Page 59 of Poisoned Kingdom
His questions made my grin even wider. I’d completely forgotten Sana had placed her freshly cut palm on my face, and judging by Riordan’s expression, the mark she left behind must have been striking. I couldn’t help but tease him a little.
‘We had a little accident. It’s just blood. It will wash off.’
‘Rey.’ The warning in Riordan’s voice matched the anxiousness in his step as he strode forward. ‘I don’t know what that woman did this time, but you’ll tell me, and you’ll do it right now, or I’ll dive so deep into your mind you’ll recall the day you came out of your father’s bollocks!’ Riordan rarely used obscenities, and that, along with a familiar pressure building in my head, made me stop teasing him.
‘Ri, cut it out and make yourself useful,’ I snapped. I knew why he was worried, so I forgave his intrusion into my thoughts. ‘Grab us a drink! It’s time to celebrate.’
He went to fulfil my request while I thought about how to explain the situation and avoid the barrage of questions that would certainly follow. In the end, I chose the simple truth.
‘Roksana witnessed the spasms, and . . . she purged the poison.’
The sound of shattering glass made me sigh. Wine flowed like a red stream on the polished stone floor, saturating the roomwith the scent of fermented grapes and alcohol. Riordan stared at it, empty-handed, shaking as he blinked, his eyes surprisingly glossy, as if he was holding back tears. That wasn’t a good sign, and his questioning hadn’t even started. After a moment, he exhaled, grabbed a bottle of moonshine and poured two generous measures, stepping over the shards before passing me a drink.
‘Talk. And after we’re done, let Ciesko examine you. If she truly did it—’ He stopped, emptying his cup in one gulp while I enjoyed the burning sensation flowing down my throat and observed my friend. Riordan masked his worry well, and only now did the cracks in his mask show me how much he cared.
‘Alright. I will. But I know she did it. The pain is gone, completely gone,’ I said, smiling as he regained his composure.
‘How did that happen? And was that why our poisoner walked out scowling hard enough to frighten a striga?’ he asked, his inquisitorial tone so formal I chuckled, rolling my eyes.
My thoughts drifted to the moment her dress ripped and the mortifying certainty I’d felt that if any guard leered at her, I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from ensuring they never did so again. What had happened next was a blur of rage and pain while her presence, her touch, anchored me, even if her magic had tried to rip my face off.
‘I don’t know how it started, Ri, but I know how it ended.’
With a clink of the glass, he put his goblet aside and leaned towards me. ‘As happy as I am she helped, it was reckless of you to let her do that without a healer by your side.’
‘I insisted she swear a blood oath first. That was my condition for letting her purge the poison.’ I stretched out my hand, letting him see the scar before adding, ‘And she was scowling because I ordered her to work for me and find the man behind Jagon. I wasn’t reckless, but Iwasdesperate.’
That reminded me of another task.
I walked to the desk to draft a short order, calling for a servant. ‘Take this to the captain of the guard.’ I felt Riordan’s questioning look as the man took the letter, bowed, and left. ‘I want her under observation. I want someone watching her at all times, day and night . . . and another set of eyes following that poisonous prick, Jagon—her ex-master.’
‘Why? I’ve confirmed her words.’ The offence in his tone was clear but misplaced. ‘Do you still suspect her?’
‘No, I just want her safe. My gut tells me she’s neck-deep in this mess. Boyan’s shadow returns to the city just as the mystery of the srebrec and a faceless enemy who wants me dead comes to light?’ I sighed, gesturing for him to pour another drink. ‘You know, it was so much easier dealing with this situation when I thought she was just an assassin than now with all this . . . chaos. Roksana is different than what I expected,’ I said quietly.
Riordan looked at me, a frown creasing his face as his magic filled in the gaps I had purposefully left out.
‘Rey, please don’t tell me that out of all the women in the country, you fancy the low-born rogue who almost killed you. Was that why you visited her at night?’
‘No, that was a mistake. I went to her room to test a theory. Remember me asking about aphrodisiacs?’ I said. He nodded. ‘I had her bathed and thought I’d check . . .’
‘And?’ he probed.
‘And there’s no aphrodisiac, no enhancements,nothingthat could explain why her scent is irresistible to me.’
‘You like her?’ Riordan asked, moving closer, but I shook my head.
‘I don’t even know her. It’s just . . . a visceral reaction. Ciesko believes that it’s connected to my family’s wild magic and the injury, but that’s ridiculous . . . right?’
‘Yet you pulled her away from the dwarf when she jumped in to protect him.’
I knew what Riordan was doing. Since he’d become my advisor, he’d also become a mirror for my thoughts. With his magic, I couldn’t lie to him, and it forced me to face the truth, uncomfortable as it was.
‘She was willing to be hurt to protect another man. I didn’t like it.’
Riordan narrowed his eyes, the air around him shimmering. He was working with the aether, and I raised my hand to stop him.
‘No. Don’t peek into my mind. That’s the raw truth. I didn’t like it, and if I understood why, I’d tell you,’ I said, angry and confused because it felt like someone had flipped my world upside down and set it on fire.
