Page 9 of Fate’s Sweetest Curse (Mirrors of Fate #2)

Theories

Hattie

I have Hylder,” I said, procuring the heart-shaped vial from a pocket in my dress.

“We’ll have to get him to the Collegium,” Phina was telling the others.

“Is there time?” Mariana asked.

“I have Hylder,” I called out, louder this time.

The lot of them turned toward me. Phina’s brow furrowed. Faren’s temple pulsed. Mariana smirked with menacing amusement. The Mighty Knight with the longbow brushed a finger over the fletching of his arrow, which was still nocked—but he didn’t take aim. Yet .

Quivering a little, I lifted the vial higher with one hand and showed them my other palm, too, just to prove I wasn’t a threat. “You said he needs Hylder?” I inquired, jutting my chin in the direction of the newcomer.

His attention was on me—sharp. Underneath the shadow of his hood, I still couldn’t make out his face; but the gaping neckline of his shirt revealed a triangle of bare sternum, dark skin. He’d gone stone-still, fists clenched at his sides.

Mariana was the first to break the tense silence. Her laugh was a single, mirthless breath. “Of course, you carry Hylder.” She held out a summoning hand, making a grabbing motion. “Don’t be shy. Give it here.”

I walked down the narrow street, keeping my head held high as I approached the group.

The Mighty Knights shifted on their feet.

The hooded figure turned fully away, facing the opposite end of the alley with his back to me, coughing again.

Phina took a tentative step closer to me, retrieving the vial from my fingers, even as I kept my eyes trained on Mariana.

Her lip curled. “Had a feeling I’d see you again, barkeep.”

Anya’s words echoed in my head: The less you know, the safer you are.

I gave Mariana my most winning smile. “Had I known that you, too, were traveling to Fenrir from Waldron, I would’ve suggested we ride together.

” I kept my tone bright and convivial, even as my heart pounded.

“Could’ve been fun: telling stories around the campfire, singing merry tunes, frolicking in country meadows. ”

All three Knights’ scowls deepened. Phina’s mouth twisted with not-quite amusement.

Maybe revealing myself had been a bad idea.

But then Mariana laughed , the sound both musical and harsh. “You’re funny.”

With the tension mostly broken, I looked to Phina again. As my professor, she was the closest thing to an authority figure in this situation.

Only…she was staring down at the label on my vial. “You made this?” she asked.

“I did.”

“Tincture?”

“Yes.”

“Next time, add a T to the bottom right corner of your label,” she said somewhat absentmindedly, as if teaching was second nature. “Standard notation.”

“Alright.”

Without another word, Phina uncorked the tincture and sprinkled a drop onto her tongue.

She opened and closed her mouth, tasting, assessing.

When she appeared satisfied with the quality of my work, she approached the hooded man, placing a hand on his back again as she offered him my vial.

He did not hesitate; he tipped it back. The liquid burbled within the curvature of the glass as he drank it down.

Silence spread, as if everyone was waiting to see if any adverse effects occurred.

To my relief, the figure’s shivers diminished, and a rough sigh slipped out of him.

Pride budded in my sternum. Though he was a stranger—he still faced away from me, preserving his anonymity—I was happy to see in the slight relaxation of his shoulders that I’d helped ease his discomfort.

“Escort him to my quarters,” Phina told the knights. “I need a moment with the apprentice.”

The knights did not question Phina’s demand.

Faren started toward the opposite end of the alley in a huff.

The archer lowered his bow, slid the un-shot arrow back into his quiver, and followed.

Mariana spared me one last lingering glance, as if trying to make sense of me—then gripped the hooded figure’s arm, leading him away.

Only after they’d disappeared around the corner did Phina turn back to me. Her mouth was pursed, concern scrunching her youthful face. Or maybe that was anger. I couldn’t tell. My teeth were beginning to chatter from both cold and adrenaline.

“Hylder,” my professor said. “What do you know of it?”

I didn’t expect a quiz. I cleared my throat, cleared my mind, and relaxed into my knowledge of herbs—the safest place in my memory. “It’s a healing botanical that—”

“No,” Phina interrupted. “What do you know of it?”

The word was loaded. I stiffened.

The less you know, the safer you are.

Seeing my hesitation, Phina took a step closer, trying a different tactic. “Remind me your name?”

“Hattie Mund,” I said. “I’m a pupil in your herbology class. ”

“I recognize you,” Phina said, flashing me an encouraging smile. “Listen, Hattie. It’s important that you are honest with me right now. Why were you carrying a Hylder tincture on your person?”

I suddenly felt like I was in way over my head. I was here to earn an apothecary license, not meddle with secret Order business between adepts and knights. But with the way Phina was staring at me, arms crossed—I couldn’t evade the question. I respected her too much to lie.

“Mariana had a spot of black blood on her wrist,” I said, watching Phina’s features closely.

Judging by the way she flinched, Phina got my hint. “How do you know it was blood?”

“I suppose it could’ve been saliva.” I shrugged. “It’s not the first time I’ve seen a knight of an unknown Order with—”

Phina swore, cutting me off. She tipped her head back, glancing at the starlit sky as if she were praying to the Fates. When she leveled her eyes on me again, they were filled with intensity. “How do you know Mariana?”

“We have a mutual acquaintance.”

That seemed to surprise her. “Who?”

“Idris Togren.”

A grin flashed across Phina’s face, bright as the strobe of lightning, there and gone so quickly that I wondered if I’d imagined it. “He’s a friend of mine, too.”

“I know.” Idris was close friends with Phina’s older brother; it’s how she’d been roped into healing him and Anya last fall.

Phina’s face grew serious again. “What do you know of his former duty?”

“Very little,” I replied honestly. Phina sagged with relief, but it was short lived when I added, “Though I have my theories.”

Phina wiped a palm over the lower half of her face.

As she did, her sleeve slipped down her arm, revealing the ring of black ink that encircled her right wrist. It was the Oath tattoo of all adepts, not dissimilar from the tattoos that knights wore around their necks—proof of the magical thread that tethered all Order members to the binding magic of their Oaths.

Idris had once referred to his old Oath as a leash.

In addition to the ring around her wrist, there were tattoos on her fingers—odd symbols that looked like an alphabet in another language.

They, too, were magical, each representing another level of clearance within the hierarchy of adepts.

Based on her countless markings, Phina kept many adept secrets.

And I was certain I’d just stumbled into one of them.

A slippery sense of dread slid through my chest. “Am I…am I in trouble?”

Phina’s eyes cut to mine again. All warmth had left them, like sunlight disappearing behind storm clouds. Her expression became thunderous, foreboding.

Fearing I was about to be expelled, I went on talking.

“I know I shouldn’t’ve followed you. It’s just that, well, I’ve wanted to be an apothecary for so long, and I—” I shook my head, well aware that I was rambling but unable to stop.

“I just respect you so much, and when I saw Mariana in the Charm, I was curious, but also concerned you were—I mean—I didn’t—” Fates, rein it in, Hattie.

“Did I do the wrong thing by offering the Hylder? It seemed like he needed help, but—”

“It’s cold,” Phina mercifully interrupted, gesturing at my bare arms. “And late.”

“Professor Farkept, I—”

“Say nothing of what you overheard tonight.”

I tensed. “I won’t.”

“You put yourself, me, and countless others at risk.”

“I’m—” I swallowed. “I’m sorry.”

“Go directly to your dorm,” Phina ordered. “No detours.”

I could’ve kept my mouth shut after that. I should’ve . But my self-control was no match against my curiosity.

When I was growing up, so much of the world and the truth had been kept from me. After years of being denied answers—of keeping my own secrets—I’d developed a hypersensitivity to that which was hidden, and an insatiable desire to uncover it.

Black blood. Hylder. The Well of Fate. Could they all be related, somehow?

I couldn’t help myself. “Your research. It has something to do with monsters, doesn’t it?”

Phina blanched, too shocked by my question to hide the answer on her face. The confirmation.

“Hylder is a purification herb.” I shook my head, my forehead furrowing.

The hooded figure tonight didn’t look like a monster, but if Mariana knew them…

Perhaps they’d been bitten? Perhaps…the monstrousness was an affliction of some kind?

That would certainly explain the bobcat.

Which meant: “It’s a curse. You’re studying curses. ”

Phina clenched her teeth, jaw bulging. “Go. Now .”

I was prying. I was asking too much. I idolized Phina, I should’ve respected the secrets of her Oath-protected research, but—

I took a step closer, too horrified and intrigued to stop. “I’m right, aren’t I?”

Phina glanced around as if we were at risk of being overheard, the whites of her eyes flashing wildly.

Then she gripped my shoulders, squeezing until she’d no doubt leave bruises on my skin.

Her voice came out as a breathy whisper, strained with warning.

“Say anything more, and I won’t be able to protect you. ”

A chill cascaded down my spine. Her words were eerily similar to what Noble’s father had said to me the night I was sent away. I bit my lips together and nodded.

Phina gave my shoulders a rough shake. “Do you understand?”

“I understand.”

She let go. Nodded. Jerked her head in an obvious dismissal.

So, I did as she asked. I walked purposefully down the alleyway, leaving Phina behind, my mind racing with theories and assumptions, half-truths and countless more questions—even as I dreaded all the possible answers.