Chapter 17 The Poisoned Cup
Janelle
Three days had passed since Adrian caught me leaving the tower. Three days of him watching me with suspicious, hurt eyes while I pretended everything was normal. Three days of carrying Darius's silver pendant against my skin, waiting for word about Tommy's safety.
"More wine, my lord?" I asked Lord Hartwell, keeping my voice steady despite the tremor in my hands.
He waved me away without looking up from his conversation about grain prices. I moved to the next table, where Lady Margaret held court with several younger nobles, their faces flushed with wine and gossip.
"...heard she was found in compromising positions with not one but two men," Lady Margaret was saying, her voice carrying clear over the music. "Servants these days have no shame."
Heat flooded my cheeks, but I kept my head down and continued working. Let them talk. By tomorrow, I'd either be helping Darius bring down the King, or I'd be dead. Either way, their petty gossip wouldn't matter.
At the high table, King Magnus held court like the predator he was. His cold blue eyes surveyed his domain with satisfaction, occasionally landing on me with a look that made my skin crawl. Beside him, Princess Sophia smiled sweetly at Adrian, who barely seemed to notice her presence. His gaze kept finding me across the hall, burning with questions I couldn't answer.
"Janelle." Mrs. Crawford appeared at my elbow, her face flushed from managing the dinner service. "Take wine to the high table. The King's goblet is empty."
My stomach clenched. Serving the high table meant getting close to the King, and looking into the face of the man who'd ordered my family's death. But I couldn't refuse without causing suspicion.
"Yes, ma'am," I whispered.
I filled a fresh pitcher with the King's favorite vintage, a deep red wine from the southern vineyards that cost more than most servants made in a year. My hands shook slightly as I carried it toward the raised platform where the royal family dined.
The conversations at the high table died as I approached. I felt every eye on me – the King's cold assessment, Princess Sophia's calculating stare, Adrian's burning intensity. Lord Darius, seated as an honored guest, watched me with a carefully neutral expression.
"Your Majesty," I murmured, dropping into a deep curtsy before reaching for the King's goblet.
"Ah, our little forest wanderer," King Magnus said, his voice carrying just enough mockery to make several courtiers chuckle. "Tell me, girl, what exactly were you gathering during your woodland adventures?"
The question hit me like ice water. He knew. Somehow, he knew about the herbs I'd been collecting.
"Just... just common plants, Your Majesty," I stammered, pouring wine into his goblet with trembling hands. "For healing teas and such."
"Healing tea?" His smile was sharp as a blade. "How fascinating. What sorts of ailments do you treat with your... remedies?"
"Minor things, sire. Headaches. Stomach troubles." I set the pitcher down, desperate to escape his piercing gaze.
"And what of more serious conditions?" He lifted the goblet to his lips, and I caught a whiff of something that didn't belong, a bitter, herbal scent underlying the rich wine. "What of conditions that might... permanently resolve someone's troubles?"
My blood turned to ice. That smell. I knew that smell.
Wolfsbane.
"Your Majesty, don't.." I reached for the goblet without thinking.
"Guards!" The King's roar shook the entire hall.
Everything happened at once. The King threw his goblet to the floor, wine and glass exploding across the stone. Chairs scraped as nobles jumped to their feet. Women screamed. Men shouted. Through it all, King Magnus pointed at me with a shaking finger.
"Poison!" he bellowed. "This servant tried to poison me!"
"No!" The word tore from my throat. "I didn't! I would never.."
But guards were already rushing toward me, their armor clanking with each heavy step. I backed away, my heart hammering so hard I thought it might burst from my chest.
"Search her!" Captain Thorne commanded as he strode into the chaos. "Search her quarters! Find the poison!"
"There is no poison!" I cried, but my voice was lost in the uproar.
Strong hands seized my arms, dragging me forward as Captain Thorne examined the shattered goblet. He dipped a piece of bread into the spilled wine and fed it to a small caged bird he produced from somewhere. Within seconds, the bird convulsed and died.
"Wolfsbane," he announced grimly. "Enough to kill a man in minutes."
The hall erupted in fresh chaos. Ladies swooned. Lords demanded justice. Through it all, I stood frozen in the guards' grip, watching my world collapse around me.
"I didn't do this," I whispered, but even I could hear how weak it sounded.
"Didn't you?" King Magnus stepped closer, his face a mask of righteous fury. "You, who gathers herbs in the forest. You, who has been acting suspiciously for weeks. You, who clearly harbors some grudge against the crown."
"What grudge could I possibly have?" The words slipped out before I could stop them.
King Magnus's eyes glittered with something that looked almost like satisfaction. "Perhaps you should tell us, girl. What reason would a simple servant have to want me dead?"
I opened my mouth to deny everything, but no words came. Because the truth was, I did want him dead. I wanted him to pay for what he'd done to my family, to my pack, to all the innocent people he'd murdered. The knowledge must have shown on my face, because his smile grew wider.
"Your Majesty," Adrian stepped forward, his voice carefully controlled. "Perhaps we should investigate further before.."
"Investigate what?" The King rounded on his son. "The evidence is clear. The poison was in the wine she poured. The means and opportunity are obvious."
"But what about the motive?" Adrian pressed. "What possible reason could a servant have.."
"Enough!" King Magnus slammed his fist on the table. "I will not be questioned by my own son about an obvious assassination attempt!"
I saw the moment Adrian realized he couldn't defend me without revealing our connection. His face went pale, his hands clenched into fists, but he stepped back. The look of helpless fury in his blue eyes nearly broke my heart.
"My lord." One of the guards who'd been sent to search my quarters returned, breathing hard from his run. In his hand was a small cloth pouch that I recognized with growing horror.
It was the pouch of herbs I'd gathered weeks ago. The ones I'd been collecting to help the sick servants. But as he opened it and Captain Thorne examined the contents, I saw leaves that hadn't been there before. Dark, serrated leaves that could only be one thing.
"Wolfsbane," Captain Thorne announced, holding up the damning evidence. "Found hidden in her quarters."
"No," I breathed. "Those aren't mine. Someone put them there."
"Of course you'd say that," Princess Sophia spoke for the first time, her voice dripping with false sympathy. "How terrible, to think we've harbored a would-be assassin in our very halls."
"I'm not an assassin!" I struggled against the guards' grip, desperation making me reckless. "I'm innocent! Someone is framing me!"
"Who would do such a thing?" King Magnus asked with mock concern. "Who would benefit from making you look guilty of attempted regicide?"
I wanted to scream that it was him, that this was all part of some twisted game, but I had no proof. Only Darius's word and a document that could have been forged. Only suspicions and half-formed theories that would sound like the ravings of a desperate woman.
"I don't know," I whispered, the fight going out of me. "But I didn't do this."
"The evidence says otherwise," Captain Thorne said coldly. "By royal decree, you are charged with attempted murder of the King. The penalty is death."
The words hit me like physical blows. Death. They were going to execute me for something I didn't do.
"Your Majesty," Lord Darius stepped forward, his voice carefully respectful. "Perhaps a trial would be more appropriate. Give the girl a chance to present her defense."
"What defense could she possibly have?" The King waved dismissively. "The evidence is overwhelming. However, I am a just ruler. She will have a trial. Tomorrow at dawn. After which, she will be executed for treason."
Tomorrow at dawn. Less than twelve hours to live.
I looked desperately around the hall, searching for anyone who might believe me, anyone who might help. But every face showed either disgust, fear, or cold satisfaction. Every face except three.
Adrian looked like he was in physical pain, his jaw clenched so tight I could see the muscles jumping. His hands were white-knuckled fists at his sides, and I could practically feel his need to act warring with his inability to do anything without destroying us both.
Clara stood with the other servants along the wall, tears streaming down her face as she mouthed "I'm sorry" over and over.
And Darius... Darius watched it all with calculating eyes, as if he were filing away every detail for future use.
"Take her to the dungeons," King Magnus commanded. "Let her contemplate her crimes while she awaits justice."
The guards dragged me from the hall as the court erupted in fresh discussion about the shocking turn of events. My feet barely touched the ground as they hauled me through corridors that had once felt like home but now felt like a tomb.
The castle dungeons were everything nightmares were made of. Deep underground, carved from living rock, they smelled of despair and death. Water dripped somewhere in the darkness, and rats scurried away from our torchlight.
They threw me into a cell barely large enough to stand in, with straw on the floor and a bucket in the corner. The iron door clanged shut with a finality that made my knees buckle.
"Pleasant dreams," one of the guards sneered as they walked away, taking their torches with them.
Darkness swallowed me whole.
I sank onto the filthy straw, wrapping my arms around my knees, and finally let the tears come. In twelve hours, I would die for a crime I didn't commit. I would never see Tommy again, never get justice for my family, never tell Adrian the truth about why I'd been meeting with Darius.
I was going to die, and everyone would believe I was a would-be assassin. In the crushing darkness of the dungeon, I pressed my face against my knees and sobbed for everything I was about to lose..