Noah yawned and rummaged through the pile of papers on his desk, the flickering light of the lanterns making his eyes tear up. Behind him, heavy rain poured down the facetted window, changing the early morning into night. The storm had lasted for the past three days, turning Ildemar’s courtyards into small swamps and the roofs and staircases into waterfalls. The oppressing weather, in combination with the menacing mountain of papers piled on the desk, did not contribute much to Noah’s work enthusiasm. With a sigh of resignation, the Duke of Norden rubbed his left eye and squinted, trying to read the tightly packed rows of text crawling over the page.
“Is our genius weasel working overtime in his den or what?” Duncan’s grumble dressed into words his lord’s dissatisfaction with the prolific reports he was forced to read. “In my day, you first had to skin a couple of sheep to even get a decent parchment but ever since the royal alchemists cracked Shareeba’s paper recipe, it is a stream of useless paperwork!”
“Well, at least we are just reading the finished product and not sweating through the whole process of compiling it.” Noah tried to defend his friend while juggling with the thought to set a page limit for the next report. Unfortunately, knowing William De Mar, if he were to do that, he would also need to order a magnifying apparatus from the Glass-maker Guild.
“Not even confinement can keep the Lord Steward away from his paperwork,” Aiden chimed in, flipping through a stack of his own, his enthusiasm akin to that of a fish or a dead man. “I have heard from the boys on guard duty that William’s aids are running up and down the West tower almost every hour.”
“Dang,” Duncan threw the report he was reading on the table and stretched in his seat, “Will probably has the fittest aids in Ildemar. Wretched lads.”
“To think I’d live to hear you pitying someone for doing some healthy exercise,” Noah lifted an eyebrow, blissfully distracted from his read. Next to him, Aiden nodded with an expression that only someone who had gone through Duncan’s gruesome training regiment could understand.
“It’s the stairs, you cheeky brats,” the old knight snorted and rubbed his knees. “Wait till you become my age and then you’ll sing a different song.”
Noah and Aiden exchanged conspiring looks and chuckled, continuing with the paperwork without saying a word. A few moments later, Noah’s expression darkened. He browsed a couple of pages back and forth through the document he was reading.
“Duncan, do you remember the two we let go after raiding the illegal mine?”
“I am old, not senile. What about the critters?”
“Apparently, one of them did try to contact a middleman with an urgent message for Baron Rowell.”
“We nailed the traitorous leech?” Duncan’s face brightened.
“We did. The Shadows in Port Leon have intercepted the message and successfully replaced it. Rowell does not suspect a thing. For now, all our men there are on standby. We should observe him some more. Maybe we can fish out even more sharks with him as bait.”
“If you ask me, we should strike while we have the upper hand.” The old knight mused for a bit. “May I suggest slitting his throat while asleep?"
"Tempting but impossible. If I do that, his punishment would be too easy. Besides, should rumors spread about his death, the other barons will accuse me of killing him without a trial."
"Then we do it the official way. It will be difficult. Port Leon is darn well fortified. If that conniving turd catches wind of this and manages to dig himself in, it will be a heavy siege. ”
“That is why I don’t plan to attack him.” Noah’s teeth flashed. “Right now, he believes that there has been some minor tunnel collapse in the mine. Any delay in reports or new ore can be written off to that and the Shadows will make sure that he stays oblivious. There is no reason for him to worry and even less to miss the Grand Council.”
“You…” Duncan blinked before bursting into laughter. “You want him to walk to the dungeon on his own two feet?! Now that would be a delightful scene to watch!”
“Let’s hope everything goes according to plan.” Noah drove a hand through his hair. “What bothers me is that the second one we let go has disappeared midway to the Wild Lands.”
“That doesn’t bode well,” Aiden sounded concerned as he joined the conversation. “Who was the shadow tracking him?”
“Dederi.”
“She is one of our best! I believe in terms of power, only Gregor and the elders are stronger. It’s not like her to lose a trace.”
“Exactly.” Noah flipped through the papers. “From her report, she was trapped in a dream-maze for several days before managing to barely escape. By that time, the target had disappeared without leaving a trace and she could not find him even with a tracking hex.”
“Those damn Red Hands have some nasty spell casters in their midst.” Duncan spat the words like they were poison. “Like the critter that tried to use the duchess’ image to kill you.”
Noah froze for a moment, his heart tightening at the memory. It had been so close. If he had hesitated, if he had doubted his senses, the one in the ground right now would be him and not that false nun.
“It is normal to have strong shamans,” he said a bit absentmindedly. “After all, they praise the purity of Binshi blood above all else.”
“My lord,” Aiden hesitated, “I apologize if I am out of place by asking this… I’ve heard that their leader can rival even the late Sir Yanosh. Is that true?”
“No,” snapped Noah but then his expression mellowed. His fingers traced the scar crawling on his face. “No, he is not as strong as Yanosh. You weren’t there seven years ago, there is no way to know. Akh-Moren, their leader, is definitely gifted. But he used so much of his soul for the hexes needed to kill the Star-gazer that right now he should be little more than an empty husk. The last time I met that veiled bastard, his hexes were unstable. If not for that, retrieving Shana would have cost us dearly.”
From the corner of his eye, Noah could see Duncan staring at him with a big crease between his brows. He knew that the old knight was blaming himself for his scar. It did not matter how many times Noah tried to explain that they had been extremely lucky. That if the hex had worked as planned, not even dust would have remained of him. A burnt face was a small price to pay for surviving.
On his end, Aiden remained uneasy.
“I’ve heard from Gregor that one can recuperate their lost soul power with elixirs and meditation.”
“To some extent.” Noah thought for a bit. “As far as I understand it, it is like trying to feed straw to a dying fire. It could keep the flame a bit longer but never restores its blaze.”
“Then is Gregor alright?” Aiden’s eyes widened. “You two faced a dhrowghost. And before that the drals and the searching hex for her Ladyship… And now he is putting up guarding hexes for the Grand Council.”
“Stop being a worrywart” snorted Duncan. “The Wolf Mountain tribe is next of kin with Star-path Valley, all of their shamans have huge souls to begin with. A couple of hexes would damage Gregor as much as a snowflake would quench a forest fire.”
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Noah nodded but deep down, he could feel the worry curling up in the pit of his stomach. Gerash was relying too much on his big soul force, to the point of being reckless. He had to tell Tikotse and Karusa to reprimand their son before he damaged his soul beyond repair.
Just as he was about to continue with the reports, a loud knock landed on the door.
“Enter!”
At his command, Jessup’s curly head peeked into the room.
“I’m sorry for interrupting, master, Sir Duncan, Sir Aiden. Milly wants to speak urgently with the duke.”
‘Lorelei!’ Noah almost jumped out of his seat but managed to compose himself quickly enough. Well, maybe not as quickly as he thought, judging from Duncan’s devious grin. He cleared his throat and said:
“Let her in, Jess.”
As the boy opened the door, the maid half ran half walked in, blinking with slight confusion at the sight of the two knights. She curtsied deeply and when she lifted her head, Noah could see dark rings around her eyes. His worry grew, but he didn’t allow himself to show any of it on the surface.
“What business do you have with me, Milly?”
“I am sorry for disturbing the lords but the duke needs to see the duchess right now!”
The shaking in her voice alerted Noah that the matter was serious. To Hell with being composed! Without waiting much longer, he stood up and walked briskly towards the door.
“Let’s go. You’ll tell me on the way what is wrong with the duchess. Duncan, Aiden, continue with the papers. I’ll be back as fast as I can.”
“Won’t you go already!” The old knight shooed him away and Noah didn’t wait for a second call.
Exiting his study, he walked in big strides towards Lorelei’s chambers with Milly scurrying behind him. Why the hell did he arrange for her residence to be so far away from his own? Suppressing his worry with some effort, he turned to face the maid.
“What’s wrong with the lady?”
“She has not slept for almost three days, my lord,” panted Milly and tried to keep up with his pace. “Ever since she has started looking into that potion you gave her, she hasn’t had a shuteye. She…”
The maid couldn’t finish because her lord hastened his steps once more and she was forced to run after him. Before long, the two reached Lorelei’s chambers. Noah flew in and looked around. The anteroom was empty and so was the bedroom. That left only the small adjacent dressing room. Approaching the door, he smelled a strange fragrance permeating the air – fresh grass and flowers, combined with something pungent and slightly sulfury.
Heart racing, Noah stormed in and immediately choked. There was smoke. So much that one could cut their way through it. At first, he thought that the room was on fire but then his tearing eyes detected a small incense burner spewing gray wisps into the already stuffy air. This find calmed him down a little and his lungs were slowly getting used to the thick vapors. His incredulous gaze traveled around the dressing room that looked completely different than what he remembered it to be.
There were large trunks around the walls, the shelves above them – full of books and flasks, jars and containers of different shapes and sizes. Beside the window hung a large picture depicting the insides of the human body in such detail that Noah only knew from the battlefields. The middle of the room was completely filled by a large table with several bright lanterns, wrapped in golden mist-hallows, illuminating its surface. On top, flasks in different shapes were bubbling over tripods. Unknown liquids were traveling along thin glass or copper spirals and dripping into round little vials. Mortars, jars with colorful powders, and even chunks of crystals were littered over the working surface. And then there were even more books and snippets of paper all over the place – on the table, under the table, on the windowsill, on the chairs, and atop the crates around the walls.
At the center of this chaos, Noah saw the hunched figure of his wife, peering into a small beaker and completely oblivious of the entire world. He stepped towards her, his weight making the wooden floor creak. This seemed to attract Lorelei’s attention… to some extent.
“You back, Milly?” she mumbled absentmindedly, without lifting her head from the beaker. “Just in time. I need your help.”
“Can I be of some assistance too?” said Noah and savored his wife’s reaction.
Hearing his voice, Lorelei spun around immediately. He could see her flushed cheeks as she stared at him with big sparkling eyes he had rarely seen these days. Her face carried the same heavy dark eye-rings as Milly’s but, strangely enough, didn’t look that fatigued at all. In addition to that, there were some blackish stains on her chin and nose, either from ink or soot, or, most likely, from both.
“M-my lord! Good day! I didn’t expect you,” she stuttered and greeted him.
“Milly fetched me.” Noah came closer and threw a glance at the piece of paper in front of her, which her neat handwriting had filled with line after line of meticulous notes. “She said that you haven’t been sleeping at all lately... By the way, your quill is dripping.”
“Oh, merhek! No! I… sorry… Just a moment!” she scrambled and hurriedly put the quill back into its holder under Noah’s bemused gaze.
“No need to fret. I just wanted to check on you. If the rumor spreads that I forced my duchess to work for days without rest, I’ll be in trouble.”
“It’s fine, your highness.” Lorelei scratched her chin with ink-stained fingers, promptly giving Noah the answer to the black-smudge mystery. “I am almost finished. Three more tests and I will know almost certainly what’s inside that potion.”
“But to take it so far as to refrain from sleep?”
“Some of the tests require hours of constant observation. Milly has been helping me but the girl has no idea if some reaction is developing fine or is just about to explode. Besides,” Lorelei cut Noah’s further nagging before he could even open his mouth and pointed at the incense burner, “my body and mind are in perfect condition thanks to the Holy Root smoke.”
“Isn’t it dangerous?” he frowned in response and carefully looked her up from head to toe. “I’ve heard that drugs that enhance one’s body and mind can be harmful to the user. Or lead to addiction.”
“Not this one.” His wife chuckled and took a deep breath. “In the city of Amraz, Holy Root has been used for centuries during the Sleepless Nights when they worship the King of the Djinn. Its effects last only for three days and then the body gets used to it and falls asleep, and one needs to wait at least two weeks before using it again. It is called Three Nights Herb for that reason."
"Is that why you are rushing things?"
"Partially. In a couple of days, it will be too late for that poor girl. I need to formulate an antidote before the time is up." As Noah continued to frown not completely convinced, she shook her head in resignation. "If you don't trust me, you should be able to judge for yourself. Don’t you feel refreshed already?”
Indeed, thinking about it, Noah realized that the fatigue he was fighting with since early morning was gone. Not even Neli’s horribly bitter khavvah brew was so effective. He felt his body full of energy and his thoughts crystal clear. Yet, at the same time, this state of complete awakeness didn't feel forced like when he consumed khavvah. His heartbeat wasn't rushed, his hands weren't trembling, and neither was his body fidgety. It was almost frightening what that smoke could do in such a short time.
Next to him, Lorelei returned to observing her beaker and Noah stretched out his neck to have a better look. Before his astonished eyes, the clear liquid inside slowly changed color and became a pale shade of pink.
“Incredible!” he whispered but then coughed and continued with his normal voice. “What does this mean?”
“The ‘Angel’s tears’ are reacting to a mixture of spirits and potash lye.” Lorelei took the quill, dipped it in the ink bottle, and carefully wrote down her observations. “This means that there is some hemp inside but, judging by the color, it is not the main ingredient.”
“Hemp?” Noah raised an eyebrow. “Like the one for ropes?”
“Yes. But if you make an extract from the plant’s seeds, it is a potent drug. It helps open the mind and reduces pain and headache. But in return, one becomes fearful and suspicious, and it can lead to addiction.”
“I don’t like this.” Noah glared daggers at the innocent pink liquid.
“I agree. But there is more.” Lorelei took a flask from the table and held it before him. At first, he thought that it was the ‘Angel’s tears’ but then he corrected himself. The liquid inside was as dark as night. Something clicked in his brain.
“That… isn’t that the thing that almost killed me on the ship?”
“It is. I kept the potion because I wanted to study it but never got the chance to do so. Until now. Can you guess what is inside besides black poppy?”
“Hemp?”
“Hemp.”
Thoughts jumped around Noah’s head, his mind gathering information and coming to dark conclusions. Deep wrinkles appeared on his forehead.
“You wouldn’t mention the first potion if there was no connection between the two.”
“It might be too soon to judge, but hemp isn’t widely used in Limeria for making medicine. It is something that is found in the Marzbanats. And not many would dare mix it with black poppy since one wrong step can have a lethal effect. Depending on the last two tests of the ‘Angel’s tears’ I can give you a clear answer. For now, my gut is telling me that both potions are likely to have the same origin.”
“Then let’s continue.” Noah looked her straight in the eye. “How can I help? Tell me what to do.”