Blood of Half Gods: Kallen's Tale by Bonnie Lamer Page B

sitting.  Her expression is blank as she stares down at the unfamiliar items.
     
    I chuckle.  “Would you like me to tell you what they are?”  She scrunches her nose and gives me a sour look, making me laugh again.  “I will take that as a yes.  The purple flower is wood betony.  It wards off evil spirits, headaches, bad dreams, and things like that.  The light blue plant with the skinny leaves is rosemary.”
     
    “That one I knew,” she says proudly.
     
    I point to the last plant.  “That one with the pinkish colored leaves is heavenly bamboo.  It is poisonous to most animals, and in large doses, it is poisonous to Fairies.”
     
    She frowns at me.  “You guys want me to drink poison?”
     
    I shrug.  “It does not seem to bother you when it is in Fairy darts.”
     
    She does not appear to have as much confidence in this fact as I do, but she says, “Okay.”
     
    Sindri comes back in the room and this time, he’s carrying a teapot and one cup on a silver tray.  He kneels down in front of the coffee table and puts several leaves from each plant in the teacup.  Then, he pours what looks like plain old hot water in the cup.  Then, he looks up at Xandra and silently hands it to her.
     
    “Am I supposed to just drink this?” she asks, distaste clear on her face.  “I thought I had to say a spell.”
     
    Dagda leans forward and puts his elbows on his knees.  “Sindri, the grimoire and the rest of the ingredients, please.”
     
    Sindri nods and rises to his feet.  He disappears down the hall and comes back in a moment with the grimoire Dagda had earlier, and a small silver plate.  He sets them both down on the coffee table in front of Xandra.
     
    “Thank you, Sindri,” she says with a half-smile.   She looks down at the new items.  The crocodile tooth is harmless but when she reaches out to touch the blue ring octopus, I grab her hand. “You do not want to do that,” I say.  “That is a blue ring octopus and there is no cure for its venom.”  I have no idea how Sindri was able to get one on such short notice.
     
    She quickly pulls her hand back.  “Why is it here, then?  Am I supposed to poison myself to do the spell?” she asks again, looking even more concerned than before. 
     
    Dagda sighs with impatience.  “Of course not.  Read the spell.” 
     
    Ignoring his harsh tone, Xandra does and discovers that she is not going to poison herself.  Feeling more confident, she looks up at Dagda.  “Can I start now?”  He nods, impatience still all over his face. 
     
    With a deep breath, Xandra kneels down in front of the grimoire.  The room is completely silent and all eyes are on her. She does a small shake of her head as if to clear her mind and then begins to perform the spell.  She picks up the crocodile tooth, and uses it to poke a hole in the octopus.  Then she carefully draws a circle around her teacup.  She is very careful not to touch the octopus each time she has to poke it.  Her hand is getting a little shaky the last couple of times, making me want to do it for her.  I would if I could. 
     
    Setting the tooth down, Xandra says the spell.  “ Plagued by dreams of loss and pain, drowning in sorrow lived again, nightly torment, daily rage; I find peace written on this page.  Freedom sought from what time has forgot, my mind to be closed, no longer exposed, to the anger and danger wrought by the fingers of dreams unsought .”
     
    Pausing, she lifts the cup to her lips., “ Made of poison from deep within the sea, a circle of protection stolen by me, no dreams shall pass this safeguard, my mind remains unmarred.  Sands of nightmares forsaken, while others slumber and dream, for me unbroken darkness in the light of this moon’s beam .”  She drinks and the lovely twisting of her face tells me how delicious it must be.  She shoots me a dirty look when I have to hold back a chuckle.
     
    As soon as she sets the cup back on the table, Dagda