Page 78 of The Verdant Cage
Jarek brushes Leonidas off. “Yes, yes,” he tells him. His gaze lingers on the two desiccated corpses before he steels himself. “It was a terrible attack by an animal of the Valley,” he tells his son. “We must tighten the curfew further.”
It’s the middle of the day, but I don’t say that.
“What in the Yellow Sun are you talking about?” Gryphon demands incredulously. “That wasn’t an animal! It was a man-eating vine. Why are you lying to our faces?”
Jarek steps forward and strikes his son with such force that it echoes off the trees.
I launch myself at Jarek, ignoring the pain at my side. Gryphon recovers from his father’s blow quickly enough to pluck me from the air.
Jarek is chuckling. “She’s got some fight in her, your betrothed. She needs to learn control, though. As I was saying, there has been another terrible animal attack, which means we must cordon off more farmland. Less food requires another Harvest.” His tone brokers no disagreement. “We’ll add the blessed sacrifice to Friday’s celebrations. Won’t that be lovely, Rose? Another wedding, another Harvest. All for you.”
My throat’s burning to scream at him, but I swallow my rage. There’s only one explanation for Jarek’s blasé reaction to the killer vines.He already knew.Misia and Leo, too, by the looks of it.Oh, poor Gryphon. They’ve hidden this from him.
And now he’s trying to get us to deny the proof of our own eyes, already planning to use this attack to get people to agree to another Harvest so soon after Jonas, and won’t Gryphon and I look like fools if we try to convince the villagers thatplantsare killing us? How long has Jarek known about it, and why hasn’t he told anyone outside of the Guardian House, or even his own son?
“You’re hurt!” Gryphon cries out, rushing to my side.
I glance down at the blood dripping off the hem of my shirt.Huh, guess I am.
It’s the last thing I think before everything goes dark.
47
“There, there, that’s it now,” Aunt Florence is saying. “Just a few more stitches and we’ll have you as good as new.”
“It’s taking you long enough.” Leo sounds disgusted.
My eyes flutter open. I’m lying in the Apothecary cottage, on the surgical table. I’ve seen this room a thousand times, but never from this angle. Aunt Florence is peering at my stomach, her suturing kit nearby. She’s squinting through her thick glasses. Leo stands impatiently behind her, trying to see over her shoulder.
I gently explore the edges of the cut left by the vine. It was a bleeder, but it isn’t exceptionally deep. Seven stitches should do the trick.
Aunt Florence holds my gaze, her mouth rigid. “You’re awake,” she says. “Apparently you were attacked by a wild animal.”
“Two Guardians died saving her,” Leo interjects, shooting me a warning glance.
Aunt Florence’s eyes narrow, but she keeps talking to me. “It wasn’t as bad as it looked,” she says. “You should be back on your feet in no time.”
“Where’s Gryphon?” I ask.
Leo begins to fiddle with a row of jars holding bandaging materials.
“Leave those alone,” Aunt Florence scolds. “They’re sterilized.”
Leo turns back, rolling his eyes. “Gryphon’s patrolling the perimeter, which is what he should’ve been doing all along rather than sneaking off with you lot. Jarek ordered me to keep an eye on you. You were cut up pretty bad.”
“I’m okay,” I say, starting to sit up.
Aunt Florence gently pushes me back down. “I need to keep her under observation,” she tells Leo.
“She’ll be fine,” Leo says dismissively. “Her gran’s here. Jarek said he wanted a report from you as soon as you were done stitching her up.”
Aunt Florence sighs. She cleans my wound, which hurts worse than the sutures she puts in. When she’s done, she stretches her back and goes to the sink to wash her hands, her movements slow, measured. It’s how she carries herself when she’s upset.Reallyupset. She dries her hands on her apron before switching it out for a clean one.
“You take it easy, Rosie. I’ll clean up when I return.” She gives me the same stern look I used to level on patients I suspected would break their bedrest. “After you,” she says to Leo.
They disappear out the door. Alone in the surgery room, I ease myself off the table, wincing at the raw tug of new stitches, and teeter into the main cottage. I expect to see Gran in front of the fire.
Instead, it’s Augustus.
