Page 35 of Lake of Sorrow

One of the taybarri whuffed and stepped out of the water, nose turning into a breeze. Vlerion also sniffed the air.

Kaylina didn’t smell the musky odor of the Kar’ruk but trusted the taybarri had better senses and might have caught something. What she did smell was intense floral scents that reminded her of the islands back home where the bees foraged on wildflowers. Altered wildflowers that grew vigorously despite the surrounding saltwater and the hurricanes that swept through.

A hint of a glow by the ruins drew her in that direction. In the shadow of one of the stone slabs, a flower reminiscent of lavender emitted a soft violet light. Beautiful. She longed to touch it.

“Kaylina,” Vlerion said, a warning in his tone.

“Kar’ruk?” She turned toward him.

Vlerion was watching her, not their surroundings. “Possibly. Likely. But you need to stay away from those ruins. If there was a library, it wasn’t meant for human eyes, and that flower is glowing.”

“Yes, isn’t it beautiful?”

Kaylina did stop walking toward it, as she didn’t recall deciding to do so, and that made her uneasy. Most of the altered flowers back home had medicinal or culinary uses. Having magic that was dangerous was rare. She had, however, heard of altered plants elsewhere that would defend themselves from perceived threats, animal, human, or otherwise.

“It could be poisonous.” Vlerion beckoned for her to return to the beach.

The tip of the vine that had been twitching earlier rose up and flicked in his direction.

Yeah, he was right. This place wasn’t safe. Yet…

As Kaylina headed toward the beach with him, she couldn’t help but look wistfully at the ruins, believing they held answers.

Before she’d taken more than a few steps, the back of her hand warmed. She halted and stared down at the bandage. It didn’t hurt the way it had when the plant branded her, but that mark was doing something. It itched a little, like it was healing, but the warmth was strange. It couldn’t have gotten infected, could it?

“Are you all right?” Vlerion stepped in front of her, and she jumped.

Distracted by her hand, she hadn’t noticed him returning to her. She shook her head at her inattentiveness—a Kar’ruk could have sprung out and lopped her head off. “Yes. But my hand is being weird.”

Kaylina was tempted to remove the bandage and look.

“Only your hand?” He cocked an eyebrow.

She squinted at him. “You’re not going to ask me why I can’t be more normal, are you?”

His other eyebrow went up. “No. If you were normal, you wouldn’t want anything to do with me.”

“That can’t be true. I’ve seen women throw themselves at you.” Maybe she’d only seen Lady Ghara do that, but she trusted there had been others. Even his mother had said the beast gave a man an inexplicable allure.

“None who know what I am and all that it entails.” Vlerion took her hand gently. “How is it being weird?”

“It’s warm. Intensely so. And it just started.” For some reason, Kaylina felt compelled to look at the vine again.

Its tip turned toward them, as if it was watching them. A week ago, she would have called herself crazy for thinking something like that, but after her encounters with the plant in the castle, she wasn’t quick to dismiss anything.

“Let’s see.” Vlerion carefully unwrapped the bandage.

Kaylina held her breath, thoughts that it might have grown infected returning. That didn’t usually happen so quickly, but who knew what the rules were when dealing with magical cursed plants? The fear that her hand might have to be amputated made her close her eyes and look away as the bandage loosened.

“It’s healed quickly,” Vlerion said.

“What?” She turned back, hoping that meant the mark had disappeared. It hadn’t. The star-shaped leaf brand remained, but it now looked like a scar she’d had for years instead of hours. That was better than an infection that could spread and kill her, but… She slumped against Vlerion. “Am I going to have this forever? Because I poured honey on a plant that I thought liked it?”

He wrapped his arms around her. “It does look permanent, but it may fade over time.”

“What is wrong with the north, Vlerion? Innocent people get accused of crimes left and right, and glowing sentient plants attack when you least expect it.” Kaylina reminded herself that Targon had almost been killed by that plant, so she shouldn’t whine, but she struggled not to feel sorry for herself. To feel exhausted and defeated. If not for Vlerion and a desire to help him, she might have grabbed Frayvar days ago and stowed away on a ship heading south, even if it meant returning to her family a failure. She regretted all the times she’d snapped at them, and she missed their camaraderie and predictability. These days, her life was far from predictable.

“The north is not an easy place,” Vlerion said.