Page 45 of A Broken Promise

“Rough night?” She pointed to the small pot by my foot. “That one.”

I quickly passed it on to her.

“Couldn’t sleep much.” I shrugged.

She planted another herb in.

“The good news though,” I continued. “I read Plants and Poisons for hours until I fell back asleep.”

“Gods, I fucking love that book,” Priya exclaimed.

I chuckled. Plants and Poisons was a kid’s book. A kid’s encyclopedia, to be exact, filled with pictures and names of all kinds of plants, their purposes, and where they came from. Very informative, but also fun. Who knew there were fifteen types of mint, all ranging from bitter to sweet, from purple to light yellow; or that you could make an immune boosting soup from plantain leaves?

“I did learn how to make a calming tea out of dried dandelions, and even practiced grass whistles.” I snickered, passing on another small pot to her.

“You laugh, but grass whistles are wonderful. I bet you couldn’t do a proper one even if you tried.”

“I probably couldn’t.” I smiled. Grass whistles seemed so bizarre compared to the training happening in the basement, but everything was always slightly bizarre with Priya.

“You think you are ready?” she asked, glancing over at me with demise.

I wasn’t sure what Priya’s test entailed.

“I think so?” I raised my brows in question.

“Gods, such confidence, such grace.” She rolled her eyes, finally standing up, shaking off the dirt from her skintight black pants.

We walked away from the enormous greenhouse, down the path leading to a lab.

This was Priya’s world. Unlike the rest of the perfectly pristine house, the workroom was filled with clutter. Or at least it seemed so, until you looked closer. Cabinets with small, never-ending drawers, shelves filled with different glass jars and containers, some of them empty, some full, other shelves filled with small glass tanks with crawling creatures in them. Spiders, bugs, and occasional snakes. Thin laundry lines hung across the room with plants in their different stages of dryness. A musky sage smell encompassed the room. Unlike the rest of the counter space, the top of the large island was completely empty, a few metal barstools near it.

One by one, Priya showed me a leaf or a whole plant, either full of life or completely dried, asking me what kind it was and what its purpose was. I answered each question with confidence.

Recognizing plants and their attributes was almost second nature to me. Growing up, I often tagged along with Tuluma, collecting herbs to make potions and teas to sell to the struggling humans, desperate enough to pay a coin for a salvation in a bottle from an elf.

Priya was pleased as I answered all her questions correctly. Her mouth parted in a large, feline smile.

“Good,” she spoke. “Now, let’s talk about murdering people.” She pulled out a large tray with all manner of vials, some full, some empty.

Priya talked for over two hours, educating me, mixing and grinding small plants into powder, then liquid. She pointed to the now-mixed black liquid and the bowl with now-wilted green powder.

“A little dry rub of this herb will help you with pain, a speck of it on your tongue and it will numb it completely, a good thing to use when people talk too much.” She smirked and I returned the smile.

She mixed it with salt water.

“Now get this straight into the bloodstream and you will get your heart to stop faster than you’ll realize what happened to you.”

I quietly listened, taking notes in my large notebook. Priya was in her element. Each little movement, each precise pipette drops of liquid—this was her home. This was her comfort zone.

She looked so relaxed explaining each step, bringing more and more glass jars or vials until there was barely any space left. Multiple copper and gold scales were spread out across the counter.

“Why do you make poisons?” I asked curiously. Why was this her world? Priya was a skilled assassin. I had seen her movements, her precision and talent. She could eliminate anyone she wanted just with her knife throwing skills alone.

“That is the dumbest question you have ever asked. I just showed you literally how to extract burning acid from a merrow root and you are asking why poisons?” She scrunched her eyebrows and lips together.

“Sorry, it just seems like a lot of work. Meticulous work too. Imean you must plant or find the plants first, which some of them are extremely rare or take ten years to mature... Then make sure you harvest them at the right times, then make sure you prep or dry them correctly, then some still need mixing or stuff done. All that work just to result in a small drop of poison and even then, you have to store them right so they would work?” I shifted on my tall barstool a little bit. “It seems rather complicated.”

“It iscomplicated AND extremelytime consuming.But when you are a woman, Freckles, you don’t get a chance to be sloppy and just bullshit your way in life like men do. Even if you are a skilled assassin.”

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