21. Chapter 21
Chapter twenty-one
E mma’s words hang heavy in the air. The room is so quiet that my own heartbeat sounds like a pounding drum. Everyone is looking at her with wide-eyed stares, even Ivy and Tag. Poisoned ? That can’t be true ! But then, I know Emma, and she wouldn’t have said it unless she was sure. Who would want to poison them ? And why ?
Eventually, Mother breaks the silence. “Emma, I don’t mean to insult you,” she says, her voice as tight as a bowstring, “but what you’re saying is … improbable, to say the least. Do you have any evidence?”
Emma meets Mother’s gaze as directly as she met mine a moment ago; if she’s feeling pressured, she’s doing a good job of not showing it. “I understand why you might be skeptical. I almost didn’t believe it myself at first. But the more I thought about it, the more it didn’t make sense. Quite a few people in the area—and in the palace itself, for that matter—have caught wasting fever in the last few months. Most of the patients I’ve talked to—or their families, if they’ve passed away—have said the same thing: they got sick for a few days, maybe a week, but then they got better . Then, for some of them, maybe one out of every five or six, it came back, and they got seriously ill. But even the ones who had it worst, even the ones who died, had a day or two where their condition improved.” She pauses to take a breath. “On the other hand, once Father and Samis got sick, they just went steadily downhill. If they had wasting fever, there would have been some period where they were feeling better.”
“Forgive me, Emma,” Kenessa says, “but you said most patients, not all of them. Maybe your father and Samis were the odd ones out.”
Emma shakes her head. “I suppose it would be possible if it had happened to one of them, but the chances of them both being outliers is very small.”
Mother holds up a hand. “Even if you’re correct, that still doesn’t tell us what did kill them. What poison do you think was used? And why didn’t the healers think of this?”
“I don’t think the idea that it was poison ever entered the healers’ minds, not when they were busy dealing with so many other patients who actually did have wasting fever. I don’t blame them for getting it wrong—Samis’s and Father’s symptoms were very similar, and it would be an easy mistake to make. As for your other question,” the corners of Emma’s mouth twist down—the tell-tale sign that not knowing is bothering her, “there are any number of things it could be, but I haven’t found anything that matches their symptoms exactly. I need to do more research.”
“Wait a moment,” I say. “How is it that the two of them could be poisoned, but not the rest of us? Someone would have slipped something into their food, right? But Samis usually ate with Kenessa, and Father with Mother. Why didn’t the two of you get sick too?”
“Usually, yes,” Kenessa replies, “but they went to Fort Alesen right before they got sick, remember? Samis told me they dined with the commander of the garrison one night, but otherwise they ate alone. Someone could have slipped something into their meals without anyone noticing. But then, who at Fort Alesen would want them—or Darien—dead?”
We all chew on this for a few moments before Mother shakes her head. “I find it hard to believe that someone in the Soerian military would assassinate two members of the royal family in such a manner. I suppose it’s possible that some disgruntled soldier held a grudge against Tolmir, but for what purpose would they take such a drastic action? How would they benefit from Tolmir and Samis’s deaths? Why target Darien, too? It just doesn’t make sense.”
A thought comes to me, one that’s so monstrous I can barely comprehend it. “What if…” My mouth is suddenly as dry as a desert. “What if the person who poisoned them wasn’t a soldier?” Five pairs of eyes turn to face me as one. “Didn’t a few councilors go with them? I know Rolsteg and Belling did, at least. Samis told me that Rolsteg was acting strange before he left for Fort Alesen! I didn’t think of it at the time, but maybe….” I trail off.
Mother finishes the thought for me. “Maybe she was the one who poisoned them? That’s not an accusation to be taken lightly. Do you remember exactly what Samis said?”
“He said …” I close my eyes and try to cast my mind back into that memory of a time that feels like centuries ago. “He, Father, and Arbois had dinner with some of the council, and he said she kept asking Arbois questions about Jirena Sadai the whole night. He told me she was more animated than he’d ever seen her before, and that he thought it was strange. That’s all. But if she went to Fort Alesen with Father and Samis, she certainly would have had the opportunity to poison them.”
“Forgive me for interrupting, Your Majesty,” Ivy says, with a nod to Mother. “But, Darien, why would Archduchess Rolsteg want to hurt you or your family? I can’t say I know her all that well, but she’d have to have a pretty good reason if she was willing to murder three members of the royal family.”
It’s a good question; if someone really did poison Samis and Father and try to have me killed, they’d have to know they’d face execution if they were caught. “Her family made money selling weapons, right? Maybe she’s trying to start a war between us and Jirena Sadai so she can turn a profit. Or maybe she’s the one that Arbois meant when he said someone was trying to stop him. Or maybe—”
“Or maybe she’s perfectly innocent,” Mother interrupts, drumming her fingers on the arm of her chair again. “Acting strange at one dinner several weeks ago isn’t evidence of regicide. That’s if Emma is correct that Samis and Tolmir were even poisoned in the first place.” Mother holds up a hand just as I open my mouth. “Yes, Darien, I know that someone tried to kill you not half an hour ago, and that clearly someone was behind that. I just don’t think we should spend too much time speculating wildly when we should be gathering information instead.”
Can’t really argue with that . “In that case, should I talk to Arbois about what I overheard? Maybe he can shed some light on the situation.”
Mother thinks about it for a moment, then shakes her head. “No. Not yet, at least. The fewer people who know about this, the better. It’s not that I don’t trust him, but if someone is really trying to kill members of this family, I don’t want them to know that we’re onto them. Arbois would certainly want to know why we’re asking, and I don’t know if he can keep a secret. Let Emma and Ivy see what they can find, and then we’ll reassess. I’ll keep an eye on Rolsteg, just in case.”
Ivy clears her throat. “If I may make a suggestion…?” She waits for Mother to nod before turning to me. “Darien, if someone was willing to attack you here in the palace once, they might try again. I highly recommend that you—and the Queen, and Princesses Emma and Kenessa, for that matter—have guards with you whenever you’re not in your rooms. I’d be happy to work with Colonel Belling to choose some dependable soldiers and set up a rotation—you know I’m pretty close with the garrison, and I’ve got a few choices in mind already.”
Guarded at all times ? It sounds horrible, like I need to be babysat in my own home. What if I want to take a walk alone, or have some private time with Tag? I don’t want to be followed around the palace whenever I leave my rooms, as though I need to be watched to ensure I don’t steal anything.
But then, I can’t deny that I was attacked not half an hour ago in my own garden, and that it probably would have been prevented if I had had guards with me. “I suppose I can handle it,” I say slowly. “At least until we find out who’s behind this and deal with them.”
“I agree,” Mother says. “We may not enjoy it, but it’s far better to be annoyed than dead.”
“Alright then, I guess that’s settled.” I turn back to Ivy. “What about you, though? Shouldn’t you have guards too?” I purposefully don’t mention Tag—only the two of us and Mother know about our courtship, and I don’t want to put a target on his back by making everyone wonder why he needs security. But Ivy, on the other hand… “Whoever sent the assassin after me might try to retaliate against you for stopping their plans.”
Ivy shakes her head. “I appreciate the thought, Darien, but I think it would be a bad idea. If I’m to investigate who sent the assassin, having guards around me all the time would bring unwanted attention.” She smiles tightly. “Besides, I can handle myself in a fight.”
With that, the conversation ends, and everyone begins to leave my study, their expressions ranging from grim to determined. But I remain seated, and before Tag can get more than a step or two away from me, I reach out and stop him with a hand. “Can I talk to you for a moment?”
He nods and resumes his seat on the couch next to me, looking only a little less pale than he did before. Once he’s settled, I take his hand in mine. “Are you alright?” I ask quietly, trying not to sound too worried. “You’ve barely said two sentences since … since we left the garden.”
He shakes himself as though he’s trying to wake up from a deep sleep. “I’m fine.” But his expression contradicts his words. “I’m just a little rattled, I guess. It’s not like this sort of thing happens every day, you know. And…”
I give him a chance to complete the sentence, but he remains silent. “And what?”
He opens his mouth as if to say something, then closes it again.
“It’s okay,” I say, as gently as I possibly can. “Whatever it is, you can tell me.”
He seems to notice that I’m holding his hand and gives mine a light squeeze. “I’m sorry,” he says, his voice almost as quiet as a whisper. “It’s just that when that woman…” He gulps audibly. “When she attacked you, for just a split second it was like I had this, this vision of my life without you in it, and I…” He looks down for a moment; when he looks back up, there are tears running down his cheeks. “When I first came here, I thought I was going to stay here for a year, perhaps two at most. I figured I would meet some of Riella’s friends, and maybe make a few of my own, but I always knew that before too long I would go back to my family’s estate in Zeteyon. All I wanted to do was live out in the country, away from all the noise and craziness and crowds, and if someone told me that, for the rest of my life, I’d never see a city again, I’d have been okay with that. But then I met you, and that changed everything. I never expected I would fall in love with anyone here, much less a member of the royal family, but I did. Now the thought of not being with you is…” He takes a deep breath; it seems to calm him a bit. “When she attacked you, I thought that if you died, I wouldn’t know what I’d do. I love you so much, and I don’t want anything to happen to you. What if whoever sent her sends another once they find out you’re still alive? How do you know the next one won’t succeed where she failed?”
I wrap my arms around him and pull him close to me. “Nothing’s going to happen to me,” I say soothingly. “You heard Mother. I’ll have guards around me all the time from now on. Until we catch whoever did this, at least. But in the meantime, nobody’s going to hurt me.”
“I want to believe that.” he says, his voice muffled. He pulls away from me, just enough so he can look directly into my eyes. “But even if you’re right, I still might lose you. I know you sent that message to your uncle, but what if he says no, or doesn’t respond at all? How long would it be until the council insists that you marry Arbois or some other prince instead?”
I take his face gently in my hands and kiss him deeply on the lips. “That will never happen, my love,” I say, my voice quiet, yet firm. “I won’t let it. I promise you.”
Tag gives me a hesitant smile, seemingly reassured by my answer. But, for a moment, I feel like the assassin’s dagger did manage to strike me in the heart, because deep down, I know that no matter how much I want to, I might not be able to keep that promise in the end.