Chapter 46 Belladonna
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-Cave of wonders
A week later
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The woman in black sat on her makeshift thrones as four masked men entered the candle-lit cave. They were part of the king’s court and were supposed to meet him at the southern borders with their troops but they deserted their king under her orders.
” Greetings to my Lady. The King has almost crossed the Fleur River”. The old man among them said, raising their heads from their bow.
” He is so far away from his Queen” The woman chuckled, adjusting her hood. Her eyes and nose were covered but her mouth was exposed, and her exposed red-painted lips curled up into a smirk.
” We have withdrawn our soldiers so he is short of at least three thousand men. If the Barbarians were as strong as they claimed, they would crush the king with ease” The second minister reported, that he sounded much younger than the first man. The news pleased the lady as she kept on smiling. Her plans were going accordingly.
” But after all this, who are we going to enthrone when we finally get rid of the ancestry” The first old man asked all of sudden turning the smirk on the woman’s face to a frown.
” Who else but Lord Talin?” The woman replied, her lips pursed into a thin line. She folded her arms on the table. The tension in the room grew thick, it was hard to gauge the men’s expression due to their masks.
” What? Doesn’t he have the blood of Niamh flowing in his veins? He might not be a direct descendant because his mother is a princess but still… his grandfather was a king blessed by Nati” The third man spoke for the first time. From his tone, he was disturbed by the piece of information.
” Are you suggesting I put a nobody on the throne? He might be the grandson of a king but he doesn’t have any ties to Nati or ancestry” The woman’s voice was calm but there was anger radiating from her. A black mist started surrounding her as her anger rolled out in waves. The sight out fear in the men’s hearts and they stopped arguing altogether.
” Enough of this nonsense. We will discuss this after we are done with our next mission.” She changed the topic, the black mist disappearing.
” Which is?” The men asked.
” Getting rid of the unprotected Queen”
…..
The four walls of the Queen’s chamber felt like a prison. I could feel the air getting thicker as I missed Treven more. I never realized how much I loved him before he left for war, Even though he was a cold and intimidating person, he treated me right, he just had an odd way of expressing himself. I have fallen in love with him without even realizing it and a week after he was gone, I missed him.
My morning sickness had gotten a lot worse as I vomited almost everything that entered my mouth and I wasn’t sure enough to heal people at the temple. I only have Eria and Annalise to keep me company every day, the consorts visit me occasionally too. The hornets were always around, buzzing around the chamber Since he asked some of them to protect me. I was lovesick for the first time in my life.
It sucks but I always pray to Nati and Natalí to keep him safe for me, so I won’t give birth to our child alone. Everything was tiring and it was even worse because there was no news about the war from anyone. I was just stuck in the palace without him.
” Good morning Your Majesty.” Eria greeted carrying a small tray containing my morning tonic. The was a dried persimmon at the side, just the way I love it. Annalise entered immediately after Eria, some maids followed her carrying my breakfast. I need to have my tonic before breakfast else nothing will stay in my stomach.
I couldn’t reply to Eria’s greeting, I only gattered my nightgown and sat on the cushion, I hated the Queen’s chamber, it didn’t feel homely even with all the grand and exquisite decorations. I prefer the slightly bland decorations of Treven’s chamber. It felt like him, my eyes watered at the thought of him again. I pray Nati keeps him safe for me.
Before Eria could come close with the tonic, a single hornet from nowhere stung her all of a sudden making her drop the content as she yelled out in pain. The tonic poured away and I smelt it, the strong sweet scent that invades my deepest nightmare. What in the world?
Annalise opened the curtains wide and light flooded the room. The content of the ceramic bowl became visible. Apart from the spilled brown color of the tonic, the bottom of the white bowl was purplish in color. Eria’s eyes became as wide as saucers as she saw this. She knelt immediately.
” Your majesty… I … Know nothing about this please believe me.” She pleaded, her face became as white as a sheet immediately. I knew she was innocent but who in the world will dare poison me with Belladonna?
” Where did you get this?” I asked Eria trying to be as calm as possible.
” It came from the infirmary, as usual, Your Majesty.” Eria cried.
” Is that?” Annalise gasped.
” Don’t say a word, clean this immediately. Not a word about this to anyone. Do you understand?” Wearing a mask over my expression I commanded.
” Yes, your majesty” Everyone in the room echoed. Some of the maids started cleaning up the tonic from the floor, the poison didn’t spill from the ceramic that much so it wasn’t that dangerous.
The other maids carrying my food proceeded to serve it on the table like nothing happened earlier. Eria was still a ball of nerves but I gave a side eye and she swallowed. She has been a little bit strange from the Eria I know ever since she came back from Ruqgu. There were some scars on her body, and she was a little bit jumpy too. Only Annalise can get emotions out of Eria and I wonder why. I even offered to set her free, so she could set up her own life and stop being a maid but she insisted on staying beside me till the end.
Looking at the array of dishes on the table, I felt a little bit scared to touch them In case there was something else there. I took another look at the four maids and noticed something about them. They were looking anxious, I dropped the spoon and motioned at Annalise.
” Come closer,” She said to the maids after reading my eyes. They all responded immediately.
” Have you eaten?” I asked all of them and they all echoed no at the same time. I picked up the rice bowl and handed it to the four of them.
” Eat this, I’m sure the four of you are hungry. I won’t be able to stomach it anyway” I said with a cheery smile but they all exchanged a look and shook their heads almost instantly.
” How dare you reject her Majesty’s favor?” Annalise said with a raised voice. The four of them knelt down at the same time.
” Please save us your majesty” They pleaded at the same time. My heart sank, Treven left the palace for just a week and my life was being targeted by so many people at the same time. Who is this person? It can’t be Meisi, she is rotting at the ice palace. Who else will hate me so much that would attempt to Poison twice at the same time?
Removing my bracelet, I willed the tears out and it became a whip-like strand, although lighter than the one I used at the temple on the assassins a day before my wedding.
” You will eat that rice or you won’t get out of this room alive,” I said with a cold voice. The four girls looked terrified while looking at my shiny weapon. They had no idea that Natalí’s tears can heal and can also harm but I have the greatest idea about how that works.
One of them collected the bowl and started eating before passing to the second girl. They all passed it around until they finished the meal. Not less than ten minutes, one of them fainted. I faced the three other girls who were still conscious.
” Who sent you?” I asked raising my whip. One of them starts speaking.
” It was a lady, her face and her body was covered in black. She threatened us with our families. She asked me to serve this food to Your Majesty and also switch your morning tonic with the one she gave us. Lady only collected it from us at the entrance, she had no idea that we switched it already. The lady threatened to kill our families if we didn’t obey her” the girl who was confessing cried hard as she held her stomach.
” This is not Belladonna but Sylvanis petals,” Annalise said examining the unconscious girl’s body.
I turned the tears to their fluid form and placed them on the bodies of the four maids to heal them. No, I wouldn’t kill them.
” You will make an Oath not to tell anyone about this incident, when the lady in black asks, tell her that you did what she asked. You will take this secret to your grave” I said staring at their brightened eyes.
” Your wish is our Oath, your majesty” They all chorused at the same time. Whoever this is, should watch out. Just because The king is on the battlefield doesn’t mean his Queen is unprotected. And when I finally lay my hands on this lady in black, I won’t have mercy.