Chapter 2 - The Healer's Poison
Mave did not run.
Running would have drawn attention.
She walked down the corridor as if nothing had happened.
One servant.
Two guards.
A pair of nobles whispering beside a window.
Nobody looked at her.
Nobody needed to.
She was only Mave.
The forgotten night attendant.
The girl who carried towels.
The servant who washed the king when everyone else believed he had no awareness.
She reached the stairwell.
Then stopped.
Her hand trembled.
Petra had the poison.
The same poison.
Mave knew because she had seen a vial like it before.
Liv's blood had contained traces of silver.
Not enough to kill quickly.
Enough to weaken.
Enough to cause fever.
Enough to create hallucinations.
Enough to make physicians believe the victim was suffering from a natural illness.
Someone had deliberately designed it.
Mave descended one flight.
Then another.
The palace dungeons were beneath the infirmary.
She knew the route better than anyone.
At the third landing, she found an empty guard station.
She took a key from the drawer.
It wasn't the official key.
It was one she had copied three weeks earlier.
She entered the dungeon.
Cold air hit her face.
The palace above was warm.
The cells below were always freezing.
“Mave?”
Liv's voice was weak.
Mave hurried toward the fourth door.
Her sister sat against the wall.
Seventeen years old.
Too thin.
Too pale.
Her once-bright eyes looked dull.
“I brought you this.”
Mave slipped through the bars and handed her a small bottle.
Liv smiled.
“You shouldn't keep doing this.”
“I know.”
“You'll get caught.”
“I know.”
“Then stop.”
Mave sat beside her.
“I can't.”
Liv leaned against her shoulder.
“How is the king?”
“Still unconscious.”
Mave lied automatically.
Liv closed her eyes.
“You're getting worse at lying.”
Mave smiled sadly.
“I'm improving.”
“No.”
Liv coughed.
Mave's smile disappeared.
“Tomorrow, I'll get you to the royal physician.”
“You've said that for weeks.”
“This time is different.”
“Why?”
Mave hesitated.
She couldn't tell Liv the truth.
Not yet.
“The king may have the same illness.”
Liv turned.
“The king?”
“Yes.”
“So whoever poisoned you poisoned him too.”
“Maybe.”
Liv's eyes sharpened.
“Then perhaps he knows who did it.”
Mave looked at the floor.
“Perhaps.”
A horn sounded above.
Mave stood.
“I have to go.”
“Wait.”
Mave turned.
Liv grabbed her hand.
“Be careful.”
“I will.”
“Don't trust powerful men.”
Mave almost laughed.
Too late.
Upstairs, Byron was waiting.
And so was Petra.
Mave returned to the infirmary shortly before dawn.
The door was open.
Petra was gone.
Byron was still lying perfectly still.
Mave approached.
His eyes opened.
“What happened?”
“She has the poison.”
Mave closed the door.
Byron sat up.
“She brought it?”
“A silver liquid.”
His expression darkened.
“Exactly.”
“So you recognize it.”
“Yes.”
“Where did you see it?”
“My brother's room.”
Mave stared.
Byron's jaw tightened.
“Riden kept a locked cabinet.”
“What was inside?”
“Political documents. Weapons. Private letters.”
“And the poison?”
“Three days after he died, I found the vial hidden behind a false panel.”
Mave felt cold.
“You didn't tell anyone?”
“I did.”
“And?”
“The vial disappeared.”
“Who had access?”
“The council.”
“Colin?”
“Colin.”
Mave stared at him.
“What if Petra is working for him?”
“Then she isn't alone.”
Silence settled.
Byron looked toward the window.
“We need to expose them without letting them know we're awake.”
“How?”
“Tonight you will tell Petra my condition is worsening.”
Mave nodded.
“And then?”
“She'll increase the dose.”
“You're sure?”
“If she thinks I'm dying, she'll become careless.”
Mave didn't like the plan.
“What if she gives you enough to actually kill you?”
“Then you save me.”
“You're very confident.”
“You have already done it twice.”
“Three times.”
He looked at her.
“Three?”
“Your wolf attacked me while you were asleep on night eleven.”
Byron smiled.
“I don't remember.”
“You nearly broke my nose.”
“That doesn't sound like me.”
“It sounded exactly like you.”
He laughed.
The sound surprised both of them.
Mave stared.
Byron stopped.
For the first time, neither pretended they were only allies.
There was something dangerous growing between them.
Something neither could afford.
“You should sleep,” Mave said.
“So should you.”
“I'll sleep when my sister is free.”
Byron's face softened.
“Then let's make sure that day comes.”
The investigation began.
Mave started keeping records.
Which healer visited.
Which guard changed shift.
Which servant brought water.
Which meals were delivered.
Which medicines were used.
Byron memorized every detail.
The poison was being administered in tiny doses.
Never the same amount.
Never at the same time.
Whoever designed the scheme was patient.
That made them dangerous.
On the fifth night, Mave noticed something.
The water jug was replaced again.
The person who carried it was not Petra.
It was a servant named Elric.
He was new.
Too new.
Mave followed him.
She discovered he entered a private corridor reserved for the council.
When she returned, Byron was waiting.
“Elric.”
“Yes.”
“I know him.”
“You do?”
“My brother hired him.”
“Before his death?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
Mave frowned.
“Then find out.”
Byron nodded.
Three nights later, Elric disappeared.
Byron looked grim.
“They know someone is investigating.”
Mave's heart sank.
“Then we've been discovered.”
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Because if they knew about us, you'd already be dead.”
His words were brutally calm.
Mave realized he was right.
“They suspect someone.”
“Exactly.”
“Then who?”
Byron stared at her.
“Perhaps they suspect you.”
Mave said nothing.
The next morning, Chief Counselor Colin Vale summoned her.
The council chamber was enormous.
Long table.
Black marble floor.
Tall windows.
Seven nobles.
Mave stood at the center.
Colin smiled.
“You've been caring for His Majesty for some time.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“Do you enjoy the work?”
“It is work.”
A noblewoman laughed.
Colin's smile faded.
“You've had unusual access to the king.”
Mave kept her eyes lowered.
“I am instructed to bathe him.”
“Have you noticed anything strange?”
“No.”
“Any movement?”
“No.”
“Speech?”
“No.”
Colin leaned closer.
“Any change in his breathing?”
Mave paused.
“Nothing significant.”
The pause mattered.
She knew it.
Colin knew it.
And somewhere outside the room, someone was probably listening.
He stepped away.
“You're dismissed.”
Mave bowed.
As she walked out, one guard whispered something to Colin.
Mave couldn't hear.
But she saw Colin's face.
His expression changed.
Fear.
Only for a second.
Then it vanished.
Mave returned to the infirmary.
Byron was awake.
“They questioned you.”
“Yes.”
“What did you tell them?”
“The truth.”
He smiled.
“You're becoming dangerous.”
“I thought I was invisible.”
“You were.”
“And now?”
“Now you're the only person in this palace I trust.”
Her heart stumbled.
She ignored it.
That night Petra arrived with medicine.
Mave told her the king's condition was deteriorating.
Petra seemed pleased.
“How unfortunate.”
She poured the contents of a vial into Byron's drink.
Mave watched through lowered eyes.
Petra left.
Byron waited until the footsteps disappeared.
“Now.”
He drank.
The poison struck quickly.
His body convulsed.
Mave caught him.
Power surged.
His wolf exploded outward.
The room shook.
Mave felt his thoughts collide with hers.
And then she heard something.
A voice.
Not Byron's.
A memory.
Riden.
“Trust no one wearing the silver ring.”
Mave gasped.
Byron's eyes flew open.
“What did you hear?”
“Your brother.”
“What?”
She told him.
He went pale.
“The silver ring.”
“Yes.”
Byron looked at his own hand.
His brother had worn one.
So had Colin.
So had Petra.
Three people.
Three suspects.
But then Mave remembered something else.
Captain Ainsley wore one too.
May you like
Four suspects.
And one of them had murdered a king.
