THE NIGHT HEALER

Elaris’s POV

I read the note twice over the flame.

The paper curled inward, blackening at the edges until the private seal was hidden under ash. I watched it burn until there was nothing left that could possibly be reconstructed. I'd learned enough from the previous threats to understand that simply preserving evidence did not always protect me.

The message had been short.

She cited the night healer.

The woman who had been responsible for maintaining her Maevra's stability was evidently involved in the very substance that ran close to putting the only possible witness for identifying Virelle into witness silence.

I let the last fragment fall into the flame.

There would be no paper for the council to confiscate.

Only my memory remained, something they couldn't search.

Never did I sleep.

I remained on my tight bed, listening to the pacing guards outside my chamber. Every new shift reminded me that I was well guarded but I allowed no questions to them.

The night healer had been inside of Maevra's chamber.

The night healer had access to the medications.

The night healer had been present at the time of the poisoned cup's presentation to Maevra.

And now the same night healer was reportedly responsible for the calming draft that put the attendant unconscious.

That changed everything.

Virelle might still be orchestrating the attacks, but she could no longer be viewed as the sole potential access to Maevra.

Someone within the medical staff had opened the doors, prepared the materials, and slipped into chambers that few knew their ways unnoticed.

I placed a hand on my stomach

my child, shifting with discomfort under my fingers. That prompted the most horrifying thought of all.

If someone inside of the medical wing was capable of reaching Maevra and the attendant, then how many opportunities had they already had the opportunity to reach me?

In the morning light, Averic was allowed in for his usual visit.

The council observer accompanied him was unfamiliar, and she observed everything. The space between us, the conversation that wasn't held, and the tray that Averic was provided with when taking a seat opposite of me.

He did not question me about the note.

He did not have to.

His sights moved briefly over the place where the last trace of the fire had been.

Then his gaze lifted and connected with mine, and he gave the one small nod of acknowledgment that there was all that I needed to say regarding it.

I left my hands folded over my stomach.

"Did you find anything?" I asked.

"Enough to change the morning's events,"

He said.

The council observer was immediately taken aback from watching over the proceedings in favor of looking between us.

Averic continued his remarks before she managed to interfere.

"But not enough to assure the council."

There was frustration behind the restrained words.

I knew that what he said was exactly he meant.

The healer had been identified.

The council still had their doubts.

And no matter what it was that Averic was going to do about it, he knew that there was barely any room left in the situation to execute it effectively.

The summoning arrived before our morning visit concluded.

A council messenger arrived, with a sealed document for the council observer. She read it and informed us that the opening session of the morning had been moved forward. Both of we females were instructed to be present in our own hour of arrival in the hall.

Virelle.

Me.

Averic was only allowed to accompany me so far as the entrance to the hall. Beyond that, council escorts were to be found.

"So that is how it appears they do not intend to arrive together," I remarked.

"They control the movement within everyone involved," Averic noted simply.

"That isn't fair."

"No, it isn't."

Him not softening it showed no willingness at all to attempt to deny the fact to me.

The council observer pointed out that any attempt to ignore it was considered interfering with the council proceedings.

Averic accepted the limitation.

I knew he disliked it.

But knew also that there was no better way of avoiding that Averic continued to find opportunities to challenge every order without an avenue of leverage.

When we at last stood, Averic took an unnecessarily long moment to speak with me.

"Stay near your escorts," he said at last.

"I will."

"And listen before you answer."

"I know."

This time, his expression was tinged with regret.

The doors to the hall had opened.

It felt much farther than it did in the previous morning as the palace corridors led us to where both women's escorts had assembled.

Four council escorts surrounded me, leaving ample amount of space for me to walk and for no one else to have approached. Averic remained to my side, walking to match with my speed without breaking council formation.

Servants vanished as we passed through doorways after doorways.

No other word passed between those assembled.

No one felt the need to address the obvious change in the atmosphere for what it was, that we were all waiting for some further development.

At the entrance to the great hall, the escorts maneuvered around me.

Averic paused.

For the first time since departure from my chamber, we ceased to walk together.

He did not try for my hand but instead leaned, so only I could hear.

"Do not let them make you the story."

It was, perhaps, more of a message that Averic intended for me than anything else.

I understood what he was alluding to.

If the council could provide no immediate evidence for who had actually poisoned Maevra, who actually silenced the attendant, and who actually commanded the attacks against all of us, they were just as likely to turn the session back toward the woman who had been involved in every accusation so far.

Me.

I stepped into the hall without answering him.

Virelle was already sitting.

Her additional guards stationed behind her in manner of clear sight, arranged one beside the other. She seemed composed, with one hand resting lightly over her stomach.

concern carefully crafted upon her features, fragility an expression that was another tool with a new addition in to her performance.

My escorts placed me on the other side of the chamber.

Not beside Averic.

Not near Maevra's representatives.

Opposite Virelle.

The hall arrangement did little to make me appear any less to be a contest between the two women, and so it seemed entirely appropriate that Averic should take what assignment that was required from him.

Virelle looked across the empty space where we had first met.

She allowed me the smallest sympathetic smile.

I refused to reciprocate.

Averic took his assigned seat.

Not that it was accidental either, the distance kept between us.

Sennik took position near the center of the council table, where several of the elder council members had already begun reading.

I noticed that it was now the first time that the night healer was led through a side entrance under guard.

She looked smaller than I recalled, and afraid.

Sennik announced the beginning of the hearing.

He started with Maevra, summarizing out the sudden collapse, contents of the poisoned cup, the laboratory findings, and the fact that the substance was comparable to the compounds found in the other previously manipulated doses.

Nothing was spoken emotionally from where things began. The council dealt in dates, measures, access records, symptoms.

Then, Sennik rested both of his hands upon the table.

"There has been another development,"

There was a murmur amongst the hall.

"The attendant who was previously unconscious has been returned with enough awareness to provide additional information," Sennik continued.

My attention was immediately brought toward Averic, who stood still in place.

"The attendant has identified the night healer as having administered the calming draft before she became unconscious," the council representative noted.

More talk stirred from the gathered crowd.

The night healer lowered her head.

Virelle's hand moved over her stomach.

I noted the action because it was done with too perfect of timing for it to be innocent.

Sennik turned the night healer around to face the council directly.

"You will answer the council directly."

"I understand," the woman said.

Her tone held no doubt.

Much to the contrary than it might have if she'd just been accused of drugging a witness.

Sennik asked where she had been on the night of the attendant's collapse.

"In the medical wing."

"Did you prepare the calming draft?"

"Yes.

A hushed mutter stirred through the chamber.

The healer quickly moved on with her excuses.

"For routine treatment, not to silence anyone,"

Sennik asked if she had administered it.

She hesitated long enough to be assumed as contemplative.

"I gave the attendant medicine because she was distressed and struggling,"

"That was not the question,"

The healer swallowed. "Yes, I administered the draft."

The room was changed.

She had admitted to her actions without admitting to her intentions.

Sennik asked if the attendant had been unconscious after she had finished.

"Yes,"

"Did you know the draft would render her incapable of giving testimony?" No.

"My answer is direct, as you asked,"

She seemed to think so as not to look guilty about the fact that she'd done. "She is confused. She has been through trauma. Someone may have instructed her to blame me,"

I observed closely.

She never looked up at Virelle.

That frightened me more than it would have if she had.

Because if she'd been protecting Virelle plainly, it wouldn't have been quite so difficult for someone to know either.

Meanwhile, Averic stood.

"I request permission to present the attendant's recovered statements,“You may summarize it.”The statement names the healer."

"And the witness is not presently capable of appearing before the council."

Averic's fingers rest along the edge of the table.

"She is awake."

"Awake is not the same as fit for testimony."

There was a certain distinction.

And a devastating one.

Averic asked again.

Sennik refused to permit the full statements to be read as evidence because they carried no strength compared to live testimony.

I could see what it was immediately.

The attendants had named the healer.

The healer had admitted to administering the draft, but the one person that could have actually told us why it had been given was still lying in a healer's chamber under observation.

The accusation just hadn't changed face with any certainty that the council was looking for.

Sennik ordered that the statements had to be sealed for later review.

Averic returned to his place.

He looked toward me once. There was no reassurance in it, only recognition.

We both knew how much the council was being careful controlling which pieces of truth got through to us.

Virelle rose next.

She did not rush. "I find it most disturbing," she said.

Her attention was on the night healer. "This woman was entrusted with the care of the Alpha's mother. I suppose, then, that if even the medical staff cannot be trusted then we all cannot be assured how long these accusations might run."

A few representatives murmured their agreement.

Virelle lowered her head. "I would never accuse someone without proof." The irony of it almost made me laugh, as she had spent the days preceding doing exactly that to me.

"But perhaps we are finding evidence in too many directions," Virelle continued, turning toward Sennik.

"The examinations of the blood-moon are already scheduled. They will determine what can be determined about the children without utilizing frightened witnesses or contradictory statements,"

Her proposal felt reasonable.

It made her dangerous.

She wasn't defending herself directly.

She was steering the hearing back toward the one particular event where she believed the truth could be manipulated or where any uncertainty could be utilized in favor of me.

I looked at Averic. He had heard it as well.

Sennik seemed to consider Virelle's offer before responding.

"The council agrees that the examinations of the blood-moon must remain the primary method for resolving the competing claims,"

My stomach clenched.

"The night healer will continue to remain under council observation while the matter of her testimony and access history are determined," the council representative declared.

No one would be allowed to interfere with the healer.

No private questioning.

No private medical examination.

No unsupervised contact with the attendant.

And finally, Sennik made it clear.

"Both pregnancies will undergo examination under full council supervision. No private investigations, as well.

Averic's head lifted.

"This network has already reached the medical wing."

Sennik answered his objections with the statement that the council would control the investigation.

Averic didn't challenge it further.

I understood why.

If he tried to challenge this order at the time, it might cause the council to turn to his resistance as another accusation for interference.

The hearing was beginning to taper off, yet I still remained in a state of uneasiness.

The healer was still under guard.

Virelle still protected.

The blood moon still approached.

And yet, I stood in the middle of this room with the idea that every unanswered question could eventually come to affect me in any way.

The night healer disappeared with new footsteps.

Close enough that I could hear the movement of the cloth that she wore.

I kept my eyes forward.

Then for one brief second, the surrounding formation shifted.

Her lips moved.

No sound reached me.

But I understood her words.

"She said the second mate dies first."

My stomach dropped.

The heal er was dragged away before I could respond.

I saw the council guards turn their back towards us as the doors behind them began to close.

Then, I suddenly saw the opportunity for danger.

The night healer wasn't just another suspect, that was true.

She was another alive link in Virelle's plans to the attacks occurring inside this palace.

And now, she knew who was going to have to die next. Me.