Abducted [W&W Book 3]

Chapter 43

"I don't know if he knows anything about this kind of magic but maybe you're right and I don't see what it can hurt except being horribly embarrassing and again the king told me not to talk about—"

"What's so embarrassing?"

"I keep talking and I can't stop and what's not embarrassing about that? And—"

"You always talked a lot, it's not like it's anything new," Hanna said loudly over Ildri's words as she started dragging Ildri down the hall.

"Yes, but I can barely control what is coming out so it could be anything, anything that possibly crosses my mind! Do you have any idea of how many inappropriate things I think at any given time? It's like I've turned into Keziah and I'll be saying bloody this and mess that and then my mind keeps going back to him and that's a subject I definitely don't want to—"

"What are you doing?" Missus White's imperious voice echoed down the hall.

"Oh that's just great, she's probably the last person that I wanted to see right now," Ildri said and she clamped her hands over her mouth.

"What was that, Ildri?" Missus White said as she stalked closer.

"Oh, nothing," said Hanna over Ildri's muffled muttering. She smiled but it looked more like a teeth baring grimace.

Ildri could not keep her hands up any longer. "I said that you're the last person who I want to deal with right now which is technically true but it's still not something I would normally say as you see I'm having a bit of a magic talking problem and I was hoping to—"

Missus White's frown was making deep furrows in her forehead. "Cease your babbling, child," Missus White snapped over Ildri's speaking. When Ildri did not listen her she cleared her throat loudly and said, "You are being terribly rude, Ildri, speaking while I am speaking."

"You've interrupted me as many times as I have you, you nasty prude and now that I've said that I wish that I could just disappear on the spot but apparently this potion does not do that. What it does do is makes me incapable of not saying what I'm thinking and I really think that I should be going on because this conversation is really not going to get any better the longer it lasts, I think, so I'll just be going and you can give me a long and boring lecture later once I can stop talking to listen to it although maybe now that I'm the castle witch that might not be your place to do that. Maybe I should ask Lord Wildwood—"

"Let's just go before she explodes," Hanna said, tugging at Ildri. Ildri's legs moved reluctantly.

"I really made her angry, didn't I, but I swear that I did not mean to but I can't take those words back so I guess she'll really give it to me later and this is why I did not want to leave my room because I knew that something terrible might happen and my life is going to be a bloody living hell after this because she'll never forgive me without a doubt—"

Hanna continued to push Ildri down the hall while Ildri babbled futilely.

The moment that Ildri saw Lord Wildwood her words came out in a rush. "Oh, I can't believe that I was lucky enough to find you this easily, Lord Wildwood, I really need your help because I made a potion that seems to have a rather bad effect on me and I seem to be forced by it to say everything that comes to my mind no matter how embarrassing or insulting like that Missus White is a nasty prude or that I'm so grateful that you and your father have been so kind to me or that I think I fell in love with Ty even though he's a duke's son and completely unavailable and I only knew him for like a week and I know that it is ridiculous and I am so embarrassed right now I can't even think of the right words to describe it but if I could I certainly would describe it because it seems that I can't do anything else and I guess that brings me to the reason that I'm here but I swear that the potion was green and that means that it was temporary and not harmful but apparently the meaning of not harmful is open to interpretation. And now that I've said—"