Waiting in the Dark

𝓉𝓌𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓎 𝑜𝓃𝑒

       I was sitting in my parlor trying to comprehend what the doctor had told me when I heard a frantic pounding on my door. I hurried to my door and flung it open. Abel. His eyes were wild and frantic. Why is it that every time I see Abel, he bears bad news?

       "Things are getting worse! We called an emergency council meeting. You are needed urgently." 

       

       "Our sources tell us that the Keirians have allied themselves with six other human kingdoms. Though Keir is small, their allying themselves with other kingdoms strengthens their armies. They have things we don't:  guns and cannons. Our knives and swords will only be good at close range. They can fend off our armies from far way." Abel explained as he paced around the room.

       "Keir has allied themselves with the human kingdom of Bagara. Their armies are massive and  their supply stockpile is huge. They are the biggest threat. Our spies say that the king of Bagara is leading the efforts the eradicate the fae. If we can get rid of the king, we can weaken their attempts to invade." Abel pointed to a spot on the map. "This is Bagara. It is way to far to get soldiers there. Humans will kill them before they could even make it halfway. We need to get him here, closer to the fae world so we can kill him."

        "I've got an idea." I said, a plan already formulating in my mind. "Send a messenger saying I want to meet with the king. In Keir. Tell him to come as soon as he can."

        "What are you planning?" Abel asked.

         "I'm planning on saving this kingdom and all the other fae kingdoms."

          I held my head high. I could do it. The king wouldn't suspect a girl to be dangerous. Bagara is backwards and old fashioned. They believe women to be weak and naive. But I'm not. I can feign weakness to get close enough to kill  that scheming weasel. I'm strong enough to do it. 

      I placed my hand on my stomach. "Now, what is the king of Bagara's favorite wine?"

       I wove my way through the stalls and carts of merchants in Javaid's palace region. When I finally arrived at my destination, I pushed open the heavy wooden door. The smell of wine hit me and made me feel sick to my stomach. 

       I found a boy filling the emerald bottles with the crimson liquid. I dropped a pouch of gold coins in front of him. Then I placed a small vile of clear liquid down next to it. 

       "If you put this in one of these bottles, you can have that bag of gold."

         He looked up at me with a confused expression. "What is that?" He pointed to the vile.

         "Poision."

        The boy blanched. "Who is it meant for?" 

          "A monster."

                  He opened the bag of coins and peered inside. Resolve settled on his face. The boy hesitantly took the vile and poured it into the nearest filled bottle. He placed the cork in and sealed it tight. He handed me the bottle "Good luck, your majesty."

         I hoped that the king wouldn't suspect the bottle of wine to be poisoned if he opened the bottle himself. 

       Hope. This plan was built on hope and luck and chance. Hope that the king would be stupid enough to think a girl couldn't hurt him. I hoped I was lucky enough to get close enough to kill him. The poison was only meant to slow him down, to make him weak and slow his reaction time. 

        This had to work. It had to.