Shadowguard

The room Leah led Everna to was equal parts kitchen and brewery. There was no shortage of alchemical instruments intermixed with the expected commodities of a kitchen. A large table with an array of glass containers, mixing bowls, and a mortar and pestle, dominated the far wall. Immediately beside, several sacks of flour and sugar took up much of the interior corner. A shelf crammed full of jars and bottles with handwritten labels stood next to the larder.

Curious, Everna peered at the labels: crushed sweetflowers, which were often used as an alternative to granulated sugar, dried rose petals, chamomile, and the typical assortment of thyme, rosemary, and sage. Between those bottles were stranger ingredients — powdered Queen's Root, a glittering golden powder called Faerie Dust, a vial of something that looked suspiciously like blood, and a jar filled with a strange, gelatinous black mass that Everna was certain was moving.

"Magical components and the likes," Leah explained. "They're used for potions when spells wouldn't work otherwise."

Potions weren't rare — Everna couldn't swing a dead cat (not that she would want to) without hitting an alchemist in the capital, and Pendel had a couple of its own — but quality potions weren't as common. Alchemists looking to profit off their stock brewed their potions en mass and only cared for enough quality to remain above the sales requirements. Their patronage was equally unconcerned; as long as it worked, it was good enough for them.

Only when it pertained to healing potions, where quality could mean the difference between life and death, were people more selective.

"Is it as complicated as people say it is?" Everna asked. "I've always wanted to try, but none of my roommates would let me near their arrangements, as I can't cast."

"Only when attempting to create a new concoction. So long as you follow the directions as written, you shouldn't have a problem," Leah said. "Not all potions require magic, and for many of them, the magic comes from the ingredients. Most alchemists won't tell you that, though. They'd lose business if people knew they could make most brews in their kitchen." After a brief pause, she asked, "Would you like to try?"

"Perhaps after I've eaten," Everna said.

"Then you can watch me prepare a sleeping draught while you eat.” Leak plucked the container of Queen's Root from the shelf. "You're more than welcome to cook, but there is a loaf of fresh bread and a wheel of cheese, as well as several jams if you'd rather have something quick."

Everna was good at cooking, but the hunger gnawing at her gut insisted upon a quick and easy meal. As she cut a few slices from the loaf and smeared them with a generous helping of apple jam, Leah continued to gather her ingredients. Once finished, the jars and vials set in a neat row on the edge of the table, she plucked a few pieces of wood from the rack near the stove and wedged them beneath the small cauldron perched on the floor by the table.

With a flourish of her hands and a muttered incantation, a burst of flames spread along the wood. By the time Everna finished preparing her breakfast and returned to the table, the water inside the cauldron was boiling.

"You're a mage? I thought you were a cleric."

"One can be both. I was a mage before I found my way to the clergy.” She pulled a thick leather-bound tome from the small collection of books stacked on the far edge of the worktable. "I'm making two, so the portions will be twice what they are in the book."

"Wouldn't the Queen's Root be too strong?"

Leah raised a brow. "Yes, it would. You know about it?"

"My mother used to make sleeping draughts for my brother when he was younger," Everna said, taking a bite of her bread. "He always had trouble sleeping, especially during storms.”

"Corden?"

It was Everna's turn to raise a brow. "You know him?"

"I've known him for some years now,” Leah said. “He speaks of you rather frequently. Enough that I thought you looked familiar when I saw you," she said. Then an exasperated sigh pulled from her lips. "He often stumbled — and still does, mind you — into my clergy. That man breaks a bone every week, it seems."

"That's my brother for you," Everna chuckled. "And I'm sure the stories behind each instance are absurd."

If he was still anything like she remembered, Everna hadn't a doubt he'd found no shortage of trouble since he left for the capital; if it didn't find him, he went looking for it.

"That's putting it mildly," Leah said. "He's a good man, but gods, he can be an utter fool."

"Oh, believe me. He's been giving my mother heart-stops since he could walk. It's a miracle she doesn't have a full head of gray hairs because of him."

Sometimes, she thought it a miracle he was still alive.

Leah snorted once more and held up the powdered Queen's Root. "But to answer your question, yes, a double dose would be too strong, but the ratio between the powder and the water would dilute it."

"Oh. That's obvious," Everna muttered.

"Not quite. It's a reasonable question. Without boring you with the details, there's a difference in the way the powder and liquid forms are produced that leads to one being less potent than the other. Liquid Queen's Root, which was used on the arrow Shroud hit you with, is far stronger."

She dumped two small spoonfuls of the fine white powder into the cauldron. The water seemed to bubble more violently. Then, much to her surprise, it turned a sickly blue.

"There are two ways to make sleeping draughts," Leah continued. "Were I using a spell, I would merely need water, the Faerie Dust, which would act as a binding agent, and a touch of magic. This is the non-magical way, which requires a few extra ingredients. Powdered Queen's Root, useful as it is, is horribly bitter. So bitter that it's impossible for most to drink without vomiting."

She threw a handful of rose petals into the mixture, and the water bled violet.

"Is that what the roses are for, then?"

"Yes, but there is another reason. Queen's Root, like most plants with magical properties, has its drawbacks. You likely didn't notice, as your dose was so great it sent you straight into a comatose state, but it's notorious for inducing terrible nightmares. When combined with rose petals, however, it has the opposite effect. No one is sure why."

It had the same effect on the water as well. The original color was off-putting, so much so that Everna wouldn't have drunk it even if she'd known what it was. The soothing violet looked far more enticing, much like the lavender teas her mother often had with her evening meals. Leah added a bit of honey and a handful of white powder, stirred the mixture, and left it to boil.

"Who is the draught for?"

"Wil and Osain," Leah said as she wiped her hands on the towel hanging from the wall above the brewing table. "Neither of them will sleep without it."

"Half-elves sleep?"

"Perhaps not for as long, but yes. They need sleep as much as us humans do. I'm sure you've noticed how cranky Wil can be. He's lucky if he sleeps more than two hours a night, if he sleeps at all."

Cranky wasn't the word she'd have used to describe him. She knew what crankiness looked like; she spent three years in an academy full of sleep-deprived students — she'd been one herself. Wil seemed more temperamental and impatient than anything.

Leah flashed her another apologetic smile. "Don't take it to heart. Everyone here can be quite abrasive at first."

"I gathered that much."

Leah shook her head, a sad smile touching her lips. "Excluding Vina, who's just incorrigible and unbearable most of the time, they are good people, but well, let's say they've been through much. You'll find most people in Shadowguard are like that — good people burdened by the weight of an unforgiving world."

Everna took a bite of her breakfast and chewed slowly. "What exactly is Shadowguard? Wil sort of explained it, but not very well."

"While I would think the name speaks for itself, there are books in the library that may offer a better description of who we are and what we do."

"There's a library?"

"Something of one. Come, I'll show you while the potion boils."