It takes me the better half of the morning to find enough five-leafed clovers. I have a few bites to show for it in the end. Acanthine bites are known to cause warts, so now I have that to look forward to.
Bronna isn't impressed with my haul. "They aren't the freshest clovers, but they do have five leaves. I suppose that's as much as one can ask for from an outsider."
I clench my fists.
Queen Irine is by Addy's hammock, fussing.
"I feel fine," Addy insists. "So much better. Please stop worrying, hami."
"You didn't eat much this morning. Your belly is still upset with you." She sees the clovers and nods at Bronna. "Get the cauldron ready, Bronna. I will be with you shortly."
She gives Addy a quick kiss on the forehead, then leaves, making sure to frown at me on the way out.
"Ugh," I groan. "Why does she hate me so much?"
Onyx hops into Addy's hammock. She obliges him with an ear rub. You are not a very likable person. Plus, you spend more time with Adamantine than she does.
I look for something to throw at Onyx, but all I have are leaves. Is there anything about this rainforest that isn't annoying?
"Well, it's dumb of them to hang all their hopes on that soup," I say. "It's just soup. They think they can have magic without magic."
Addy sighs contentedly, her chin buried in Onyx's fur. "Not everything needs magic, Lil. You'd be amazed at what clover soup can do for a sore stomach, especially when you add invisible toadstools."
I try not to roll my eyes. Addy's getting better all on her own. When she recovers I bet they'll credit it all to their bogus soup.
"Lima used to hate clover soup. She hated glochas too. She'd wail every time she found one in her bed. I think the two of you would've been good friends."
"Sounds like a sensible girl," I say with a smile.
Addy sits up. "Me and hami talked about Lima all morning. I can hardly believe it's happening. When Lima died, hami completely closed herself off. She wouldn't talk about Lima, but she wouldn't talk to me. It was like I'd died too."
Then she sent you away.
"So soon after losing Lima too! I still don't understand that. We needed each other. How could she send me away?"
I look at Onyx. Maybe he has an answer. I certainly don't.
She was protecting herself, he says, from her own heart.
Addy's forehead creases with thought. "One day me and Lima were in Hami's tent, and Lima asked her if she loved us. She was so strict back then. We never got hugs or anything. Hami told us then that she did love us. She said her heart belonged to the two of us."
And when Lima died, her heart continued to long for its owner.
"It would have torn her heart apart," Addy says sadly. "So that's why she sent me away. It wasn't me she didn't want."
It was her own heart.
I'm not sure if my heart could survive such a thing. If I lost Onyx, or Addy, I don't know what I'd do. My heart would probably take me down with it. I guess a heart is a dangerous thing.