Luminous

91 - The Secret Lab

He badly needed something from them, that much was clear. Although it was just as likely a ruse to gain their trust and waylay them, and he might have actually been here on his mother's—or worse, Hasif's—orders to sabotage them, Meya heard the honesty in his words, saw the despair and long-suffering in his smile. And she decided, once again, on the kinder alternative.

"Four of our friends are missing. Three are Greeneyes. Your mother thinks they've been kidnapped by traffickers for their eyes, but we think Healer Hasif might've something to do with it." She leaned in, her voice lowered,

"Lord Coris sent a letter to your mother asking about them, and we got a reply from Healer Hasif, saying they're under her care. But this morning, your mother and Healer Hasif said they'd never seen the letter. Dun you think 'tis fishy?"

Ahmundi frowned and churned his lips, then nodded slowly,

"Yes. It is odd." He said carefully, pinching the curl of flesh on his chin, "All letters addressed to Mother passes through Hasif. She's Mother's personal advisor."

Meya shared another look with Arinel, then cast her eyes to the eerie crystal lamps around the room.

"These green crystals, milord. D'you have any idea what they are?"

Ahmundi followed her lead. As their eyes met, his eyes widened. He had definitely noticed the acid-green sheen shared by her glowing irises and the light of Hyacinth's women. Arinel's blue eyes grew large as her face paled.

"Oh, Freda. You don't seriously think—" She whispered. Ahmundi gritted his teeth, shaking his head slowly,

"I've been inside Hasif's lab dozens of times. She doesn't work on the green crystals in there. She has a secret chamber, but try as I might, I can't break in. Might have something to do with her being a Greeneye."

"Hasif's a Greeneye?" Meya exclaimed, then slapped her forehead as she remembered the rainbow sheen of the sequins on Lasralein's headdress.

"Of course! Her circlet! She's wearing Lattis. No wonder they knew to use Lattis shackles with me. She must've warned them I could escape. So this is why you're so eager to work with us? Because I'm a Greeneye?"

Meya shot Ahmundi an accusing look. Ahmundi shrugged and hitched up his forced smile again, unperturbed.

"Well, I've tried everything. Got nothing to lose. You might have better luck than me."

He confessed simply. Although Meya was a tad annoyed with his somewhat racist motive, that heavy air of despair he gave out was probably the main perpetrator, not genuine disdain.

"We need someone to distract Hasif, and you need to follow me into the lab." She wagged a finger in the air as she calculated, then spun around to Arinel, "Milady, d'you think you can talk alchemy with her for a while? What's her specialty, milord?"

"Well, green crystals, of course." Ahmundi shrugged, "But she's also a healer, so there's that."

Arinel pursed her lips, thinking hard.

"Perhaps I could pretend to discuss anesthesia with her. But how do we discuss alchemy outside her lab?" She muttered, frowning.

"What if you ask her for a tour of the herb garden or something? You have one here?" Meya turned to Ahmundi, who nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah. The botanical gardens outside of town at the qanats." He pointed a thumb behind him, then rubbed his hands together, eyes sparkling with glee,

"If you could lure her out there, we'd have plenty of time to snoop around. We'd better hurry, then—the sun's already set. Say you're bored and want to kill time or something."