hope you get the kitten anyway. I think it will be good for you."

"A kitten?" Nadya's voice filled with pleasure. "Let's hope that's one of your more accurate visions." She laughed, then grew serious. "When you first came, I had a vision of you. My Sight showed me the potioners' tag on you, of course, but there was more."

Kyra hugged herself in a sudden chill breeze. "What was it?"

"Your life was hanging in the balance-sometimes you fell one way, sometimes another." Nadya watched Kyra for a moment. "Either way resulted in your death. Is your mission so important that you'll throw your life away?"

Kyra swallowed. "It is."

Nadya nodded. "Then I wish you all the luck in the world." She put down her whittling and walked away.

Kyra picked up the piece of carved wood-it was the figure of a tiny pig, a basket slung below its snout, a smile on its face. She grinned and clutched it in her fist.

A little extra luck definitely couldn't hurt.

THE NEXT DAY, Kyra pinned the sc.r.a.p of green silk into Rosie's basket, attached her leash, wrapped up some food Nadya had given her, and hefted her pack onto her shoulders. It seemed like every member of the tribe came to hug her good-bye.

Nadya gave her one last squeeze. "Be careful, my dear. The world needs you."

Kyra hugged her back. "Thank you for everything," she said, then marched off toward the wavery line on the horizon that marked the border of the bog illusion.

She took a moment to get her bearings, then set the pig down on the ground.

Immediately, Rosie strained at the leash. It looked as though she was pointing right back toward Wexford.

Why was Kyra even surprised? It seemed like her whole life revolved around that city.

She took her time getting back to the capital. She kept their gait slow and made Rosie take frequent rest breaks. Their plodding pace gave her plenty of time to wonder what her vision of Fred had meant. There were lots of reasons why he might be dressed like that, why he'd have a staff.

Since her vision in the sauna, the cracks in the wall she'd built around her witch's spark had grown. As she'd hugged each of the Gypsies good-bye, images had flickered through her vision. But try as she might, she could not make her Sight do what she wanted.

She couldn't focus it on Fred.

As Kyra approached the road to Wexford, she put on the glamour of a middle-aged housewife, complete with an ap.r.o.n. Now she just had to hide Rosie. Hal would have spread word that the Princess Killer had a pig.

"Rosie. You're going to have to hide in my pack. Do you think you can do that?"

Rosie oinked and nudged Kyra with her snout.

Kyra gave her a carrot from the provisions Nadya had given her, tucked the rest in her ap.r.o.n pocket, then picked Rosie up and set her inside atop her things. The pig curled up and sighed.

"You really are a sweetheart." Kyra loosely fastened the top flap, then hefted the pack onto her back.

Traffic on the road moved slower than the last time she'd entered the city. Up ahead, Kyra could see that there were King's soldiers everywhere, watching the crowd, occasionally stopping people and questioning them-looking for the Princess Killer. Her pulse beat hard in her veins as she drew closer.

"Hey, you there!" A soldier stepped in front of Kyra.

Kyra stopped and tried to smile. "Yes?"

"Where are you coming from?"

"Littleton."

"Littleton's not far. Why do you have such a big pack?" The soldier's voice was harsh.

"I'm just bringing my cousin some country produce. She loves the roots that grow wild near my house." She dug a couple of carrots out of her ap.r.o.n pocket.

His eyes glazed over with boredom. "Carry on."

Kyra let out a breath and pa.s.sed into the city.

She went first to the small weekday market to gather supplies. Nadya had said her Sight would grow stronger with use, so she decided to test it out. As she stepped between the open-air stalls, she mentally touched the spark within her mind. Visions bombarded her. Not just of the future, but of people's pasts as well.

She flashed on the old gentleman at the greens counter as a young boy digging in a dirt pile for worms. The little girl at the cheese stand, on the other hand, she saw as an old wrinkled woman on her deathbed. In the bakery, when Kyra went to pay for the bags of dough she'd selected, she almost said, "Congratulations" to the young woman behind the counter. She stopped herself just in time, realizing that just as surely as she knew the woman was pregnant, it was a joyful surprise the woman had yet to discover for herself.

From there she went directly to Fred's inn. She paused outside his door, her cloth bag of purchases dangling from her arm. She didn't hear anything.

Kyra knocked and, when no one answered, she broke into his room.

Fred's room was, thankfully, Fredless.

His bottle of olive oil was still on the counter in the small kitchen area. Perfect. He was out, but he was still staying here.

Kyra got to work, stoking the stove with kindling she found in a bin and rummaging through cabinets and drawers. They were filled with an odd a.s.sortment of pots and pans. Glimpses of people who'd used the cookware flickered through her mind's eye as she touched each item, and she practiced pus.h.i.+ng each vision to the back of her mind so that she could focus on her work.

By the time Fred bounded through the door with Langley that evening, Kyra's housewife glamour had worn off, and the stage was set.

"Kitty?" He dropped his day pack on the chair by the door.

She'd thought she was ready for him, but his face still took her breath away. He wasn't handsome the way Hal was-Hal was too perfect, too long-lashed, too well-coifed. Fred was beautiful in a completely different, effortless way. His green-gold eyes sent a s.h.i.+ver of happiness down to Kyra's very core.

Kyra recovered herself. "Thought I'd surprise you!" She threw off the ap.r.o.n she'd borrowed to replace the one that had vanished when her glamour wore off. Underneath it was a floaty white blouse. Kyra never thought she'd feel this way, but it felt nice to wear something soft and light and pretty after months in the same black durable s.h.i.+rt. She looked good.

"Fred, I'm so sorry I stole Rosie away." She watched to see if he'd heard of the Princess Killer by now. But his face remained blandly happy and impa.s.sive.

He sat on a chair at the tiny table and leaned back, his legs out in front of him. "She was your pig. You weren't really stealing her." Langley rubbed noses with Rosie.

"You were right-she didn't belong with a family, and I shouldn't have given her to them. I realized that I couldn't live without her, so I stole her back. Anyway, I made you dinner to repay you for all your kindnesses to me."

"Something does smell good...." Fred reached down to pet Rosie, who had come over and was anxiously b.u.t.ting her head against his leg and looking up at him with shameless adoration. She settled at his feet. Then Fred stretched his arms overhead, and Kyra caught a glimpse of his flat stomach as his s.h.i.+rt lifted slightly.

She blinked rapidly. That was distracting. "You're going to love it."

The room seemed really quite small. Kyra tried to focus her witch's Sight for a moment to see if it would tell her anything about the mysterious man in front of her. Nothing so much as flickered in her vision. What good was this power if she couldn't control it?

She turned to the counter and began cutting slices of the steaming-hot strudel she'd cooked-layers of fresh spring spinach and salty cheese wrapped in a light flaky dough.

Fred came up behind her, his hand gentle on her back as he leaned over her shoulder to look at what she'd made. "Wow. That looks delicious."

Kyra caught the scent of him, all spicy and woodsy, and had to keep herself from burying her face in his hair. Then he leaned over and landed a tiny kiss on her cheek, below her left eye, sending a spark right down to her toes.

It was only a kiss. A tiny little b.u.t.terfly kiss. Kyra could handle that.

She loaded up two plates with strudel and mounds of fresh-herb-and-tangy-olive salad while Fred spread a blanket on the floor between the bed and the table. "Table's too small for two."

Kyra brought the plates over and gingerly set one down in front of Fred and another across from him.

Then, settled on the floor with the animals beside them, they ate.

Kyra was in a tiny pocket of goodness that she wanted to savor before it was gone.

She enjoyed every last morsel of the meal she'd made. Fred was strangely quiet, offering compliments to her cooking, but mostly focusing on the food in front of him. "It's good," he said, more than once.

Then it was time for dessert.

Kyra was really proud of it. She put a heaping plateful in front of Fred. "Homemade springberry pie."

He smiled at her, his fork poised in his hand. "You really didn't have to do all this, Kitty. But I'm glad you did."

"Eat up!" Kyra gestured with the pie knife.

He took a big bite. "Come sit next to me." Fred patted the blanket beside him, and Kyra scootched over. He put his free arm around her.

He took another bite. Two. "You're a great cook. Your talents are wasted on the dairy industry."

He ate a couple forkfuls more, then swallowed and set down his silverware. He leaned toward her and pressed his lips against hers.

Her whole body reacted. She melted into him and began kissing him back, wis.h.i.+ng that things weren't the way they were.

Fred went still, and she pulled away.

He slumped down to the floor, eyes closed.

Kyra scooped a nibble off her own plate. It really was a delicious pie. The berries were deliciously tart against the sweet crust.

Perfect for hiding a sleeping potion.

Kyra kept her fingers crossed that he'd had enough. She eyed his plate critically. He'd only had a half dozen bites. But that should provide her with enough time to find the princess without Fred "accidentally" interfering-whoever he really was. She didn't trust how he kept "accidentally" crossing her path. Now she could be sure it wouldn't happen again. Before he woke, she'd be far enough away that he couldn't follow.

His body's natural nighttime sleep cycle would probably kick in where the potion left off, and he'd think he'd eaten too much and fallen asleep.

Kyra laid him on his back, propping up his head with a pillow. His hair was soft in her hands as she arranged his head so he would be able breathe freely.

Before she could think about what she was doing, she leaned forward and dropped a small kiss just above his left eyebrow. He did smell wonderful.

She gathered her pack, making sure her potions pouch was safely tucked inside, and took one last look. Completely relaxed, his face looked ready to break into a smile at any moment.

Langley lay down beside Fred, his big dog head resting on his front paws.

"Keep an eye on him, okay?" Kyra said.

Kyra's glamour was gone, but it was late enough that she hoped the shadows outside would be disguise enough. The festival was long over and people rarely came out this late at night. The streets were quiet as she followed Rosie on her hunt. The little pig walked right up to the front door of Gabrielle's Fine Dresses and sat, looking up at Kyra expectantly.

"No, Rosie. I know this is where the cloth came from, but I'm trying to find the person it belonged to originally. Come on, girl. I know you can do this."

But Rosie was unyielding. She began sc.r.a.ping the door with her hooves.

Kyra gave up, brought Rosie around to the side door, and broke into the shop. Maybe she'd find something interesting in Ari's closet that she hadn't seen before. Something besides the wedding dress Ari had ruined. Or maybe Rosie, who was headed right for the curtain concealing the private closets, needed to come into contact with the whole dress before turning around and tracking down the princess.