Juniper and I met Esie at her second home in the Scales sect. She was inspecting a bowl of purple liquid when we arrived. Based on the tools and little bits of plant matter placed around her, she had just finished making a new poison. She held up a hand to stall us as she finished swirling the liquid around before she poured it into a clay vial. Once that was stoppered and set aside in a protected spot, Esie turned her attention on us.
“I’m glad we could meet. Gimley, I’m interested to hear your report but first: introductions?”
I had debated about whether to give Esie forewarning about introducing Juniper to her, and in the end I had decided that a surprise might do more harm than good. Mishtaw had agreed, though she also advised not to give the warning too far in advance so Esie would have less time to plan. Juniper was expecting a proper introduction, however, so springing her on Esie also wouldn’t have been ideal when we could send whispers on the wind.
I introduced them to each other and tried to hope I wasn’t making a mistake. Given the nature of the current conflict and both of their roles in connection to it, the introduction was likely to have happened one way or another.
“Well, I’m sure Gimley has already filled you in on the pertinent details, but I’d be happy to answer any questions you might have.” Esie smiled at Juniper before she turned to me. “Would you mind checking over our supplies? I’ll let you know when I’m ready for your report.”
“Of course. See you soon.” I fought the desire to glare at her as I turned on my heel and headed for the storage dome. I had suspected as well that one or the other would request to speak alone and I wasn’t in a position where I had any power to deny it. Nor would glaring help my relationship with either of them.
The supplies didn’t need checked and they provided only a short lived distraction until I recalled the mixture Esie had been making when we arrived. If she hadn’t already updated her records, I’d likely be able to figure out what she had used—and from there deduce what she had made. Perhaps it would be nothing of note or perhaps it’d be something she hadn’t wanted me to see. More likely, however, given the way Esie’s mind worked, she had timed the finishing of her poison with our arrival so I would see it and she could accomplish multiple things at once: meet Juniper and form a connection with her while she counted on me to use my knowledge and familiarity with this place to figure out the poison. With Esie a distraction was rarely just a distraction.
Part of me was tempted to not look into the poison out of simple spite, but curiosity won out. I knew the poison wasn’t one she or Rawley had taught me before. And having more knowledge was often better than having less.
So I collected her records and worked my way through her supplies. It was tedious work, but based on the tools I had seen and the bits of plant matter I could safely ignore a large chunk of her inventory. It helped to that I could compare my memory of the storage dome to the little changes that she might have made by using the space. It wasn’t a part of my memory tent I had bothered to use in a long while, but I was glad I hadn’t dismissed my most recent memory of the dome to make room for something new.
There were a handful of things I had to double check, just in case she had used them without leaving any clues, and my thoroughness yielded results. She had used two minerals to enhance the effectiveness of her poison, and when I put together the ingredients and what they likely did my blood ran cold.
I didn’t wait for her to summon me, didn’t wait for Juniper’s conversation with her finish. What she was doing could put us all at risk.
I dashed out of the storage dome to where they were both still settled in Esie’s work area. I pointed an accusatory finger at the vial of purple liquid, glower in full force.
“Why are you stepping into the goddess’s domain?”
Juniper paled and leaned away from Esie even as the whisper woman looked up at me calmly. Esie observed, “You figured out the potion already. Perhaps I really should have you organize the ingredients since your memory seems to better than mine.”
I refused to be drawn off topic. “Why are you stepping into the goddess’s domain? You aren’t a Peacekeeper. You don’t have the authority.”
It wasn’t a poison to slow or sleep; it was a poison to kill, pure and simple. Based on the ingredients she had mixed together, it was fast acting and gruesome. The victim’s blood would stop clotting and none of my knowledge could come up with answer to stop the bleed, except for somehow purging the body of the poison before they bled out.
“Why do you assume I’d be using it on a person? The goddess doesn’t care if we kill the Lady Blue’s minions.”
“Is that what it’s for?” I challenged.
Perhaps it could have been, but there was two things that prevented me believing the poison was for such a convenient target. For one, the poison likely had to be ingested for it to work and I didn’t see how she was going to get one of the Lady Blue’s soldiers to drink it. The other reason was the amount. Even if she poured it on the ground for a Shore Eater to consume its effects would be lessened on a creature of that size and if the amount was split it’d likely only be useful against two or three fish soldiers. That wasn’t enough to put anything close to a dent in the horde overwhelming the delta.
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“It would help stop the advance.” Esie smiled at Juniper. “Let’s finish this up later. It seems my conversation with Gimley needs to begin earlier than anticipated.”
Juniper set her shoulders back and rose to her feet. “I’ll look forward to fulfilling my responsibilities.”
My eyes narrowed at that, but I kept my focus on Esie as Juniper walked away. I could pry into what she meant later.
Esie picked up the vial and placed it on the ground between us. I stayed standing.
Then, for the first time I could remember, Esie’s expression settled into something decidedly grim. “Every year I make this poison and, when its effectiveness wanes, I make it again. Perhaps, in time, you will make it in my place. Perhaps there will no longer be a need, but the time has come for you learn about it.”
She studied me for a long moment before continuing, “Everyone always says that our mistress doesn’t have room for another cut.
That’s not precisely true.” Esie touched her neck. “She could make another cut, but it’d likely be fatal. This,” Esie touched the vial again, “would assure that.”
I sank down to the ground. “Why would you want that?”
“I don’t,” Esie snapped. Then she sighed and her tone shifted something less defensive, but more tired. “She requests it. Every year. She says that she is old and in pain, and that if she is going to make the final cut it might as well be quick and count for something. Our mistress means to become a martyr if necessary.”
I could only stare at her as my mind spun. Esie seemed to take my silence as permission to ruthlessly continue on.
“You don’t trust us. That’s to be expected with how we’ve treated you. I can’t promise that will change. What I can promise is that the Lady of Calm Waters will do everything she can to protect the people of this territory and I will do everything I can to help her achieve her ideals. We chose you because you also care.”
“I care about myself.”
“You’ve taken a killing blow for another, so they would be spared.”
“I knew I wouldn’t die.”
“Most would still struggle to step in harm’s way knowing that.” Esie watched me for another tense moment before she sighed and set the vial back to the side. “But my goal is to prevent the Lady of Calm Waters or you from taking such drastic action. More work can be done with those that haven’t moved on to the Silver Forest.”
I could believe she wanted to protect the Lady of Calm Waters, but I wasn’t convinced she was as concerned with myself. Especially, if the choice came down between the two of us.
The silence stretched before my mentor decided to move onto the main reason I had visited her.
“Your report,” Esie commanded.
My mind was still reeling from what I had just learned, but I mentally swept up everything Esie had just told me and put it aside in a vial in my memory tent. I couldn’t do anything about the poison at the moment unless I broke the vial—and even if I did that, with the supplies she had, Esie could easily make another dose.
I didn’t like the situation and liked even less that it threw my understanding of Esie and the Lady of Calm Waters further off balance. Plans within plans and a drastic last resort that seemed to ignore all that logic didn’t seem to work well together.
Still, I was used to forcing myself to focus, so after I mentally swept aside my shock and confusion, I gave my report.
“You had the meeting take place in the Seedling Palace so the High Priestess and I could observe it. You also wanted to make sure that Juniper’s mother thought she was getting an official hearing, though most of the whisper women in the meeting didn’t have the rank to make decisions for their sect. However, you did cover all of the sects except for Caretakers, who likely wouldn’t have a role to play in the delta regardless, and you did bring in whisper women whose knowledge was relevant to the situation. From what I could tell it looked like you were taking a two pronged approach: one via the whisper women in the meeting to get their expertise and insight, and one via the High Priestess so she could hear firsthand how dire things are in the delta.”
“And you?” Esie asked.
“You brought me in so I could Juniper and to determine if I thought the situation was similar to the one I experienced one the shore.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Is it?”
I shrugged one shoulder. “It could be. The Lady Blue has soldiers to spare, but I don’t have enough information to guess what she might be trying to distract us from if that’s the case, and the fish in the delta seem to pressing for a harder fight than the hit and run tactics used on the shore.”
Esie nodded. “It could be two concurrent plans being enacted or more.”
“That wouldn’t surprise me. Just like it doesn’t surprise me that you and the Lady of Calm Waters seem to be trying to gain influence by sticking yourselves in the middle of the fight.”
Esie smiled at my accusation, though it didn’t have the warmth of her regular smiles. “You caught us. Our mistress’s opinions have weight, but as a small faction her influence as been waning. In years past, you wouldn’t have heard anyone dare suggest that her hold over the sea creatures could be waning like you did in the meeting.”
Her easy acceptance of my accusation did nothing to assuage my suspicions. If anything, it only inflamed them. Like as not, there was something more going on with their involvement that I hadn’t managed to pinpoint yet. Still, I kept my mouth shut about that. Accusing Esie more wouldn’t get me any closer the the info she was keeping to herself.
“So what do you want me to do now?” I asked. “I’ve involved Juniper and given you my thoughts. I don’t much else to do with the delta.”
Esie tilted her head slightly to the side. “I’m sure I’ll think of something.”
The next day I found myself confronted by all the whisper women Esie had called on for her previous meeting. Rather than have me listen in on the outside, she stuck me right in the middle of the meeting.