Page 20 of Venom Sweeter than Honey
Yes, my precious guardian angel would.
RAIA
21YEARS OLD
“Stop rushing.”My teeth grind at the command as Thessaly hovers over my shoulder.“I’m trying.”I can practicallyfeelhim rolling his eyes before turning away in resignation, and I exhale a sigh of relief. “If you are not willing to show some restraint and patience, you’re going to fuck up the elixir again, and you’ll have to start over. If you don’t do it right, you’ll have to do it twice.”
A low growl rumbles in my chest as Islowlyfold the sanguineous sap into the tincture of martyr's root, breath of sylvanus, and mugwort by pouring it at an angle of exactly 88 degrees in the sacred geometric designs I’ve been studying for the last two years.
The delicate gold conch necklace sitting at the bottom of the small cauldron is the one my father gave me as a child, and I can’t help but feel some modicum of satisfaction as I watch it finally melt. This particular elixir required a bit of gold. I was more than happy to sacrifice it, even if only in spite.
Sweat trickles into my left eye, making me squeeze it shut as I continue to pour with one eye open, breathing gently so I don’t risk contaminating or jostling the contents of the precious potion, all whilst I attempt to guide my own magic into it.
It requires hair-splitting precision that makes me want to jump out of my skin—a frequent impulse of mine.
Despite my present ineptitude at flueratheurgy,I fucking love it.
Because when I do actually get something right…
I can create the power of the gods in a bottle.
I can give a fairy the size of my thumb the strength of a hundred orcs.
I can bring someone to the height of enlightenment.
Even imbue someone with the knowledge of all languages, both written and spoken.
I can cure diseases and maladies of all kinds.
Well… maybe notallkinds, but Thessaly certainly can, and one day, I will do the same. Just yesterday, I succeeded in making a potion that cured a male of blindness, and we both wept as he witnessed, for the first time in his entire 128-year life, the world around him.
Flueratheurgists across the realmwishthey possessed even a thimble of Thessaly’s capabilities. The fact that I am, indeed, being taught by the best is an honor and gift beyond words.
Although my relationship with Thessaly is at times tumultuous, in these short two years, he’s become my dearest friend.
With razor-sharp precision, the last drop of sap has been poured, the final sacred design has been drawn and disappears beneath the simmering surface of my elixir, and I can steal a full breath.
And wait.
Staring down, hoping, praying,beggingfor it to have worked.
I sense Thessaly return to my side, staring down with equally bated breath into the petite cauldron before us.
Each eternal second that passes, the tension in my chest winds tighter.
Until finally, the steam turns a deep red, begins to glow and throb with life so powerful that I can feel it pushing against my magic, and the honey-thick elixir gives a final, gaseous, bubbling belch.
Quiet victory rings through me, sharp and overwhelming. Tears of joy burn my eyes as I let myself feel this moment of pride and a sense of soul affirmation.
I can do this.
My gaze finally slides to Thessaly, who isn’t staring at the cauldron, but at me, eyes shining with pride as a subdued smile hints at one corner of his mouth.
“See how brilliant you can be? If only you have patience, darling?”
Setting down the cauldron, I throw my arms around Thessaly and clutch his lithe, delicate form against me. His arms come around my waist, and he returns my embrace, webbed fingers pressing into my back, and each passing moment has my heart filling, spilling over with emotion for him.
Because of him, I have hope and a future—one unlike my mother’s that does not include waiting for asoulbound—or any male—to save me.
