“You’ll find the resistance has a list of all the coven houses Myrddin deems worthy. There are ten, and all of his witches must live and work within them,” Evan explained. “They are watched by Myrddin’s own counselors.”
I was sure Liv was involved in that in some way. “And what do they do in these houses?”
“They train for battle,” Jade replied. “They give Myrddin their power. They prepare to do his will.”
She’d been in one of those houses before her mother died. She’d seen the horror of being held against her will when she was very young. “Do you think the Under community should stay out of the fight? I won’t judge you for it. I’m simply trying to figure out the mood of the Under.”
“I think we’re turning a blind eye to the suffering of others, hoping if we don’t look that way it won’t happen to us.” Jade’s eyes shone with unshed tears. “I will not look away. It’s not what the goddess commands us to do.”
“As it harms none, do as thou wilt,” Relda said quietly.
“But it is harm,” Jade argued. “Sometimes doing nothing is harm, Relda.” She turned back my way. “If you want to know who dissented with the primals, I’m sure Rufus has a list of the way the elders voted. If you want to know who dissented down here, Relda did, but she is incapable of harming anyone. All she wants is to paint and be left alone. I overheard Rose talking about wanting to stay out of it, but she’s a companion. If she’s forced to leave here, every vampire who works with Myrddin will take a shot at her. She’s also recently adopted a kid, and she’s worried about her.”
“Rose wouldn’t know how to poison someone,” Relda said. “I’m the best candidate.”
The best candidate didn’t usually point herself out. “Do you have belladonna?”
“Of course,” she said with a sigh as she stood. “I’m well stocked in all the herbs, both medicinal and for spells. Belladonna can be used in both, though, of course, one wouldn’t suggest ingesting the root. Any part of it, truly. It takes a skilled hand to prepare such herbs. I can show you.”
I stood and followed her down the hallway, taking the time to glance back at the paintings that seemed to dominate the living space. There were three, and the one I got a good look at made me stop and stare. “What are you trying to capture here?”
Relda stopped, glancing back. “It’s a series I’ve had in my head for a little while. I’ve been working on them in my painting class. It’s called the darkest night. It’s going to be three moons on three nights. Summer, fall, and winter. I can’t see spring yet. Perhaps it will come to me.”
I was struck by the color. She’d painted the canvases all black, but the color was rich and deep, drawing the eye in. “Is there a magical component to the painting?”
“There always is.” Jade and Evan had joined us. Jade gestured to the work closest to her. “We mix our own down here and often work in certain herbs the gnomes grow. It can give the paint magical properties.”
“The gnomes keep a garden deep in the nest where they grow bioluminescent plants.” Relda began walking again. “They aren’t found here on the Earth plane, of course. They’re from the Fae planes, but the gnomes found a way to grow them here in the Under and they are beautiful. I do believe some of those plants are in the paints, which gives them an otherworldly glow.”
“Do the gnomes grow all the plants down here?” I might have to go visit the wee ones. Evan might come in handy there, too. I would bet the half-Fae princess knew how to talk to gnomes.
“Oh, not at all.” Relda seemed much more comfortable now that the conversation had turned to herbs and paint instead of the war that would occur. “Jade and I have a garden in the sun space. The gnomes help, though. And the Green Man always walks through when he comes around, but those are normal plants that require our sun spells to grow. Here we are. This is our witches’ cabinet. I managed to smuggle it out of our old coven house. It was my mother’s and hers before. She had it carved from an oak tree from the old lands.” Relda put a hand on the wood as though she gathered strength from it. “This is where we keep our dried and prepared herbs. I’ve spent the last year training Jade in how to handle our herbs and make our medicines.”
“I’ve gotten pretty good at it,” Jade replied. “I’m also learning how to use said herbs to help out. We don’t get many doctors down here in the Under. Every now and then Dr. Jacobs comes, but it’s mostly Relda, and Rose who runs the clinic. Evan’s gotten good with first aid.”
“Yeah, well my brothers needed a lot of it,” Evan said under her breath. “I had to learn.”
Relda opened the big cabinet and then stopped. “It’s not here.”
I had a big suspicion what she was talking about. “The belladonna?”
Relda looked toward me. “It was here just last night. I did an inventory.” She went a deathly pale. “You must think… I didn’t kill Alvis. I could…”
And then she fainted.
Yeah, I scared pretty much everyone. I looked to Jade, who was on her knees beside her mentor. “I’m going to need a list of everyone who can get in and out of your place.”
“Uh, everyone down here.” Jade reached for something, opening a vial. “We don’t have locks or anything. Or security systems. Not inside the nest. Sorry, she actually faints a lot. I don’t think she’s eating enough. She’s always on a cleanse.”
I backed away. “I’ll talk to her later. Please let her know I’m going to need to know everyone who would possibly know how to use the belladonna, and do not tell me everyone in the Under.”
Jade gave me a weak smile. “I’m pretty sure Rose and her kid don’t know. Or Chris. He’s never been interested in the craft for some reason. Some of the primals.”
So she could rule out mostly no one.
Fuck my life.
“Make me a list. I’ll need to interview people tomorrow.” Because tonight I had shit to do.