Knotted Read Online Free Page B

greenhouse?” She had an idea of what was going on, but she was going to play stupid as long as she could. If she could slow the process, someone might come to help.
    “The greenhouse isn’t a suitable environment for this baby. We love her and we don’t want to let her out of our sight.”
    That told her that there was a distinct emotional element around the plant she was heading toward. Emotional attachments to plants were dangerous when you needed something from them, and these young men were dangerous.
    She wrinkled her nose. The young men also hadn’t bathed recently and the tunnel they marched her through was soft mud instead of polished stone.
    She had shucked her first high-heeled shoe when they entered the tunnel and the second one twenty minutes later.
    Her feet were only too happy to be on soft soil instead of in the torturous shoes. The scent of tree and vine was getting thicker in the air as she stumbled along.
    The narrow tunnel opened suddenly and she gasped at what she saw. Two dozen young folk were lying on the ground, licking at some bright yellow pods.
    The tree that produced that pod was the centre of the cavern.
    It had low, gnarled roots that protruded above the ground, an ashy grey trunk and glossy leaves that were losing their gloss. The pods that were carefully collected were splotchy but that colouration was unnatural. She could tell that this was a tree in distress.
    They shoved her forward and she tripped on the edge of her gown, landing hard on her arm.
    She hissed and rolled over, examining the gash in her skin.
    “Get up and fix it.”
    Rowen looked at the two young men with their large pupils and fists clenched. She slowly got to her feet and stumbled to the tree. She leaned against it and closed her eyes. “How long has it been sick?”
    They shook their heads. “We don’t know. The buzz lasts less and less now.”
    Rowen winced and turned to touch the tree. She heard the sound of a weapon warming up.
    “If you hurt the tree, we will kill you.”
    Rowen winced and pressed her palms to the bark, blood streaming down her arm to puddle at the roots. Her pain must have gotten through, because the tree began to sway. The pods tightened and regained their yellow colour. The leaves began to shine, and to Rowen’s shock, vines crept around her to lift her upward into the spreading fingers of the branches.
    She heard cries of distress and new voices that were not stunned and strung out. She tried to look through the branches, but she was cocooned safely in vines, leaves and wood. This plant wanted to protect her. It was nice that she had someone to stand between her and danger, as it took some of the loneliness away.
    There was a fight in the room before all fell silent.
    “Lady Nakkua?”
    She shifted, a little lightheaded. “In the tree. It pulled me up here and I can’t get down.”
    To her surprise, tendrils of darkness came up into the tree and carefully eased her protection away before lifting her and bringing her softly down into the arms of a man in body armour. “Hello.”
    “You are wounded?”
    She chuckled and leaned against him. “Yes. I fell and my kind has too many blood-carrying systems on the surface and thin skin. It is a sucky survival mechanism.”
    “You are Lady Nakkua?”
    She smiled and yawned in his arms. “That is what they tell me. I prefer to be just Rowen.”
    “You repair plants?”
    “I heal and encourage plants. It is a compulsion more than a talent. Irudan is heaven.”
    He was carrying her through the tunnels and his hands were very careful.
    She was surprised by his next question. “Where is your husband?”
    She shrugged. “I don’t know. Probably doing something important or something.”
    “Why wouldn’t he be there?”
    She opened her eyes a slit and looked at the empty faceplate. “Ask his parents.”
    He chuckled. “He might have his reasons.”
    “He probably does. I don’t care. I am enjoying the plants.” Blackness fought her