I ended up creeping around the healer’s campsite and up to the crack in the ground that led straight into Dahrii’s lair. Going in the front felt like it’d be a fool’s errand at best, and I had no desire to see what kind of face Prevna would make if I came back to the Seedling Palace with a spear sticking out of me again. Besides, the lair likely held all the ingredients I would need or could carry, and slipping in and out of one room would be the safest option if this place was occupied.

So now I was stuck staring down into the hole, trying to decide the best way to the ground below. I had some rope with me but it wasn’t long enough to reach the floor, which wouldn’t have been that big of an issue if I thought it’d at least reach down far enough for me to touch once it was time for me to climb back up.

But I also didn’t really have any other options to work with unless I wanted to risk dropping inside the lair without the help of the rope which would still have the same issue of how to get back out. Only this time likely with a twisted or broken ankle.

In the end, I tied the rope to the same tree the whisper women had used when we used the break in the ceiling to escape and then tied my spare pair of pants to the free end of the rope. If everything went to plan, they wouldn’t rip when I used them to climb back up to the rope on the way out.

Stepping down into the lair felt oddly nostalgic. It hadn’t been that long since I had been here before but more had happened in that time than I’d really given myself time to dwell on. Even now, the weight of the goddess’s presence in the inner valleys pressed on me.

The small cave hadn’t been cleaned. There were splashes and spots of dried blood dotting the chamber from wounds dealt during the ambush, broken jars, knocked over sacks and ingredients, though most had been saved due to their placement around the edge of the room or hanging overhead.

Though the hanging dried plants brought their own frustration when I remembered that they were out of my reach. Dahrii would have been able to reach them easily, but not even climbing the rope would help me. He hadn’t hung any right next to hole in the ceiling, likely to decrease the chance sunlight or weather damaging his ingredients.

I worked my way around the room and began to place what I found into two different piles in the center of the room: things I recognized and the things I found intriguing based on what Dahrii had told me while he bragged about his collection. The things that fell into neither category or that were too ruined to salvage stayed where they were though I didn’t entirely like the waste.

Still, by the time I finished pilfering what I could, each pile was many times more than what I could fit in my poisoner’s pouch. I’d likely need at least two or three packs if I wanted to bring it all with me. Dahrii had done well in growing his collection even as a Picker with no territory.

“What are you going to do with it all?”

I startled at the unexpected question and whipped around to find Esie, of all people, leaning against the doorway. She was smiling in that carefree way she had, but some part of me couldn’t quite settle as I realized I hadn’t heard her approach or even noticed that she was watching me at all. Nor had I ever seen her outside of the Seedling Palace. She always seemed to wait to check in on me and pass along any advice the Lady of Calm Waters might have there.

She chuckled. “So surprised to see me?”

Saying something, anything, would be better than staring at her in mute shock. “How did you find me?”

“Well,” Esie pretended to think. “You did leave your presence unblocked for anyone to find.”

“But—”

“There are no pines down here,” she finished for me. “True. But our Lady also has…some interest in old knowledge and made an educated guess about what might happen if you were to shadow walk.”

I wanted to step away from her, but I kept my feet firmly planted where they were. I’d always wanted to know more about Esie and the Lady of Calm Waters, and now, in her own way, Esie was giving me hints. Little tidbits to tease at and figure out their significance on my own if I could.

Though part of me wasn’t sure if I should learn more than what little I had already put together. Despite the special place the Lady of Calm Waters seemed to hold in the Seedling Palace and the things she had already done through Esie to help me, it seemed like the more they drew me into their fold the more dangerous my situation got.

They were the ones who got me sent away to an active war front, even if it was to help retain my place as a seedling in the Seedling Palace. They were the ones who got Mishtaw to be my mentor which had pushed me onto her travels to check on the relics and the dangerous situations that could entail, including what had happened here in the Lower Broken Spear Peaks, both outside and in. Esie had prompted me to find the mountain spirit with her fixation on wishes by giving me that stone and now she was here, saying that the Lady had more knowledge of how ghosts and shadow paths worked than Mishtaw.

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All in all, every situation seemed to contain something the goddess wasn’t fond of or, at least, was keeping an eye on.

“What do you want?” The question came off more abrasive than I meant it too, but I think we both knew I was asking about more than what she doing in the healer’s camp.

Esie shrugged and brushed off the question. “Just a little bit of everything.” Then her smiled widened. “Though Kaylan would definitely say ‘meddling’. That I can’t get enough of it.”

That sounded like the lazy sentry, though I didn’t let myself get dragged along in the conversation by agreeing with her. This time I kept my silence and waited to see what she had to say next.

“So serious.” She raised her eyebrows at me. “Did you deliver the stone?”

I nodded.

“And what did you think of our Lady’s friend?”

My lips twitched into a frown before I caught myself. I hadn’t liked being at the spirit’s mercy and I had no desire to talk of wishes when the goddess was so close by. Surely, Esie already knew of the spirit’s true nature since she had sent me to her? Unless…the Lady of Calm Waters had her give me the mission without divulging any more details?

But that was difficult to fathom. As far as I could tell, Esie was like the Lady’s second-in-command: the one she trusted the most. If I was going to be let in on the secret of something then, surely, it was something Esie already knew about.

Was she testing me?

I answered as vaguely as possible. “She also had a keen interest in…old knowledge.”

Esie chuckled again. “I’ve heard she’s quite passionate. I’m glad you were able to complete the favor.”

I decided to press my luck since she was being a little more forthcoming with information than usual. “I’m surprised she’s friends with our Lady given how poorly she seemed to regard the goddess.” My voice was more of a whisper by the end, just in case the goddess might hear someone didn’t worship her.

“It can take a thousand cuts to calm the waters.” Esie made an encompassing gesture. “We all take what cuts we can bear to get there. So,” she directed her gaze back down to the two piles I had made, “what are you going to do with it all?”

“Prevna thinks I should embrace the poison craft I was taught.”

“And our partners think we’re the meddling ones.” Esie caught the way my face felt like it was both trying to drain of color and burst with heat at the way she referred to Prevna—and she burst into laughter.

“No—we aren’t—she isn’t—” She just laughed harder as I tried to find the right words to get around my embarrassment and correct her.

“Oh, I shouldn’t tease.” Esie took pity on me as she swallowed a final chuckle and wiped at her eyes as if she had laughed hard enough to cry, though I didn’t see any tears there. “Poison craft could be an interesting skill for you to use, though your background could also make it more complicated than what her blessing allows her to do. You’d be willing to take the risks?”

My jaw clenched. “If I need to.”

She studied me for a moment and then nodded. “I know a place these could be put to good use or stored. I’ll show you when we return to the Seedling Palace.”

“Mishtaw wanted to speak with me,” I hedged.

“I’ll tell her I had to steal you away for important business,” she said. “It’ll even be true, and you can still speak with your mentor after.”

I agreed and waited for her to tell me why she had bothered to track me down on the mountain and followed me here, instead of waiting for me to return to the Palace.

She took the hint. “We’ll get these bundled away and you back to Mishtaw, but there is one bit of business our mistress would like to attend to while you’re still on the mountain.” Her gaze took in the cave. “Away from prying eyes and ears.”

I stilled and asked, “What would that be?”

“Another favor repaid.”

“And?”

“A promise.”

My teeth gritted at her evasive answers but I didn’t raise to her bait.

She sighed. “To business then. You’ll be given the chance to earn your last two boons soon, yes?”

I nodded.

“Good. Earn both, and then after you do, stay in the storm for as long as you can. Focus your attention on Azabel. If you hear anything interesting, let me know and I’ll pass it along.”

My memory flashed to the visions I had seen when I earned the dark sight boon. Was her request supposed to bring about something similar to that?

Even it was, there was one point I had to clarify first. “Azabel?”

She gave me a tight nod. “The goddess’s sister. You might not hear anything, it can be difficult to glean information from beyond the border, but earning the boon is a special moment.” She drew in a deep breath. “Failing that, or if you able to withstand the storm longer, we’d like you to focus on the Lady Blue next.”

“So you want information on the powerful…entities outside Her territory?”

“Yes.”

“And the Lady is willing to count a favor as paid even if I don’t hear anything useful?”

“Yes, it can be…grueling to push a boon when it first formed especially when in the storm.”

I wasn’t sure I’d want to share whatever I heard, if it was like the visions I had, but if a favor would be repaid either way, then it couldn’t hurt to agree and see what I learned.

I asked, “Why did we need to meet here?”

Esie’s gaze flicked in the direction of the inner valleys. “Some whisper women don’t take kindly to when we try to stretch beyond the border without the goddess or the Chosen’s express permission. But it’s easiest to defend against a threat we know about and they can’t squabble too much when we save them time and resources.”

I could understand her logic even if it seem like a lot of weight to put on the chance that I might glean something. “I’ll do it.”

If worst came to worst and I heard something that seemed like it should be kept between the goddess and me, then I could always keep my lips sealed like I had with the visions and say I wasn’t able to hear anything. Otherwise, if I did learn something helpful, I’d prefer that we weren’t caught unaware.

“Good.” Esie smiled. “Let’s get you back to the Palace then.”