THE SLOW POISON

Elaris’s POV

I glared at the charred slip of paper in Neryss’s hands and read Caedmon’s distinct writing that ordered Virelle to increase the night dosage of Maevra.

Not much remained after the flames but enough to turn my stomach.

The handwriting was clear.

Caedmon.

The man who once wrote to me in that precise hand love letters.

Now it was murder orders.

Neryss watched my face.

"Elaris?"

I glanced at her.

"He wants her dead."

Neryss gulped.

"And he wants us to blame."

"We won't let them," I said quietly and put the parchment safely.

An awful idea struck me.

"If they are increasing the night dosage step by step, Maevra could already be dying."

"If anyone sees it, we are dead," Neryss whispered and closed the door of my bedchamber.

I put the letter under my mattress.

"Then nobody will see it."

"What about Alpha Averic?"

I pondered for a while.

"He should know."

Neryss nodded.

"Then tell him."

"Not now."

She widened her eyes.

"Why not?"

"Because Virelle suspects we know somebody is listening to us," I answered and thought of the shadow under the door.

Someone was listening to our conversation.

“She will figure out that this letter is missing. She will then know that we have something to prove.”

Neryss’s hands shook.

“What will you do now?”

“I will find something she cannot deny.”

Her face hardened.

“The tonic?”

I nodded.

“The changed tonic.”

I gently wrapped the piece in silk and tucked it under my floorboard, knowing I had to find the actual changed tonic to show the pack healers.

The tonic that I had stolen from Maevra’s quarters was still kept safe in my cabinet.

I took it out and examined the fluid in the dim light from the candle.

The blue fluid was innocuous-looking.

That was what scared me.

No sediment.

No strange coloring.

Nothing to make a normal person wary.

I capped it once more.

Then footsteps echoed from outside my room.

I stopped breathing.

Somebody had stopped right outside my room.

The footsteps were there for a few moments.

They were gone.

I paused before proceeding.

Virelle knew.

Or one of her people did.

I placed the new bottle under my apron.

If Maevra was getting poisoned again, I wanted the latest specimen.

I quickly left my room.

During the dawn hours, I hurried towards the chambers of Maevra who was hacking blood-stained silken cloth as she was coughing vigorously.

“Maevra!”

She was trying to reply but got stuck in another violent coughing fit.

I ran to her bedside.

Her previously healthy color became grayish.

She had black rings around her eyes.

“What is happening?”

She was having difficulties breathing.

“I woke up before dawn.”

“Have you taken your medicine?”

She nodded feebly.

“The usual dose.”

I was getting afraid.

The poison was taking its toll even more.

I took a quick look around.

A blue glass bottle was placed beside the empty cup on the bedside table.

Its label was slightly twisted.

Someone had touched it very recently.

I stretched out my hand towards the bottle.

Maevra grabbed my wrist.

“Don’t.”

"Why?"

She looked at me.

"Someone has been here."

I panicked as I hurried to her bedside filling her with fresh water and examining her racing pulse.

Her heart rate seemed frighteningly slow.

"Stay conscious."

"I'm trying."

"I'll get Sela."

Maevra held my hand tightly.

"No."

I looked at her.

"Why?"

"Not yet."

"Maevra, you are coughing up blood."

She glanced at the door once again.

"Somebody wants to hold you accountable."

A chill spread through me.

"You know?"

"I've thought about it."

"Then let me help you."

Her eyes grew gentle.

"I trust you."

I reached for the medicine bottle.

"We need to know exactly what was administered to you."

She shook her head.

"Elaris..."

"I will not allow them to harm you."

For the first time, the fear showed in her eyes.

"Be careful, child."

"The tonic Sela brought this morning... it tasted sweet, like honey," Maevra whispered desperately, her hands trembling violently in mine.

Sweet.

The word made me think instantly.

"Did Sela bring that to you herself?"

"No."

"Then who did?"

Maevra frowned, trying to remember.

"A servant."

"Which one?"

"I don't know."

I considered the matter.

Medication had been prepared by the healers.

It had been intercepted.

Or altered later on.

I picked up the bottle.

The smell was almost faint.

And quite pleasant.

But underneath the sweet taste was a metallic flavor.

Something wasn't right.

Maevra shut her eyes tightly.

"Don't let Averic see me like this."

I gazed at her.

"He needs to know."

"He will blame himself."

"He'll blame whoever's responsible."

Maevra opened her eyes again.

"Only if he thinks you're telling the truth."

That warning unnerved me.

Virelle wasn't just trying to poison her.

She wanted to get Averic to distrust me.

My blood ran cold. While aconite was a bitter plant, the syrup that masked an over-dose in wolf medicine was sweetened.

I recalled Sela's warning.

This compound wouldn't kill her instantly.

It worked through repeated administrations to weaken her body.

The sweetness of the potion was to cover up what really was in the bottle.

I observed Maevra carefully.

"How long have you been taking this?"

She shook her head.

"I don't know."

"For days?"

"Perhaps."

Weeks?

That thought sickened me.

Virelle planned this out well.

The illness would be natural-looking.

Maevra would become weaker.

Eventually she would collapse from the dosage.

Everyone then would ask the same thing.

Who provided her medications?

I, as the Royal Caretaker, with unrestricted access to all the bottles.

I finally got the drift of the whole situation.

I took the blue tonic bottle from the tray, tucking it in the apron pocket as the door was burst in.

A guard came into the room.

“Luna!”

I backed off.

“Call a healer.”

“We already did that.”

The sound of another pair of footsteps approached.

This time I instantly knew whose footsteps were approaching.

It was Averic.

I grasped the bottle under my apron.

Should he see it, there would be no way to explain how I came to have it on me.

But if I let it go, someone else could find it.

And they could destroy it.

I glanced at Maevra.

She barely made a gesture to me.

Keep it.

I pressed the bottle deeper under my apron.

Then the doors were opened wide.

Averic burst into the room, aghast to see his mother gasping for breath.

“Mother!”

He reached her in a matter of seconds.

“What happened?”

I stepped aside.

“She fell ill after drinking the morning tonic.”

His gaze turned toward me.

“Were you here?”

“Yes.”

His expression became immediately protective.

“Have you called any healers?”

“Yes.”

He looked down at his mother.

"Can you hear me?"

Maevra nodded faintly.

Averic took her hand.

"I'm here."

His voice cracked.

Never had I seen him so scared.

But now his eyes focused on me.

"What did she take?"

I paused.

"The morning medicine."

"Where is it?"

I gripped the small bottle tucked inside my apron.

I couldn't say anything.

Not yet.

He fell to his knees next to her bed, clutching her fragile shoulders as he commanded the guards to call Head Healer Harwin right away.

"Bring Sela too."

The guards dashed away.

Averic glanced at me.

"Tell me exactly what happened."

"She drank the tonic."

"And then?"

"She started coughing."

"Have you given her anything else?"

"No."

His eyes stayed on me.

I could feel the bottle against my leg.

Averic moved closer to me.

"Elaris."

"Yes?"

"Why are you hiding your hands?"

I felt my heart stop.

I let them hang down.

"I'm not."

His eyes narrowed.

Before he asked anything else, Maevra suddenly grabbed his wrist.

"Averic."

He immediately turned.

"What?"

Her voice was very faint.

"Trust her."

His face softened.

"Mother..."

"She knows..."

She gasped.

"She knows what is happening."

Elaris, take my hand; it’s all I have left to whisper: ‘Trust Elaris… she is the only one keeping me alive.’”

Averic stared at me.

His suspicions dissolved.

“I trust her.”

My throat tightened.

Maevra’s fingers relaxed.

Her head drooped back onto the pillows.

“Mother?”

Averic panicked.

“Maevra!”

I hurried to the other side of the bed.

“She has fainted.”

Averic’s eyes darted to the doorway.

“Where is Harwin?”

Someone was running fast towards us.

Then the healer entered.

Harwin immediately started inspecting Maevra.

“Her pulse is dangerously weak.”

Averic stepped back.

“Save her.”

“I’ll try my best.”

Harwin’s eyes turned to the medicine tray.

“Where is the morning tonic?”

I froze.

Averic turned to me.

Harwin noticed my expression.

“Elaris?”

I swallowed hard.

“I…”

The bottle was pressing against my side.

I knew what will follow once I show it to him.

The healer will test it.

And the truth will come out at last.

But if Virelle managed to prepare some other excuse for me…

Doctor Harwin barged into the room, saw how gray-faced Maevra was and asked for the morning medicine bottle—the bottle that was now hidden under my apron!

"Is it the tonic?" Harwin asked once more. "Where is it?"

I couldn't move.

Averic looked into my face.

"Elaris?"

My hand slowly grasped the glass.

"I have it."

Harwin stretched his palm out.

"Give it to me."

I took the bottle from under my apron.

There was a complete silence in the room.

Harwin took it carefully.

He uncorked the bottle and sniffed its contents.

Immediately his face transformed into another expression.

"This isn't the concoction made by my healers."

Averic's gaze hardened.

"What is it?"

Harwin inspected the fluid in the bottle.

"Something else has been added."

My heart throbbed.

Then Harwin became very serious.

"This substance corresponds to the compound which I found in Maevra's previous samples."

Averic looked at me.

"Previous samples?"

Harwin nodded.

"We've been curing the symptoms but did not know the cause."

He stared at the bottle once more.

"Someone has been poisoning your mother repeatedly."

Averic's aura exploded.

"Who?"

Before I could reply, the door burst open.

There stood Virelle.

Her face was pale due to the perfectly planned shock.

"What happened to Luna Maevra?"

Harwin looked at her.

At the bottle.

And then back at me.

The first thing that caught Virelle’s attention were my hands.

“Thought so.”

Averic turned around.

“What did you know?”

Virelle’s voice wavered.

“I saw Elaris take something from the medicine cabinet last night.”

Blood drained from my face.

Harwin’s grip on the bottle grew tighter.

And Virelle continued,

“She has been controlling all the doses Maevra gets.”

The trap was closing around me.