Kings and Pawns

Chapter 7

The next day we rode again, making quite good time. By midday, we had passed the estimated halfway mark. The climate was gradually changing as we neared the border and soon we would be able to see the famous Andrayan mountain range. The vegetation was also changing, the deciduous valley trees becoming more sparse and hardy evergreens of pine and spruce taking their place. We didn't stop very long at midday for there was not water for the horses. We paused only long enough for a breather for them and a quick lunch.

We all dismounted and Sage immediately went off the trail and into the trees. Surprisingly, he wasn't the only one who took the opportunity to hunt through the unfamiliar plants, Caliet also left the path.

"What are you doing?" I asked, following her through the underbrush. As far as I knew, she had never shown an interest in herbalism.

"I'm looking for a plant, this place has the perfect growing conditions for it," she replied, closely inspecting the surrounding vegetation.

"What is it?"

She moved to a different area, still searching. "It's Aconite, sometimes called Monkshood or Wolf's bane, it's a poisonous flowering plant."

"You're searching for a poisonous plant?" I asked in alarm, "Why the devil are you doing that?!"

She looked at me and rolled her eyes. "Calm down Jer, I'm not going to kill anyone with it. Well, yes I am, but not the way you're thinking. It's something my mother taught me, you dip the tips of arrows in the extract from the plant and use it in battle. In the event that the arrow wound isn't fatal, the poison renders them useless, either they black out or their heart stops, depending on the amount in their body."

I had to process what she said for a moment. Here she was  talking calmly about the deaths of men by poisonous arrows like it was the most reasonable and trivial thing in the world. Sometimes her logic astounded me.

"Oh," she exclaimed, "There it is."

She approached a plant about two feet tall with glossy dark green leaves and clusters of dark blue flowers. She pulled a large folded cloth sack from her belt and opened it.

"Here Jer, help me." She held out the bag for me to take.

"I'll pick it," I told her, reaching for the plant. She slapped my hand away quickly.

"Not with your bare hands, dummy!" she exclaimed, "If your skin absorbed it it probably wouldn't be enough to kill you, but it would certainly leave the places it contacted numb, this is poison, Jer, be careful."

She took a pair of gloves that were in the sack and pushed the bag to me. "You handle the bag and I'll handle the plant."

I took the bag from her, rolling the edge over my hands to protect them. She broke the stem near the bottom and placed the whole plant into the sack, careful not to let it come in contact with her skin. When the plant was safely inside, she removed the gloves and dropped them in with the plant. She took the sack and tied the top into a knot to keep it closed.

She beamed a smile at me. "Thank you, Jer."

I watched her walk back to the road. Who would have thought finding something poisonous could make someone so happy? I followed her back to the road. When Sage had also returned from his foraging, we continued our journey after switching positions.

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The Andrayan mountains came into view a few hours later. We pushed on with more energy than before, our spirits lifted by the sight of its peaks. With the mountain in view, it meant that Fort Darnay was less than a day's ride from us.