Arai didn't get very much sleep that night; Lillandra kept trying to climb into his bedroll and nibble on his ear. He couldn't think of a way to keep her at bay -- what was he supposed to do, tie her to a tree? -- so he finally allowed it, and she spent the night snuggled up next to him. But she wanted to do even more than that, and Arai was forced to spend most of the night fending her off.

He actually enjoyed it a little at first -- this lovesick Lillandra was very sweet, nothing at all like the prickly sorceress her knew her to be. She was constantly talking about how much she loved him, and of how she would do anything for him. Her sappy-sweet expressions of love were so silly and cute and childish that he couldn't help but smile at them.

But it quickly grew tiresome. She wanted to be with him all the time; she was constantly hovering around him. She kept trying to kiss him, and when he pushed her way, she started sobbing uncontrollably.

Seeing her like this was sometimes amusing, but it was also distressing. Arai had resolved not to take advantage of her in this state, but he was sorely tempted at times, and his imagination was constantly running away with him...especially when she got close, when she pressed her body against his, when she began whispering breathily in his ear.

It's just the potion, he told himself a hundred times. She's not really in love with you.

He finally decided that he preferred the old Lillandra to this new one, whose only thoughts seemed to be of Arai and her "love" for him. He couldn't get her to concentrate on anything else, couldn't get her to talk about anything else. He liked her better when she was arguing with him about everything.

They started making their way back to Lark the following morning. Arai and Lillandra normally rode together, but she was so grabby that he finally had to pair her up with Sir Estil instead, while he rode with Shell.

"She's like a totally different person," Shell commented. "That potion must have been very powerful."

"Why did it have to be me she fell in love with?" Arai muttered.

"You were the first person she saw when she opened her eyes," Shell said. "That may have had something to do with it. Would you have preferred she fell in love with Sir Estil?"

"I guess not," he admitted. That would have been pretty strange. "But I don't like this one bit."

"I think it's kind of funny, myself."

"You're not the one she keeps trying to grope," he said.

They were quiet for a few moments, listening to the clip-clop of the horses as they made their way up the road. Finally, Shell asked, "Do you like Lillandra?"

"Where's this coming from?"

"I'm just curious."

"Do I like her?" He thought about it. "Yes, I do."

"Are you in love with her?"

That brought him up short. "What kind of a question is that?"

"A pretty simple one."

"Are you kidding me? She's the Night Queen."

"So? What difference does that make?"

"I'm not in love with her," he said firmly.

Shell was skeptical. "You're always together. You're always having these long conversations. And you're always glancing at her, giving her these looks--"

"Let's just drop it, okay?"

"And now you're getting all flustered. You are in love with her, aren't you?"

"No," he said again, though a little less firmly than before. He did have some feelings for her, he had to admit. She was beautiful and brave, a skilled sorceress, a tortured soul, and someone he wanted to protect. But was it love? He didn't think it was, but it was hard to tell sometimes.

And it was all moot, anyway; any feelings he might have had for her were irrelevant. Though he had been dead a hundred years, the swordsman Julien was the only man she ever loved, and she fully intended to bring him back to life at the Nightfall as soon as they returned to Velon.

Shell was persistent. "If you love her, you should tell her."

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"I don't want to talk about this," he groused. And they rode in silence the rest of the way back to town.

* * *

They found Emi behind the counter of her potion shop, plucking the seeds out of a strange plant. She was so absorbed in this that she didn't notice Arai and the others until they were standing right in front of her. "Customers!" she said, looking up at last. "What can I do you for you..." She trailed off, frowning at Shell and the others. "Oh. You're the ones from yesterday."

Shell placed the bottle Lillandra had drank from on the counter. "We think you may have sold us a love philtre instead of a healing potion," she said.

"A love philtre?"

Shell pointed at Lillandra, who was practically hanging off of Arai. "She burned herself last night. When she drank from this potion, she started throwing herself at Arai."

Emi frowned. "Are you sure it was my potion she drank from?"

"Pretty sure," Shell said dryly.

"Well, let me check it out." She picked up the bottle, sprinkled a few drops on a napkin, and started wiggling her fingers, evidently casting some kind of spell on it. After a moment she stopped, and turned to them, apologetic. "You're right," she said. "This is a love philtre. I'm so sorry! This bottle must have found its way into my restorative shelf somehow. Their colors are almost the same, you know. Oh, well. You'll be wanting your money back, I suppose--"

"Actually," Arai broke in, "we were hoping you might be able to reverse the effect."

"Oh, I could do that, certainly. A Drop of Dying Ardor should suffice. Let me see if I can find some."

She searched her shop high and low, while the others waited. She finally returned to them, looking even more apologetic this time. "I'm sorry. I'm afraid I'm all out of Dying Ardor."

"What does that mean?"

"It means you're going to have to wait for the potion to wear off. A Drop of Dying Ardor would turn your friend back to normal, but I need three Black Rose petals to make the potion. I don't have any of those on hand, and I'm not expecting my supplier to return to Lark for another month or so."

Arai ground his teeth in frustration. "How long will it take to wear off?"

"It depends. My love philtres are very strong. How much did she drink?"

"I don't know. Maybe a spoonful?"

The witch winced. "That's a lot. A single drop might've worn off in a few days, but a spoonful?"

"How long?" Arai demanded.

"Several weeks, at least."

This was unacceptable to Arai; the prospect of Lillandra crawling into his bedroll every night for the next few weeks was more than he could stand. "We can't wait that long. Is there anything else you can do?"

"I'm sorry. I'll be happy to refund your money--"

"What about these Black Rose petals?" Shell asked. "Could you make the potion if we found some for you?"

"I could," she allowed, "but as I said, my supplier won't be here for another month, and the Black Rose is a rare flower. It only grows in a few places in Galleus. Although..." She frowned. "You could probably find a few on Tapil."

"Tapil?"

"It's an island on Lake Tapyrus, about five miles from shore. There's all kinds of rare plants there. But it's very dangerous. The island is full of monsters, mostly man-traps and snakevines, but there's this strange magic there, too, which makes people lose their minds." She shook her head. "No, you don't want to go there. Forget I mentioned it."

But Arai was undeterred; he wasn't afraid of monsters, and Silus, after all, protected him from magics. "I might be willing to risk it," he said. "Can you show us how to get there?"

"Are you sure? That island is cursed. It's been years since anyone's even set foot on it."

He glanced at Lillandra, who was totally uninterested in the conversation; she had her arms around his neck and was in the middle of whispering sweet nothings in his ear. "I'm sure."

Emi shrugged. She described the island to them, and told them what the Black Rose looked like, but warned them again that very few people ever returned from this cursed island and that she did not expect them to return, either. "It might be better to wait for the effects of the potion to wear off," she said.

"We can't wait that long," Arai said.

"Suit yourself." She wished them luck, then added, "I'm sorry about all this. I tell you what -- if you make it back alive I'll not only make this potion for you for free, I'll give you a complete set of my Marvelous line of potions. That's three different kinds of restoratives, two antivenoms, a monster-tamer--"

"Thanks anyway," Arai said dryly. He didn't want any more mix-up's. "We'll be back as soon as we can." And they parted there.

"What's the plan?" Shell asked, as they stepped out of the shop.

He thought about it. "Sir Estil and I will go to this island. You'll stay here with Lillandra."

"Why can't I go?" Shell complained.

"Because it's dangerous," he said. "You heard what Emi said about this place. Besides, I can't take Lillandra with me while she's like this -- I can't fight off monsters when she's constantly crawling all over me -- and someone has to keep an eye on her."

Shell nodded glumly. "If you say so."

"I won't leave your side," Lillandra declared.

Arai turned to her. "Lillandra..."

"I love you."

"You don't," he hissed. He was beginning to hate hearing her say that, because it was such an obvious lie. "You love Julien, remember?"

She frowned, and for the first time since she had imbibed the potion, she looked a little puzzled. "I love Julien," she agreed, "but I love you, too. I love you more than anything."

"More than Julien?" he snorted.

"More than..." She trailed off, finally shaking her head. "Don't confuse me. You're the one I want."

"You can't talk her out of it," Sir Estil said. "I have some experience with love philtres. The people who use them are totally consumed by their feelings, and if you start to question them, they become angry."

"She's going to be angry enough, after we snap her out of this," he sighed. "All right. Let's find a boat. How long do you think it will take to get to this island? Do you think we can make it back by this evening?"

Sir Estil looked up at the sun, which was still high in the sky. "I think so."

They went down to the docks, and after a few minutes' searching, found an old fisherman who was willing to rent them a rowboat for the day. Arai climbed into it with Sir Estil, while Lillandra and Shell watched them from the pier. Lillandra looked about ready to dive into the water and swim after them if she had to, but Shell kept a firm grip on her sleeve.

"Good luck," Shell called out to them.

"Arai!" Lillandra shouted from the shore. "I'll love you forever!"

Arai rolled his eyes.