Poison. Part 2

Kyra rolled her eyes and started dabbing the princess all over with the handkerchief.

In a meadow full of suns.h.i.+ne, the girls fell into a giggling heap on the ground. They were outside the castle, an hour's walk from the city. The cloaking potion was wearing off.

Princess Ariana's face split into a beatific smile as she held out her arms to the sun. "This is the best thing that's ever happened to me in my whole entire life," she said. "I don't even know where to start. We can do anything."

"Well, not anything," Kyra said. "We don't want to get caught."

"But that still leaves so many options." Princess Ariana rolled over on one elbow and looked serious. "Have you ever tipped a cow?"

"What?" Kyra brushed a leaf out of her hair.

"My nanny says she used to do it a million years ago when she was a kid. When the cows are napping you push them and they fall right over. It doesn't hurt or anything, just confuses them, I think."

"Why in the world would anyone want to tip a cow?"

"I don't know, but there's only one way to find out." Princess Ariana jumped up and started running in the direction of a barn in the next field over.

"You can't be serious. Right? Right, Ariana?"

Kyra ran after her.

Kyra and Ariana's weekly "lessons" turned into secret adventures in the countryside, the two girls stealing out of the castle using Kyra's potion. Their friends.h.i.+p blossomed, and over the next five years, Ariana became the best friend Kyra would probably ever have.

Which was why it had been such a shock to everyone when, three months ago, Kyra had tried to kill her.

And failed, Kyra reminded herself now as she tramped through the woods.

Thinking about Ariana made her heart ache. And Kyra had resolved not to let that happen. She'd spent the last several months diligently hardening her heart. She couldn't allow one tiny crack.

Or she would fall apart.

The princess had to die. It was either her or the rest of the kingdom.

But first Kyra had to find the princess.

Her satchel slung over her shoulder, the necklace she'd accidentally stolen bouncing around her neck, Kyra made her way quickly through the woods. To either side of her, the bright spring buds of leafing trees stood out against the long dark skirts of pines.

She wended her way into the overgrown hollow to the gigantic oak tree that marked her hideaway. Kyra sprinkled the antidote concoction on the ground in front of her until a section of concealment faded away and the entrance to her hut became visible.

Kyra stepped inside. The hut smelled of earth, iron, oils, and cleaning solutions. Light from the one perfectly square window lit up the tiny room.

On the far wall hung weapons of every size and shape-a half dozen swords whose edges glowed with deadly potions; sharp curving machetes; dirks and bodkins and all manner of small knives in holsters; and maces and morning stars p.r.i.c.kly with wicked-looking spikes. A sizable wooden chest on one side of the room doubled as a table.

Shortly after the Master Trio of Potioners had moved into the apartment at Newman House, Kyra realized she was going to need a place of her own, a secret place to get away from the very maleness of Hal and Ned.

She'd learned carpentry from a woodworker at the castle, and she'd built the hut all by herself with the skills she'd picked up. Not a single crack of light came in through the tightly fitted boards. No one but Kyra and her best friend, Ariana, knew of the hut's existence.

She would be sorry to leave it but knew it was time to say good-bye.

Kyra added a brace of throwing quills and two small daggers to her pack, grabbed her bedroll and the last of her food-a stale half loaf of bread and a hard wedge of cheese-then shut the door firmly behind her. She closed the opening she'd made in the concealment charm and set out over the slippery pine needles that covered the forest floor.

Ned and Hal would be awake soon. They'd be hunting for Kyra now that they knew she wasn't very far away.

But they'd never expect her to seek help from the most villainous character in the kingdom. No one in their right mind purposely sought out Arlo Abbaduto.

He and Kyra went way back. She had crossed him previously on two different occasions, and sincerely wished she hadn't. Both times before, the King of Criminals had come to her, not the other way around. She'd had the upper hand those times. But now she'd be on his territory. In his power.

And there was nowhere else to turn for help.

By the time the sun began to sink below the treetops and the spring air turned cool, Kyra had put several good miles between herself and her old home. She didn't know these woods and didn't want to fend for herself after dark. She had to find Arlo's lair soon.

She knew it was in the forest east of Tippolow. That was all. But she hadn't come across anything even remotely resembling a crook's hideout. It didn't help that she had no idea what she was looking for. What sort of residence would the monstrously vain King of Criminals go for? Something enormous and s.h.i.+ny would fit his giant ego, but something hidden, dank, and dark would probably be more likely.

And harder to find.

Pink fingers of sunset lit the sky as she watched the lights of Tippolow appear in the distance. Skirting the forest's edge, she went still farther north until she could no longer see any sign of the town. No luck.

She turned to head back and almost tripped over a boy and a girl who'd been following close on her heels.

"Hey!" she said, startled. "You should watch where you're going!"

They stared up at her with black midnight eyes.

Unblinking.

"HI," KYRA SAID, squeezing her eyes shut for a moment. Looking at the children made her skin crawl.

She didn't like children at the best of times, and now was certainly nowhere near the best of times. It was even possibly the worst of times, though Kyra kept thinking she'd hit bottom only to discover that things could still get worse. She opened her eyes.

The children silently continued to stare up at her.

They had freaky eyes and were unnaturally alike-much more so than any normal twins she'd ever seen. The only thing distinguis.h.i.+ng one from the other was that the girl's hair was in pigtails. "Here's the thing. I know you're probably lost and need help, but I really don't have time to go hunting for your mummy and daddy, sorry. Tippolow is back that way just a bit." Kyra gestured in the direction of town. "I'm sure someone there will help you." She turned away only to find that one of them was again in front her. The boy.

Where there had been no child before.

Creepy.

Kyra sidestepped him. "I'm in a bit of a hurry."

The girl came up beside her and took her arm.

Kyra tried to politely brush her off. "No, really."

The girl's fingers tightened.

Soon the boy was on her other arm.

Their grip was absurdly strong for children.

Unless they weren't children at all. One smiled up at her, and Kyra saw that his eyes weren't just dark-they were completely black, with no whites.

Kyra threw herself to the ground, and when the boy creature lost his hold, she slapped her palm against her holster and blew her Doze potion into his face. Some sleep certainly wouldn't hurt him. Whatever he was.

He stared, long eyelashes framing his black eyes. Then he reached for her arm once more. Kyra dodged him and tried blowing again, but it had no effect.

This had never happened before. Doze was effective on all kinds of human creatures. What were these children that they weren't affected?

The boy took Kyra's arm again, and he and his sister yanked her through a stand of dead pines, onto a muddy path that bordered a foul-smelling swamp. Up ahead was a giant mound of earth.

A hidden entrance led to a tunnel. Torches lined the walls, and the shadows cast by Kyra's tiny captors stretched like those of gigantic monsters. It was only a trick of the light, but it sent a s.h.i.+ver right through Kyra. Their touch left her strangely weak.

At the end of the tunnel, a large sulfurous cavern bustled with activity. Hammers clanged, men grunted at their work, and wheelbarrows loaded with metal sc.r.a.ps went to a huge red glowing vat and came away empty. There were trolls lifting giant crates, and goblins sharpening weapons. At the center of it all, shouting at a group of oversized thugs and ratty-looking thieves, was the unmistakable hulking form of Arlo Abbaduto. His gigantic head was completely hairless, leaving nothing to distract from his misshapen nose and freakish protruding eyes.

Great. Yes, she'd wanted to meet with Arlo-King of Criminals, Master of Thieves, Ruler of Wrongdoers, and so forth-but not this way, not frog-marched in by two evil little munchkins, their tiny fingers clamped down so hard Kyra could feel her arms bruising.

As she was led past a group of gnarled old women, the hairs on the back of her neck p.r.i.c.kled. Witches. One caught Kyra's eye and stared hard until Kyra felt she was drowning in the hag's milky gray gaze.

Kyra's vision clouded, and in her mind's eye was a kitchen garden festering with rot. Tomatoes sagged on withered stems, coneflowers bowed under the weight of blight, and desiccated herbs blew away in a hot dead breeze.

Kyra squeezed her eyes shut and shook away the images. She kept her eyes averted until the witches were far behind her. It wouldn't do to reveal too much here, in the lair of the king of thieves.

When Kyra and the munchkins came into his line of sight, Arlo fell quiet.

Recognition spread across his round face.

"Well, well, well," he said. "What have we here? Is the Princess Killer herself deigning to grace us with her presence?"

The men around them scuttled off.

Kyra's cheeks warmed. She jerked her arms from her tiny captors, feeling a surge of renewed vigor as their fingers broke away from her. "I didn't kill the princess."

"But you tried. And you were so close." Arlo put his pudgy fingers an inch apart to ill.u.s.trate his point. "Rumor has it you were her best friend too? Beautiful." He slowly blinked his bulbous eyes. "How low the mighty have fallen, Master Potioner." He mock-bowed to her, unfurling his fat arm with a flourish.

The Master Trio of Potioners had been together less than a year when Arlo had visited. He came in person, a rare honor. He'd wanted some particularly sensitive poisons, and he was willing to pay handsomely.

They'd turned him down cold. They'd been so proud. Hal in his velvet cloak, his s.h.i.+ny riding boots propped up on the table; Ned with his hands crossed in satisfaction over his fat belly; and Kyra... It killed her to remember the haughty look she'd given the King of Criminals, and the disdainful way she'd said, "Why would we help the likes of you?" as though he were a piece of garbage in the street.

That was the first time she'd met him. The second time, she behaved even worse.

She didn't want to think about that. She shook herself out of the memory and said, "Look, I came here to do business with you."

"You did?" He looked pointedly at the children on either side of her. "It looks to me like you came here as a prisoner."

One of her freaky little captors opened his mouth, large dark eyes glittering. "We brought you another slave, Your Majesty. Don't you think she'll clean up nice?" His voice was far deeper and fuller than Kyra would have expected. It sounded magnified, like many low voices at once.

"Oh," Arlo said, "my little friends, you've brought me something far better than just a mere slave. This one's talents are...extensive."

Kyra was not going to become a slave. No way.

While the children bowed to Arlo, acknowledging his praise, she shoved the boy face-first into the ground and leapfrogged over him onto one of the wooden crates. Her back to the wall, she pulled a throwing needle and aimed it directly at Arlo's heart. "They might be immune to my poison, but you aren't."

The child creature she'd pushed stood up and glared, seeming to grow bigger as his eyes bored into her.

Arlo put his hands up in front of him. "Settle down." He jerked his head at the kids. "You two, scram."

With one last scowl at Kyra, they left, the boy rubbing his face with his hand.

"I don't want to fight you," Arlo said.

Kyra watched him, the needle still raised. "Are you going to help me?"

"Why," he asked, lids half lowered, "should I do that?"

"You know how deadly my poisons are." She stared him down. "Would you like to test my aim?"

"What exactly is it that you want?" the King of Criminals said.

"I need to find someone, and I know you have...ways of finding people." Kyra jumped down from the box, keeping her needle at the ready.

"Why would someone as exalted as a Master Potioner need the aid of a lowly king of thieves? I was under the impression that I was beneath your notice. Surely a potioner of your standing has her own ways of finding people."

The last thing Kyra wanted was to admit the shortcomings of potions work. People generally had the idea that potioners could do just about anything, but their magic was limited. Only one known potion could be used to track people, and it had to be applied directly to the subject beforehand. Not the most useful of charms.

Kyra lowered her throwing arm as a sign of trust. She was quick enough to nail Arlo before he could attack her. Even with her arm down. "I don't have any other options."

Kyra wished she didn't sound quite so desperate. h.e.l.l, she wished she wasn't so desperate. But after Kyra's failed a.s.sa.s.sination attempt on the princess's sixteenth birthday, Ariana had completely disappeared. Kyra had spent the last three months hunting for the princess but had learned very little.

All the while, Kyra had been evading capture, living on the fringes of towns, using glamours, confusion potions, and all manner of deceit to disguise herself.

Because if the authorities caught her, she would hang.

Arlo seemed to enjoy having Kyra at his mercy. A hideous grin spread across his wide face. If anything, it made him uglier.

"And what"-his monstrous eyes swept across her body-"do you have to offer me in return?"

"I don't have access to a potions lab the way I used to."

"I know," Arlo said. "That wasn't what I had in mind at all. Though I'm sure we could find some raw materials for you to tinker with."

"I have money," Kyra said, reaching for her satchel.

"So do I." Arlo grinned wider, his lips parting and revealing ma.s.ses of mossy teeth.

"But do you have any of these?" She pulled out a pouch and loosened the drawstring. An eerie green glowed from within.

"Potioners' coins." Arlo's voice sounded impressed despite himself.

Kyra shook one into his huge hand. He held it up to his eye. "These could come in handy."