Page 32 of Lake of Sorrow
Under other circumstances, Kaylina would have been touched that he cared enough to feel affronted on her behalf, but they were alone in the forest, with only the taybarri around if he turned into the beast.
“Do you want me to hum to you?” She rested a hand on his shoulder, hoping to help calm him, but maybe touching wasn’t a good idea since that tended to rouse other emotions in him. “I’ll have to get you to teach me your song. I doubt I could replicate it based on the snatches of humming I’ve heard.”
Vlerion closed his eyes and took several long slow breaths. “I don’t know if that would work, but I’ll play it for you one day on my violin. There are lyrics too, though I don’t have the voice that my brother had.”
“Is yours more pompous and gruff?” Kaylina didn’t know if teasing him was a good way to calm his riled emotions, but it had to be less incendiary than him mulling over murdering Jana.
Vlerion opened his eyes but only so he could squint at her. “As a mead maker and gatherer of honey, you of all people ought to know better than to poke a wasp’s nest.”
“I avoid wasp nests, generally. Some species can make honey but not very much. They don’t store it as food for the winter. They mostly nosh on other insects to stave off hunger.” Kaylina pointed at the empty vial in his hand. “You searched Nakeron Inn?”
“The office, yes. I thought I might find evidence that could help you clear your name. I didn’t know you already had a vial of her poison.” The coolness returned to his gaze as he regarded it. At least the dangerous glint had faded. “There’s a maker’s mark on the bottom of this.” He rotated the empty vial to show her. “Does that one have the same?”
Kaylina turned hers toward the dappled sunlight creeping through the leaves overhead. “Yes.”
“When we finish here, you or your brother can seek out the glassmaker. He or she might be able to point you to whomever buys the vials. Poison makers don’t hang out signs, so they’re hard to find. They’re usually alchemists and apothecaries, doing that at night while practicing their more respectable trades during the day.”
“Thank you.” Kaylina took the empty vial and tucked it in another pocket.
“It crossed my mind to grab Jana Bloomlong by the neck while I was there and threaten her life if she didn’t go to the queen and tell the truth, but the ranger handbook forbids dishonorable conduct like coercion, blackmail, and extortion.”
“And wringing old ladies’ necks?”
“That’s not mentioned specifically, but it falls under the other categories.”
“Good. Books should imply a need for respectable behavior.”
“Yes.” Vlerion sighed. “I suggested she be brought to ranger headquarters and questioned under kafdari root, but Targon balked at the idea. The queen absolutely would have. Even though Bloomlong isn’t a noble, she’s run her inn and served her mead to the royal family for years, if not decades. As Targon pointed out, it’s not acceptable to force respected citizens to chew kafdari root.”
“But it’s okay to stuff wads of it into the mouths of visitors from another part of the kingdom?”
“You did consent to that.”
“As if I had a choice when I was going to otherwise be a prisoner in jail indefinitely.”
Vlerion tilted his palm toward the canopy and didn’t deny that.
“Either way, I can’t break any laws or even customs right now. I’m suspect in the queen’s eyes, and that could get even worse. So far, that newspaper has been vague about the origins of the beast supposedly working with the rangers, but I can’t assume the Virts don’t know my secret. I need to tread lightly.”
“I understand, and I’m sorry that you’re… suspect, as you said, because of me. I didn’t mean to get in trouble like this and certainly not to drag you into it with me.”
“You don’t deserve to be in trouble for wanting to open a meadery.” Vlerion managed a faint smile. “Perhaps for calling aristocrats pirates, but that’s another matter.”
“I only call you that.”
“Such an honor you bestow on me.”
“Yes.” She kissed him on the cheek, ignoring his sarcasm. “I’m glad you realize that.”
Vlerion drew her into a hug. “You’ve an amazing knack for irritating a man while simultaneously driving him to reckless actions out of a desire to protect you.”
“I’d say I’ve practiced a lot, but there haven’t been that many men. Until I met you, only those who were related to me and obligated by blood would have gotten reckless on my behalf.”
“Not the man you spoke of who asked why you weren’t normal?” Vlerion leaned back, looking at her as he raised his eyebrows.
“I don’t think so. For a while, I thought I was happier with him, that I needed to be in a relationship like all my other female friends, but, in hindsight, I think he just wanted to have sex with me.” Kaylina wrinkled her nose.
“I suspect many men have wanted that.”