Chapter 204
Every day for the following three days went by in a painful wait. Keliana was better in the morning and worse in the evenings. They’d get their hopes up daily, thinking it would be the day she would get better, but she only got sicker, her meals making her ill. On the fourth day, Liv noticed a change.
Liv made her way into the house from taking a walk when she saw Tiana holding a teacup.
“Hey, I thought Keliana only had tea at night?”
Tiana nodded, not meeting her gaze. “She does, but her stomach has been bothering her so much in the evenings, I felt tea was a better way to start the morning than a heavy meal that could hurt her raw throat.”
Liv nodded. That made sense, but why then did Tiana look so… guilty?
By midmorning, Keliana was sick earlier than usual. She could barely move and looked worse than the previous day. Liv worried the tea had the opposite of a calming effect. She decided she’d tell Tiana to skip it that evening and see if the lack of whatever she made the tea with would help ease Keliana’s stomach.
She wished she had some chamomile and honey. She bet that would soothe Keliana’s stomach more than whatever Tiana had given her.
She had just gotten dressed after taking a shower when she found Tiana in the kitchen making tea again, the medicine dropper in her hand.
“Liv!” Karel yelled out before she got a chance to say anything to Tiana.
Tiana dropped the bottle in her haste to close it. A few stomps later and Karel was in the kitchen. “Oh, Tiana, there you are. Let’s get you to the guest quarters. It’s going to storm shortly.”
Tiana glanced around, searching for the dropper that had fallen. Liv frowned, watching the other woman closely. Why was she so flustered?
Tiana whirled around and nodded. “Let me just—”
“No time. If we don’t get you there now, you’ll be stuck here. Liv will take Mother her tea. Come on,” he said, guiding her to the door.
She gave Liv a final frantic look before heading out with Karel.
Liv glanced around the kitchen, getting down on her knees and looking for the dropper. Something strange was going on. Tiana’s fear had been real. Liv might not be a shifter to sniff distress, but she saw it in Tiana’s face. She reached into a small opening between a cabinet and icebox and felt the tiny bottle at her fingertips.
She wiggled her fat little fingers farther into the hole and tried not to think about insects that could be living there. The bottle finally came within reach. She hauled the little dropper out of its hiding spot and sat back on her heels.
She was surprised to see an English pre-printed label on the bottle.
Arsenate.
Why did that sound familiar? She sat on a chair, staring at the small bottle. She opened it and sniffed. Nothing. No smell. The liquid inside was clear, but something told her this wasn’t good.
She thought back to a conversation she’d had with Aurelis at the bakery a while back.
“Did you hear about that woman who killed her husband? The baker? She gives us all a bad name.”
“I don’t think I did,” Liv said, eating a cupcake. “What did she do?”
“She put arsenic in his coffee every day which killed the man slowly.”
“How did they figure it out?” she asked, no longer interested in the cupcake.
“The man’s son was studying medicine and found a bottle with arsenate. That’s another name for arsenic. If he hadn’t found it, everyone would have thought her husband was just dying from stomach issues like the doctors said.”
Liv frowned. “But wouldn’t that show in a test? Or in an autopsy?”
“If you’re looking for it. But given in small doses, you can kill someone and the world wouldn’t know.”
Oh, shit. Tiana was poisoning Keliana! She had no idea how Tiana had gotten her hands on an Earth poison, but she was sure she was using it for the worst purpose: to kill Karel’s mother.
When Karel returned a few minutes later, she was sitting at the table staring at the small bottle.
“Liv.”
She looked startled. How had Karel gotten back so quickly? She had been so lost in her thoughts, she hadn’t heard him return.
“I’ve called your name three times, babe. What’s wrong?” He sat next to her and peered into her eyes.
She wasn’t sure what to say. How did she explain what she thought? “How much do you know about Tiana? How was she chosen to help your mother?”
Karel frowned in puzzlement. “Why the questions about her suddenly? Has she offended you or done something to slight you? The storm is bad, she most likely won’t be back until the day after tomorrow.”
Liv sighed. She had to tell him, but didn’t know him well enough to gauge how he would act. If she waited a bit longer, then the storm would be in full effect and he wouldn’t be able to go after the murdering nurse. She just hoped the storm would last long enough for her to calm him.
“You mentioned she came from the castle to help your mom with her, right?”
“Yes, that is what I was told. Why? What is going on, Liv?”
She didn’t have to sense his moods to see the confusion and worry slowly multiplying with each question.
“Promise me you won’t do anything tonight.” She knew her words didn’t make sense, but it was all she could think to do.
“Liv, what is going on? Tell me what is wrong, I can’t fix it if you don’t tell me.” Karel sighed. “Fine, if that’s what it takes to get you to explain, then I promise not to do anything tonight.”
Liv grasped Karel’s hand and held it tight. “There is no easy way to tell you this, so I am just saying it.” Liv took a deep breath for courage. “Your mother is being poisoned.”
“What in the hell are you talking about? We don’t have poisons here.”
Liv could feel his anger like a living, breathing entity filling the room. “I saw Tiana putting drops in your mother’s tea. She said it was medicine and I didn’t think anything about it, to be honest. But tonight when you came into the kitchen, you startled her and she dropped this.” She held out the small bottle and waited for him to process its meaning. “Do you know what that is?”
Karel stared at the bottle without saying a word.
“On Earth the more common name is arsenic. It’s slow acting and nearly untraceable. It’s colorless and odorless so nobody would know they were ingesting it until too late.”
Karel stood and roared in anger. Liv jumped up and stopped him as he headed for the door to confront Tiana. “You promised to wait before acting. If you confront her now, you will kill her in your rage and we won’t get any answers.”