The mating ceremony is drawing closer.
The flower that I hid away is still with me and after one whole night of deliberation and my own confusion with Balin’s strange behavior, I decided to risk it.
The petals have a strange taste, almost like honeydew.
I eat one and then I wait but when there are no side effects, I eat the rest.
The only reaction I have is late in the evening the next day when Balin hands me the drink he makes me since the day I arrived here. I’m in my room when I sip it, only to be overcome by nausea. One trip to the bathroom is enough for me to toss away the drink.
I consider telling Balin what happened but I decide not to. There’s already too much on his plate.
Two days before the mating ceremony, I am confined to the cottage.
Balin is nowhere in sight that da
