And she said Zaya and I were strange.
Whatever.
I exchanged a few more notes with Adrik, discussing a plan for getting the three of us back to Noxia. We eventually decided the delivery of a new portal charm would work best so we could teleport directly back to the palace. I’ll discuss with Valora who to send was Adrik’s last message.
Setting the phone down, I knelt on the floor beside my sleeping warrior and brushed the back of my hand over her cheek. She didn’t stir, but her lips parted as if she desired a kiss. I gifted her a gentle one, ghosting my mouth over hers, then lay on the floor beside her to get some rest myself.
I’d just started to doze when the clearing of a throat had me opening my eyes once more. Narissa stood in the doorway with a bag in her hand. “This is what your mother needs.”
I blinked at her. “What?”
She held up the bag. “This is what your mother needs,” she repeated.
“I—”
My phone buzzed, interrupting me. I grabbed the device and read Adrik’s latest message. Sending Jeremiah. He’ll be there in ten minutes. I’d already given Adrik our location.
We’ll be ready, I shot back at him, then refocused on Narissa. “What’s in the bag?”
“An antivenom,” she replied. “I had it made with the local ingredients. One sniff of this and she’ll wake up.”
I gaped at her. “You know what hypnotized my mother?”
“Not what,” she replied. “Who.”
“Your sister?”
She shook her head. “No, that’s not her gift. She turns her subjects to proverbial stone, shells of their former selves. What you described sounds like Charis’s gift. He’s quite skilled at hypnosis and holding control over his victims. Strange, though, that your Zay fell out of his spell. Perhaps he meant it to be temporary.”
“Charis?” I repeated.
“My sister’s consort,” she replied. “Surely you’ve met him?”
I had, but I’d forgotten his name. “You’re telling me Napia’s consort hypnotized my mother and Zaya?”
“It sounds like it, but we won’t know for sure until you try administering the antidote. If it works, then yes, it’s him.”
“How do you know this?”
Her smile was sad. “Because I’ve been under his spell countless times before. He likes to… play.”
I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what that meant but suspected the worst. “That’s how you know the antidote.”
She nodded. “One of the guards used to help me…” She trailed off, her gaze falling to the ground. “Well, at least it’s useful now. I hope.”
“I guess we’ll find out in a few minutes when Jeremiah arrives,” I replied, pushing up off the floor. No time for sleep now. We had a kingdom to save.
“Her consort?” I repeated, gaping at Grigory.
He’d woken me moments ago, informing me Jeremiah was here to take us back to Noxia.
“Yes. That’s what Narissa thinks. She gave us a potential antidote,” Grigory replied. “So the plan is, Jeremiah is going to portal us back to the palace, directly into my mother’s wing, and I’m going to place the bag under her nose.”
“And we’re sure she’s in her rooms?” Jeremiah had confirmed that the alarms would blare upon our return since we were currently being hunted, so I wanted to be sure we had her location before attempting this suicide mission.
Grigory nodded. “Yes, Adrik confirmed it.”
“Okay. What’s our backup plan if Narissa’s antidote doesn’t work?”