Two heads huddled close together surrounded by gray smoke. Two voices whispered excitedly as their owners hunched over a glass beaker.

“Is it working?” Noah leaned forward trying to have a better look at the liquid before him. He couldn’t quite well hide the excitement in his voice and felt a bit ashamed but at the same time – curious like a little boy. What was happening before his eyes was like magic, and yet, it wasn’t.

A small hand carefully pushed him back, away from the beaker’s opening.

“Don’t breath in the fumes. Silver-burnt boxwood spirit is poisonous.”

Beside him Lorelei held another vial and both her hands had thin leather gloves on since, as she had explained to him, the vitriol oil it contained could burn holes in one’s flesh. She took a thin glass tube the size of straw from the table, dipped it into the oil, and covered the other opening with her thumb. When she pulled out the straw, it was filled with some clear liquid. Very carefully, Lorelei placed her hand over the flask on the table and dripped the content of the tube into the beaker.

Noah could only marvel at her precision and concentration. The air around his wife felt similar to the one he had experienced around master swordsmen when they wielded their weapons. There were no excess movements. Her hands were perfectly steady and every gesture seemed as fluent as water. Her long, nimble fingers handled the fine glass utensils with utmost care. They looked so slender even with the leather gloves on.

“How much time is left?”

Her question woke him up from his daydream. Noah looked at the small hourglass with black sand endlessly streaming in its lower half.

“Three quarters are down.”

“Then we should be seeing a reaction soon.”

The words had just left her mouth when the liquid in the beaker suddenly became deep purple. Lorelei put the vial in her hands to the side with a dark expression.

“Without a doubt, the ‘Angel’s tears’ contain a good amount of black poppy.”

“But how?” Noah stared into the gray-purplish residue slowly falling at the bottom of the flask. “The potion is completely different in color than the concoction I took!”

“When some herbal extracts are mixed together, their color changes.” Lorelei started to make space on the table by putting away some of the flasks and beakers. “Besides, color is not everything. It raised my suspicion in the first place because the smell and taste of the two were rather similar.”

“You drank from those things!” Noah’s jaw dropped. “Are you out of your mind!?”

“A sip would neither kill nor harm me. I knew that they don’t contain fast-acting poisons anyway…”

“That’s not the point!” Noah grabbed her hand and made her face him. “Promise me that you won’t do such foolish things again.”

“I can’t. It’s part of my trade.” The brown eyes that stared back at him were firm. He had missed them. He had missed seeing the flame of curiosity and determination burning inside. But it also felt so frustrating when that stubborn gaze was directed at him.

“Then from now on, you are not allowed to go near any unknown potions!”

“Is that an order?”

“It is!”

He expected her to grumble. To plead. To yield. Instead, she just smiled at him and pointed at his chest.

“Are swords dangerous, my lord?” Her tone was sweet and polite but for some reason it made him shudder.

“I don’t see the connection.”

“Please, indulge me with an answer. Are swords dangerous?”

“Well, depends on which side of the blade you are standing…”

“Swords can kill.” She stated calmly. “You can get stabbed, slashed open, maimed. And arrows? What about arrows? We both know what an arrow can do. And what about lances? And maces? And what about castle sieges? Are those dangerous, my lord? Because to me, it seems they are.”

“What are you getting at?”

“What would you do if someone was to tell you, a warrior, to lay down your sword? To never set foot on a battlefield?”

“I would be the happiest man ever!” Noah raised his voice, feeling a bit of anger and guilt burning in his heart.

“Even when your home and family are in danger? Would you comply with that order even then?”

“Don’t try to twist my words. It is different.”

“And how it is different, my lord? I don’t know how to wield a sword. The only way I can protect the ones important to me and fight for what I believe to be right is through my craft. Do you want me to sit on the side and watch people suffer, knowing that I can help, maybe even save a life?”

“Are you so keen on endangering yourself and getting hurt?” Noah felt angry and helpless.

“I can ask you the same. You are saying that it is fine for you to risk your life but not for me?”

He stared at his wife for a long moment. It was so frustrating that there was merit in her words. How could he get it through to her? How could he explain that he didn’t want to see her in danger and hurting? That the sheer thought of seeing her suffer was making his chest tight? He wanted to tell her all that, and even more. Instead, completely different words left his mouth.

“I can force you to comply.”

“Then you will be breaking your word to me and acting like a tyrant,” came the surprisingly calm reply.

“You…” Noah couldn’t keep a straight face any longer and cracked a smile. “You are worse than the imperial barristers, Lady Norden!”

She smiled in response and turned around to continue her work, but his next words stopped her again.

“Can you at least promise me that if you try drinking something dubious again, you will inform me and Gregor or one of the Wolf Mountain elders?”

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She threw him a glance over her shoulder.

“I can do at least that much, my lord.”

Her response brought Noah some relief. Still, his mind kept formulating plans how to prevent his wife from inadvertently ending her life due to unhealthy diligence. At the same time, Lorelei was rummaging through one of the trunks and pulled out a strange contraption. It consisted of a lantern that had all but one of his sides covered with metal. There were also several round glass lenses of different sizes and colors, fastened on copper arms so that they orbited the lantern’s shaft.

Lorelei carefully put the strange contraption on the table and started rearranging the lenses in a new combination under Noah’s watchful eye. As the final piece of glass clicked in place, she turned the last arm that had an empty slot and aligned it with the row of lenses. On its stand, she placed the vial containing the rest of the ‘Angel’s tears’. After that, she took a large dark jar from one of the shelves and her other hand grabbed a pair of the longest tweezers Noah had ever seen. Unplugging the jar, she rummaged inside and then pulled out a thumb-sized whitish piece of something that looked like a crumb of cheese. Very carefully, Lorelei put it inside the lantern and quickly exchanged her tweezers for a thin wooden stick. She held the kindling in the flame of one of the regular lanterns until it caught on fire.

“What are you doing now?” Noah could no longer keep silent, his grumpiness from a moment ago completely forgotten.

“This is a Light Scryer. My master built it. It uses a rare ore from Shareeba to produce a special kind of light. Careful, don’t look directly in the opening.”

Saying that, she touched the cheese-like crumble with the kindling. An enormously bright light erupted and blinded Noah. Blinking furiously, he tried to comprehend what was going on. Through the uncovered part of the lantern, a stream of brilliant white flowed into the murky room with the cold radiance of a thousand full moons. Completely unfazed by all that was happening, Lorelei started rearranging the device's lenses in different combinations. Her bemused voice reached Noah’s ears.

“My lord, if you want to keep your dignity intact, it would be best to close your mouth. Someone might get the wrong assumption that this little trick has surprised you.”

“I must give credit where credit is due, my duchess.” He came closer and looked mesmerized at the streams of colorful light generated by the lantern and the lenses. “You want to tell me that this is again no magic?”

“No magic. Just a trick the alchemists and physicians in Shareeba use. Well, one of them, at least.”

“Incredible! But what is its purpose?”

“During his studies, master noticed that some tinctures change color or begin to glow when put under specific types of light. Like our right here. Look!”

At that moment, a beam of bluish-purple light was bathing the little vial with ‘Angel’s tears’. Under it, the usually golden liquid inside had changed. Now it glowed in sickly-greenish color. Lorelei changed the position of the lenses a few more times but nothing more happened. After a couple of minutes, the bright light from the lantern dimmed and then died out completely. Lorelei diligently scribbled the result on her paper and bit her lip in contemplation as her eyes traveled up and down the list.

“This extract was absent from your potion. My lord, can you please look up in master’s journal what the green light means? ”

“Where is it?” Noah looked around in slight bemusement, his eyes unable to count all the books sprawled around the room.

“It’s a book with a black cover on the windowsill. There is a mark on the correct page.”

Noah nodded and went as instructed. However, the moment he opened the book his eyebrows flew up and a wry smile crept over his lips.

“I believe there might be a mistake, my lady.”

“Why? What does it say?”

Devilish spark glowing in his eyes, Noah decided to comply with his task to the letter.

“If a man in his youthful years were to suddenly feel burdened, unable to fulfill his manly duties in the presence of his spouse or any other female companion; and if his manhood is lifeless at the sight of a woman’s beauty or her touch, or even other more vigorous stimulations; or if a man’s seed has dried up and unable to recover for days; or if a man expires too soon in the middle of the act, for these ailments one must take the tincture of horny-goat weed mixed with blue orchid rooth, for it resembles a man’s vigorous sword at its prime, and…”

There was the rustling of skirts and light steps, and the book was ripped out of Noah’s hand before he could finish reading. Lorelei slammed the covers shut, her whole face turning beet-red. Her embarrassment was a balm to his soul and a small repay for her hot-headed stubbornness a couple of minutes ago. Still, Noah could not resist the urge to tease her further.

“I had no idea that you had such interesting thoughts, dear wife. Should I fear for my chastity these nights?”

“N-no,” she mumbled, unable to give a more coherent response.

“Really? I thought it was a hint on your part that there is something wrong with my ‘vigorous sword’.”

“I… no… I-it was a mistake! I would never… H-how would I e-even know?!” Lorelei held the large book before her chest like a shield as she stuttered, avoiding his eyes.

The sight of her blushing cheeks and rushed breath made Noah’s own body warm and tingly. She really looked like a scared little bird so much that he had the urge to pet her head. Just as his fingers touched a strand of silky hair, she gave out a low squeak and jumped back, dodging his hand. The two stood there, frozen, staring at each other for a few seconds. Then, as quick as lightning, Lorelei grabbed another black book from the windowsill and retreated to a safe distance again.

“T-this is the right one, my lord.” She tried to pretend that nothing had happened and clumsily tucked the devilish lookalike book behind one of the trunks.

“Ahem. What… What does it say?” Noah didn’t move and tried to follow her example. Unfortunately, what had started as a lighthearted tease had resulted in a bit too vigorous reaction from his own body than he was willing to admit. It was better to keep his distance for now.

Browsing through the pages gave them both time to compose themselves. After a minute or two, Lorelei spoke again and, this time, her voice was completely calm.

“It looks like a green light indicates traces of haoma.”

“What is that?”

“It is a rare plant from the Zirath Archipelago. According to master’s notes, it increases the bodily functions, gives one unusual strength, increases awareness, and elevates the mind. As a side effect, it can lead to hallucinations in large doses.”

“And what does this tell us?” Noah rubbed his neck.

“That whoever made this potion is very skillful and very rich, with a lot of connections to procure such exotic herbs. Both the hemp and the haoma extracts elevate the mind but can lead to fearfulness, agitation, giddiness, and even tremors. The black poppy extract, up to a certain dose, has the opposite reaction as it calms the mind and it is most likely there to counteract these negative effects. To balance the doses for those three is extremely difficult. Furthermore, both hemp and black poppy reduce pain which is a likely occurrence if one overexerts themselves when their body gets a sudden increase in strength. Like what haoma is supposed to do. Lastly, all three substances are addictive.”

“So you are telling me,” mumbled Noah, “that what we have is an overpriced potion that could strengthen one’s body and mind, and at the same time make the user addicted?”

“It is not that simple. Imagine the effect of the Holy Root smoke but three times stronger. Imagine a surge of energy that makes you think you can fly. Imagine that you can punch a rock or get slashed without feeling a thing. And then imagine all that being taken from you the moment the potion wears off with only emptiness and yearning left inside, and all the pain that has been suppressed flaring up.”

“Damn!”

Both exchanged grim glances, the playful mood from before completely forgotten. Noah rubbed his face.

“Can you make an antidote?”

“No.” He glared at Lorelei but she continued. “I can make a weaker version of the potion. One that can alleviate the symptoms. After that, the only way to get free from the addiction is to gradually lower the dose. And even then, it is likely that the yearning will remain, depending on how long the potion was taken.”

“Damn. But why? Why would anyone waste such an intricate potion on a little girl from a brothel?”

“I told you that haoma increases the bodily functions. All bodily functions. It was a brothel, so…”

“A love potion?” Noah squinted. “But there are cheaper ones.”

“Indeed. But, my lord, I’ve had this thought,” Lorelei sucked on her lip and hesitated. “It all started with the body of Danika, that mixed-blood child. She was tortured and defiled in such an abhorring manner. This led us to the brothel where other mixed children were kept. One of them was given a potion that, as long as it is consumed regularly, brings one to the Heavens. But as soon as the potion is taken away, one experiences incredible agony. And…”

“And?”

“And we fought a dhrowghost that had the shape of a child. My lord, do you know how a dhrowghost is created?”

“I’ll be damned!” Noah jumped up and ran to the door, ripping it open. “Milly! Hurry! Bring Gregor here immediately!”