Rissa nodded sharply, her expression grim, then she led Viana through the palace's winding corridors. Their footsteps were muffled by thick carpets as they moved into the quieter, cooler lower levels.
They descended into the quieter, cooler lower levels, and eventually, they reached Rissa's laboratory, its heavy oak door standing guard over her secrets. She pushed it open, revealing an organized chaos that was utterly her own.
Unlike the bright, organized alchemy rooms elsewhere in the palace, Rissa's space was filled with shadows and strange scents, a deep earthy smells.
Stone tables were laden with strange apparatuses, not the polished glass and gleaming metals of the royal alchemists, but rough-hewn mortars, curious clay vessels, and intricate filtering systems made of woven reeds and fine sand.
There was a low furnace burning steadily, adding warmth to the room. The air was thick with the scent of minerals, processed earth, and old roots.
