Silas examined the room more carefully and discovered a narrow opening into a sheltered alcove. Inside, there were blankets. A man’s clothing. But no man in sight.
He checked the other tunnels but found nothing. It didn’t look like an Ancient One was living here. But possibly, a homeless man was.
Who was Petras meeting? If Fafnir was real, he must have flown away when Silas had approached the cave. But he hadn’t seen a dragon in the sky.
He groaned. Whatever was going on here stank as badly as the Sacred Well.
* * *
Gwennore whispered a prayer of thanks to the goddesses when she discovered a verna plant in the castle garden. She pulled off several leaves, still damp from morning dew, and pressed them against the inflamed area on her arm. Within seconds, the itching and burning subsided.
She hadn’t mentioned the poisoning to Nissa when she’d asked the maid to help her dress, for she hadn’t wanted the news to spread around the castle. But as soon as she was dressed, she’d dashed to Lady Margosha’s bedchamber to tell her. Margosha had quickly agreed that the situation had to remain a secret. Lord Romak couldn’t know that they knew what he had done, or he might try to flee.
So they had agreed to go about their day as normally as possible. Margosha had provided Gwennore a canvas bag and a pair of shears for working in the garden. While Gwennore had hurried down the stairs, Margosha had gone to find Silas.
Now, in the garden, Gwennore stuffed more verna leaves into her bag in case she needed them later. Then she clipped off samples from other plants. Some could be used to make poison, others medicine, and some could actually do both, depending on how potent a concoction was made.
As she worked, she kept glancing toward the southern gate, hoping to see Silas. Had Margosha told him the news yet? If he cared about her, wouldn’t he come running to make sure she was all right?
Her gaze drifted to the green lawn where she and Eviana had been dropped that first day. Only two days ago. So much had happened since then. It felt like she’d known Silas for two months instead of two days.
And what had happened to Puff? She glanced up at the sky. No dragon in sight. When would she see him again? When would she hear his beautiful voice in her mind? It had a soothing quality that she would welcome right now when her head was beginning to hurt.
An effect from the poison, she thought as she glanced once again at the southern gate. Where was Silas? His voice was soothing, too, when he lowered it and spoke softly. Goodness, she’d forgotten how similar their voices were. But now that she thought about it, it seemed odd. Even their word choices were similar.
A wave of dizziness caught her off guard and caused her to stumble. There was a bench nearby, so she took a seat and breathed deeply until she felt steady once again.
Movement at the southern gate caught her attention. Silas? No, it was Margosha. A pang of disappointment reverberated deep in her chest. How annoying, she chided herself as the pain in her head increased. She shouldn’t have fallen for that scoundrel so quickly. Especially when he kept hiding things from her.
But he made her pulse race when he looked at her. He made her breathless when he touched her or spoke softly to her. He made her heart melt when he did sweet things like giving Eviana a birthday cake. He made her laugh when he was outrageous. He made her heart sing when he defended her in front of others.
He made her want more.
How could she not fall for such a man?
“Are you all right?” Margosha asked as she sat next to Gwennore.
“I was dizzy for a moment and my head hurts. Did you talk to Silas?”
“No, but I told Dimitri everything. He said Silas has gone somewhere, but he wouldn’t say where.”
Gwennore heaved a sigh. “I hate it when they keep secrets.”
“Me, too.” With a frown, Margosha crossed her arms. “They should trust me.”
Gwennore winced. “I’m sure they do. The problem is they know you’re going to tell me, and they don’t trust me.”
Margosha gave her a sad smile. “They will, in time.”
“Dimitri had the knife hidden up his sleeve. Does he have an inflamed area, too? Is he suffering at all?”
“He said he was fine.” Margosha snorted. “But then he’s a soldier. His guts could be falling out, and he’d say it was just a flesh wound.”
“Men,” Gwennore muttered.
“Exactly.” Margosha nodded. “I told him to come with me so you could treat him, but he refused. He’s busy keeping an eye on Romak to make sure the weasel doesn’t escape.”
“Why doesn’t he arrest him?”
“He wants to, but he’s waiting for Silas to give the order.”
Where had Silas gone? Gwennore wondered as she pulled a few verna leaves from her canvas sack. “Can you give these to Dimitri? Just tell him to press the leaves against the inflamed area.”
“All right.” Margosha stood. “You’re not done here?”
“I still have that area over there to check.” Gwennore motioned to a shaded area close to the forest. “I’ll be along soon.”
“Very well. I’ll see you at the midday meal.” Margosha headed for the southern gate.
Gwennore rested awhile longer on the bench. Even with her head hurting, she was enjoying the view. And the sounds of the garden. A red cardinal was flitting about, and the trill of birdsong drifted toward her. In the distance, she detected the buzzing of bees around the flowering fruit trees. Pink
