Page 13 of Poisoned Kingdom
‘I’ve withdrawn the stasis spell. He’ll awaken soon,’ came a voice from the darkness. My consciousness latched on to those words, along with the thumps and squeaks of a moving wagon.
‘Let’s hope so. Just pray we still have a king when he opens his eyes. The wild magic saved his life, but if the berserker controls him . . .’ answered another voice, more mature and obviously exhausted.
‘It’s Reynard you’re talking about. Nothing controls him but himself.’
Lucidity dawned and I realised it was Riordan defending me, but I knew the other man was right. The berserker’s rage usually manifested when one was a child. As old as I was, I wasn’t sure what it meant for me. If I lost control, who could stop me from killing everyone?
‘It’s been three days. Rey needs to be conscious before we arrive in Truso. The next session of the Royal Council is three days from now. With your help, I can hold them off, but the old guards must at least see him walking into the palace.’ Riordan was adamant, but all that was on my mind was the realisation that my nightmare hadn’t been in my imagination. It had really happened.
The woman’s face filled my mind. I searched through my memories, wondering if I’d missed something. The scene looked so real. The men, the chase, and her bruises weren’t fake. Yet the men had fought like assassins, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they were marked by the Brotherhood just like her.
Was she there to lure me in, or had I just interrupted their leisure? But her screams . . . those werereal. Ugh, but if theywerereal, why would she attack me? Fuck, nothing makes sense.
Logic failed me, and the more I analysed the situation, the more my thoughts spiralled until a cold, wrinkled hand landed on my cheek, soothing the pit of hell that used to be my face.
‘Welcome back, Your Majesty,’ Ciesko said, and I opened my remaining eye, blinking until the face before me became recognisable.
‘How bad is it?’ My question was barely a groan, the words mangled by pain when he removed his hand.
‘You’ll live, but . . . there were complications,’ the healer said, propping up the pillow behind me when I tried to rise.
‘Of course,’ I said, muttering a curse. ‘What kind? And can you do something about this pain? It’s hard to focus when it feels like there’s a spike being hammered into my skull.’
‘I’ve had some difficulty healing you. Whoever made this poison was a mage—or working with a mage. I cleansed the toxins, but certain components that have saturated your flesh have an anchor that has resisted my magic, so I’ve isolated them with a lattice of aether. Once we’re in Truso, I’ll send for someone skilled in purging. Maybe they can help.’
Ciesko glanced to the side, and I followed his gaze to see an exhausted Riordan slumped on the bench wearing a concerned frown.
‘Maybe?’ I grunted, considering the implications of what had happened. ‘And if they can’t?’
‘The lattice won’t hold forever, sire. When it fails, the consequences will be severe, but we have several specialists in Dagome with an affinity for poisons, and there’s always the light-fae healers.’
I shook my head. With several open border disputes, informing the light fae that the king of Dagome was injured and barely able to rule was out of the question, at least for now. ‘How much time do I have?’
‘Months, more likely years. No need to worry, sire.’
Ciesko’s answer didn’t frighten me. If anything, it brought me peace knowing that I had time to secure my country.
‘Did our men at least find any clues about who she was?’ I asked, trying to find something I could control.
‘The bodies you left behind were Brotherhood members. We also found this,’ Riordan said, passing me an object wrapped in cloth, ‘next to your cloak.’ The bundle was shaped like a dagger, but when I unwrapped it, a small, bloody hairpin with a viper’s head fell onto the wagon floor. Its tip was broken, revealing a hollow blade.
Are dwarves in on this, too?I wondered. The item was a prime example of dwarven craftsmanship, similar to the fang blade favoured by alchemists.
A viper-shaped hairpin. Such a little thing to have brought me to my knees. How fitting.The woman herself was a viper, a beautiful creature from the forest and equally deadly. She would pay for this, even if her actions had earned her my reluctant respect. She’d gotten closer than anyone to ending my life, and for that alone, I would grant her the rare courtesy of letting her explainwhybefore I drew my blade.
You’ll rue not finishing the job, Viper. There’s nowhere in Dagome you can hide, and not even the mightiest of noble houses will shield you from me.
‘Fuck.’ I grasped Riordan’s arm as I realised something. ‘The council will want an explanation for my missing eye. Find me an excuse for it, before those idiots use it to harry me like a pack of wolves facing a wounded stag,’ I said, gesturing to my face.
My return to the capital half-blind and incapacitated would be the perfect opportunity for those who loathed the changes I had made to retaliate. And there was another issue: Who was the traitor in my ranks? Had rolling out my banner been an honest mistake, or a deliberate message letting my enemies know where to find me? Anything seemed possible now.
Anger contorted my features further when I noticed Riordan’s fingers dancing through the air. Without the second sight, Icouldn’t see the aether, but judging by my fury—and his reaction—I’d bet he was drawing a sigil to contain me.
‘I’m fine,’ I snapped, inhaling deeply. ‘Find me an eyepatch to wear so that people don’t retch when they see my face. And call the captain of the guard over,’ I said, sitting up and trying to get used to my new, altered vision. Everything looked so different, and whenever I moved my head, a wave of nausea left me gasping.
A moment later, a veteran with a brutish face lifted the tent flap and climbed into the slow-moving wagon.
‘You wanted to see me, sire?’
