Page 235 of The Queen’s Shadow

Meredith

The House of Knowledge was a dream come true for anyone who loved learning. My fingers tingled with anticipation every time one of the bibliomancers brought me a new text.

Minutes turned to hours and hours into days. I fell asleep at the quiet desk I had claimed for myself more than once. Dossidian did not come to find me. I assumed he was busy with his brother, working to free his court, but I couldn’t help feeling a pang of disappointment in my chest that he did not even come to check on me.

Though, after learning about his past from his mother, I understood that his absence was his way of trying to keep me safe. I hated that he felt he needed to stay away from me, but it only strengthened my resolve to find a way to help him manage the massive amount of explosive energy that I now knew dwelled within him.

Curiously, each time I woke up, I found a blanket had been wrapped around me and there was a hot cup of tea waiting with some form of food to snack on. Today it was a delicious fig tart with some hard boiled eggs and a fava bean spread on the side.

I had thought it was the library staff at first, but each time I tried to thank them or offer payment, they gave me politely confused looks.

I had organized my research into three categories. The first, and highest priority, was The Flute. Balveria had informed me that she and Balthion shared a trace, so if I was able to find anything of use, she would be able to communicate with him, and he could pass it on to Raven and Conrad.

Second priority was Dossidian’s unruly powers. I had asked the bibliomancer to bring me anything and everything she could find on funneling, gating and filtering magick. The stack she had reappeared with had been massive and intimidating, but I reminded myself it was just a starting point.

Third order of business was finding a way to amplify the protective nature of shadowstone, to see if we could create a slavery bond resistant ward around ally courts. When amplifying things on a smaller scale, one of my favorite ingredients to use in my practice was hot peppers. Anytime I needed to spice up a love spell, or add heat to a deflection charm, I tended to add a dash of chili peppers, or jalapenos to my potions.

I wondered if there was a more powerful amplifier I could find, to shape the way shadowstone behaved. Thinking of the memorithorn that Balveria had mentioned, the natural botanist in me had been immediately intrigued. Despite the fact that I found it unnerving that such a thing existed, I couldn’t shake the suddenly overwhelming desire to learn more about flora native to The Dominion of Sin.

It hadn’t occurred to me until just then, that The Dominion, while having many similarities to the mortal realm, would have many native plants and unique hybrids that differed from what was available on Earth.

This fascinated me, and I couldn’t help but dig into as many texts on the subject as I could get my hands on. The bibliomancers were more than happy to bring over books filled with information on the different types of magickal plants that grew in each court.

I treated this task the way I had treated assignments while conducting my thesis. I would pursue each line of thinking until I hit a wall, and then would switch when my mind ran out of ways to creatively pursue each topic.

Mixing things up, I found, often led to unexpected discoveries and breakthroughs in research.

This is precisely how I discovered the solution to overcoming The Flute. After spending hours pouring over several ancient texts that covered a variety of instruments, music and auditory based magick, I found myself hitting a wall. Nothing I had read on the subject had been helpful, and I found myself needing a break.

I switched to a botany book. I flipped to the page about memorithorn, and dug in. I learned that there was no current antidote to the effects, and it had historically been used to cover up political secrets and scandals. This line of thinking took me down a rabbit hole of common poisons and plant based tonics that were typically used in The Dominion for warfare.

And that’s where I found the answer.

It resembled a pomegranate, but the color depicted in the botanical drawing leaned much more towards violet than crimson. I nearly skimmed over it, as my mind automatically categorized the effects of the fruit as a weapon as opposed to a solution.

Voidseed:

“Voidia magisuctus,”

Genus:

Voidia

Species:

Magisuctus

Magickal Properties:

Voidia magisuctus (voidseed) has a remarkable ability to drain magickal energies. When consumed, it absorbs and neutralizes magickal abilities temporarily, rendering magickal beings or practitioners vulnerable. The iridescent purple gel within the fruit serves as a conduit for this process.

Primarily harvested in The Court of Envy, Voidia magisuctus is exceedingly rare and challenging to cultivate due to its potentially hazardous effects on those who handle it. It remains a subject of intense interest for botanists and magickal researchers, who aim to unlock its secrets.

It felt as if I had been struck by lightning. I remembered what Conrad had said about Jeremy not being affected by the magick of The Flute, or the spores in the desert, because he had no magick.

The more I read, the more fascinated I became. The effects of voidseed were temporary and wore off at varying time intervals, depending on how much was consumed.

Magick could be drained for merely a minute, or hours. It all came down to simple math, really. A mouthful of voidseed juice could drain a user for a full day, where one seed might only cause your magick to flicker in and out for a brief moment.