A Walk Amongst Shadows (Book 2)

I was nervous when I woke up the next day, but I was also excited. I hadn’t realized just how much I missed working in an apothecary. I was curious to see just how much the methods of the royal apothecary differed from my family’s. What intrigued me the most was knowing that the people here acknowledge and utilize magic in healing rather than shying away from it. Who knows what all there was out there for me to learn? Aris had been nothing but encouraging that morning, no doubt sensing my nerves.

“You’re coming with me, right?” I asked as I brushed out my hair. There was no way I would remember how to get from our house to the apothecary, not yet.

“If that’s what you want. Though, it’s probably best that you enter the apothecary without me.”

“And you’ll find me afterwards?” I added as I began twisting and weaving my hair into a braid.

“Don’t I always?”

I grinned remembering all the times he found me so effortlessly back in the village.

“You look lovely,” he added as I finished my braid.

I had put on my nicest white dress, grateful once more that Aris had taken the time to grab a few of my possessions before whisking me off the mountain. I had no idea what sort of attire I was expected to wear, but this was truly all I had. Perhaps once I earned a little money, I could buy clothing more fitting for a citizen of the royal city. I took a deep breath. I was ready for this.

Finding my way back to the city was easier than I thought. But I was still completely lost once we entered the city. I wondered if I would ever be able to navigate this place without Aris’ help. Learning every twist and turn, alley and short cut felt daunting. We made our way through the crowds, ignoring reproachful looks from passersby. Before I knew it, I was back at the royal apothecary. I stopped walking for a moment, wringing out my hands anxiously as I looked up at the building. This was it. Aris took my hands into his and gave them a reassuring squeeze before bidding me farewell and leaving me at the steps. I turned to enter the building completely on my own. Taking a deep breath, I pulled open the large wooden doors. Walking inside, I saw no one, the room was completely quiet. Perhaps I had arrived too early.

“Ah, wonderful. You decided to come back after all,” I heard Evangeline say as she rounded the corner. I jumped at the sound of her voice, unsure where she had been hiding when I first entered.

“Thank you so much for inviting me,” I replied cordially.

“Is it just you today?” she asked, eyes searching behind me, presumably for Aris.

“Yes.” I nodded, not wanting to elaborate.

“Lovely,” she chimed. “Why don’t you follow me and I’ll show you the rest of the apothecary.” I did as she suggested and we made our way back through the door she had come from. I was confused at first. Afterall, were we not already in the apothecary? Upon entering the room, I was immediately confronted with the aroma of herbs, much like the front room only stronger. I realized I was standing in the largest supply room I have ever seen before. I paused and took it all in. I was not in my village anymore. This was not my family’s apothecary; this was an apothecary fit for the king himself. Despite the grandeur, I still couldn’t help but think about home, especially as I noticed several people at their workstations grinding and mixing different substances together. I felt myself searching for Marcy and felt a hole in my chest. We always did our preparations together.

“This is our compounding room,” Evangeline explained. “Those assigned to work this room oversee the sanitary production of our various tinctures and salves. They also make sure the store front you entered through is stocked for our customers.” I nodded, as I took in as much of the scene around me as I could. “Do you have experience in making medicines?” she queried.

“Yes, ma’am. My sister and I made most of the medicine in our family apothecary.” I felt the emptiness grow as I thought of my sister once more.

She smiled curtly. “Lovely, come along then.” We proceeded to the next room. She stopped short just before opening the door. “Now, from this point on is where we have patients.” She pushed open a door to reveal a small hallway. I followed her in. “To the right we have rooms for our emergency and critical care patients, and to the left we have rooms for minor ailments. Up around the corner here is our maternity section.” She spoke proudly as she walked.

“Do all of the women in the city have their children here?” I asked inquisitively. We rarely used our apothecary for deliveries in the village.

“Well, when I first started here it was almost unheard of, most women prefer the comfort of their own homes. We had a large staff of midwives that would make visits across the city to see to the prenatal care of expecting mothers. In recent years however, we see more and more women coming here to receive their care. So, we decided to add a few extra rooms to accommodate the need.”

I nodded.

“Down this way is where our long-term patients stay.” She gestured to the end of the hall.

“Are these rooms all private?” I asked. Evangeline laughed.

“Of course not, dear, we’d never be able to accommodate the volume we do if each individual had their own room.” she walked over to one of the doors in the maternity section and swung it open. “Come.” She held the door open for me. I gaped in amazement. The door opened up to a large room. The ceilings were vaulted and long windows along the wall allowed plenty of sunlight in. I saw rows of empty beds lined up on either side with cloth dividers hung in between for privacy.

“How many beds are in here?” I asked, scanning the room.

“Each room can hold up to thirty beds, we usually keep fifteen to twenty set up at any given time, however.”

“Impressive,” I muttered under my breath. We walked up and down the rows of beds.

“If you decide to work with us, you will begin in the medicine room. Prove yourself there and we will allow you to join the healers on their rounds. You will apprentice under them until such a time that you have proven yourself capable of working independently.” We walked out of the room and back into the hallway. “We also offer accommodations for our healers, when needed. Many of our healers come to us from great distances and we want to make sure they are well provided for.” She turned to face me. “Well? What do you think?”

I was thinking a lot at this moment. I was overwhelmed and excited at the sheer wonder of the facility I was standing in. Even more so was the potential to be able to learn from others. I also couldn’t help but think about how easy it would be to heal the patients that I could sense in each of the sickrooms Evangeline and I had passed by. A large part of me wanted to heal every one of them, but the self-preservation part of me thought it best to keep my magic a secret. At least for the time being.

“I think it’s wonderful! All of it,” I replied diplomatically.

“We could have a bed for you as early as tonight if you so require,” she offered.

“Oh, no. That won’t be necessary. I have a place to stay,” I responded. She looked at me with concern. Lowering her voice, she moved closer to me to speak.

“Listen, dear, we can keep you safe. We’ve helped others like you before.”

I felt my face getting hot. “What do you mean?”

“I mean the man you were with yesterday.” Her expression was grave.

“I can assure I am perfectly safe.” I kept my voice level.

“Come now, dear,” she condescended. “You mean to tell me you spend time with a shadow walker by your own volition?” She chuckled. “Forgive me child, but I don’t buy it.” I tried to interrupt, but she persisted. “Now, I don’t know what sort of deal you’ve made with him, but rest assured we can make it so that he will never be able to find you again. Just come with me a-” she grabbed my arm and I abruptly pulled away. She stopped short and looked appalled.

“I’m sorry, Evangeline. I think there’s been a mistake. I was under the impression you wanted me to study healing. I am quite safe and happy with my life, and I am perfectly capable of protecting myself. If there is nothing else you wish to discuss with me, then I will be on my way.” I moved to walk away and saw her expression soften.

“Wait.” She put her hands in front of her in a halting signal. “I didn’t mean to offend you.” She walked slowly towards me, closing the gap between us. “I just assumed... never mind,” she hesitated. “I’d love to see what you’re capable of.”

I regarded her carefully and nodded. Afterall, it wasn’t as though I was agreeing to anything formally. What harm could talking a little while longer do? I nodded and watched as her face brightened slightly as she clasped her hands together in front of her.

“Excellent. Come, let’s go back to the supply room.” I followed Evangeline back to where we had begun our tour. I was a little on edge but was hopeful things would turn around between the two of us.

“Alright, let’s start by going through the herbs. You tell me what you know about each one and we’ll go from there.” I nodded. The herbs were alphabetized and we moved slowly through each one. I could read the surprise on her face as I was able to identify most of the herbs in the room. Even the herbs I didn’t know uses for, I could name. I felt pride fill my chest and knew my family would be proud of me if they could see me now. After an hour or so of testing my herbal knowledge, Evangeline moved on to basic anatomy and began giving patient scenarios. This is when I began to lie.

“A young boy is brought to you with a broken leg. What is the first thing you do?” she asked. Heal his leg with magic and send him on his way. Is what I wanted to say. Instead, I went with the standard procedure for resetting a broken bone. I continued answering all of her questions in this manner until she seemed satisfied.

“I’m impressed Rose. Most girls that come here from a small village don’t possess near the knowledge you seem to have.”

I grinned proudly. I knew I had represented my family well.

“You know, I don’t normally do this, but would you like to accompany me on my rounds today? You won’t be required to provide any care for patients directly, but you’d be able to see how things run around here.”

“I would love that,” I agreed.

I followed her back through the supply area and into the patient care section of the apothecary. As Evangeline completed her rounds, I was struck by just how intense working at the royal apothecary could be. Unlike at home where we would have one or two emergencies on a given day, there were hundreds here. Evangeline hardly seemed phased and went on with her duties in seeing to each individual’s ailments. From room to room, bed to bed, she carried on as though it were nothing. I was tempted to heal them all and had a hard time continuing the charade that I was a normal mortal and not a mage. My will broke on our last patient visit. A young girl who had fallen ill and was dangerously close to death. I watched Evangeline make her as comfortable as she could and give her a daily dose of medication. Her life force was dwindling, that much I was evident. Evangeline seemed to grasp the inevitability that death was not far off for this little one. As we turned to leave, I sent a surge of life energy to the child, hoping it would be enough to extend her life, at least until I could come back.

“Well, my dear,” Evangeline said, “that’s pretty much everything there is to see. If you’d like, I can get you set up at a station in the supply room and give you your first assignment for the day.”

“That sounds great!” I exclaimed, excited to finally be put to work. She led me to a workstation in the corner in the back of the supply room. It was clean and organized with a series of tools stacked neatly against the wall.

“I’ll start you off simply enough. Here is our recipe for the medicine you will be making. It is a simple tonic to be given to those fighting off infection. At the top is the formula. It lists the ingredients you will need, the order they should be incorporated, and the various techniques for inclusion. No doubt, you will soon have it memorized. Take your time gathering them and then return to your station to begin work. When you are done, you will take your finished product to the storage room located just through that door there,” she gestured to a small door to my right. “Then, of course, you will clean your station and return all ingredients back to where you got them.”

I nodded as I read over the paper she had handed me.

“If you have any questions, you can ask Deja.” She gestured to a woman at the next workstation who promptly turned and smiled at me. “Deja, this is Rose.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Rose,” she extended her hand towards me. I took her hand and returned the sentiment. Deja appeared to be close in age to me and had a peppy demeanor. She had coily, black voluminous hair that framed her round face. Her eyes were a deep emerald, standing in stark contrast to her chestnut skin. I couldn’t help but notice her colorful attire. She wore a loose-fitting purple top with a long skirt made of various materials and colors that draped across her legs.

Evangeline left me to my own devices and I got to work collecting the materials I needed. I recognized all of the ingredients on the list. Some of them were not ones we had access to on the mountain, but I knew what they were and how they helped nonetheless. I couldn’t help but notice the simplicity of the recipe. I suppose we had to get more creative on the mountain due to our lack of resources. We’d be unstoppable with a supply like this, I thought to myself as I worked on the medicine. Then again, we would’ve been unstoppable if I had been allowed to use magic in the first place. I sighed, frustrated at all the undue suffering the villagers would be subjected to all because of the regressive beliefs of the village.

“How’s it going over there?” I heard Deja ask, snapping me back to reality.

“Good, actually,” I answered. “What do you think?” I invited her over to my station.

She glided over to me and looked over my shoulder. “Looks excellent! You know your stuff.” She sounded surprised. “You’ve done this before then I take it.”

I nodded. “Yeah, both my parents were healers. They taught me a lot about making medicine.” I immediately felt my heart sink. Had I overshared? I saw her face brighten.

“Same here! Well, more with midwifery than medicine. I came here to study healing so that one day I could go back with what I’ve learned.”

I smiled. “Where are you from?” I asked.

“Sairestown,” she answered matter-of-factly. I imagine it is a well-known town, but, of course, I had never heard the name before. Seeing the lack of recognition on my face she clarified, “It’s a smaller town south of the city.”

“Ah, I see,” I answered.

“What about you?” she asked. I paused. Was Wren’s Glen a well-known place here in the city?

“I’m from a small town as well,” I explained, “just West of the mountains.”

“West of Windsle?!” she exclaimed. “My, you are far from home.” She didn’t know the half of it. “What brings you to the city?”

I shrugged. “I guess I didn’t see much of a future there and heard that there was a lot of opportunity

here in the city.”

She nodded. “Well, you’re in the right place.” We stood and gathered the medicine we had made and added it to the supply shelf. “How long have you been here?” she asked as we reshelved our leftover ingredients.

“This is my second day,” I answered.

She arched her eyebrows. “What!? You’ve only been here a day.”

I laughed. “Yeah, I was visiting the apothecary yesterday when I met Evangeline. She asked me to come back today.”

“Are you going to be staying here, too?” she asked eagerly.

I shook my head. “No, I’ve actually got a place I’m staying.”

“A new job and a place to stay in less than two days. Not too bad, Rose.” She nudged me playfully, and I smiled.

“What are we supposed to do now?” I asked her.

“Let’s check the order.” She waltzed to a desk where a large book lay open. Looking over her shoulder, I saw it was a ledger with a series of names scribbled down the left-hand side.

“So, this is how we keep track of our inventory,” she explained. “Whoever is in charge of stocking for the day starts by verifying the ledger and marking down the ingredients that we are running low on.”

I nodded.

“This morning, that was my job. I walked the stock room and noted how much of each medication we needed to make. Evangeline checked my notes when you came in and saw that we were needing tonic. Once you finish stocking the medicine you made, you log it here in the ledger.” I watched her mark down the medication she had made. Then she handed the pen to me and I did the same. I read a little further down the page and saw a few things listed under the ingredients section as well.

“Where do we get these?” I asked pointed to the list she had made.

“Oh, those? Those are raw ingredients that we are running low on. I usually get them last. Would you like to come with me to the market?”

“Sure,” I answered, excited to see more of the city.

“Excellent!” she clasped her hands in front of her face and grinned. It made me think of Marcy.

I helped Deja finish cleaning up before we made our way into the city together. Unlike Aris, Deja bobbed merrily along, almost dancing in and out of the crowd, her skirt wisping freely around her ankles as she went. It was all I could do to keep up as I bumped and squeezed awkwardly along behind her. She seemed not to notice as she spoke to me.

“So where in the city are you living?” she asked casually.

“Just out past city limits,” I answered as I stumbled over a loose stone in the ground. That was truly the most honest answer I could give her as I had no idea how to even get back to the house without Aris’ guidance.

Deja nodded.

“Deja,” I started, unsure of how to phrase my question.

“Hmm?” she asked looking at me.

I waited to continue as we walked single file past a group of people.

“Does anyone in the apothecary use magic?” I asked after joining her at her side again. My words seemed to catch her off guard and she looked perplexed.

“To my knowledge, no. I mean, I don’t know all of the healers that come in and out, but I don’t think any of them are mages.”

“I see.” I felt slightly disappointed at this news. I tried not to let my disappointment show.

“Why do you ask?” I had anticipated this question.

“I just saw a book about magic and the healing arts while I was here yesterday and was curious if that was something you guys practiced.”

“I wish,” she sighed wistfully. “Having an actual mage around would make our jobs so much easier, although I’m sure not everyone would on board.” She let the end of her sentence trail off, but I heard her message loud and clear. Clearly not everyone is ok with mages.

We walked in silence for a bit. The crowds seemed to wax and wane depending on the street we went down. I tried to keep track of where we were walking and how far we had moved from the apothecary.

“Don’t worry, we’re not too far,” Deja assured.

“I’m afraid I’m never going to learn my way around the city.”

“Of course you will!” she encouraged, “I know it’s a lot at first, but you’ll figure it out before you know it.”

“Hopefully,” I said apathetically.

Deja led me a little further into the city. As we rounded another corner, I saw what had to be the market she was referring to. The street was lined with table after table of vendors. Each vendor had decorated their stands with different colored cloths and signs advertising their wares. Many were selling food, others clothing and jewelry, some had piles and piles of spices. There was a buzz of people moving to and fro. I heard some haggling over prices and others shouting out whatever it was they were selling.

“What do you think?” Deja asked.

“It’s amazing,” I admired.

Deja chuckled. “If you say so. Come on, we only need a few things then we can go back.”

I stayed close to Deja as she moved through the crowd. She pushed her way to the front of a vendor selling herbs and rambled off a few items. She flashed a small piece of paper to the woman who nodded before turning to retrieve the items.

“What’s that about?” I asked.

“Oh, this?” She showed me the paper. It was a small card with a coat of arms emblazoned in gold on the front. I immediately recognized it from the crest on the apothecary doors. “This is the seal of the royal apothecary. The vendors here keep a running tab and once a month come collect what we owe.”

I nodded. The lady handed Deja a few bags full of her requested items and turned to leave. We began our trek back to the apothecary. I noticed Deja was acting a little odd.

“Everything okay?” I asked.

She looked conflicted. “Well…” she trailed off.

“What is it?” I prodded.

She paused and looked at me. “Okay, please don’t get upset.”

I furrowed my brow. What on earth could she be about to say?

“It’s just, well, everyone has been talking about you and the shadow walker.” I felt myself recoil. Already? Something about the way she had said the words shadow walker got under my skin. Seeing my expression, she immediately became defensive. “I know, I know. I heard about what Evangeline said to you and how it upset you. I’m not trying to do that, I promise.”

I relaxed slightly. Bewildered at how quickly word had spread through the apothecary. Just like the village.

“I just want you to know that I’m not like them.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I mean, I don’t care what business you have with a demo- shadow walker,” she corrected.

“Really?” I asked, unsure if she was being genuine or not.

She nodded. “People in the apothecary are usually more live and let live. But there are a few that are pretty old fashioned. Just know that I’m here if you ever need anything.”

“Thanks, Deja.” I smiled, “That means a lot.” But do you actually mean that?

We continued on our way back to the apothecary talking about lighter subjects. We wasted no time shelving the herbs Deja had purchased. She insisted that I didn’t need to come back in and help, but I did anyway. I told Deja that I wanted to learn, but mostly I was just enjoying her company. I left the apothecary feeling a little lighter. Perhaps I had a true friend in Deja.