Lissie closed her door wishing it had a lock on it. She couldn’t stand another hug, to hear another voice telling her that everything would be fine. Cora hadn’t even hesitated, she just handed Lissie the tincture and walked with her to Niko’s new ‘bedroom’ to see it administered.
Niko had been moved in not with the other Roses but into the vault deep beneath the castle. It was filled with chests of gold and jewels. It was the most secure room in the entire city, walls made of heavy steel. He had drank the vial, and smiled at Lissie. Lissie smiled through tears, grateful he couldn’t see the worry in her eyes through the glass. She promised him she’d bring a book in the morning to read to him, and let Riley drag her away.
Hugs, hands patting her shoulders. People staring at her while she forced herself to swallow bite after bite of food she could feel but not taste.
She stared at the two empty teacups on the top of her dresser, and sank to her knees. There were no more tears left.
Click, scritch, click, outside her door.
Ruskin? Alexander.
Tap, tap, tap on the door.
She stood up and wiped her face. “I don’t want any more company.”
“I think you might change your mind.” Alexander sang through the door and she heard the song of liquid sloshing in a bottle.
She turned, and opened the door. The bard was not smiling, but his face was open.
“Lady Maribelle’s finest brandy, aged one hundred and fifty years.” He held out a body wrapped in gold twine. “It’s wiser than I am in matters like these.”
Lissie took the bottle from him. She looked down at it in her hand, and Ruskin let himself in through the cracked door.
“Oh no, let me grab him.” Alexander pushed through after the dog, and bent low at the waist to grab him.
Lissie watched him put on a show of chasing the little waggy-tailed creature. Alexander pulled out a bit of rope, and Ruskin bit at it, running out of reach.
Alexander scooped up the dog and said, “We’ll just get out of your hair.”
Lissie looked at the bottle. It had a golden stopper, sealed in wax. She murmured, “I can’t open this. It certainly seems old, how did you get this?”
“Are you implying that I snuck into Lady Maribelle’s wine cellar and picked the lock on a beautiful wooden bureau?” He put a hand to his heart. “Making sure to only get the fanciest-looking bottle. With a plaque?”
She sat down staring at it. “I don’t care. There isn’t anything left to care about but Niko.”
He produced a black cloth and unwrapped it on the table. “Niko is the strongest man I have ever met, I don’t just mean his body.” She peered at the assortment of tools that he began applying to opening the bottle as he spoke, he was using pliers to unspool the golden twine. “And I thought Cora’s mushroom tea was working?”
Ruskin jumped up on the bed with her, and nuzzled his head into her chest.
“I had to beg him to take it.” She buried her face into Ruskin’s fur. “He already has the rash. It sparkles on him. I’m scared.”
Alexander was working through the wax with a thin knife. “He already has the rash? I thought it took a few days to show up? That’s what I’ve been teaching the children in the creche.”
“You know he’s different. The only reason he’s here is because of me.”
“He’s here because he’s a good man.” He popped the wax off the bottle, and traded the knife for a corkscrew on the cloth. “Do you have any glasses in here?”
Lissie’s eyes welled up again. “Just the teacups. From breakfast. He always brought them.”
Alexander perched the bottle on the table, and moved to grab the cups from the dresser. He set them on the table, and poured. And poured. “You better take a quick drink before you spill this.” The cup he offered Lissie looked full of amber tea.
Lissie’s hand hesitated as she reached for it. It was so full, she took a sip before thinking about it. She was swept into a landscape she had never seen, but she knew it to be the Eible Sea. Men were shouting all around her and there was a smell of salt and rank fish.
Alexander took a sip from his cup and raised it to hers. “To Niko. The very best of us. May he live forever.”
Lissie touched her cup to his and Alexander drank until he set the empty cup upside down on the table. She looked back at hers and took a deep breath. Lissie whispered, “May he live.” She took another sip.
“Come on, Ruskin.” Alexander moved and opened the door. The dog walked out into the hall. “I don’t know how long that bottle’s going to be good after the seal is broken. You may want to finish it.” He stepped through and closed the door.