Bannon winced at the memories. He brushed aside tall, brittle blades of pampas grass, walked around a hummock, and ducked into a rustling tangle of cypress that offered shelter from the wind. Even with the fearful ordeals, this was better than Chiriya. Far better.
Exploring by himself, he entered the forest. He heard the chuckle of a creek flowing through the pines to a beautiful round pool with a smooth sandy bottom. He saw the silvery flashes of small fish darting around, evading his shadow. Bannon knelt in the weeds and flowers on the edge of the pond and scooped handfuls of the cold, clear water, drinking his fill. Fresh water!
He studied the darting fish, but they were much too small to bother with. A handful would barely make a meal, even if he could catch them. The water, though, was pure and delicious. He filled his waterskin and ducked out of the pines and eucalyptus into the brisk wind again.
Now that he had shaken his darker memories, Bannon felt light-footed as he continued to explore. Yes, he had suffered terrible hardships, but he would make the best of his situation. He reminded himself that he had left Chiriya intending to seek adventure—and he had found exactly that. A small, shadowed part of him acknowledged that he had fled his island in shock and denial at what had happened … but he drove those thoughts away again, blinking his eyes and looking at the bright world. He drew another clean breath.
“I am not running away—I am exploring!” he said aloud with enough force to convince himself. He was in an unknown land with a great wizard as his mentor, a man who taught him history and swordplay. And there was the mysterious and beautiful sorceress Nicci, who intruded more and more into his thoughts. He could not help but be attracted to her.
As he roamed the grassy headlands, he headed back toward the cliff edge to watch the white waves roll in. He wondered who Nicci was, what drove her. Did she think about him, too? Bannon pondered what he could do to make her notice him, to consider him a worthwhile traveling companion, instead of just a coincidental one.
Bannon peered over the verge and watched rooster tails of spray leap into the air. A flash of color caught his attention, wedged into the mossy sandstone just down the cliff, and he knelt to see a clump of unusual flowers growing within arm’s reach. The blossoms were vibrant, the deepest and most intense violet he had ever seen, shot through with veins of crimson and a central splash of yellow stamens. They had thick fleshy stems and swordlike green leaves.
The beautiful flowers gave him an idea, a perfect idea. Beautiful flowers for a beautiful woman!
Bannon stretched out, extending his arm over the edge to reach the blossoms. He picked four of them—a bouquet. It was a small gesture, but perhaps Nicci would be grateful. Perhaps she would notice him.
He bounded back through the grasses, searching for his companions, and he was panting hard by the time he caught up with them. The breezes blew his ginger hair wildly around his head as he hurried up to Nicci.
When he extended the flowers, all his suave words were snatched from his mouth as if the wind had stolen them. He could only manage to blurt, “I found these for you.”
She frowned with a glimmer of annoyance, but when she looked at the flowers, her expression filled with interest. She narrowed her blue eyes and reached out to take one of the flowers from his bouquet, leaving him with the other three. She showed extreme care as she touched the stem with just her fingertips.
Bannon waited for her to smile with delight or nod in warm appreciation. He couldn’t remember whether he had ever seen her respond with a genuine smile.
“Where did you find these?” she demanded.
“Over by the cliff.” He pointed. “Growing in a cranny in the rock.”
“Such flowers are rare. I could have made use of them many times.” She looked over at Nathan.
The wizard’s eyes were wide with recognition. “Do you know what those are, Bannon Farmer?”
“Pretty flowers?”
“Deathrise flowers,” Nicci said, studying the one in her hand.
Bannon looked at the rest of his bouquet, confused.
“Deathrise flowers,” she repeated. “One of the most dangerous plants in existence. They are extremely hard to find, and valuable. Assassins would pay a king’s ransom for these four. But this is far more than we could ever use.” She held up the stem in her hand. “One will be more than sufficient.”
“What—what do you mean?” Looking down at the violet-and-crimson flowers, he felt his skin crawl.
“Do you expect to kill an entire city, my boy?” Nathan asked. “Or maybe just a village?”
Bannon blinked, still trying to grasp what they were telling him. “You mean they’re … poison?”
Nicci’s face smoothed in a fascinated smile as she rolled the thick stem in her fingers, careful not to touch the broken end. “The deathrise flower has many uses. From the petals one can concoct an ink so lethal that any victim who reads a message written with such ink will die a painful, lingering death. Consuming even one seed causes a horrible agony that has been described as swallowing mouthfuls of glass shards, then regurgitating them, and swallowing them all over again.”
Bannon’s stomach twisted into a knot. “I—I didn’t mean…”
Nicci continued, “Tinctures, extracts, and potions can be made from all parts of the deathrise flower. Emperor Jagang had his alchemists and apothecaries test the various mixtures on his prisoners of war.” She raised her eyebrows. “About five thousand died in those preliminary experiments. The camps for the test subjects became known as the Places of Screaming. Emperor Jagang pitched his tent nearby so he could drift off to sleep listening to that music.”
Bannon felt sick. He stood trembling, looked down at the other three deathrise flowers in his hand, afraid to move his fingers.
“Even touching the juice to your skin will cause rashes and boils to break out.” Nicci looked at the single flower she had kept, obviously impressed although not in the way Bannon had wanted. “I thank you very much. One never knows when such measures might be required.” She wrapped the flower carefully in a scrap of cloth and tucked it into her pack. “I am pleased with how you think.”