Chapter 7 Poisoned Well
Two days had passed since I shattered the room. Two days of Klaus pushing me until I was trembling, forcing me to hum against glass, against stone, against his own hand, trying to find the "volume knob" on a power that had only ever been a tidal wave.
He was gone now. Summoned by the War Council.
I was alone.
I sat on the wide stone sill of the repaired window, staring down at the dizzying drop to the city below. The smog was thick today, swirling in greasy grey ribbons that obscured the streets. My stomach gave a hollow, painful cramp.
I hadn't eaten since the pomegranate. The blood soup Rook brought made me gag, and the raw meat Klaus insisted on was too rich, too metallic. I was fading. I could feel it in the way my hands shook when I lifted them, in the way the room spun if I stood up too fast.
The lock turned.
I didn't turn around immediately. "I'm not hungry, Rook. Take the tray away."
"Oh, it's not the goblin, darling."
The voice was sweet, cloying, and laced with venom.
I stiffened, gripping the edge of the window sill. I turned slowly.
Lady Vespera stood in the doorway.
She was a vision of expensive cruelty. Her dress was a deep crimson velvet, cut low to show off the diamond choker at her throat. Her blonde curls were piled high, defying gravity, and her lips were painted a blood-red that matched her eyes.
She held a covered silver tray in her hands.
"May I come in?" she asked, stepping inside before I could answer. She kicked the door shut with her heel.
"Where is the guard?" I asked, sliding off the sill. My legs felt weak, but I locked my knees, refusing to show it. "Klaus said no one enters without his permission."
"Peri is busy arguing with generals about supply lines," Vespera said, waving a hand dismissively. She walked to the table and set the tray down. "And the guard... well, everyone has a price. Usually, it’s just a drop of high-caste blood. Men are so simple."
She smiled at me. It wasn't a nice smile. It was the smile a shark gives a drowning swimmer.
"I heard you’ve been having trouble adjusting," she cooed, walking around the table, her fingers trailing over the wood. "Not eating. breaking furniture. acting like a feral beast."
"I'm adjusting fine," I lied. "Klaus is a good teacher."
Vespera’s eyes narrowed at the mention of his name. "Peri loves his projects. He picks up strays—broken things, ugly things—and tries to fix them. It makes him feel noble. But he always gets bored, little fish. Always."
She lifted the lid of the tray.
The smell hit me instantly. It was rich, savory, and smelled like... home.
Roasted sea bass. Crusted with salt and herbs. Steamed kelp. A goblet of clear, fresh water.
My mouth watered so violently it hurt. My stomach let out a treacherous, audible growl.
Vespera laughed softly. "Hungry? I thought so. Rook tries, but goblins don't understand the delicate palate of a Royal."
She pushed the tray toward me.
"Go on. Eat. I brought it as a peace offering. We got off on the wrong foot, didn't we?"
I stared at the fish. It looked perfect. It smelled like salvation. Every instinct in my body was screaming at me to lunge for it, to shove it into my mouth.
But I looked at Vespera’s eyes. They were glittering with anticipation.
"Why?" I asked, not moving. "You hate me. You want my tongue in a jar."
"I do," she admitted shamelessly. "But the Emperor wants you alive. And if you starve to death, Peri gets in trouble. I don't want Peri to be in trouble. I love him, you know."
She picked up the fork and held it out to me handle-first.
"Eat. Prove you aren't just a savage animal."
I hesitated. The hunger was a claw in my gut, twisting and tearing. I took a step forward. I reached for the fork.
Vespera’s smile widened just a fraction.
I stopped.
The smell... underneath the roasted fish and the herbs... there was something else. Faint. Sweet. Like almonds and rot.
"No," I whispered, pulling my hand back.
Vespera’s face hardened. "Don't be rude. I went to great trouble to have this prepared."
"Eat it then," I said.
"Excuse me?"
"If it's safe, you eat a bite."
Vespera scoffed. "I don't eat solid food. It’s disgusting. Dead flesh? Please."
"Then leave." I pointed to the door. "Get out."
Vespera’s mask slipped. The aristocratic poise vanished, replaced by a snarl. She grabbed the goblet of water and splashed it in my face.
I gasped, sputtering as the cold liquid hit my eyes. But it wasn't water.
It burned.
"Ah!" I cried out, bringing my hands to my face. My skin sizzled where the liquid touched, stinging like acid. It wasn't strong enough to melt skin, but it was laced with something—holy water? Silver nitrate?
"You ungrateful little wretch!" Vespera shrieked. She grabbed a handful of my hair, yanking my head back.
I was weak from hunger. I stumbled, falling to my knees. Vespera stood over me, her grip on my hair agonizingly tight.
"You think you're special because he let you wear his coat?" she hissed, leaning down, her breath smelling of copper. "You are nothing. You are fish food. And I am going to make sure you fail that test tomorrow. I will make you so weak you can't even whimper, let alone sing."
She reached for the plate of fish. "Open your mouth."
"No!"
"Eat it!" She grabbed my jaw, her nails digging in, trying to force my mouth open. She shoved a piece of the fish against my lips. "Eat the poison, you stupid cow!"
I struggled, clawing at her wrists, but my strength was gone. The room was spinning.
The door didn't just open. It exploded inward, the heavy oak slamming against the stone wall with a sound like a thunderclap.
Vespera froze.
I looked up through my stinging, watering eyes.
Klaus stood in the doorway.
He wasn't wearing his jacket. His white shirt was rolled up, his chest heaving. He looked like he had run all the way from the War Room. And he looked... demonic.
The air in the room dropped ten degrees instantly. The shadows in the corners seemed to stretch and crawl toward him.
"Vespera," he said.
Vespera dropped my hair. She stepped back, wiping her hands on her dress, her face draining of color.
"Peri!" she squeaked, her voice pitching up an octave. "I... I was just helping! She wouldn't eat! I was trying to feed her!"
Klaus didn't look at her. He looked at me. He saw me on my knees, clutching my face, the red welts rising on my skin where the liquid had burned me.
He moved.
He was a blur. He crossed the room in a blink, stepping between me and Vespera. He grabbed Vespera by the throat.
He lifted her off the ground.
"Klaus!" she gagged, her feet kicking in the air, her hands clawing at his forearm.
"I told you," Klaus whispered, bringing her face close to his. His eyes were no longer blue. They were black voids, consumed by the beast. "I told you what would happen if you touched her."
"Peri... please..." she choked out.
He squeezed. Not enough to snap her neck, but enough to bruise. Enough to terrorize.
"Get out," he snarled. "If I see you near this tower again... I won't kill you. I will strip your title, burn your estate, and throw you into the sun."
He threw her.
She flew across the room, crashing into the hallway. She scrambled up, coughing, terrified, and ran. Her heels clattered on the stone stairs, fading into the distance.
Klaus slammed the door shut.
He turned to me. The blackness in his eyes receded slowly, revealing the sapphire fire beneath. He dropped to his knees in front of me.
"Let me see," he ordered, his voice rough.
He took my hands and pulled them away from my face. He hissed when he saw the burns.
"Vervain water," he muttered. "She laced it with concentrated vervain. It burns magic users."
He ripped a piece of fabric from his own shirt, poured water from a pitcher, smelling it first to check it and place it onto the cloth, and gently dabbed my cheek.
The coolness was a relief. I flinched, but he held me steady.
"I'm sorry," he said. The words sounded foreign in his mouth, clunky and heavy.
"It's not your fault," I whispered, my voice shaking. "You weren't here."
"That is why it is my fault," he corrected sharply. "I am your keeper. I left the gate open."
He finished cleaning my face. His thumb lingered on my cheekbone, just below the burn. His hand was trembling slightly.
"Did you eat anything?" he asked, looking at the tray.
"No. I... I smelled almond."
Klaus stood up. He walked to the tray. He picked up the piece of fish Vespera had tried to force-feed me. He sniffed it.
"Arsenic," he diagnosed flatly. "And siren-bane. Enough to paralyze your vocal cords permanently."
He threw the plate against the wall. It shattered, fish and porcelain raining down.
"She tried to mute me," I realized, a cold chill settling in my stomach.
"She tried to destroy you."
Klaus turned back to me. He looked furious. But also... terrified?
He walked back to me and offered me his hand. I took it. He pulled me up, but my legs buckled. He caught me, swinging me up into his arms.
He carried me to the armchair and sat down, keeping me in his lap.
"What are you doing?" I asked, weak and confused.
"You need to eat," he said. "But you can't trust the food."
"I can't trust anything here."
"No," he agreed. "You can't."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, wrapped package. He unfolded the paper. Inside was a piece of dried meat. Jerky.
"It’s venison," he said. "I cured it myself last winter. It hasn't left my person."
He tore off a piece.
Then, he put it in his own mouth. He chewed it, swallowed it. He opened his mouth to show me it was gone.
"Safe," he said.
He tore off another piece and held it to my lips.
"Eat."
I hesitated. I was sitting on the lap of a vampire lord, in a tower of nightmares, being fed like a bird.
I opened my mouth. I took the meat. It was tough, salty, and tasted like smoke. It was the best thing I had ever eaten.
"Why?" I asked as I chewed, watching his face. "Why go this far?"
He didn't answer immediately. He fed me another piece. Then he reached for the pitcher of water he had used to clean my face. He took a drink first, swallowed, then held the glass to my lips.
"Because," he said, his voice low, his arm tightening around my waist. "You are the only thing in this castle that is real."
He looked at the burns on my face, his expression darkening.
"From now on," he declared, "you eat nothing that I haven't tasted first. You drink nothing I haven't poured. You go nowhere without me."
"That sounds like a leash," I murmured, feeling the exhaustion dragging me down.
"It is," Klaus said. He brushed my hair back, his touch surprisingly gentle. "But it’s a golden one, Nerissa. And right now, it’s the only thing keeping the wolves away."
I rested my head against his shoulder. The wool of his shirt scratched my cheek, but the cold hardness of his body was oddly comforting.
"Vespera will come back," I whispered.
"Let her," Klaus said, staring at the door with eyes of ice. "Next time, I won't just throw her."
I closed my eyes. The hunger was fading, replaced by a strange, heavy warmth. I was safe. For now.