Heir of Beasts

Ch. 4.2- Odalisque

We walk briskly through the gardens. I try to keep up, but beautiful specimens of plants I've only ever read about keep catching my eye. I find myself slowing down to look at them. Xylantha in bloom, its beautiful white flower attracting all manner of bees and butterflies. Its sap makes an excellent salve. Then there's brasbrin, an unassuming little herb that can be fermented into a powerful hallucinogen.

            "Did you have gardens in Shikkah?" The Ambassador asks, noticing my interest.

            "Yes." I smile, remembering rows upon rows of desert lilies and purple-faced Hulain flowers. "Huge gardens filled with roses and Hulain and creeping Asper vines. And I had my own garden that I tended full of medicinal herbs."

            "That sounds quite practical."

            "It was. The palace healer used my plants to make all manner of medications."

            "Perhaps I'll ask my gardener to start a healing garden." The Ambassador muses.

            "You already have one." I point to a little orange flower on the right. "Tuxina. Leech the toxins from the seeds, grind them into a powder, and it can be used as an anaesthetic. Over there is Windweed. You can just eat the leaves; they do wonders for a sick stomach. And I think I saw some Crowsfoot a while back, that can be boiled and made into a sticky salve to keep wounds closed."

            The Ambassador raises his eyebrows. "You need to meet my gardener. She's from Seramich, and about as knowledgeable as you seem to be. She'll talk seeds with you for hours."

            "That sounds lovely." I say with a smile. I used to spend hours with the gardeners back home, talking and helping them tend the plants. During the summer my fingernails got so dirt-stained my mother made me wear a pair of leather gloves to protect my hands.

            My pleasant memory sours in an instant as I remember I'll never do any of that again. The gardeners are probably dead. The gardens overgrown, the exotic plants we so carefully raised from seed destroyed by the dry heat of the Shikkan summer.

            Then I start thinking of everything else I'll never do again. Playing cards with my uncles by the fire. Dancing with my cousins at festivals. Seeing the face of my Izsaiki- I cut off my thoughts with a sharp knife. I can't afford to think like that, not now. I don't want to start shaking again.

            "Here we are." The Ambassador says, motioning to a low wooden table surrounded by plum-colored cushions. "Take a seat."

            I do, mimicking the way he folds his legs under himself and rests his hands on his knees. Then I wait, unsure how to proceed. A pot giving off steam and a distinctive nutty aroma sits between us, as well as several wooden cups and bowls.

            "Do you know anything about Jusu berries?" The Ambassador asks me, setting a small wooden cup in front of me.

            "I know they grow only in Kama." I say. "And they're an ingredient in Yxala."

            He nods, lifting the lid of the pot and using a small bowl to scoop out some of the hot liquid within. He then pours it into my cup. It's a deep red color, almost shocking in its resemblance to blood.

            "Jusu berries are poisonous. Just one can kill you. They have to be boiled for days, with the water changed every few hours, to leech the toxin from them. After that they're fermented, then crushed and their juice removed."

            I smile and reach for the cup, but the Ambassador shakes his head. I withdraw my hand, thinking I've somehow offended him.

            "It's not done yet." He says, reaching into a small bowl and dropping a pinch of spices into my cup, then his own.