“Well, you have heard correctly.” She put the last vial on the table. “Now then, these in the small tube-like vials are for speed. You must take them before striking out when you need to be able to move faster. If you wait until you are pursued, for example, they will not have time to work. Earlier is better.”
“Noted. What about these that seem to still be swirling, though you placed the bottles on the table first?” Sath pointed at one of the smaller and rounder bottles. The liquid inside looked as though it was still moving, like a whirlpool, and something about the bright purple color made him think of the horrible medicines he had to nearly force Khujann to take on occasion when the prince was ill.
“Those are healing potions. The smaller the bottle, the more potent the ingredients, so save the tiny ones for grave injuries.” She moved the bottles over to one side and then looked up at Sath. “Pardon me again, Rajah, but what do you need these for if you are traveling with the Nature Walker? Can’t she heal most injuries, regardless of severity?”
“These are just in case she is the one injured.” Sath wished that she would stop asking him so many questions and just get on with it. “These large ones?”
“These are the ones that will render you invisible to most eyes. But just like the potions that will increase your speed, you need to take this well before you need to disappear.” She took the bottles and put them carefully into a potion pack—a leather pouch that unfolded flat, with little leather laces to tie around each of the containers. Once she was finished, she slid the bag over to him. “Now, there are two I have not placed in the pack because they must be carefully handled.” She handed him two tiny vials with a metallic looking liquid in them, each with a stopper that had been sealed in place by wax.
“Are they dangerous?” Sath couldn’t explain it, but to look at the two vials made him queasy. “I haven’t asked you for any defensive potions.”
She smiled at him. “They are not dangerous per se, not to you anyway. But Rajah, I would not be doing my job if I didn’t offer you some protection along with the healing and invisibility. What would our world be if we lost two of our Guardians?”
Sath pondered her words for a minute. “I suppose you are right. I will do whatever I must to keep Gin safe.” The Ikedrian grimaced but recovered herself almost immediately – not before Sath noticed, however. “Tell me, what do they do?”
“This one? Kaboom.” The smile that crossed her face gave Sath pause. “Do not remove the stopper, do not do anything but throw them at suspected danger. The silver one will merely create a smokescreen that will allow you to evade danger. Remember, gold is kaboom, silver is run away.”
“I understand. Now, did my messenger pay you the amount we agreed upon?” She nodded, and he took the last two potions, turning the vials over in his hands and studying them. The gold liquid seethed in the bottle, and he tucked it into a pocket inside his cloak. “Then I fear I must be quite rude and be on my way. I would like to arrive on this side of the treeline before nightfall.” He held out his hand, and she placed hers in it, making a curtsey as she did. Sath drew her hand to his lips as he had learned to do with nobility, and then released it. She moved back to her table and resumed her levitation as she opened a book from her back and began reading. Sath replaced his hood and then walked quickly down the stairs and out the front of the library without looking back.
Ellie watched the Rajah exit the library and then cast her own invisibility spell. She drifted down the stairs and out the front doors, watching as he hurried up to the Nature Walker. Ellie looked her up and down—how different the wood elf looked outside of Aynamaede, dressed like a commoner. She could not imagine what her A'chrya had seen in this female—clearly, she had cast a spell on him of some sort. Disgusting. Ellie drew near enough to them to hear them talking; the Rajah explained the need for the potions, the Nature Walker scowled but still gazed up at him with those lovesick blue eyes when she thought he wasn’t looking.
“Shall we get going?” she heard the Rajah ask. The Nature Walker nodded and took his hand for a moment, then let go and took hold of his tail, which made them both laugh. Barbaric. For that, her master had died? Those hands of the Rajah’s—knowing that he had both gravely injured her master and then killed him—Ellie paused a moment. How did she know that? All she overheard in the forest was the rumor that the Rajah killed Taeben, but just now—it just came to her. Things just occurred to her like that more and more lately, with even more frequency after she moved into her quarters in the embassy. It was like a plan was finally coming together—some long sought after prize was moving within her reach. But it wasn’t her plan, her prize, was it? Handing those two over to the Mother Dragon was so close now. Just a journey across the Forest
