Page 152 of A Touch of Poison
He dipped his chin, jaw twitching tight. “I do, though it is only for your ears.”
“A secret, even from your companion.” She chuckled at me and sauntered closer to Bastian, her wide hips swaying.
I clasped my hands together to hold in my reaction. I shouldn’t be surprised. Hadn’t he warned me to never let anyone know what I wanted? Despite how close we’d grown over our journey, he still wanted to maintain that distance.
I swallowed down my hurt.
“Tell me,” the Lady went on, “and I shall judge whether you want it utterly. If you do, I shall answer your question.”
She bent closer, and he whispered in her ear. Her eyebrows rose as her icy gaze flicked to me.
As she straightened, a private smile flickered on her mouth. “Youdoknow your own heart. I was expecting denial from the Serpent, but…” She spread her hands. “Turns out even one who knows all can be surprised.”
Bastian’s nostrils flared and for the briefest instant, I swore his lip wavered. It was as though he’d just had something terrible confirmed. What was so terrible about his truest desire?
The Lady clicked the dice around in her hand. “Ask your question and I shall answer.”
“There is an item that will lift the enchanted Sleep of the thrones. I’ve heard it called the Circle of Ash.”
I nodded as he gave the exact wording we’d discussed. The Lady of the Lake was still a fae, and this ritual was still a bargain. If he left any loopholes, she would slip through them and give an answer that wasn’t to the question he meant to ask.
“I seek to find it. Tell me how.”
With a long breath in, the Lady lifted her chin and narrowed her eyes. “You have another question, though, don’t you?”
About Hydra Ascendant. I fingered the drawstring of the bag containing the flowers I’d brought as my offering, though my gloves dulled the sensation.
Bastian pressed his lips together. “This is the question I’m asking, though.”
“Lucky for you, the answers to both mysteries lie in Ashara… as does your salvation. Take the path through the Asharan Forest, and aim for the old palace in the hills. You will learn far more than you ever dreamed.”
Was that it? A vague set of directions?
But Bastian inclined his head to her, hand over his heart like he was satisfied.
Her gaze flicked to me. “Your human is interesting. Not… wholly human. At least, not anymore.”
A shiver chased down my spine as though her gaze was a touch as cold as this snowy volcanic peak.
“Don’t you want to ask me a question, girl?”
I swallowed, working my tongue around my mouth. “I have an offering.” I fished the flowers from the soft drawstring bag and held them out, feeling suddenly foolish as moonlight hit the hot pink petals. They were a violent gash of colour against this grey and white landscape, clashing with the turquoise lake. “I—I thought you might not see flowers very often, they’re—”
“Not in years,” she breathed, and when I dared to look up, I found her staring at them, hands outstretched but not quite touching them, as though she didn’t dare to. “So many years.”
Her longing squeezed my heart—a longing I understood—and I edged the posey a little closer. “They are yours, my Lady.”
Eyes closing, she shuddered as she accepted and held it close. “Ah. That smell.” She exhaled, shoulders sinking, then drew an even deeper breath. “Life.” Shaking her head, she opened her eyes. “Well, aren’t you both just full of surprises for an old thing like me? Tell me, child, what is it you want most in all the world?”
I shot Bastian a glance, throat suddenly tight, but he nodded in encouragement.
“To be safe.”
Her eyebrows pulled together, forming a deep crease on her ageless face. “You do. Though I fear it’s an impossible desire.”
The words clanged in me like a foul note in the middle of a beautiful song. “Impossible?”
One corner of her mouth rose, gentle again. “That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Many a great deed was done while striving for the impossible.”
