When Things Are Set Right

Noemar

Aeryn's eyes fluttered open. Her body jostled in rhythm with the clatter of wheels on a bumpy road and the jingle of horse tackle. Her head throbbed. Where am I?

With a hand to her temple, she eased herself upright. Grim lay beside her in the back of a covered wagon. He was unconscious, and his skin had a grayish cast.

She strained her eyes.

Was he breathing?

Without warning, a wave of nausea rolled over her. She threw herself toward the flap at the rear of the wagon, leaned her upper body out, and retched. The bitterness of bile and sour taste of stomach acid mingled in her mouth.

The wagon lurched to a stop.

Her empty stomach contorted again. She gagged and hacked. A slender woman in a blue skirt emerged in Aeryn's peripheral.

"I'm sorry, dear. I know it's unpleasant," said a familiar female voice. The person held Aeryn's hair back as she finished another round of vomit.

"Ophelia?" Aeryn blinked as the brunette elf came into focus. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, and remembered Grim's motionless body. "Oh gods!"

Aeryn clambored to his side, and pressed her ear to his chest. His heartbeat was near imperceptible. She grabbed him by his shirt and shook.

"Grim, wake up!" She shook him again, more desperate than before, as her voice thickened. "Get up!"

"Aeryn, he's fine," Ophelia said. "I wouldn't shake him. It's a nasty shock waking from Trystal's Tease."

Aeryn turned on her. "What is that?"

"It's the substance discovered by the alchemist Trystal Tevane, which put you to sleep for the last four days."

"Four days? When did..." Aeryn's head swirled back in time for the last thing she remembered.

The tea.

Grim drew a sudden breath. He reached for his head, then promptly turned over to vomit. Wolfe peered inside from his perch at the driver's seat. He grimaced and rummaged for a bucket for Grim.

Aeryn's voice rose, hoarse. "You drugged us?"

"To be precise, it's a type of poison," Ophelia said as she climbed into the wagon from the rear. "But no need for alarm. I'm a poisoner, and very well-practiced. You two will be fine."

"Poison?" Aeryn said, starting to feel panicked. "Who are you people?"

Grim retched again.

Their belongings, including their weapons, lay piled along the side of the wagon bed. Aeryn lunged for her hunting knife. She brandished it at Wolfe at the head of the wagon, then Ophelia at the rear.

Quick as a wasp, Ophelia grasped Aeryn by the wrist, precisely triggering the muscles in Aeryn's hand to seize.

Aeryn released the blade involuntarily. She swore and rubbed her wrist.

"You will not pull a knife on me in my wagon. Thank you," Ophelia said. "Sit."

Even as Ophelia spoke, Aeryn's ears buzzed and her vision grew spotty. Her head had the sloshing feeling it always got after spinning on the rope swing at her parents house. Her shaky legs buckled beneath her.

"It was the only way to get you out of the city," Ophelia said. "Imperials were checking every person and cart to come in and out of Fieldgate. The poison placed you into a deep sleep, mimicking death. Wolfe and I posed as grieving family members who needed to bury our relatives outside the city."