Page 45 of The Thief
“Tapoxon poisoning. It looks as if she is being given small doses, but if they decide to give her one big dose, it will kill her. This antidote will fight off any of the poison that they try to give her and should help rid her of what she has already ingested, but I have no doubt that her vomiting has helped tremendously in that respect.”
He looked up at Bard with a hard stare.
His voice was a hard whisper when he said, “I need you to tell no one about this. No one can know that we have a potential cure for what is ailing her. Do you understand?”
Bard nodded fervently.
“Not even Melody or Ragan?”
Alastair shook his head.
“Not even them. Not until we can find out who is behind the poisoning. I do not want to put Scarlett in any more danger than she already is in.”
Bard nodded.
“Yes, sir.”
“I would like to give it to her now. Come with me upstairs and go in first to make sure that there is no one else in there. If there is, I need you to tell them that they are needed elsewhere.”
Bard nodded again.
Alastair grabbed his emergency medical bag and pulled out a needle, measuring the correct dose out.
He capped the medicine and put it in the same locked drawer as the key from Everett with the other vial that had been sent.
“I believe, sir, that she was meeting with the maids of the house and so she should be finished by now. If there are any maids left, I will be sure to let them know they are needed elsewhere at once.”
Alastair halted what he was doing and looked up at Bard.
“The last maid?” Alastair asked.
Bard had to hold back his laughter at Alastair’s face.
It would not have been quite an appropriate time.
Bard could not remember seeing Alastair’s face ever like this, and he had been around Alastair his entire life.
“Yes, My Lord. She wanted to meet with all the maids and learn their names because of how wonderful they are. I suspect though that she wanted to interview them all and interrogate them without their knowledge. See if she could learn anything from them. If anyone would know something, it would be a maid.”
After Alastair’s run in with that maid and houseboy today, he was certain that Scarlett was correct.
He shook his head with a sigh.
“Let’s go see Her Royal Highness now,” Alastair said, a chuckling Bard following close behind.
Scarlett sighed happily and waved at Olive as she left her bedroom, content now that she had actually spent the afternoon being productive. The house had ten chambermaids, four housemaids, and the housekeeper who oversaw them all. She had spoken first to the chambermaids and it had gone so well that she asked to speak to the housemaids.
When that had been completed, she had spoken to Eloise to tell her what a wonderful staff she had. She of course had beamed at the praise and had reassured Scarlett that her staff was excellent and that she always checked fully into her staff before hiring them.
When Eloise had left, Olive had come back in the room to check on her.
“Do you need anything, My Lady?” she asked.
Scarlett shook her head.
“No, thank you. If I do, I will let you know.”
With a quick curtsy and a small wave, Olive left the room, almost getting knocked over by Bard and Alastair who came to see her. Scarlett’s pulse quickened and her breath caught in her chest, scrambling to set up and make herself look more presentable.
