Page 65 of Poisoned Kingdom
‘Master Jagon, there’s a message from the dwarven kingdom.’
‘Later,’ Jagon snapped.
‘But . . . they halved the last delivery and brought nothing this time. The messenger’s threatening to leave,’ the voice insisted.
‘What’s that paranoid bastard up to now?’ Jagon muttered before his footsteps moved away.
I didn’t recognise the speaker from their voice but blessed them with all my heart. After several moments of silence, a door slammed in the distance. Whether it was Irsha’s ploy or a fortunate coincidence, I didn’t have time to spare thinking about it. I patted the surrounding space until my hand landed on the familiar shape of a fae light, and a soft glow soon illuminated the room.
I took a glance around and nearly laughed. Jagon had always left the cleaning to his apprentices, and in a place where only he could enter, the layers of dust were so thick they felt like cat fur. However, his disdain for cleaning had left a small space cleared of dust, giving away where he’d most recently worked.
A small chest sat in the roughly cleaned area, inviting me to open it, and when I did, I smiled at the familiar metal box I found inside. My best poison,Wrath of Lilies, which I’d used to kill Ignac Tivala, still smelled like lilacs. I took a pinch, rubbing it between my fingers, and my aether instantly recognised andneutralised the familiar pattern. ‘I shouldn’t have left you here,’ I muttered, switching the box out with one I’d brought with me—if Jagon ever tried using it as evidence, he’d simply be presenting the court with a costly beauty product.
I was about to leave when my gaze landed on a bookshelf with another clean space in front of a book’s spine, indicating the poison master had withdrawn it often. Out of curiosity, I took the book and let it fall open naturally. It opened to a very stained page detailing an old recipe, and the more I read, the more my eyes widened.
I was holding possibly the only copy ofThe Poisons of Ozar, a book lost centuries ago, before the First Necromancer’s War. Leaving it in Jagon’s possession felt like a crime, but, grinding my teeth, I put it back in its place, rushing out of the workshop.
I returned to the nook I’d used earlier and was immediately accosted by Irsha.
‘Sana, fuck, I thought that bastard caught you. Boyan almost ripped my tongue out for accusing Jagon of incompetence, so I hope you found what you were looking for.’
‘Partially,’ I said, fighting my nervous laughter, ‘though I did find something very interesting. Come on, let’s go back to the House of Lilies. I’ll buy you a beer and tell you all about it.’
‘I can’t,’ he said. ‘But I’ll escort you out of the building. Some of my men were injured today and I need to see them. I’ve been neglecting my duties, and that won’t do, especially with Jagon’s meddling.’
‘Okay, then I’ll see you when I make my official return. Thank you for helping,’ I responded, pulling my hood up and following him back out onto the street.
‘I’ll be ready for the chaos, but in the meantime, be careful,’ Irsha cautioned me as he pulled me into a hug. ‘I’ll be too busy to pull you from the king’s or Jagon’s clutches.’
‘Always,’ I said.
I disappeared into the crowd, unable to stop smiling under the mask. Outsmarting Jagon was a reward in and of itself, but my plans had expanded. One look at the poisons and I’d realised that leaving had been a mistake. I hadn’t found freedom by serving Mlot, or knowledge by attempting to train myself in the art of magic.
I couldn’t be just a mage, or just a poisoner . . . I was both.
If the rules governing our world prevented me from becoming what I was always meant to be, it was time to change them.
Because I refused to choose, and I wouldn’t allow anyone to force me to run away again.
Chapter 24
Reynard
The swell of her hips, the fire in her eyes, her intoxicating scent . . . I hid my face in my hands and groaned in frustration.
Gods, why can’t I free myself of these thoughts?
Even the movement of the curtains in the breeze reminded me of her dress as it had exposed her legs.
I’d had Roksana followed, not that I doubted she’d hold to her oath, but the woman was reckless enough to have gone to the mages and sneak into my bedchamber. In a city like Truso, such impulsiveness could easily end in the icy waters of the river—all it would take was a stealthy knife in a dark alley. Yet, even having my guards track her didn’t assuage the uneasiness I felt.Knowing that she was somewhere in the city, beyond my reach, made me nervous.
Protecting her has become pivotal to my plans. That’s the only reason I feel like this,I reasoned with myself. The voice in the back of my mind scoffed at the thought.
‘What are you doing now, Viper? Getting ready for bed or mixing another concoction to turn someone else’s life upside down?’ I mused. Then, as if on command, an insistent knocking rattled the door.
‘Enter.’
‘Your Majesty.’ The guard bowed, barely coming into the room. ‘We lost her.’
