Pulling Rosa along, she made her way back up the stairs to the Queen's chambers, called for wine and cakes, then dismissed all the servants and locked the doors.
Only then did she drop the cold demeanor, though not the disguise, and take a chair. Rosa was still standing, looking uncertain.
'It's all right, dear, sit and have something to eat,' she said in her normal voice, and Rosa immediately relaxed. 'Jimson?'
'What can I do for you, Godmother?' the Mirror Servant asked, his green lace appearing in the glass.
'Our twin burdens have finally told me their names. He of the weighty regard of The Tradition is Prince Siegfried of Drachenthal. The one I wouldn't trust around a susceptible chambermaid is Prince Leopold of Falkenreid.'
Jimson chuckled, as Rosa sighed and shook her head, plopped down into a chair in a most unregal manner, and seized two cakes and a glass of wine.
'I'll discover what I can, Godmother,' the Mirror Servant replied, and vanished.
Lily helped herself to wine, and patted Rosa's hand sympathetically as she reached for a third cake. 'I'll let you go have a real bath and get into clothing that isn't an illusion in a little bit,' she said. 'Or better yet, a nightdress. If I were in your place, I would soak until the water got cold, then wallow in the feather bed until I fell asleep. And I'll give orders that you are to have an early supper in your rooms, and we will let the gossip wonder if I am punishing you, or if you are rebelling against me, or if you were more worn-out by your ordeal than you appeared. Then I'll make sure your father knows that you are all right and back home.'
'Oh, thank you!' Rosa said gratefully. 'I'm near famished. And I could sleep for a — ' she stopped herself ' — for a good night's rest.'
Lily nodded with complete approval. Rosa was swiftly getting the knack of thinking on her feet; she had clearly remembered in time that The Tradition just might decide that with two Princes in attendance who might be able to kiss her awake, it would be a very good ideanot to say things like 'I could sleep for a year.' She was coming along nicely and her training hadn't even begun.
Her mother would have been so proud of her....
'Then let's just relax and enjoy our brief respite,' Lily replied. She felt The Tradition hovering over them like a thunderstorm that hadn't yet decided when to break. 'I do not think we are likely to have another anytime soon.'
Chapter 7
'Ugh,' Rosa said, looking at the viscous, dark contents of the tiny flask that Lily had handed her. 'What is that?'
Thurman was still on the border, though it was looking as though he could return soon. Rosa would be very happy when he arrived. Privately she had vowed to do whatever she could to help him through his own grief.
They were in the Queen's Chambers, and 'Queen Sable' had shooed everyone out. She motioned Rosa to a comfortable chair and handed her the flask. The stuff in it looked black. It didn't slosh, it oozed. She wondered what the Godmother expected her to do with it.
'Dragon's Blood. Not the herb, the real thing. You need to drink it.' Lily turned back from the sideboard with another glass, this time of a white wine that Rosa knew from experience had a very sharp taste. She shrugged apologetically at Rosa's appalled expression. 'One of the first talents that a Godmother needs is the ability to understand the speech of animals. Tasting Dragon's Blood allows you to do that. One taste allows you to understand Magical Animals, like unicorns or dragons, and Wise Animals, like my mice and Siegfried's little bird. A full drink allows you to understand the speech of all animals. And that much will also allow you, if you have the ability in your bloodline, to see magic, as I described to you.'
Rosa thought about that for a moment. 'Can I just have a taste now and decide if I want a full drink later?' she asked, looking unhappily at the murky, dark liquid. Just looking at the stuff made her feel sick.
The King could understand the speech of animals, and when she was very small, he had told her silly stories that had made her laugh in rare moments of peace. The 'speech' of real animals, unlike that of 'wise' ones, generally wasn't all that enlightening. 'I'm not sure I want to wake up every morning, listening to the doves under my window babble about nothing like a lot of silly girls gossiping.'
Lily chuckled and shook her head, taking a seat beside Rosa. 'On the one hand, I sympathize, but — no. Two reasons. One, it is rather difficult to get Dragon's Blood, since most dragons are not entirely friendly. Not that one could blame them, what with having to dodge heroes all the time, but dragons are difficult to find at the best of times, and it's something of a nuisance to the friendly ones to keep being asked for a bit of blood, so out of courtesy we try to limit our requests. The other reason is that the blood has to be drunk relatively fresh, within a couple of days of being obtained, or it does go off, so to speak, and we've not found any way to preserve it. I had to call in a great favor this morning to get it, and made quite a long journey by mirror to Godmother Elena to bring it back myself. So, you might just as well get it all over with at once. Hold your nose, dear, and take your medicine.'
The liquid seemed to get darker even as she stared at it. It was about the consistency of honey, if honey could look malignant. Rosa gulped, braced herself and tried to toss it down in one fast gulp.
It was horrible. There were no words to adequately describe the sensations, which began even before the awful stuff touched her tongue. It had all the musk-laden pungency of a dead snake and the smell filled her head even as she tipped the vial into her mouth. It was worse than anything she had ever had before. So bitter it made her tongue curl up in a vain effort to escape the taste, so fiery-hot she felt sweat explode out of her forehead, so powerful that her eyes filled with tears and she had to fight to keep from throwing it up. Everything about it made her body scream,'No!'
Somehow she managed to swallow. It burned from her mouth all the way to her stomach, leaving her throat feeling as if someone had passed a red-hot poker down it. She gasped, and Lily put the glass of wine in her hand in the hope that the wine might cool the fire. She drank the glass as fast as she could — she couldn't breathe anyway — and that gave her enough relief that she was finally able to pull a shuddering breath into her lungs. The wine — which after the blood was utterly tasteless, like water — managed to cut through the fire and cool it, leaving only the bitter, oily taste behind.
Lily handed her a napkin and another glass, which she drank more slowly. After the first two sips, the bitter taste began to wash away, and she was able to get a flavor of something other than the blood. Or, not a flavor, precisely, but the idea that this liquid was something sweet, sherry perhaps, though it was hard to tell with the
