Adaira had found Jack’s half coin tucked away in Rab’s pocket, the confirmation she needed. She set her dose of Aethyn in his hands, commanding him to drink it. Then she had waited for its effects to take root, uncertain how severe they would be for him and whether he was already dosing himself.
As she had thought, he wasn’t greatly affected by it. Chances were good that, as a thane’s son, he had been imbibing the poison for years. She had taken the dirk from his belt, so that she wouldn’t have to unsheathe her own sword, and drawn the pointed blade down his cheek, cutting it open. She watched him flinch and hiss in pain.
“Let this scar remind you of your foolishness,” she had said as his blood flowed down his face, dripping onto the hay. Transforming into blue jewels. “Let this scar remind you not to touch those I love ever again, or my next judgment won’t be so merciful. Do you understand, Rab?”
“I understand, Cora,” he rasped.
It still wasn’t enough. When she struck him across the face, she had felt his blood splatter across her cheeks and stain her knuckles. Only then did she let him go, but not before she had ordered him to return everything that he had stolen from Jack.
She had watched him canter off into the night, while the grooms, awed, or perhaps shocked, whispered around her. She had been a meek and easily overlooked presence in the stables until that moment. She bent down to collect the jewels she had made.
Now Adaira paused in the morning light, staring down at her hands, beaded with water.
She didn’t know what Innes and David would think of her “warning” to Rab. She herself hardly knew where it had come from, but it seemed a natural response. One coming from a side of her that had been suppressed for so long that she hadn’t even been aware of its existence.
A knock on her door broke the moment. She dried her hands and strode across the room, noting that Jack was stirring.
“Stay in bed, old menace,” she told him, just as he sat up with tousled hair.
Jack only frowned at her, his eyes still heavy with sleep. Adaira answered the door and thanked the servant who had brought breakfast. She took the tray and carried it to the bed, gently setting it down on the mattress.
“And what is this?” Jack said, his voice smoky from dreams. “Breakfast in bed?”
Adaira grinned, easing her way onto the mattress. “You had a rough go yesterday. This is the least I could do.”
Jack returned the smile and took up the steaming teapot. He poured two cups, and when Adaira reached over to take one, he stopped her, as if the entire tray was his.
“Where’s your breakfast?” he teased.
Adaira’s mouth fell open, but she enjoyed his banter. “Must I beg you to feed me then?”
“Oh, I’d love nothing more than to feed you,” Jack said, taking in her wild hair and rumpled chemise. Adaira’s toes curled beneath the blankets, but before she could scrounge up a good enough retort, he continued. “What would you like to start with? Tea or parritch?”
“Tea,” she said, accepting the cup he finally gave her.
She stirred in some honey and a splash of cream, and they sat against the headboard, enjoying their tea in companionable silence. Eventually, Adaira glanced sidelong at Jack, brimming with questions.
“How are Mirin and Frae?” she asked.
“They’re both doing well. Frae especially wanted me to give you a hug for her.”
“I’m glad to hear it. I miss them,” Adaira said, tracing the rim of her cup. “And Sidra and Torin?”
Jack paused, and Adaira had a spasm of panic.
“What is it?” she demanded. “Are they all right? Did something happen?”
“They’re both fine,” Jack rushed to reassure her. “But something has happened, and I need to tell you about it.”
Adaira listened as he told her about the blight. She felt frozen by shock over what Jack was telling her, the tea forgotten in her hand. He told her how the illness was being passed to humans, how he had tried to play for the orchard to find answers. How Bane had interrupted him and struck a tree—the snippet of Kae’s memory that Adaira had seen—and how Torin was at his wit’s end about what to do.
“I can’t believe this is happening,” Adaira said when Jack had fallen quiet. “I should write to him. And Sidra too.”
“Well, that brings me to my next point,” Jack said with a sigh. “Torin is trying to contain the news of the blight in the east, but I noticed that it’s in the west as well.”