Page 74 of Alpha's Rejected Warrior
“No, thank you, My Lady.” I shake my head with a pleasant smile. “We were wondering if you knew more about its properties?”
She pauses, tilting her head curiously. “It’s a very common stimulant. The root of a plant that grows wild in many places throughout Clarion.”
“Is that all it is?” I ask her.
She takes a deep breath and says, “Well, yes. Blackroot is an herb that’s valued for very little other than its ability to wake a person up. No one’s used it for anything else since— well, since my mother was alive.”
I look over at Rhiannon, hoping she caught the wordsanything else. “What else was it used for back then?”
She smiles, and it reminds me of my grandmother when I was young. Her smile is kind, with a wealth of old-world wisdom glimmering in her eyes. “Oh, it used to come in handy as a fabric dye, before there were more options for that sort of thing. Tailors and weavers often used it. Some still do, I think.”
That makes sense. I smile and say, “Yeah, people used to boil certain plants to do that in the Outer Lands too.”
“I remember my mother saying that people didn’t start drinking it until one of the wars that went on when she was a child. Soldiers would consume it in large doses to stay alert during battles that raged on in the night.”
“Has it ever been known to make someone . . . violent?” Rhiannon asks.
“Oh, no,” she says with a little laugh. “You may get a little cranky if you drink too much of it, though.” She turns to me, putting a hand on my arm. “That’s why I had to stop drinking it. I was consuming far too much and it was making me irritable. It even started to darken my hair.”
“Wow,” I say. “That’s a pretty powerful dye, if it can do that.”
“Wolves can be very sensitive to such things.”
I smile again and nod, even as my heart sinks a little. Blackroot really does sound as innocent as coffee.Damn. I was hoping there wasmoreto this.
“Well,” she says, looking up at the sky. “It’s getting late. Would you two like to join me for afternoon tea?”
“Thank you, but we have more work to attend to,” Rhiannon says.
Lady Gemma nods and stands up, straightening her gown. “Yes, of course. Good luck finding your answers.”
We stay there for a moment after she leaves, silent, like two strangers who have accidentally become stuck in an elevator together.
I clear my throat and try to lighten the mood. “Well, that explains why Branson and Jayme have such dark hair.”
“What?”
“They drink gallons of that stuff.” I flash what I hope is a lighthearted grin. “Maybe we should ask Dr. Olcan to run some tests on them to make sure it’s not turning them into plants.”
Instead of the small smile I expected, or at least an eye roll, Rhiannon’s expression transforms completely. Her face goes pale, then lights up like I’ve just revealed the location of buried treasure.
“I have to go.” She turns abruptly, already walking away.
“Rhiannon, wait—”
But she’s already halfway across the courtyard, moving with that purposeful stride of hers that shows she means business.
It was just a joke.Oh, I’m supposed to be maintaining a professional distance. Right.
As she disappears around a corner, that familiar sting of rejection hits. We’re doing exactly what we agreed on: Keeping things civil, focusing on the investigation. So why does it seem like she’s running away from me? This is exactly why I need to leave when the summit is over. I can’t help but bring my feelings for her into our every interaction.
I shake my head and turn toward the main building. There’s only one person in this entire fortress who actually seems to enjoy my company anymore, who doesn’t make me like I’m constantly disappointing her just by existing.
Time to see what Thea is up to.
Chapter 29 — Rhiannon
As soon as I’m out of Ethan’s sight, I practically sprint to the training grounds.
