Rizla turned to the larger table on which lay mortars and pestles of various sizes. She counted five at a scan, then spotted the sixth beneath a linen cloth. She lifted the cloth, recognizing the clear liquid at once: Lud Sellum.  Of course, he’d pressed fresh leaves tonight. With the flat of her hand, she swept all of it to the floor and turned back to the Earth Skyll. His face was mottled with rage, but he said nothing.

         Inching around the table, she began examining the shelves. Jars corked or waxed shut, labelled and dated in what she could tell was his crabbed hand. But for the Lud Sellum, everything was ordinary. Black cohosh, blue cohosh, goldenseal, nettle, pennywort, nightshade, mug wort, tansy, chamomile to make one sleep. Suga had used several of these to mix an abortifacient for a girl at his favorite tavern once. The name of the tavern was The Fish Belly, but she didn’t remember the name of the girl. Most were poisonous, but only the nightshade was deadly in itself. The others would have to be brewed and left to steep. 

         Rizla made her way to the oils. They, too, seemed harmless: lavender, goldenseal, basil, olive, coriander, rosemary. Oils of nutmeg and cinnamon that had cost him plenty. She saw a bottle Lud Sellum and was ready to destroy it but stopped when another bottle caught her eye. ANIMATION, not written in the Skyll’s hand.

         Where had he gotten this? It was beyond rare. Suga had some, of course, but none that he would sell. Rizla had seen it bring a crushed beetle back to life; also, a small wren. When used with humans, Animation Oil could cause facial distortions or twitching of limbs, depending on the corpse. She’d once seen a woman sit upright for nearly an hour, only to fall back on the cooling board with a thud.