The next week, Lei finally made a plan. She had snuck out to the town to find a herb Alderia had told her about - Deadly Nightshade, which, even though it was poisonous, couldn't kill. However, if it was combined with dandelion paste, the story changed completely - becoming a colorless, odorless liquid that could and would kill someone in minutes. Lei already had a small vial of dandelion paste ready in her pocket, and now she was flurrying down a path. She had no idea where deadly nightshade would grow, but she did know it was in this forest and comprised of large violet flowers. it seemed easy enough.
Lei pulled her clock tighter over her head and continued running down the trail, her breath fogging in the cold air, the moon and stars casting a dim glow over everything. It was hard to see, but she couldn't risk bringing a lantern. Not that it would be much use anyway - she couldn't hold much with her swollen fingers.
Finally, a small bunch of violet flowers beamed at her from near a tree.
Lei instantly crouched to grab the flowers, crushing them in between two rocks and squeezing whatever came out into the vial. There were a few more patched next to the tree, now that she had bothered to look, and she took sap from those too.
White, milky sap with small bits of crushed purple petals swirled around in the dandelion paste. As soon as the two liquids came in contact with eachother, they each started to turn like water. Lei desperately shook the vial in her hands, fumbling multiple times, and finally slipping it carefully back into her pocket after checking to make sure the lid was closed.
She covered her head a bit more with her hood and rushed back, leaving crumpled flowers, two rocks, and white sap bleeding into the soil.
Lei tried to sneak back into the castle, but all the doors were locked. Worse, the vial was still chilling in her pocket, which would mean certain death if she was caught, and her maid uniform, which had some white in it, stood out in the darkness.
Yep, she had messed this up majorly.
Lei put her hand into her pocket and gripped the vial.
The footsteps of guards echoed, a few feet away from where she was standing. Lei held her breath, throwing the vial into the bushes, and then stepped out just as the guards turned a corner and candlelight danced along her face.
"Oh, I got lost while hanging the sheets. Could you open the doors for me?" Lei asked innocently, and the guard exchanged glances, then took out a ring of keys and wrenched open a few large oak doors.
Lei sighed and went inside. The guards followed her to her room, respectfully said goodnight, and then turned and left down the hall, their boots echoing on the wood. Lei opened the window and jumped out, her skirt billowing out behind her as she ran down the path. Finally, she stopped at a familiar gutter and fell to the ground. Lei sat on the ground, and a tear dripped down her cheek.
Oh, how useless she was. She couldn't do anything right. A hand silently reached out to gently wipe her tears. Alderia didnt ask what was wrong or why she was crying. She just kept wiping all of Lei's tears.
"Everything is falling apart. Alderia, I dont know what to do."
Lei stayed there, sobbing into the darkness, until she fell asleep.
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