Kaddie barely had time to inhale before the woman swept aside a curtain and entered the room beyond, where two women and a man stood busy at their respective prep tables. All three wore heavy cloth masks and leather gloves. One of the tabletops bore an elaborate distillery; steam rose from one of its vessels.

  A substance in one of the mortars glittered in the thin light as Kaddie sped by, and despite her urgency, curiosity wanted her to linger. Seconds later they arrived at another heavy curtain and hastily pushed through. The woman laughed as Kaddie gasped. “Now you can breathe.”

  “Was the man grinding mellowbell? I didn’t know it sparkled like that.”

  “It doesn’t, once it’s ground down. Well spotted, though.”

  “What was being distilled?”

  “Shatterbane. Hence the caution.”

  Kaddie raised an eyebrow. She’d never before encountered the substance, but it was well known to be a strong hallucinogen with lingering side effects. Rumor held that some had died screaming when subjected to it. Caution, indeed.

  They continued along a narrow corridor stacked high with crates and emerged inside a huge conservatory. Here, the air was fragrant and she breathed deep. Her fingers reached out and brushed fronds of capsthorn. She saw sprigs of winter glory, newly planted. Nothing appeared indigenous to the high plains. To her left was acathum, local to Shadow Valley, along with other plants native to the lower foothills.

  She saw evidence of grafting, too. Robust twigs bearing slender offshoots whose roots were bound in small sacks of cloth.

  “Brain weed,” she said, hesitating alongside a particular table, “but it’s yellow.” She’d need to make a note of yet another variety.

  “Yes, and extremely potent.” The woman beckoned.

  Part way through the conservatory they took a left into a storeroom crammed with bottles, canisters and jars. Kaddie stood and stared. For a moment she lost all sense of where she was and forgot completely the plight of her grandfather.

  “You brought a bag. Good,” Cortha said. “Open it up. And I want you tell me what happened on the road, this morning.”

  Kaddie hesitated. She assumed Robles would tell her to keep her mouth shut, but she was still rattled by the morning’s events, and once she began talking she couldn’t stop.

  “And you’re sure you didn’t recognize them?” Cortha asked, as she paused for breath.

  “No, but I didn’t see most of them.”

  “You don’t recall any of them in the city on the morning of the coup?”

  “No.” Kaddie met her gaze and didn’t flinch. Had she said too much? Too little? Had she gotten them in deeper trouble? “You think there was a connection?” She felt sick all of a sudden. Why would the Theeds, or whoever else was responsible, go to such extremes?

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  “It would be troubling, for sure.” Cortha began filling her bag with canisters and jars while Kaddie stood watching, speechless.

  She caught some of the labels disappearing into the depths of her knapsack. Flayer’s knot, silver lily, shatterbane, all highly poisonous, all prohibitively expensive. “This is—I don’t think we can afford all this.”

  “Tell me about the palace,” the woman said. “We know you rescued the girl. What do you remember?”

  Kaddie took a deep breath. Her bones were feeling as heavy as ice, while her mind felt light enough to fly away. “It was early morning. Quiet. We were carrying an antidote for the girl.”

  “Nianne Lassing.”

  “Yes.”

  “I assume it worked?”

  “Yes, although she’ll be sick for a while. Silver lily is—”

  “I’m well aware of its effects. Did you manage to get away unseen?”

  “We thought so. But we had visitors at the dispensary, later in the day.”

  “Ah, ha.” Cortha’s exclamation suggested this was something new.

  Kaddie decided it was time for some answers. “Did the silver lily come from here?”

  “Yes, it did. Tell me about your visitors.”

  “Employees of the Theeds, telling us to mind our own business.” She stared at the woman, unwilling to share more. If this was about to become a battle of wills, then so be it.

  Cortha smiled coldly. “Hmm. I’d be careful from now on, Kaddie. I would suggest that you move back to Shadow Valley, but I know you’re not going to.”

  There it was again, the assumption that everyone knew more about her than she did. “Did you know Poisoner Robles was my grandfather?”

  “Of course. Your grandmother and I were great friends, once. Come,” she beckoned.

  “You don’t know everything. One day I’ll surprise you all.”

  Cortha laughed. “Oh, I do hope so. You’re destined to become a legendary poisoner.” She set off toward the conservatory.

  Kaddie followed, dumbfounded. Legendary? If Torrell or one of her brothers had said that, she would have slapped them. But coming from a Shale witch?

  Preoccupied, the return journey failed to re-enchant her. She was tired, hungry, still spooked after the events of the morning and was beginning to regret her insistence on accompanying Robles.

  When they rejoined the others she discovered her grandfather sipping tea, eating sweetcakes, and chatting with the other women. No sign of Melaris, or Arcantha. “Ah, there you are,” he boomed. “I was beginning to think they’d kidnapped you.”

  She swallowed her exasperation as everyone stood. Her eyes lingered on a plate of cakes on a nearby table and immediately her hunger grew out of all proportion and underpinned her already growing temper. She wanted to yell at him. Is everything okay, or not?

  “Hungry, girl?” Talartha asked.

  “I’m not a girl any longer.” It slipped out before she could stop it, courtesy of her foul mood. But it was true, and her grandmother had never treated her like a child.

  “Most certainly hungry, I should say.” Robles regarded her with an exaggerated frown.

  Talartha laughed. “She’s Kadelene’s granddaughter, that’s for sure.”

  Choking with embarrassment, Kaddie remained silent and was immensely relieved when they were outside, had climbed aboard the carriage, and a basket containing half a dozen sweetcakes was perched on her lap. The carriage jolted as it set off. This time, she and Robles were the only passengers. Unable to resist any longer, Kaddie retrieved one of the cakes and began to eat.

  In the meantime, Robles was rummaging through her knapsack. He lifted up one of the canisters and squinted. “Powdered shatterbane?” He replaced it carefully in the bag and withdrew a small bottle “Winter glory. Hmmm.”

  Her mouth half full, she asked, “Aren’t you going to ask me what she wanted?”

  He let out an exaggerated sigh. “Let me guess. Details of what happened this morning, and during the coup.”

  She nodded and took another bite.

  “And I suppose,” he continued,” you told her nothing until she tortured you mercilessly, whereupon you sang like a bird.”

  “Yes. Same as you.”

  “Ha.” He closed up the bag and placed it carefully on the floor.

  She thought he’d start berating her, and when he didn’t, “Something’s gone horribly wrong, hasn’t it?”

  “Yes, no. Maybe.” His face bore an uneasy frown. “I think we’ve just become spies for the Shale.”