THE BITTER TASTE

Elaris’s POV

I woke up just as dawn’s light crept through the floorboards in golden threads.

I hadn’t slept at all.

Every time I closed my eyes I saw Caedmon’s image in the hall, the quiet fury in his voice.

We take the child.

Then Virelle’s response.

Before the next blood moon.

I sat on the edge of the bed, one hand protectively over my womb, the other clenched in the sheets.

The conversation played over and over in my head.

They knew about the child.

They knew about the silver manifestation.

And somehow they knew enough about the unborn heir to think his power might be the key to some kind of ritual.

I narrowed my eyes at the door.

Averic had stationed guards there, but Virelle and Caedmon had still found a way in.

A feeling of vulnerability settled in my gut.

A tiny kick answered my hand.

The baby.

I inhaled shakily.

“You’re awake too, aren’t you?”

Another flutter answered.

My vision blurred.

“I won’t let them take you.”

Neryss knocked, a tray in her hands.

It was covered with a white cloth but I could see the steaming mug of tea and the soft rolls of bread.

She stopped dead when she saw me.

“You didn’t sleep.”

I shook my head.

"How could I?"

Neryss set the tray on the table and studied me closely.

"What did Averic say when he brought the news?"

My grip on the blanket tightened.

I could tell her everything.

The conversation in my room.

The blood moon.

The ritual.

The plan to steal my baby away.

Except something stopped me.

We were outnumbered.

The fewer the people who knew the whole truth the fewer voices that could be silenced by Averic’s enemies.

"I’m just tired."

Neryss' brow crinkled but she poured the tea anyway.

“You’re a terrible liar.”

A small smile touched my lips.

"So are you, becoming dangerously observant."

"Someone has to be."

Neryss set the mug in front of me and I took it, lifting it to my lips.

Just as the tea touched my tongue, Neryss caught my wrist.

"Wait."

I blinked up at her.

She smelled the tea, her nose scrunching up in distaste.

"Did you ask the kitchen to fix this?"

"Of course not."

She took the mug from my hands and neither of us drank.

Averic stopped by the door that morning.

He looked as though he'd fought a hundred battles in the sleepless hours before dawn.

The deep black of his tunic was spotless but dark shadows clung to his eyes.

He kept his distance this time, lingering close to the doorway.

"The council wants an explanation," Averic said.

"For Caedmon?"

"For everything."

Averic's gaze was sharp on my face.

"Some of the elders believe his holding is improper. Others that he should be put in the public wing."

"And you?"

Averic's mouth thinned into a line.

"I want more time."

"To do what?"

"To determine who else is involved."

I nodded slowly.

His eyes flickered to my midsection.

"How is the child?"

"Strong."

Averic's shoulders eased just a fraction.

He asked me more about the silver energy, listening closely to my answers.

When I finished, he gave me a single approving nod.

"I'll send the healer again later."

Averic turned to go.

"Averic."

He paused with his hand on the door handle.

"You haven't touched me since last night."

A shadow of confusion crossed Averic's face.

"I thought you'd prefer the distance."

"I needed the certainty."

Averic's eyes lingered on mine then he turned and left.

The moment the door closed behind him I was overcome with the feeling that the space between us had stretched too far.

Maevra arrived just after noon.

She leaned heavily on her cane but there was still a regal grace to her every movement.

Neryss hurried to assist her but Maevra waved the girl off.

"I'm not helpless because Virelle saw fit to try and kill me."

I couldn't help the small smile that curled my lips.

She sat down beside me and immediately took my hand.

Her fingers were slender and cool as they pressed against my own.

"My grandson is strong," Maevra murmured.

I blinked at her.

"How can you be sure?"

"Because I can feel him."

My breath caught in my throat.

Maevra smiled.

"The old blood recognizes itself."

I stared at her.

"What old blood?"

Maevra's gaze lingered on my face.

"Your child has something unusual in his blood."

I opened my mouth to ask what she meant but Maevra squeezed my fingers gently.

"I felt it when I touched you yesterday."

A warm weight settled in my chest, something dangerously close to belonging blooming there for the first time since I'd arrived at the Thorne palace.

Not as a visitor or an exiled princess but as part of this family.

Maevra studied my face.

"You're afraid."

I looked down at our joined hands.

"I am."

"Of Averic?"

"No."

"Of Caedmon?"

I hesitated.

"Not only him."

The child."

I nodded slowly.

"I'm afraid someone will take him from me."

Maevra's expression softened.

"Then you must remember something."

"What?"

"Sometimes fear is good.

It tells you where the enemy is waiting.

But always remember that fear makes you powerless when it convinces you that there's nothing you can do."

I swallowed, my throat tight.

"I don't feel powerful."

"You don't need to.

Just don't fall."

Maevra's grip on my hand tightened.

Tears blurred my vision.

There were still things I couldn't tell her, things I wasn't sure she should know yet.

But for some reason I suspected that Maevra was already more aware of the silver energy than she was willing to admit.

As we talked, Maevra suddenly mentioned her medicine.

"It has tasted different lately.

More bitter than it should be."

I stiffened.

"How long?"

"Three days."

"Three?"

Maevra gave me a small, amused sigh.

"Perhaps Harwin has been tampering with the formula."

"Did you tell him?"

"No.

I assumed it was a change in the tonic."

I stared at her.

Aconite.

The altered tonic.

The bottle with the smudged writing.

Caedmon's burning eyes.

The pieces were falling into place.

" Lady Maevra , has the taste been growing more bitter every day?"

She frowned.

"Yes.

Sometimes I feel a little dizzy when I drink it."

"Dizziness?

Nausea?"

"Occasionally."

My pulse quickened.

Someone was adjusting the dosage, increasing it slowly but surely.

I leaned closer.

" Please don't take any more of it until someone trustworthy examines the bottle."

Maevra raised an eyebrow.

"You sound as if you suspect someone."

"I do."

"Care to share?"

"I suspect carelessness."

Maevra's lips curved into a sad smile.

"You always do that when you're trying to protect someone."

I looked away.

Maevra's voice was gentler.

"Elaris.

You can trust me."

I let the words dangle there, half-formed , unsure if the admission was dangerous or not.

"I know."

"Then tell me."

My lips parted but no words escaped, not because I wanted to keep secrets from Maevra, but because of what it would mean if the wrong ears learned I had said this out loud.

Maevra seemed to understand.

She only squeezed my hand.

"All right.

But I will keep a closer watch on the medicine."

She rose to her feet.

" And Elaris ?"

"Yes?"

" Don't let anyone convince you that your instincts are insanity."

The door closed behind her.

I sat in silence, processing the weight of everything she'd said.

She knew, not all of it, perhaps, but enough.

The moment Maevra left I turned to Neryss.

" I overheard them last night.

Virelle and Caedmon."

Neryss went very still.

" What did they say?"

"They're planning to take the baby before the blood moon.

They don't want me dead."

"Then why do they want the child?"

" I don't know.

Caedmon spoke of some kind of ritual requiring the blood of a living Alpha."

Neryss paled.

" That's impossible."

" I overheard him.

Neryss inhaled sharply and began pacing the room.

" Then we need to tell Averic."

" I did.

He wants proof before he can take Virelle.

I told him about the medicine.

Maevra said the tonic had been growing more bitter for three days.

Neryss turned to the door, her expression anxious.

" So the poisoner hasn't stopped."

" No.

They've gotten bolder.

I'll watch the healers' wing and the kitchens.

I know the servants' schedules.

Neryss grabbed a cloak from the back of the chair.

" I'll find out who has been near Maevra's medicines."

" Don't accuse anyone of anything."

" I won't.

Promise me."

Neryss sighed.

" I promise."

She turned toward the door then paused.

" What if they find out I'm investigating?"

I met her eyes.

"Then come back here immediately."

For the first time, I think Neryss understood why I had chosen to stay in this palace.

" Because you're not fighting for revenge anymore, " she whispered.

" Because you're fighting for someone who hasn't even opened his eyes yet "

After Neryss was gone, I sat quietly, contemplating everything that had happened since the night Caedmon discarded me.

As the sun began to set, Averic arrived.

I didn't wait for him to sit before I told him everything: the strange medicine, Maevra's symptoms, what I had overheard.

His expression darkened as I spoke, growing more grim with each word.

When I finished, Averic was silent for a long time.

"You should have told me."

" I was afraid."

" Of me?"

" Of what you would do if you thought I was telling you the truth."

Averic's jaw tightened.

" I believed you about Caedmon."

" But you didn't believe me about your mother."

Pain flickered across Averic's features.

"That was different."

" How?"

Averic took a measured breath.

" Because her life was in danger."

"So is mine."

His expression was pained.

" I don't understand.

Elaris, I can't stand against Virelle because of what you saw last night.

The council is waiting for me to make one mistake."

" I understand.

But that doesn't mean you have to do nothing at all."

Averic pulled a folded parchment from his coat.

" I had Harwin look over the palace's medical records."

I stared at the paper in his hands.

" What did he find?"

Averic's eyes were hard.

" Someone altered the inventory three days ago."

Three days.

The day Maevra's medicine had started tasting different.

After Averic left, I walked to the window and looked out over the palace grounds.

The blood moon still had weeks to come but danger was closing in and I needed to be prepared.

I placed both hands over my womb and whispered, "I won't let them take you."

A tiny movement answered my promise and I smiled through the tears clouding my vision.

Then I saw the figure walking across the courtyard.

It was a servant, carrying a small wooden box covered in cloth but he wore no healer's garments.

My heart pounded in my ears.

Virelle.

The man paused near the medical quarters and another figure emerged from the shadows.

They exchanged the package and a pouch of something else.

The servant vanished inside an unmarked wing of the palace.

I turned away from the window, my pulse quickening.

Someone was tampering with the palace's supplies.

Neryss burst into the room just as I reached for the door.

She was out of breath, her dark hair loose around her shoulders, and a small glass vial clutched in her hand.

" I saw her, " Neryss gasped.

" Virelle ?"

Neryss nodded, her expression dazed.

" She was in the healers' wing.

Alone.

She was standing in front of Maevra's medicine cabinet.

I called her name but when she turned around,

Neryss swallowed, " She smiled."

The same smile, the one I had seen in the archive, the one that never reached her eyes.

Neryss continued, "She replaced a bottle on the shelf and walked away.

I managed to take this before she left.

I looked at the vial Neryss offered and took it, carefully inspecting the liquid inside.

It was a deeper brown than the medicine I had seen on the shelves and it looked almost cloudy.

When I brought it to my nose, a familiar bitterness assailed my senses.

Aconite, but there was something else in the mix as well.

The silver glow beneath my skin pulsed, brighter now, and the vial trembled between my fingers.

Neryss' eyes were wide as she stared at my midsection.

" Elaris..."

I looked down and the child responded in kind, sending a jolt of sensation through my body.

Neryss inhaled sharply.

There was something inside the vial, something hidden beneath the murkiness of the liquid.

A symbol, a tiny crescent shape with three vertical markings within it, appeared to be etched onto the bottom of the glass.

My breath caught in my throat as I remembered the same symbol inside Maevra's old registry.

It was next to the heir protocol, covered with dust.

Virelle hadn't been experimenting on Maevra, not really.

She had been using the old woman's failing body as a distraction so that no one would suspect that she had been testing the unborn heir.

I was suddenly very cold.

Neryss' fingers curled around my wrist as if afraid I would break.

" They've been using Maevra to test the child, " I whispered.

" And now they know it reacts to the poison.

Neryss turned away from the door, her expression stricken.

" What are we going to do?"

I looked down the hall, past the doors leading to the palace archives.

Somewhere in that building, Virelle was preparing to make her next move - and this time she knew exactly who she was after.