Page 29 of A Healer's Wrath

I squeezed my eyes shut and drew in a breath, not realizing I squeezed his hand as I did.

“Could you tell how she died? Would your magic tell you that?” he asked, freeing his hand and leaning back.

I wiped a tear from my cheek and met his gaze. “I don’t need magic to know she was poisoned; but yes, my magic also confirmed it. I could See into her body.”

“Really?” He stared. “What did you see inside her?”

I hesitated. I’d treated hundreds of patients, if not more, but I had never seen poison like that. I’d never seen anything like that.

“It looked . . . it’s hard to explain . . . like a blackness seeping through her veins . . . like tar oozing where blood should flow. I know that doesn’t make much sense, but that’s what it looked like.”

“Could you tell what kind of poison it was?”

I shook my head. “I have no idea. It was unlike anything I’ve ever seen.”

“We will need a thorough examination. I believe the Queen would choose you to perform such, were she here.”

I closed my eyes again, and tried to keep my heart from shattering into a hundred pieces. How could they ask this of me? I knew it was my role, and the Queen and I had begun to understand one another, but still . . .

“Whatever the King needs,” I said, unable to think clearly.

Motion brought all eyes to the King as he stood and addressed the Sheriff. “Let the girl go home, Byron. I leave my lady wife”—his words faltered—“in your care.”

The Sheriff bowed toward his King, then said to me, “One of the Palace guards will escort you to the Medica.”

“I’ll be all right—”

He raised a palm. “Tonight, accept our escort, please.”

I curtsied as he motioned to one of the guards and instructed the man to walk me home.

The next day, I returned to the Palace to examine the Queen. I insisted Master Rist accompany me. Despite my rising power, he outmatched me by a lifetime in knowledge and experience. Besides, Rist was a comforting presence, a calmness in the turbulent sea that was the royal court.

The Queen had been poisoned. Of that, there could be no doubt. If what I had seen with my magic was not confirmation enough, the blackening of her tongue we found during our examination removed all uncertainty.

But how?

Royal guards stood watch as the kitchen staff prepared each meal. Every plate set on the royal table passed through two separate tasters, one in the kitchen before the food left, and another outside the dining room. They were kept separate and observed by different guards to eliminate any possibility of collusion.

“Tell me about the dinner,” Rist said as we watched priestesses wrap the Queen’s body in white cloth.

I walked my Master through the evening. He insisted I recount each course, every refilling of wine, every new place setting laid before us. My memory was normally strong, but who thinks to memorize the servings of a dinner?

Then something occurred to me.

“Master, I ate the same food from the same platters, yet I showed no sign of poison.” I stood and paced across the chamber. “I didn’t experience dizziness or quickening of my heart. I showed no signs of perspiration. Those were symptoms I observed in the Queen as she collapsed. She gripped her chest, and when I attended her, her skin was clammy and wet. Now that I think about it, the King suffered no symptoms, either.”

“What are you thinking, Irina?”

“I . . . I don’t know. Why would anyone want to kill the Queen? She wielded significant influence, but the King rules. Perhaps someone tried to kill him and poisoned the wrong glass or plate.”

Rist gripped his chin and tapped a finger against his lips. “Do you think Kelså or one of the other Mages could help us identify the poison? At least that would give us a place to start.”

I sat beside him again, rested my head against the back of the chair, and stared into the ceiling. The thought of seeing Kelså again was pleasant enough, but there was no way to know if she would be the Mage they would send.

The Master was right. We needed help.

With a groan, I rolled my head to look at him. “Kelså taught me how to reach out to her. I’ll try when we get back to the Medica.”