Page 55 of Poisoned Empire

Selene cowered, curling into a shivering ball, eyes wide with terror.

“I’m sorry! I’ll be quiet! Please don’t hurt me!”

“Don’t scream at her!” Iliana shot back, putting her arms around her friend.

“Your Royal Highness, to the best of our abilities, we’ve determined that Selene believes herself to be five years old,” Marduk said to a bewildered prince. “This occurred after she ate a large quantity of white flowers from one of the late empress’ gardens. Given this prolonged state, we’d hoped that either yourself or the emperor might know something about this particular poison.”

“She’ll recover,” the emperor replied, pained.

“When?” Iliana asked.

“Given her tolerance to all manner of substances? A few hours maybe.” The emperor had a haunted look as he gazed at Selene.

“How do you know this?” Belisarius asked, suspicious.

“Another time, Belli.” He shook his head. He knelt before Selene, his eyes soft. “Dear girl, don’t pay too much attention to that loud boy. No one is going to touch a hair on your pretty head. If you’d like, I could tell you some of the very best bedtime stories in the whole empire.”

“You promise?”

“I promise.”

Iliana wasn’t sure why the emperor would have known about the poison, but she was grateful. She would have to wait and see if Selene recovered. For now, she allowed herself some optimism.

Chapter 20

Itwaseasilytheworst headache Selene had ever experienced. Confused by shifting dreams of warmth and horror, she woke groggy and uncertain. War drums were beating in her head, made worse by the expectant, hopeful, terrified looks of the gathered crowd. If only she could hide in a dark, quiet place. But the sun’s glaring rays bored mercilessly into her eyes like a hundred tiny lances. The glares of the praetor, strategos and prince competed for piercing potential.

“The fuck is going on?” she moaned.

“Thank the gods, she’s normal!” Iliana smiled and hugged her.

“Celebrate in whispers!” Selene hissed.

“What do you remember?”

“Leaving the ballroom? Did we get into a bar fight? Please tell me we fleeced someone out of some gold.” Nothing else would make up for her aching head.

“No, you went looking for those white flowers in order to-”

Selene launched herself from her makeshift bed and pressed her hands across Iliana’s mouth, pounding head be damned. There was simply no way she would allow any of these men to know what she was about, least of all the prince. At least he was back to glaring. Perhaps she needn’t seek out those flowers after all.

Why were her hands so sticky?

“Not another word, dear friend.”

Iliana’s blue eyes were all mischief. This boded ill.

“But don’t you want to know what you did after you ate those flowers?”

“I’m sure these esteemed gentlemen have better things to do with their time than listen to our antics, don’t you?” Selene warned.

Her heart sank when Iliana’s smile deepened. Gods below, had the prince seen her in some embarrassing daze? For some reason, the idea was unsettling.

“Oh, these esteemed gentlemen were full witnesses to your antics. No need to be shy.” Belisarius had a look of unholy glee in his dark eyes. A mortified scream was trapped in her throat.

“Those flowers had you convinced you’d become your five-year-old self. We spent the night entertaining a toddler until you passed out,” Iliana replied cheerfully. “I hope this teaches you a lesson in not putting strange things in your mouth.”

Selene only just stopped herself from sneaking a glance at Belisarius. She didn’t care what he thought. Nope. Not in the slightest.

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