Page 10 of The Study of Poisons
Boys.Valek almost laughed. He was thirty-three years old, and Ambrose was forty.
“And you don’t listen to me,” she added.
“Then you should have become an adviser and not a housekeeper.”
“Not this again.” She waved her dust mop at him. “I don’t want my advice to backfire, and someone ends up getting killed because of me.”
“This should be an easy job for you,” Valek said. “You just let the other servants know you’re unhappy. That the Commander doesn’t pay you enough. Eventually, someone will approach you and ask if you’d like to earn more money.”
“But I’m not—”
Valek held up a hand. “You say yes, and I will supply you with the information to sell. Most of it will be accurate, but not that critical. And some of it will be disinformation.”
“What if they find out I’m a spy?”
“I’ve a few others in Star’s organization that will alert me if Star is starting to suspect you. In that case, you stop. I won’t endanger you.”
“If you have others, then why me?”
“They’re not in your position. And some aren’t supposed to have any connection to the castle. Using them would be too suspicious.”
“And the money I earn from selling secrets?”
“Keep it, you’ve earned it.”
“It’s dirty money!”
There was no pleasing the woman. “Then give it to me. I’ll use it in another operation that catches criminals.”
“Well…it’s better than babysitting rats.” She caught Valek’s expression before he could hide it. “You’re still going to ask me to do that too, aren’t you?”
“Only because I trust you.”
Now she pished. “Fine, I’ll be your leak. But make sure the Commander knows what I’m doing.”
“I will,” he promised. “Let me know when you’re approached, and we’ll figure out what juicy bits of information to sell them.”
She grunted in agreement and proceeded to dust and tsk over the state of his office.
* * *
Over the next two weeks,Valek trained Yelena in the mornings. He noted her improved health with pleasure as the gauntness dropped from her small frame. Only about five feet four inches tall, she still appeared as if a stiff breeze could knock her over. He had slowed the training schedule to allow her to be fully recovered from her time in the dungeon before starting on the actual tasting the poisons. However, he ensured she learned the five S-steps of food tasting—scan, sniff, sample, stir, sip—that would improve her chances of surviving.
Waiting wasn’t something he had done with the others. Was it due to his curiosity about her past, or her quick intelligence, or because of her beautiful tan skin and emerald-green eyes?
He jerked his thoughts from that dangerous speculation. She was fourteen years younger than him. And besides, his loyalty remained with the Commander. No other.
When the Commander reminded him about the execution scheduled for day fifteen of the hot season, Valek decided he would start training Yelena’s palate the day before the execution. The first poison should knock her out for a couple days so she wouldn’t have to witness the hanging. She also wouldn’t accidentally encounter any of General Brazell’s people before Valek had a chance to examine Brazell’s state of mind over her reprieve.
On the morning of their fourteenth day of training, Yelena arrived with the sun, and he told her it was time to taste poisons.
“I’ll start with the deadliest one,” he said. “If you don’t die from it, the other poisons wouldn’t kill you either. I don’t want to waste all my time training you only to see you die in the end.” He kept his tone neutral, as if her dying would inconvenience him. However, a buzz of anxiety thrummed under his skin as he placed a slender red bottle on his desk.
“It’s nasty. Affects the body immediately.” It was one of his favorites. “It’s called Have a Drink, My Love, or My Love for short because the poison has a history of being used by disheartened wives.” He used a pipette to squeeze two drops into a cup of tea. Yelena liked tea and it would dilute the poison a bit. Valek worried that two drops might be too strong for her. “A larger dose would kill you. With a smaller dose, there is a chance you’ll survive, but you’ll become delusional, paranoid, and completely disoriented for the next few days.”
“Valek, why do I have to taste My Love if it has immediate results? Isn’t that what a food taster is for? I taste the Commander’s food. I keel over, dead. End of the tale.” Yelena paced the room. Well, she tried. The number of obstacles must have frustrated her. She kicked over a couple stacks of his books.
He’d thought she would have figured out the reasons for the training on her own during the last two weeks. “A food taster’s job is much more complex than that,” Valek explained. His hair swung into his face, and he yanked it back in annoyance. It really needed to be cut. “Being able to identify which poison taints the Commander’s food can lead me to the poisoner.” He handed her the cup of tea. “Even if you only have a split second to shout out ‘My Love’ before passing out, it will narrow down the list of suspects. There are several assassins who are partial to My Love. The poison is grown in Sitia, the southern lands. It was easy to obtain before the takeover. With the closure of the southern border, only a handful of people have enough money to purchase it illegally.”
