Precious

Chapter 3

Since Ren can travel freely outside the palace, the boring part of the research falls to me. The next day, while Ren is occupied running errands for my father, I venture into the library. Delia insists on coming with me, though I have not told her about the Wizard's Bane. I don't need her tattling to our parents if my plans go south.

Our heels click on the stone tiles as we walk down the hall. The whole host of our ancestors peer down at us from the portraits lining the walls. While Delia has done everything she can to make up for her misstep, she is still reticent around me. She feels terrible, which is the only reason I didn't object to her joining me now. I never meant to make her feel abandoned, and she's right; we haven't spent much time together lately. Hopefully this will be harmless, and boring, but enough to appease her. Mama would be very proud, I'm sure.

The library doors loom before us, carved from thick black oak with silver handles. I open them wide. The library is a rather pretty place, though a rather dusty one too. The trouble will be deciding where to start. Thousands of books line three stories of shelves. Sliding ladders on each level make it easier to get to the books, but finding the place where the ones about plants and biology are stored is the trick. Of course, that's if Wizard's Bane even is a plant at all. But it sounds like one, or perhaps some sort of weapon.

Either way, I must make a choice and start somewhere.

"Are you looking for a novel?" Delia asks. Her eyes are as big as serving plates as she takes in all the books. She rarely comes in here.

I laugh. "No, I am not in the mood for that today."

I head for the catalog table and flip through the catalog, searching for anything related to plants or spells. She trips at my heels. "Then what are you looking for?"

"Plants."

She frowns at me. "Mama doesn't like it when you get all dirty in the garden. She said you've ruined too many gowns that way."

I snort. Mama doesn't like it when I do anything she deems less than befitting a princess. "They were old gowns. It wasn't as though I were going to wear them anywhere else."

She giggles as she runs her hands over the dust on the table. "Why do you like plants so much anyway?" She frowns. "They seem so . . . dull."

"I like watching something new come to life." I shrug. "It's the discovery. Who knows what lies inside a tiny seed until it sprouts? It's like discovering a secret."

This earns me a big grin. "I like secrets," she says.

I smile back. "I know you do."

"If you share more of them with me, I won't slip and tell Mama and Papa. If I'd known where you were, I'd never have done it." Her eyes water.

"I know, I'm sorry. Next time I'll tell you everything." The lie is bitter in my mouth, but I swallow the taste. I don't know where the hunt for the Wizard's Bane will lead, but I will do anything to keep my sister out of harm's way. Any hint that this will be dangerous, and I intend to shut her out entirely.

"Good." She folds her arms over her chest. "What kind of plant is this?"

I open the listings and scan the pages. "A very special one."

"Is it pretty?"

I frown as the turn of a page puffs dust in my face. "I don't know. I've never seen it."

"Then how do you know it's special?"

I give her a withering look. "Because it is, that's why."

"Let me help," she pleads. I cannot say no to that face. I will tell her some of it, but not all.