“Want to tell me what’s going on?” Rhess asked casually as they crossed a narrow brook and passed through a small grove of citrus trees, hints of orange, lime, and lemon scenting the air.
“I need to ask a favor, but I don’t want you to get in trouble,” Kiva answered.
Rhess snorted. “Please. Do I seem like the kind of person who worries about trouble?”
No, she didn’t. And that was why Kiva had come to her for help. “I need to get away from Vallenia for the day.”
“Back to Oakhollow?” Rhess asked as they headed toward an impressive greenhouse. It hadn’t been part of Kiva’s tour the first day, when she’d seen only the apothecaries’ workroom where the medicines were made and readied for collection.
“Not Oakhollow. Somewhere else.”
As much as Kiva was growing to value Rhess’s friendship, she still had many secrets that couldn’t be shared. But the healer didn’t press, and only asked, “What do you need?”
Kiva quickly explained about Caldon dogging her steps and how she needed to take him out of the equation, finishing with, “I’m thinking a sleeping remedy. Perhaps a combination of moradine and rosaron.” Normally she would only use moradine — like what the queen had given Tipp the night of Kiva’s abduction — but the addition of rosaron would ensure a deeper sleep for a fully grown adult like Caldon.
“That should definitely work,” Rhess said without a hint of judgment.
They reached the outer edge of the apothecaries’ garden, a small picket fence hedging in numerous rows of medicinal plants. Had she the time, Kiva would have spent hours wandering the aisles and exploring the greenhouse at their center, but today wasn’t the day for sightseeing.
“Where to?” Kiva asked Rhess, indicating the large garden.
The healer hesitated, and Kiva wondered if she was having second thoughts about helping her steal from the academy. But then Rhess stepped over the small fence, striding with purpose toward a mounted signpost. Seeing it, Kiva realized she could have left Rhess out of her plan entirely, since the sign offered a detailed map of every bed in the garden.
“Moradine and rosaron, right?” Rhessinda asked.
“Right,” Kiva confirmed.
Rhess searched the map, found them both listed in the same garden bed, and led the way in their direction.
“So you plan to drug Prince Caldon and then sneak away from the palace to some unknown place?” the healer said as they wandered along the path. “Sounds wise.”
“I’m visiting family,” Kiva said.
“I thought you already did that.”
“Different family.”
“As long as my aiding and abetting doesn’t result in you getting hurt,” Rhess said. “Or lost. Where are you headed?”
Kiva bit her lip as they approached the desired garden bed, realizing that she’d forgotten to consult a map. “Blackwater Bog. Do you know it?”
“Oh, sure, that’s just up north a bit,” Rhess said as they came to a halt on the path.
“Where the Wildemeadow meets the Crewlling Swamplands,” Kiva recited.
The healer turned to look at her, squinting. “You have no idea where you’re going, do you?”
Kiva sighed and shook her head.
Rhess chuckled. “Don’t worry, it’s really easy to find. Just head north out of Vallenia and follow the signposts. You only have to skate the eastern edge of the Wildemeadow, not travel through the middle of it, so it’s a fast journey.” Quickly, she warned, “But don’t go beyond Blackwater Bog. The swamp will swallow you alive.”
Kiva shuddered at the thought. “Thanks,” she said, fully aware that she owed Rhessinda big time.
The healer shrugged away her gratitude and pointed to the flower bed. “Here we are.”
Kiva crouched and plucked a few bright red moradine petals along with some yellow-streaked leaves from the rosaron shrub. “Perfect.”
Aware that Caldon could come looking for her at any time — which was also why she didn’t try to take off without him, since there would be hell to pay if he discovered her gone — Kiva hurried with Rhessinda out of the garden and across the sanctuary again. When they reached the prince, he sent a flirtatious smile to Rhess — which she ignored — and asked Kiva if she was ready to go.
“Can we head back to the palace quickly first?” she replied after they said goodbye to Rhess, following the next phase of her plan. “I’m wearing new boots and they’re rubbing. I don’t want to end up with blisters.”