CHAPTER 28-The Food Poisoning

***Juno’s POV***

There was chaos in the war camp. The food bank had been poisoned, and every single item in the storehouse had gone bad. Not even a single vegetable was spared. The commotion was deafening; everyone was on edge. The officials were scrambling to hold an emergency meeting, but no one could make sense of how this had happened. There were no cameras in the storehouse, so there was no way of knowing who had poisoned everything.

“This has to be an inside job,” Hazel barked, her frustration obvious. “There’s no way someone from the outside could come in and have direct access to the kitchen. Heaven help the person who did this.”

“We need to find out who did this before it gets worse,” another voice added. “First, the shooting during our social night, and now this? This can’t slide. We need answers, now.”

Loki, however, remained silent amidst all the chaos. He was pacing back and forth in his chambers, and his inaction only seemed to make Hazel angrier.

“This isn’t helping, Loki!” Hazel snapped. “You haven’t said a word since the news about the poisoning. Are you just going to stand there pacing around all day?”

“Let me think, Hazel,” Loki cut her off sharply, not looking at her. “Now isn’t the time for your drama.”

“Drama?” Hazel’s voice rose, incredulous. “The only drama happening right now is the fact that our supplies are poisoned, and you’re pacing around like nothing’s wrong?”

Loki stopped and turned, his eyes locked with hers. “What do you want me to do? Start jumping and yelling to show you that I’m panicking? Think for once, Hazel. I’m trying to figure out how we can sustain everyone without food. We don’t have enough supplies to go around, and now they’ve all been poisoned. The students will panic, thinking they’ll starve to death. The council of elders is ignoring our appeals for funding. We need to stay calm, or this whole thing will be a disaster. So for a minute, can I think?!”

His voice was commanding, and it silenced everyone in the room. I had just arrived, having heard the news about the poisoning. The students outside were in a frenzy, and I couldn’t find Loki anywhere. So, I came to check his chambers. When I entered, I saw the tense meeting. Hazel shot me a look, wondering why I was there.

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t know you were in the middle of a meeting. I’ll just come back later,” I said, turning to leave. But before I could, Loki’s calm voice stopped me.

“You can come in. Do you need to tell me something?”

Before I could respond, Hazel’s voice cut through. “Whatever she has to say can wait. We’re in the middle of something important, so tell your novice to leave. This isn’t for beginners.”

But Loki waved me in, and Hazel and Lyla exchanged exasperated looks. There wasn’t much they could do now.

“Tell me,” Loki said, his voice still gentle. “I believe you came here for a reason.”

I cleared my throat, feeling the weight of the situation. “Yes, Commander. It’s just... the situation with the storehouse. Everything’s gone bad, and the only thing left is water to drink.” My voice wavered slightly. I could see that even the officials didn’t know what to do.

“I’m handling it, Juno,” Loki replied calmly. “You don’t need to worry. You can return to your room.”

Hazel jumped in immediately, her voice sharp. “You heard him. Go on, run along!”

But I wasn’t about to be dismissed that easily. I took a deep breath, my voice cutting through the room. “I think I have an idea. A solution that might solve the food shortage in the war camp.”

Everyone turned to look at me, and Loki stopped pacing, his attention fully on me. Even Hazel, who clearly didn’t like me, fell silent for a moment. “What do you think you know?” she sneered. “You don’t know anything. Anything you say will be senseless.”

“At least she’s trying to come up with something reasonable,” Loki shot back. “Unlike you, who’s just been ranting without offering a solution.”

I almost laughed at Loki’s comeback, but now wasn’t the time. I focused on Loki and continued, “Let me speak, please.”

Loki nodded, motioning for me to proceed. “Go ahead, Juno. I’m listening.”

I took a deep breath and began. “The Council of Elders is ignoring us because they know that if they empower us, we’ll become an unstoppable force. We’ve refused to do their bidding—evil things—and they’re afraid of losing their power. That’s why they’ve been denying us all our requests for funding.”

The room fell silent as I spoke. I could see everyone, especially Loki and Collins, processing my words.

“Yes, go on,” Loki said, his voice encouraging. “You’re making sense.”

“It’s obvious now. The elders are the ones behind all the havoc,” I continued. “They want to break us down, make us weaker. But we won’t let them. We need to take our petition directly to the king and lay our case before him.”

Hazel scoffed. “I knew it. She’s going to say something ridiculous.”

Her voice was laced with mockery, and I could feel the pressure mounting. But Loki spoke gently, his tone soft. “Juno, it’s a taboo to appear before the King without going through the Council of Elders. It’s punishable. If we could, we would have done it already.”

I shook my head, refusing to back down. “That’s exactly what the Council wants you to believe. They know you won’t have the courage to go directly to the king, so they’re controlling you this way. But if we go to him directly, they won’t deny us access. The king knows about this camp. If he didn’t approve of it, he would’ve destroyed it by now. Think about it: What if the elders are sending your bills to the king, and when he approves them, they pocket the money themselves? They know we don’t have direct access to the king, so we can’t do anything.”

Collins nodded slowly. “You’re right.”

Loki’s eyes were thoughtful as he processed what I had said. “That makes sense,” he murmured. “Go on.”

“Here’s what we’ll do,” I said, gaining more confidence. “We’ll go directly to the King. When he hears that we’re from the War Camp, he’ll grant us an audience. And when we’re before him, we’ll lay out everything—the poisoning, the lack of supplies—and we’ll demand not only the resources we need but also land to farm. With our own farmland, we won’t have to rely on them for supplies. We’ll grow our own crops and sustain ourselves. The faster we act, the better. The king won’t turn us down. No king ignores a situation like this.”

There was a long pause as everyone absorbed my words. Collins finally spoke up. “But how did you know all this?”

I smiled softly. “My father was a great king.”

As soon as the words left my mouth, I realized my mistake. I shouldn’t have said that. The shock was immediate. I could see it on their faces.

“What?” they all exclaimed in unison.