Frantically looking around, I searched for something that might be labeledantidote. She’d made her own on the spot the night before. I doubted she had a stash of them just lying around, but I still had an obligation to look.
Damn woman. I turned my back on her for one night, and she decided that poisoning herself was a good idea? I didn’t care what this potion was meant to do. I wasn’t going to let her do it ever again.
Gripping her chin, I pulled her close. “If you die on me now, I will never know salvation. Do you really want to do that to me?”
I thought she was unconscious. Yet, a small smile curled at the corners of her mouth. Her head tilted back and thumped against the cabinet behind her. For a moment, I thought she went and died out of spite. Then she cracked open an eye.
Lifting a shaky hand, she pointed at a bottle. “That. Put it in hot water.”
“I don’t think right now is a good time for tea,” I snapped.
This time, she opened both eyes just enough to glare at me. “What do you think I’m trying to do?”
I sat back on my haunches. I didn’t know. While I had a rudimentary understanding of herbs from childhood lessons, I never studied beyond that. This all meant nothing to me. I understood a liquor bottle better than these dusty jars.
Still, I stood and listened as she directed me around the kitchen. The woman had cured herself the night before. She clearly knew what she was doing.
That made me glance down at her again. She stared blankly at the floor with a haunted look in her eyes. Once more, I was reminded that she wasn’t the soft and gentle princess that I’d expected. This was a hardened woman who’d seen a lot.
She sighed and shook herself. Lifting her head, she watched and guided me as I worked for her. My hands were too large and pouring measurements was a fumbling process, but I somehow managed with her guidance.
“Rosemary will protect me from my own idiocy,” she said. “The dandelion and burdock root will purge my system for me.”
I nodded, like any of that meant anything to me. When it was all done and said, I poured the concoction into a glass jar and knelt to carefully hand it to her. Cerri didn’t care that the glass was hot. She grabbed it and took the first tentative sip.
“Woman, that has to burn,” I said, reaching to take the jar from her.
“This is nothing. You met Vi. Her arcana comes from Hell, itself. I’ve felt worse fires than this.” She threw back the rest of the potion.
Scowling, I glanced at the other herbs again. “What were you doing? Don’t tell me you were trying to harm yourself.”
An unexpected growl rippled through my voice. Cerridwen was not allowed to be harmed, even by her own hands. I wouldn’t allow it. A deep-seated part of myself that had nothing to do with my vow wanted to protect her. Maybe it was the scars running along her fair, sun-kissed skin. Maybe it was the look of fear constantly widening her pretty eyes.
I wanted to pull her into my arms and never let go. But she wasn’t a stray cat hiding under someone’s car. This was a grown woman who wasn’t about to let me do jack-shit for her. I was surprised she’d asked me to make this potion, let alone called me here.
“Why are you squatting over me?” she grumbled.
I shook my head. “Don’t change the subject. What were you doing?”
She wouldn’t look at me. Her gaze remained on the floor past me, so I gripped her chin and forced her to face me. Tears gathered in her sage green eyes and made me almost regret my roughness.
Cerri ripped her chin from my grip and locked eyes with me. Her lips flattened into a grim line. A single tear slid down her cheek. I…I reached to wipe it away, but I hesitated. Should I touch the princess again? I must have broken some part of my vow when I grabbed her chin.
Just when I thought I would get the truth from her, she lifted herself from the ground and staggered off towards the bathroom. I heard the sound of running water. Instead of following, I stood, brushed myself off, and went to the cart in the corner of the living room. While Cerri splashed water on her face, I poured myself another drink.
She was going to be a handful; I could tell already. There was no way in hell I was going to be able to contain her. She did whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted. Sure, that was princess behavior, but poisoning one’s self didn’t quite fit that same bill.
I needed to know what she thought that would accomplish. Clearly, she had intentions other than leaving this world. Her brew had been meant to dosomething. I got the sense that it’d backfired.
Sighing, I poured myself a drink at her bar cart. The amber liquid filled the glass. I raised it to my nose and let it sear my sinuses before I threw it back. The taste of a wide open forest and foggy hills coated the inside of my mouth.
Though it was a double shot, it still wasn’t enough. I didn’t know how we were going to get through this. So, I poured another, downed it, and marched over to the open bathroom door. The little rodent joined me. The thing sat back on its haunches and put its paws on its hips. I glared down at the little miscreant.
I knew he was here to help and guide Cerridwen towards her destiny, but he was damn crass about it. Little man needed to be better at his job and keep the princess from drinking poison by herself.
Cerri gripped the edge of her sink as she stared down her reflection. I waited for her to see me, but she was entranced by the sight of herself. The way her eyes roved over the shape of her own jaw and her shaky fingers unwound from the sink’s edge to tug at her curls, I knew her mind was elsewhere.
“What were you doing?” I asked, voice hoarse from my drink.