I shook my head, although a small smile crept up my face. “I haven’t noticed that trait in you before, I must confess.”
“It must be the old age, then. I’m told it’s a common symptom of the condition.”
I snorted. “Just because you’re graduating, doesn’t mean you’re getting old. Must I remind you that you’re not even nineteen yet?”
He rubbed the back of his head, looking at me sideways as we walked. “About my graduation…”
I tensed. If he was going to invite me to come with him when he returned to his tribe, I wasn’t ready to hear it. Not after the day’s earlier revelation.
“I’ve heard there’s going to be a ball,” I said hurriedly. “Put on by Karielle’s father, since she’s due to graduate as well.”
A slight expression of disappointment slid across his face, but he suppressed it quickly.
“That is certainly the rumor. I don’t think I can claim it’s for me, however.”
“I’m sure they’ll let you dance at it all the same.” I smiled at him broadly in gratitude for being willing to let the other matter go.
He started to reply, only to cut himself off.
“That’s odd.” He pointed to someone who appeared to be having a nap in the walkway between two tents.
“Yes, it is,” I agreed.
It wasn’t just that they were sleeping on the ground, in the open, either. Something about them felt strange.
I hurried forward, toward the person. “There’s power coating their head. It’s not a lot, almost like a thin film, but I’ve never felt anything like it before.”
I stepped between tents into an intersection of pathways, only to stop abruptly.
“Zeke!” I cried, louder this time.
He reached me in two strides, his mouth falling open. From this vantage point, we could see the end of one of the long tables. A number of people had slumped forward, sleeping with their heads on the table, while those that remained upright swayed slightly, not seeming to notice the strange behavior of their companions. As we watched, one of them sank slowly down, placing his cheek into his plate of food and starting to snore.
We both took off running at the same moment. As I got closer to the table, I saw Karielle, stretched out on the long bench seat. Scanning the area around her, I found Gia, flat on the ground a few steps away, as if she’d sensed something was wrong and tried to leave.
I dropped to my knees beside her and shook her shoulders roughly. She only snorted slightly and tried to roll over.
Frantically, I looked up at Zeke.
“She won’t wake! What do we do?”
Zeke had stopped beside Karielle, conducting a much more clinical analysis of her condition. Perhaps it was from his mother being cross-influenced with healing, but he knew enough to look competent at least. He met my eyes, although he still held her wrist between his fingers.
“Her pulse is steady. It seems to be sleep, but obviously not a natural one. You said that other woman had power around her head? What about the rest of them?”
I drew in a couple breaths, forcing myself to set aside the panic and respond helpfully, like Zeke was doing. As soon as I went looking, I found the same phenomenon on all of them. I took a second to do a more thorough evaluation of Gia, my forehead wrinkling.
“Yes, they all have it as well. But it’s more than just their heads. I can feel it inside them too. Here.” I touched Gia’s middle, just below her ribs.
“The stomach.” Zeke let go of Karielle, violently pushing her plate away, as if it might infect him by proximity. “There must have been something in the meal.”
I gulped, trying to think.
“What if it was some sort of plant or herb? Like that one you used on the librarian back at the Guild. Didn’t you say that if you’d put it in his tea, this is what would have happened?”
Zeke nodded. “It’s possible. It would explain why you can sense the power in both their stomachs and their heads, since the head is the part it’s affecting.” He slammed a fist onto the table. “If only I hadn’t dragged you away. You would have been here to feel the power in the meal and warn everyone not to eat it.”
I stood up and joined him. “Or I might have missed it—it’s only the faintest trace of power. I don’t think I would have noticed it on any of them if I hadn’t been looking especially. And then we’d both be asleep right now, too.”
“If everyone is asleep…” Horror slowly filled Zeke’s face. “This must be the raiders. They’re just waiting for everyone to fall asleep before they attack. It’ll be a massacre!”
Chapter 19
Cadence
“No,” I said firmly. “It won’t be because we’re going to wake everyone up.”
“How will we do that? Can you pull the power out of them?”
I reached for Gia, drawing out the power that clung to her head and stomach. She moaned and stirred, but she didn’t wake up.
“It didn’t work,” I cried. “Why didn’t it work?”
“When my mother makes her sleeping potion, she only uses power to augment the natural properties of the herb,” Zeke said. “It makes it more potent than any natural plant, but it’s the herb which is causing the effect. And maybe once it’s started working, the plant is enough to keep it going for a while on its own?”
I wrung my hands. “Then what do we do? I can remove the power, but I don’t know how to wake everyone up. We need a healing mage.”
“Or better yet—my mother. Come on, this way. She always eats with the king.”
We dashed down the long table, turning a corner into a small square with several more tables. People lay everywhere, but we didn’t stop beside any of them until we reached the smaller, royal table.
I shivered at the sight of the king, queen, Evermund, Drake, and Augusta all slumped over their meals. Movement made us both jump, whirling toward a man with a sword.
But he wore the blue and gold livery of the royal guards, and at sight of us, he looked ready to weep.
“Oh, thank goodness! Someone else is awake!”
“How did this happen?” Zeke asked. “Didn’t you realize something was wrong?”
“It happened so slowly that by the time the first people started dropping, everyone had already started eating.”
“Were you the only one on guard duty?” Zeke asked, sounding surprised.
The man shook his head. “There were four of us here guarding Their Majesties. I sent one of the others to warn the sentries, one to run for the town to raise the town guards, and the other to gather everyone here in camp who’s still awake. There must be some servants who weren’t eating with everyone else.” He sounded grim. “We’ll need everyone still on their feet to form a guard around Their Majesties until the forces from the town have time to arrive.”
“I doubt the raiders will wait that long,” Zeke said in a voice of command. “We need to act now.”
The change in the guard was visible. Clearly he was relieved to have someone else assume the responsibility of command.
“What else can we do?” he asked. “You’re the first mage I’ve seen who isn’t asleep.”