Circle of Shadows (Circle of Shadows, #1)(28)
But there were other occasions when a Society uniform was needed. Going into Shima was one of those times. Fairy had worn a red dress here on her first leave as a Level 9 and had received enough leers to last a lifetime. She swore never to do that again.
Fairy and Broomstick finally arrived at their destination, a tiny herbal medicine shop that was sandwiched between a gentleman’s club and a pawnshop. The owner, Mrs. Mura, was from a long lineage of respected herbal masters, and she sold dried plants that had been used in ancient remedies for centuries. Unfortunately, the demand for traditional medicine was dying, so she found she had to cater to a less savory clientele to keep her shop open; she sold relaxing grasses and hallucinogenic mushrooms in the main part of her store. But Fairy was here for the rare seeds and crushed leaves that she needed for her botanicals. Like Sora had said, she needed something to distract her while her friends were off hunting a Dragon Prince.
Mrs. Mura’s seemingly permanent frown melted away as soon as she saw who had walked in her door. She pushed up the heavy spectacles on her nose and straightened her blouse, which was decorated with a pattern of brightly colored flowers and herbs, spiraling out as if seen through a kaleidoscope.
“Your Honors, welcome back. I cannot tell you how happy I am to see your faces. What can I do for you today?” Not only did she respect Fairy and Broomstick as taigas, but it was also a relief to be able to serve someone who actually appreciated her plants. It wore Mrs. Mura down to sell areca nuts to the patrons of the gentleman’s club next door.
“It’s great to see you again,” Broomstick said before wandering off to look at the amusing collection of pipes in the display window. There was one shaped like a laughing banana, another like a pig’s snout, and more. Broomstick didn’t smoke—taigas weren’t allowed to, and besides, he didn’t see the allure of tarring up his lungs and coughing all the time—but the pipes were something to look at while his gemina did her shopping.
Fairy handed a piece of paper to Mrs. Mura. “I made a list of what I need for my experiments. Do you have any of these?”
Mrs. Mura put on her glasses. “Two ounces of swallow’s saliva, one ounce each of dried wood-ear mushroom, cherry blossom petals, and mangrove bark, half an ounce of bitter almond extract . . .” She read the rest of the list in silence. When she finished, she took her glasses off and said, “I think I have most of these. I’ll be right back.”
“That’s a lot of ingredients,” Broomstick said. “You’re going to spend your entire apprentice allowance on them.”
Fairy shrugged. “I gave my satchel to Spirit, so I want to make new batches of some of my standbys. Plus, I need some of them for Wolf’s birthday project. . . .”
“Oh yeah!” He grinned. Then he picked up a pipe shaped like a hairy, bare foot. The mouthpiece was the big toe. “Who in their right mind would want to put this in their mouth?”
She laughed. It caught her by surprise, because she’d been so anxious since Spirit and Wolf had left. But it was a welcome surprise, even if it was only temporary.
Mrs. Mura came back with a tray of tiny glass jars and vials.
Fairy flitted back to the counter.
“Your Honor, I have everything on your list except the wood-ear mushroom.”
“It’s okay. I can forage in the woods for that. Everything else is harder to come by.”
Mrs. Mura rang her up, and as Broomstick predicted, it cost Fairy her whole allowance. It was a good thing Mrs. Mura was out of the wood ear.
“Someday when you have more time,” Mrs. Mura said, “I would love to hear what you’re cooking up with all these ingredients.”
Fairy smiled and clasped Mrs. Mura’s wrinkled hands. “I will definitely tell you all about it once I get better at brewing these potions.”
“I’m looking forward to it,” Mrs. Mura said. “Thank you again for coming by, Your Honors. I hope to see you soon.”
Fairy waved, and then she and Broomstick were out the door, hurrying back to the Citadel. There was lots of work to be done on Wolf’s surprise, and they had only a couple weeks left.
Not to mention that their best friends were on a potentially dangerous mission, and Fairy and Broomstick had to do something to keep their minds off worrying.
So they would go back to her lab and play with chemicals. And explosives. Because that’s what fairies and broomsticks did best.
Chapter Seventeen
Takish Gorge was as pristine as Sora and Daemon had left it.
Or, perhaps, a bit more pristine.
As they rode to the top of the canyon walls and peered down, they saw exactly what they’d expected to see the first time—a roaring waterfall, towering cypress trees, and a rocky floor through which various sharp-toothed creatures and their prey darted. What Sora and Daemon did not see was the camp, other than the log walls.
“Stars,” Sora swore, even though they knew the Paro Village taigas had reported nothing here but the remnants of a celebration.
“It’s been less than a week since we were here,” Daemon said. “Maybe we can still pick up their trail.”
Sora sighed. “Maybe. I suppose we should go down to the campsite to look for clues.”
They descended into the gorge. There weren’t paths here, so they had to make their own, pushing through spaces between boulders and steering their horses around trees downed by lightning.