Morgana waited in her bedroom for Aelys to arrive with supplies. Aelys opened the door and handed Morgana a pale linen dress and cloak like the one she'd just changed into. "No one will look twice at us because we'll blend in with the servants."

Morgana peeled off her charred gown and changed into the dress and cloak.

"Leave your gown here. It'll serve as evidence for your burns if we get caught." Aelys gave Morgana a few tablespoons of healing tonic. "This should take the edge off. I want to leave some of your burns behind in case Matthias catches us, then we can say we were looking for a healing salve."

"Good thinking." Morgana took the tonic and the burns healed into pale pink patches that were as painful as a bad sunburn.

They opened Morgana's door and made sure the coast was clear. Most of the guards were down in the ballroom with only a small amount to patrol the castle. Aelys and Morgana set off, peeking around corners, and racing down halls. They were almost caught, near the South Wing, when the familiar march of armored boots clanked around the corner from two guards on patrol. Aelys grabbed Morgana's arm and dragged her into an empty room filled with portraits of King Erik. Hearts thundering, they hid under an enormous table and prayed that the guards hadn't seen them. Dust tickled Morgana's nose and she almost broke a rib from holding in a sneeze. After the footsteps receded, they got up and dusted their dresses.

"That was close," Morgana murmured.

They snuck through empty corridors and down flights of stairs until they reached a large wooden door that was near the West Wing. Aelys slipped through the door and Morgana followed her down a dark stone staircase that was dimly lit by flickering torches. The air tasted damp and moldy like the bottom of an old well. The further they descended, the colder it got, as if they were walking into a deep cave. Trickling water and the sound of their shuffling footsteps filled the silence.

"Why isn't this place made of quartz like the rest of the castle?" Morgana eyed a mossy patch of wall.

"Because it's part of the old castle that used to be here. It was father's home before the Aeperians defected, now it's an underground part of the castle where the healer works."

"Was it always underground?"

"No. Father used his earth magic to form a hill around the old castle, then he had the new castle built on top of it."

They reached the bottom of the staircase and came out into a dark corridor. On one side of it was a row of wooden doors. "Where do all these lead to?" Morgana's breath misted.

"I'm not sure, the dungeons are nearby though. Father used them to imprison witches when they were still around. The bars are made of iron to stifle magic."

Ice trailed down Morgana's spine at the thought of witches being imprisoned beneath this castle. She didn't know that iron stopped a witch's magic, but she had known that it stopped a fae's elemental abilities. Morgana's eyes went to the doors, wondering which one led to the dungeons and if there were any curses lingering from the long dead witches.

She hoped not.

They walked down the corridor till they reached the last door. Aelys turned the black steel latch, but the door was stuck. "Dammit."

"Of course he'd lock it."

"That's okay, I can break in with my earth magic."

"Then he'll know that someone broke in because the door will be in splinters." Morgana raised a brow.

"Got any better ideas?"

Morgana pulled out two of her hair pins. Being human in a land full of magical creatures had taught her how to survive in a world full of disadvantages. She bent the pins and placed them inside the lock.

Aelys's mouth dropped open. "Who taught you how to pick a lock?"

"I read it in a book by Daisy Albright, like all faeries, she has a hard time getting by without elemental abilities. I thought her book would be useful because I don't have those abilities either."

Aelys laughed. "What was the book called? How to rob a fae?"

"No, it's called, How to Thrive in a Fae's World. The lockpicking is for faeries who accidentally lock their keys inside their cottages and can't rely on elemental magic to get them out. Or in case they're kidnapped by a fae."

"Kidnapped? Oh, are you talking about the Vauxhall case?"

"Yeah."

"That was twenty years ago, are faeries still worried about that sort of thing?"

"I guess they are. He was a serial killer after all."

"Not a surprise since he was Aeperian and that this kind of crime tends to happen in Aeperos Court."

Morgana's lips pursed. She almost snapped at Aelys that not all Aeperians were bad and that Aelys needed to start judging fae based on their actions instead of prejudice. Morgana certainly knew that all Golights weren't good. In fact, most of the bad things that had happened to her had been because of Golights.

The lock clicked and Morgana pushed the door open. There was a fire crackling in the hearth and warmth washed over her as if she'd sunk into a hot bath. The stone room was small and had bundles of dried herbs dangling from the ceiling. The smell of rosemary, mugwort, and lavender permeated the air like dried potpourri. The wooden shelves were full of jars that had pickled roots, plants, and flowers.

But those weren't the only things that were pickled.

Morgana's nose scrunched when she saw something that looked like a pickled tarantula next to a chicken's claw. There were wooden cabinets filled with ceramic bowls and bottles, and there was a stove that had three cauldrons of varying sizes.

"It was in there." Aelys walked over to the far cabinet and tried to yank open the top drawer. Aelys gave Morgana a sheepish look. "Do you care to do your lock picking thing again?"

Morgana went over, and after a few moments of lockpicking the drawer opened. It was full of loose recipes and there were pots of ink and quills that rolled around. A small pile of leatherbound pocketbooks were under two bundles of sage.

Aelys shifted the pocketbooks. "Where is it? I swear it was in this drawer."

"Matthias must've put it somewhere else."

"Because he knows I'm onto him."

Aelys and Morgana shared a grim look.

"We'll go through all these cabinets as quickly as possible," Morgana said.

"Okay, it's a thick book with brown covers, and there's a white feather and an amethyst on it. Also, keep an eye out for some aconite. If we find that, then my suspicions will be confirmed."

Morgana and Aelys rushed around, opening cabinets, and searching drawers. All they found were patient files, scripts written on parchment, other recipes, and more herbs. They searched a small bookcase in a corner of the room, but nothing matched the description of the recipe book.

After thirty minutes went by, Morgana ran a hand through her hair. "We have to go Aelys, we've been here for far too long. Mother will notice our absence."

Aelys's cheeks were pink and there was a wild look in her eyes. "But it's somewhere here!"

"We'll come back another time."

"No, this is our only chance."

Morgana sighed and looked around the room, then paused. "We haven't checked his bed."

They glanced at each other, then raced over to Matthias's bed. They searched the musty covers and pillows, and Morgana briefly wondered when the bedding was last washed. She lifted a corner of the hay mattress and Aelys gasped. "That's it!" She snatched the book, and Morgana dropped the mattress back down.

Aelys took the heavy book and placed it on the stone bench, and flipped through pages that had clippings of myrtle, eucalyptus, and chamomile stuck under various recipes. Ink blots dotted the pages, and Morgana was surprised that Aelys was able to read Matthias's untidy scrawl.

"See anything with aconite in it?" Morgana asked.

"No." Aelys was nearing the end of the book.

"Hey, what's that bit of paper sticking out?" Morgana pointed to a page that wasn't lined up with the rest of the book. Aelys grabbed a sprig of rosemary off the bench and marked her spot, then flipped to the page that Morgana had pointed out.

The strange voice began whispering again like a fell wind, "You can't trust the Golights."

Morgana peered at Aelys, who gave no indication that she'd just heard the voice. Morgana's belly crawled but she schooled her face into a blank expression. There was no use in worrying Aelys about the voice, especially after what had happened in the maze. It was probably Elysia's magic messing with her mind, appearing as a disembodied voice that sometimes only she could hear. Which meant she could be closer to death due to magic exposure. Morgana's palms broke out in a sweat as she tried to slow her racing heart. Once the truth was known about the elixir, then perhaps she could find another solution to stop the magic from absorbing into her body.

"You've found it! This is the recipe." Aelys grabbed the loose piece of parchment. Written on the top was Morgana's name and measurements for her dose. "Looks like Matthias took it from another book."

The recipe was titled, Coherceo Elixir and below it were some colored illustrations. Morgana recognized the familiar shade of deep purple from the elixir that she'd drank ever since childhood. She read the list of ingredients and her stomach dropped. "You were right, it contains aconite."

"I knew it! That weasel tried to gaslight me."

Morgana clenched the benchtop, a ringing in her ears, and Aelys placed a hand on her shoulder. Why would Matthias do this? Did he hate humans? Was he prejudiced against them? Was that why he was poisoning Morgana? Fae and faeries killing humans was not unheard of.

"We've got him. We can take this to Captain Flynn and have him charged for poisoning you."

Morgana looked at the recipe for a bit longer then frowned. "If he's been poisoning me ever since I was a child then how come I'm alive?" She pointed to a spot on the ingredients list. "Holly berries are also in this and they're extremely toxic. And that's not even the weirdest part." Morgana pointed to the last ingredient. "There's iron dust in the elixir."

"Iron dust? That must be why the elixir looks shimmery."

"There's so much poison in this elixir that I should be dead, and iron is something that suppresses magic in fae and witches, there's no reason it should be in my elixir."

A thick silence fell.

Morgana continued, "I want to have Matthias charged, but before we do that, I want to find out why he's been poisoning me and where this recipe came from."

"Okay, we'll figure it out. I think we'll get some answers if we research the ingredients in the library, and perhaps we'll be able to find out which book this recipe came from." Aelys frowned. "Is that an additional ingredient he's added on the bottom of the page?"

Morgana squinted and brought the recipe to her face. "What's milusha?"

Aelys's lips paled.

"Aelys, what is it?" Morgana's heart picked up pace.

"Milusha is a plant that grows deep in the Moraxes Forest, and it's used as a memory suppressant. It's a banned substance."

"Why is a memory suppressant in my elixir?" Morgana felt like someone was squeezing her windpipe.

"I don't know ..."

"Do you think the healer's acting alone or did someone order him to do this?"

"I'm afraid someone may have told him to do this. I'm not entirely sure if this is his doing. For him to get his hands on the milusha plant he would have to be well-connected to Lord Moraxes."

Tears pricked Morgana's eyes. "I was told that the elixir would stop Elysia's magic from killing me, no one said anything about it poisoning me or making me forget stuff."

Footsteps echoed outside the room. They fell silent and shared an alarmed look. Morgana snatched the recipe and jammed it into her pocket, and Aelys whisked the book back under the healer's mattress with her earth magic.

The footsteps got louder and closer.

Morgana's blood pounded in her ears.

Then the door swung open, and Matthias walked in.