Everybody turned their heads towards the old physician. He was hunched over against the edge of the table, his eyes half-shut, motionless underneath his huge robe.
It appeared as though Jerrem had not heard a single thing. Katryna could not help but smirk.
“Jerrem!” Rowan shouted, slamming a fist on the table. The old man nearly jolted from his chair.
“Yes, yes, yes, sorry, my lord.” Jerrem cleared his parched throat, tightened his robe, and began to speak slowly. “Last month, our beloved Queen Mira passed away most suddenly. May the Creator watch over her in the æther for all time to come. Only one night previous, she had come to me, suffering with terrible vomiting, a fever, and strange splotchy bruises on her skin. I knew not what had afflicted her. Assuming it was food poisoning, I gave her a remedy to quell her symptoms.”
“And the next day, she was dead,” Rowan said bluntly. “Vomited up so much blood that she choked on it.”
Katryna spotted Ellene hiding her face as she wept with quivering lips. No matter how cold Ellene and Hectar appeared to be, Katryna knew that they loved their sister and were grieving her loss.
“I had seen her only the day before,” Aunt Rashel said, shaking her head in bewilderment. “It all happened so fast.” Finn was sitting next to her. He held her hand tightly. Katryna could see he was upset as well.
Finn loved mother, but only because he was spared from her cold heart.
“Do we know what my sister had eaten for her previous meal?” Hectar asked. “Perhaps it was not thoroughly cooked.”
Ser Arthus stood up. Katryna assumed that he had been charged with investigating the circumstances around Mira’s passing.
“King Giliam and Queen Mira had had a private supper with two diplomats from Ember. Lamb chops with potatoes, onions and beans, bread with honey, an assortment of fruits, some wine. I spoke with the cooks and the servers. The lamb was only slaughtered that morning. We have the food tested in the kitchens before serving it to the royal family. As far as I know, no taste tester was afflicted with food poisoning, nor the king or the diplomats.”
“And the wine?” Finn asked.
“A bottle of Red Passion from a renowned winery, one of the finest from the Midlands. Shared by all at the private supper.”
Jerrem continued. “Upon the Queen’s passing, I requested that King Giliam give permission for my physicians and I to examine her body to find the cause of death. He respectfully declined to give permission.”
“He was in mourning. He did not want mother’s body defiled. None of us did,” Rowan said. Ofelia gently reassured her husband with a hand on his shoulder. “So, we had mother cremated, as is tradition.”
“And, as we know, within a day of our Queen’s cremation, the King fell gravely ill. He too was afflicted with violent sickness and a terrible fever. I immediately took him into my private care and alerted Prince Rowan and Ser Arthus at once.”
“Since then,” Rowan said, “Castle Bower has been sealed shut. The chamberlain and the Infinity Guard have seen to that. No one has been let in or out, except on vital business.”
“Like hunting, you mean?” Katryna asked sarcastically, looking judgingly at Rowan’s hunting gear.
Everyone in the room fell silent once again, eyeing Rowan. His clothes were still stained with dirt and dried blood.
“You should have been with father this whole time, not out gallivanting after some helpless animal,” Katryna said.
Rowan burst out of his chair. “Gallivanting? You have no idea-”
“Enough, the pair of you!” Aunt Rashel ordered. “Have some respect, for your father’s sake. He lays dying while you two quarrel like a pair of children.”
Katryna rubbed her eyes. Her head was pounding. “I’m sorry, Aunt Rashel. It’s been a long trip, and I’m in a foul mood.”
“Emotions are high. Do not let them get the better of your judgement, either of you. Enough is enough.”
“Perhaps we could move this along so I can get some rest?” Katryna asked.
“Look, the point we are trying to make to everyone is that no one is safe, at the moment,” Ser Arthus explained. “The Infinity Guard and I can only do so much to protect you, and believe me, we are. We have locked down the bailey and all of Castle Bower. We have questioned the diplomats from Ember, the cooks, the servers, the maids, the physicians. We are investigating every possible lead. However, based on what has happened it appears that someone has assassinated Queen Mira and poisoned King Giliam with the intent of killing him.”
Hearing the truth of it all was a shock to Katryna. She had suspected something suspicious, but to hear it so plainly made it much more real, and much scarier.
Assassinated?!
The room fell silent as a sombre cloud infiltrated the minds of everyone seated at the table.
Eyes darted from one person to another. Eyes everywhere.
None of us are safe.
Chapter 7 - New Company
Rilan had a rough night’s sleep. He was cursed with nightmares of mud, blood, and the distant echoes of screaming. In his He was running across a battlefield of black, surrounded by thousands of smoky shapes fighting one-another in a maelstrom of madness.
Rilan chased after Tomas, who was bolting away in terror. His hand was throbbing in pain. He tried to scream after his friend, but felt blood dripping his lips instead of words.
Rilan continued to run, sputtering and spitting blood with each gasp he took.
Tomas needed his help, but no matter how hard he willed his muscles to run, Rilan could not catch his fleeing friend.
Finally, with all his might, Rilan let out one last scream. “Tomas!” The words rung through the air like a bell, and Tomas stopped in his tracks,
