With Great Care

Ariana ran home, whipped up a basket, and grew more tomatoes. She took them back to the village and returned to the town center. She found the Duke and his men right where she left them. They were still bound up in her roots. She noticed their hands were still bound. She sighed, set the basket down, and waved her hand to shift the binding roots around while picking up their swords. She allowed them all to move to a seated position and left them their hands. She started to hand each of them a tomato.

One of the men looked at her. “Did you poison this?” Ariana continued to hand them out. “You don’t have to eat it.” She spoke plainly. The Duke sneered at her. “Do you think this changes anything, Demon?” Ariana placed a tomato on his lap. “Has it?” She questioned. She took a piece of the cotton pocketed earlier and used her magic to stretch it wide, creating a long sheet. She broke off a bit to put over the Duke, then did the same for his men. She noted it was quite dark out. She went between all of them, then swept her hand slowly down in a circle, then brought it up like a jellyfish. From the ground beneath her hand sprang up one of the glowing flowers she saw in the woods. “There,” she declared, “Now if you see an animal coming for you, don’t hesitate to shout. Someone will likely come to help you.”

Another of his men turned to her. “Why are you doing this?” Ariana thought carefully about her words. “Because I’m a concerned mother,” she declared sternly, “all I want is for my Alex to be safe.” She picked up her basket. “I can’t find him alone. I need help.” The Duke laughed. “Why should we care about some demon’s spawn?” Ariana quickly snatched away the tomato from his lap, glaring at him. She stormed off towards her camp without another word.

She barely slept through the night with some anxiety.

In the morning, she returned to town with six more tomatoes, seven in all, including the one she took from the Duke the night before. She gave two of them to each of the Duke’s men, but not the Duke. The Duke scoffed at this but spat nothing else. Ariana dropped one tomato on his lap and walked away.

Ariana saw the group of hunters she met on the first day on their way out of town. They were saying something about a troublesome boar. Pushing the thought of boars from her mind, she looked to the stall of the angry woman who threw a rotten tomato at her. The woman was setting up shop for the day. She recalled wanting to check the other old produce.

Ariana took a deep breath and stepped up to the woman. She spoke more confidently. “Excuse me!” She stated clearly. The woman turned to her with a “Hm?” Ariana made direct eye contact. “I want the produce you can’t sell anymore.” The woman looked her over. “I still don’t much care for you, demon… but I care for the Duke even less. I’ll be glad to spit on him every day as I pass.” She chuckled and looked about. “All that said… You stood up for us… for my boy.” She bent down to pick up the basket of rotten food. “For what it’s worth… call me Filian.” Ariana smiled as she took the basket. “Ariana”, she replied.

Ariana spent the rest of the day back at her camp repurposing the spoiled produce. She used it to grow all manner of things. She grew carrots, potatoes, cabbage, an apple tree, garlic, eggplants, and more. The thing she was most excited about, though, was the strawberries. Strawberries were her favorite thing. They were vital components to shortcakes, jams, preserves, and tarts, all things she loved. The garden was beautiful now. All of that growth gave her a bad case of magic exhaustion. She crawled into her tent and lay down for a good, long sleep.

In the morning, she woke to the pleasant smells of her new garden. It brought a smile to her face. When she found Alex again, she would share this with him. She stepped out of her tent and set about picking and washing some of her garden’s bounty. She grabbed some carrots, snap peas, apples, and strawberries. She ate quite a few strawberries in the process.

She took this little harvest to town and saw that the Duke and his men were still right where she left them. She put on a smile and went to each of the Duke’s men. “I brought some special things today, fresh from the garden.” She mused. She handed out the apples, carrots, pea pods, and strawberries, eating one of the strawberries herself. “Thank you,” mumbled one of them.

She tossed the Duke a carrot. He growled indignantly. “HEY! I’m not some animal you can throw scraps to, I am Duke Albert Caviston! You will treat me with the respect I deserve and release me this instant!” Ariana turned to him, kneeling to speak with him. “Yes, Albert,” she chirped gently, “I’ll be glad to do that. Have you thought about why you’re in this position?” He was clearly enraged by this. “Hold your tongue, witch, I will not be treated like a child! Release me this instant or I will bring hell down on you and this entire village!” He lunged forward a bit to grab her. She stood up and away from him. “I’m sure you will. I’ll be back later to see if you’ve reconsidered. I have a busy schedule to keep.” She turned to the others. “Enjoy!”

With that, she left them to their devices. She went to Doctor Mirabelle’s house to check in. The doctor was checking up on a young man, one of the hunters, with an ear to his back. She stood up. “You might have breathed in some of the spores in the deep wood. I’ll be prescribing you a fungicidal remedy, but you’ll be out of commission for at least a month.” The man was distressed by this. “I can’t be out that long, White Tusk is coming!” The doctor growls. “White Tusk… of all the times…”

Ariana was concerned. “What is… White Tusk?” Mirabelle turned. “Oh, Ariana. White Tusk is a problem, putting it mildly. It’s a great white boar that’s survived many hunts. It returns each year, stronger than ever. It’s probably about eight feet tall and weighs a ton by now. Some have called it the king of the forest. Hide’s too thick for normal arrows or swords.” The hunter leaned back a bit. “We haven’t seen him yet, but his fur sticks to the trees he’s brushed on. There are signs of his return out there all over the place. I guess that he’s probably still rooting about the woods, but he’ll be coming to town in the next few days.”

Ariana thought for a while. She woke in the woods. What if Alex was out there, lost? What if White Tusk found him? Her mind couldn’t help thinking the worst might have happened. Ariana looked at the young man. “Where did you see the fur?” The man coughed a bit. He spoke with some difficulty. “I saw it a few minutes walk into the forest. Bron said it was blown there from somewhere deeper in, probably a week away, but I just had this feeling it was closer than that.” Ariana looked at his chest. She thought about the spores Mirabelle claimed he breathed in. She had an idea.

“How long will it take to prepare his medicine?” Mirabelle looked over towards her workstation. “About twenty minutes.” Ariana moved over to the workstation. “I think I know how to pay off some of my bills. Do you think I could use my magic to make it more potent?” Mirabelle walked over to join her. “You could, but that might kill him if it’s too much.” Ariana looked over the supplies. “What about making it work quicker?” Mirabelle grabbed a mortar and pestle. “Potentially.” She plucked a flower that resembled a clover and tossed in some of the petals, then opened a seed pod and picked out some seeds to toss in.

She poured oil into it and set to grinding. “How does your magic work on things people have already eaten?” Ariana was unsure. “I suppose we can find out…” Mirabelle pointed off to the side. “Fetch me some garlic from that braid?” Ariana stepped over and pulled a clove free. “What sort of medicine is this?” She pondered aloud. Mirabelle pointed to a cutting board. “Sulfur. Helps some plants ward off fungal growth. Gotta concentrate it. Small doses. Takes time to work through the body. With your magic, you could work it through faster.”

Ariana took the cue to peel, crush, and chop the garlic. “How much do you think we’ll need?” She asked. Mirabelle kept stirring, crushing, and grinding. “Depends on your magic. Could do it in three to twelve doses.” Ariana passed off the garlic to Mirabelle. “Could we get him back on his feet today?” Mirabelle scraped the garlic into her mortar. “If we’re careful.”

They create a fragrant paste. “Let’s get this medicine through him.”