Twin Elements by Mell Eight

Author:Mell Eight [Eight, Mell]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Royalty, twins, herbologist, conspiracy, poisons, Romance, HEA
Publisher: NineStar Press
Published: 2023-10-16T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

“The healers’ college finished their analysis of the blue versus red portions of the fire flower,” Shartha said as she walked into the lab beneath the healers’ wing. She dropped a loosely bound sheaf of papers on the table before taking her usual seat across from Maya.

Maya slid a bookmark into the Compendium of Aishen Plant Life and set the tome aside before picking up the papers.

“Did they find anything interesting?” he asked, flipping through and skimming for the moment, although he would definitely read it in full when he had some free time. He stopped when he reached a section headlined “Berry” to actually read it.

“Just that your solution for the berry skin poison was likely the most effective one. Use the thundervine concoction to wake the victim from the stasis, and then administer a small amount of petal.” Shartha grinned at him. “They think eating some of the skin or the blue center might be the most effective means of combating poisoning by the petals, but only after preliminary findings. They’re planning to conduct a more in-depth study next. Are you interested in participating with the research?”

Maya shook his head. “I’m not interested in that level. I just want to understand the plants. Is there a reason they didn’t conduct an analysis on the berry flesh here?”

“I think they were only focused on the dangerous parts of the plant. Why?”

Maya grinned at her. “I’m trying to figure out why it’s impossible to make alcohol from pressing the berries. None of the traditional techniques of making wine or spirits work, and I want to know what about this berry is so unique.”

“How so?” Shartha looked interested even though there was no healing application for his research.

“Why is the berry flesh pink?” he asked in an apparent non sequitur. “The flower is red, but the skin is blue; if that was combined, the flesh ought to be purple and poisonous, but it’s not. Something is filtering out the blue, most of the red, and all of the poison, leaving a berry that resists fermentation. I want to know why.”

“You think you’ll be able to find out?” she asked, and her raised eyebrow said her question implied more than whether the science was possible.

Which was actually why Maya was hiding downstairs in the lab rather than spending time elsewhere: he didn’t want to go home.

Home was water and familiarity, but it was also Father and expectations and, quite frankly, boredom. He had the same routine, day after day, and Father constantly looking over his shoulder, ensuring Maya did nothing to upset the family’s balances. Father very much wanted the elements to choose one of his children as successor, which meant all of his children must be perfect. The pressure was crushing, particularly since Maya had zero interest in being chosen as king. All he wanted was to research his plants in peace, not be pranced around among the people or compared with the accomplishments of his siblings. Maya had pushed

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