Kestra had poisoned me.
I looked over at her and she frowned back. She knew what was happening to me, and she wasn’t stopping it.
Gabe’s head poked over the top of the ravine. “We knew where you were camped,” he said as he rolled his body over the edge. “We planned to sneak up on you in the night and get everything sorted. I guess this serves us right for trying to trick you.”
I started to answer him, but I didn’t have the chance before my vision darkened entirely and my body crumpled to the ground.
From across the ridge, Trina screamed when Simon collapsed, the echo filling my ears, chilling my soul. Gabe clambered over to Simon, even as he continued choking on the water he had swallowed down in the ravine.
“What happened to him?” Gabe asked.
I knew how bad this looked, how awful it sounded, but Simon was far worse than I’d expected. I needed to tell Gabe the truth. “I only gave him two leaves, and I diluted it in water. You said two would make a person sick.”
Gabe’s sudden glare caused me to step back in fear. “Two leaves … of what?” He grabbed my arm and yanked me to the ground beside Simon. “Are you talking about those terrador plants I saw in the cave? Those were young plants. The ones out here could’ve been growing for years!”
I still had the last leaf in my boot and I pulled it out to show him. He held it up against a flash of lightning, his expression turning murderous. “Water intensifies the poison, Kestra. What have you done?”
“I didn’t mean to … I never wanted—”
“Simon would never hurt you, but I will. I don’t care who you are or what you’re supposed to do for Antora. If he doesn’t walk away from this, neither will you.”
Suddenly terrified, I asked, “What can I do?”
Gabe began scouring the area. “Look for a purple flower with a blue center. They call it arquin and it grows near large rocks. Find it!”
I did as he said, though I couldn’t see much between flashes of lightning. While I looked, I asked, “How do you know this flower will heal him?”
“It won’t, but it will slow the effects, if we’re not too late.” He paused to glare at me. “Lord Endrick would be proud of you tonight. What a fine Dallisor you’ve turned out to be.”
I should have felt pleased by his words, but I wasn’t. I didn’t want to be a Dallisor like this. If he died, would I be responsible?
Of course I would, and I felt terrible. I searched harder for the arquin, hoping to fix what I’d done.
“I found some!” Gabe said with the next flash of lightning. I noticed at the same time that Trina was no longer beside the ravine. And where was Wynnow? I’d nearly forgotten that she was with them earlier. When I asked Gabe about it, he simply said, “We split up.”
Gabe picked a handful of leaves and then I held Simon’s mouth open while he stuffed them inside.
In my whole life, I’d never felt so helpless, and my heart ached for it. “I’m sorry,” I mumbled.
“Yeah, an apology should fix this mess.” Gabe rolled his eyes. “Help me carry him back to camp. We saw your shelter.”
I lifted Simon’s legs while Gabe carried his arms, the walk feeling much farther now than I’d remembered. Once in camp, we laid him on the blanket and pushed him in as deep beneath the ledge as possible for protection from the rain.
“He’s still not responding.” Gabe leaned over him, checking for a pulse. “How could you do this?”
“I had to do something!” I pointed to the binding cord in a heap on the ground. “He captured me.”
“He saved you from the Halderians! He’s trying to protect you. The fact is, there are a lot of people out there who want to kill you, and not many people who care if you survive. Simon is fighting for you harder than anyone, and the only way you’ll live is if you start to listen to what he’s telling you.”
I lowered my eyes. “If I knew how to do anything more for him, I would.”
Gabe pulled Simon’s satchel off his shoulder and tossed it to me. “Look in there. He might have some medicines from Loelle.”
I shuffled through the contents, feeling around blindly between the occasional flashes of lightning. There was a roll of rags that could act as bandages, another knife, a binding of paper with a lead pencil, and at the bottom was a thick and heavy ring.
“No medicines,” I said to Gabe, who cursed, making sure I heard my name attached to it.
I sat in the open rain, clutching the satchel to my chest as if it could offer me any comfort. Gabe continued to tend to Simon, though nothing he was doing now would matter. Either Simon would live, or he wouldn’t, and I couldn’t think of the blame I bore for that without shuddering in horror.