Chapter 118 The Formula (1/2)
Lord Sevaril gave Arran a belance, then turned his attention back to Snowcloud ”You haven't told your companion about your mission?”
”He'son her cheeks, she added, ”And no, I haven't yet told hi”
”Told me what?” Arran asked He could tell that the issue was an important one, but he still had no idea what Snowcloud and Lord Sevaril were talking about Nor, for that matter, how they even knew each other
”You should tell him,” Lord Sevaril said, his expression serious ”Ill-h he ers”
”What dangers?” Arran obviously knew that even traveling in the region was dangerous, but it was clear that what Lord Sevaril was talking about was so far beyond the nor that someone with the power to hold a city in the borderlands feared was so that Arran kneould be cause for concern
Snowcloud hesitated for several ht,” she said eventually ”I'll explain”
Arran looked at her in anticipation, already wondering just what kind of otten himself involved in
”My an ”When Grandfather fell ill, she suspected he had been poisoned, and devised a formula she believed would cure hiredients, and some of them could only be found across the border She went to retrieve them, and when she failed to come back even after months had passed, my father set off in search of her Neither of them ever returned”
Briefly, she went quiet, and Arran saw a pained look in her eyes When she spoke again, there was a slight tremble to her voice
”I was a child at the tihthat could help me discover where she was I didn't find her location, but froether the for on That's why I traveled across the border — to finish the work my mother started”
”Is that why you're so obsessed with herbalis to understand ”You want to save your grandfather?”
Snowcloud nodded ”But it's not just about Grandfather If my parents are still alive, he's the only one who can find theo,” Lord Sevaril said in a soft voice ”I think you should consider the—”
”I' known that they're probably dead But if there's even the slightest chance, I can't let it slip away I'h myself, but once Grandfather is cured…”
Her voice trailed off before she finished the sentence, but Arran didn't need to hear the rest of her words to knohat she was thinking The Patriarch should be a powerful e, and if he was cured, he could search where she couldn't Still, after nearly a decade, Arran could not help but think that any chance of finding her parents alive was long gone
”If you have a forrandfather — why haven't you given it to one of the Sixth Valley's Elders?” he asked ”Surely their chances of finding the ingredients you need would be better than your own”
”Haven't you been listening?” There was a sharpness to Snowcloud's voice as she answered ”My mother believed Grandfather was poisoned, and when she left in search of a cure, both she and my father disappeared Whoever is behind it must hold a position of poithin the Society — an Elder, or even an entire faction”
”And they know you're searching for the cure?”