Page 19 of Courting the Fae Captain (Romancing the Realms #4)
Ew. Pass. I slid my hand into my back pocket and palmed the vial I’d stuffed there earlier, then shifted on my feet as I smiled coquettishly. The stopper flicked off easily from my thumb. “I’m always up for a little fun.”
The guard placed a hand on my waist, pulling me close. I leaned in, then blew the dust from my palm into his face, quickly doing the same to the other.
Both pawed at their eyes and noses, then collapsed over each other within seconds. I turned and beamed at a bewildered Raithe as he approached. “Slumbercap mixed with Fennigal Root in powdered form induces immediate sleep and will erase the last few hours from the user’s memory.”
“I’m impressed. But won’t the healer notice such valuable ingredient stock missing?”
I grinned. “Just a pinch of this and that. There are new supplies coming in every week. She won’t notice a few trimmed leaves, and vials get broken in transit all the time.
I made this handy little concoction earlier today on a whim.
Never know when it might come in handy, especially with a certain someone hellbent on my death. ”
“On a whim,” he said with a chuckle. “The clever fox is always one step ahead.”
“Even a clever fox can be caught in a trap,” I replied as I wiped my hands on my slacks.
After pulling the guards behind a stack of crates away from view, we entered the archive, which immediately lit up with warm Fae light.
I blew out a breath as we faced row upon endless row of towering bookshelves.
It would have taken years to sort this place, not to mention a team of scholars and librarians to keep records up to date.
“There must be a catalogue somewhere,” I said.
“Already on it.” He ushered me over to a desk with a ledger that kept record of all the borrowed books, just like he’d said. A quick search revealed a catalogue on the shelf below it.
“Look for ‘H’ then ‘R’,” I suggested.
He flipped the pages of the giant tome with surprising care as he searched.
I stopped him at the page I’d had in mind. “Herbs and remedies, aisle 28, section 24. I’ll start there. You look for anything on the Rites.”
“Meet back here in 30,” Raithe said. “I don’t want to push our luck, especially with two unconscious guards out there.”
I nodded. We split up, heading to separate parts of the archives. My strides were purposeful as I counted the rows, almost stopping more than once as a section caught my eye. Alas, reading for pleasure was not on the cards tonight. We had a job to do.
The aisle on herbology and potion making was a big one, with tomes dating back centuries, detailing the earliest practices of Fae magic and healing.
As necromancy and darker magics were our way of life in Mithria, healing had been a slow learning curve.
It was a rare gift indeed to be granted healing powers at all, and even then, we had adapted from learnings made across the seas in other continents.
Our power awoke after our ascension—a ceremony in which Fae youth died, only to be reborn with our newfound gifts, should the Goddess Ryvia grant them.
Anyone who failed to pass her judgement was destined for an eternity of torment, even in death.
I shivered. It was a cruel ceremony, but one every acolyte faced.
To avoid this ceremony meant a long life spent being shunned by society … or killed for cowardice.
I remembered the utter cold of the escix.
The waters of that sacred pool felt like death itself, but they merely held our bodies afloat while we passed briefly into a realm in between until Ryvia passed judgement.
Once the goddess deemed us worthy, she would decide the court best suited to our power.
Then, according to our aspirations, we would join the court we aligned with.
Unluckily for me, she had decided The Shadow Court best suited my talents …
which meant I had remained stuck with my father and had still not discovered what my power even was.
I shook my head. Now was not the time to wallow in my frustrations.
I glanced along the rows of books until I saw a series of stocktakes and other apothecary records with Onyx Age Ⅳ imprinted on the spine, along with the subsequent years.
I continued scanning until I came across Onyx Age Ⅶ, then picked up a book.
It struck me that I didn’t actually know how old my mother was.
I’d been too young to think to ask, and then she’d disappeared, and I’d never had the chance.
My eyes narrowed. She’d left me all alone with that monster I’d called Father.
Who ensured I had known no love or kindness.
Had never had anyone to share my deepest thoughts with or share a hug.
There had been males, yes, but those quick trysts had never filled the ache or the emptiness of truly being alone.
Not when you’re a female. Not when you were the only child of one of the more powerful lords in the court.
And yet, despite my anger towards my mother, a part of me still wanted to find her.
To know any part of her soul that might be jotted down in ink and buried in the lines of a book.
I flipped through the pages of the records I’d selected, scanning the dates and signatures of the persons on duty in the apothecary.
Nothing. I searched another, and another, until I’d scanned so many with nothing to show for it that I was about to give up.
Then, in a well-worn book, a feminine scrawl caught my eye, the letters looping daintily.
Signed, Marion Chambers. My mother’s maiden name.
My heart skipped a beat. I knew she’d been a participant in the Rite, but seeing her name and knowing she’d been in my position made my stomach roll.
Had she feared for her life? Did she try to escape the castle, or had she entered into the Rite willingly?
Dust plumed out of the pages as I turned them, looking for a note or a hint of personalisation.
Nothing. I tried the next book, just in case, but her name wasn’t listed.
Bitter disappointment filled my chest. Why would it have been?
The Rite couldn’t have lasted more than a few months.
The Pentad wouldn’t drag out their sick games too slowly, or else they’d grow bored with the entertainment.
I opened the original book up again and stroked a finger over her name.
She was here. And she’d worked in the apothecary.
Just like me. Which meant she likely stayed in one of the rooms on my level of the castle.
If I could find out which one and have a look inside, I might find a hidden journal somewhere.
Maybe we even shared the same room. My eyes watered, and I swallowed back the lump forming in my throat.
I would not cry over this right now. With a grunt, I kicked the shelf, annoyed that I was still so affected by the past.
A small, tattered book plopped to the ground, its pages landing open on the floor.
I leaned forward curiously. No title, no name.
Just a plain leatherbound book with yellowed pages.
And as I turned it over in my hand, my heart leapt, because every page contained that same looping handwriting, full of numerous entries journaled by my mother. This was it .
“Thank you, Brindere,” I whispered to the God of Elements and Good Fortune, with a quick kiss to the book’s cover. I got up and ran back to the entryway, where I found Raithe waiting.
“I found something!” I said with a beaming grin.
His gaze lingered a beat too long, but he smiled too as he waved a few books in the air. “I’m not sure yet, but I might have, too.” He nodded at the journal I held. “Your mother’s?”
I nodded. “They must thoroughly search every room; otherwise my mother wouldn’t have hidden it down here. There must be at least a couple of months’ worth of entries in here. There has to be something useful here. I can feel it.”
“Let’s hope we both find some answers. For now, we should get you back to your room. Here, take this.”
My brows lifted as he unsheathed a handsome dagger. The edges of the hilt curved like a rolling wave; a single sapphire was embedded into the centre. “It’s beautiful,” I sighed.
“It will keep you safe in case Portia or Liv decide to pay you a visit. I’d be sorely disappointed if someone else took your life. Keep your wits. Bar your door at night and do not trust anyone.”
“Including you?”
His eyes danced with amusement. “Especially me.”
I took the dagger and squeezed my mother’s journal tightly in my other hand. “Thank you.” I slid the weapon into my boot, turned, then headed for the door.
“And Aeris,” Raithe said softly. I looked over my shoulder and saw a small smile on his face, even as sadness glimmered in his eyes as he followed behind. “I’m glad you found something about your mother.”
Well, that was new. My stomach did a little flip at the kindness in those words, which, for some reason, stayed in my mind long after he’d seen me safe and sound back to my room.
By the time I got to bed, my eyes were too bleary to read, so I made a makeshift hiding spot in my armoire and slid the journal away for safekeeping.
As I fell asleep, I thought once more of Raithe and his quest for his mother.
I dreamed of the sadness in those eyes when he’d looked at me.
Worse, I dreamed of how those eyes might smile when he found his mother.