The Traitor's Daughter (Complete)

Part 26-Zena

 The vast table was laid in the formal dining room, and the guests were seated around it. Zena covertly watched Luke, seated at the head of the table, presiding over the dinner. Princess Leticia, seated to his left, had all his attention. Zena felt a queasiness in her stomach as she watched the duo.

She looked down at the bowl of soup, and her appetite was suddenly lost. She really felt dizziness affect her and wondered if a broken heart was a physical thing. It was so contrary, but now that Luke was no longer interested in her, she felt abandoned and bereft. Was this the end for her then? Would she be relegated to the ranks of the prisoners, being punished for the supposed faults of her father?

Her plate was removed untouched, and another of foie gras was placed before her. People around her were busy eating with gusto. Zena took one look at the dish, clapped a hand to her mouth, and left the table. Most of the diners failed to notice her hasty departure, but the man at the head of the table saw her running away, and his lips curled into a small smile of satisfaction.

Running blindly, she collided with Peggy, coming from the kitchen with a tray of oysters.

"Look where you're going!" she exclaimed, as the oysters flew every which way.

Zena was, by then, too sick to care. She made a beeline for her room, retching violently. A hand patted her back comfortingly.

Zena turned to look at Peggy, feeling too miserable to say anything.

"I'll call Nan," Peggy told her with a reassuring smile.

Minutes later, Nan walked in, a clear look of concern on her face.

"What's wrong, child?" she asked, turning Zena to face her and noting her ashen face. Beads of sweat stood on her forehead, making it clammy, and waves of nausea were assailing her. In front of her eyes, Zena sank to the ground, before she could catch her.

"You aren't with child, are you?" she asked, alarmed.

Zena shook her head.

"I....I....don't know," she mumbled, too far gone to answer coherently.

"Peggy, call the doctor. I don't like the look of this," Nan observed.

"But the oysters...." Peggy started.

"Confound the oysters. The guests can eat lamb instead."

"Come, child," Nan helped her to her feet, and to the bed so that Zena could lie down.

Her pallor was becoming worse by the moment and Nan felt nonplussed. Should she inform Luke? But that was well neigh impossible with the dinner going on. Once the tables were cleared, the guests would return to the ballroom, to savor her excellent mulled wine, while enjoying the magic show.

After an interminable wait, the doctor arrived. He noted Zena's color, measured her pulse, heard the symptoms, and scratched his chin.

With a solemn face, he addressed Nan in a grave voice.

"I think the girl has been poisoned....."

"What!" Nan clapped a hand over her heart. "How can that be possible? Who would do that to her?"

"I can't answer that, but I'm pretty sure that someone has poisoned her. I'll give her something to make her vomit it out, but it is difficult to say how far the poison has worked."

Luke walked out with Leticia on his arm, going back to the grand hall where seats had been arranged for the magic show.

"A magic show! How exciting!" Leticia commented as they took their place on the couch.

Luke smiled at the woman, noting her eyes shining with anticipation.

A few weeks ago, her uncle, Grand Duke Edmund, had sent him a letter, offering an alliance with their kingdom. It wasn't only a military alliance that he wished for but had offered his niece's hand in marriage. Luke was seriously considering it. After meeting Leticia, tonight, he was sure that it would be an excellent idea to join the two states in such an alliance.

"But Zena...." a voice inside him protested, and he quashed it immediately.

What about Zena? She was a traitor's daughter, and moreover, the daughter of a man he abhorred. She had no place in his life, other than pleasing him in bed. She was of no importance to him, and never would be, he told himself firmly, then turned to Leticia, clasped her hand in his, and whispered sweet words in her ear.

The magician pulled out a dove from his hat, and the guests gasped in surprise, clapping loudly. The show went on, with the audience exclaiming in wonder.

Nan made her way into the crowd, dodging portly gentlemen and fashionable ladies, fanning themselves, lest a bead of sweat spoil their looks.

She searched for Luke and found him sitting with the princess, laughing at something she had whispered in his ear.

Nan stood for some time, hesitant to disturb them, then thinking the better of it, squared her shoulder.

"There's an emergency you must know about, Luke," she said to him, keeping her voice barely above a whisper.

"Can't it wait? As you can see, I'm occupied at the moment," he said, irritably.

"But Zena...." Nan started.

"I have better things to do, Nan than bother about Zena...." he snapped at the older woman, then turned back to the woman beside him.

"It's nothing, Princess. Just some minor thing to which I can attend later," he told her.

Defeated, Nan made her way back to Zena's room, her heart feeling heavy. Who could have done such a dastardly act, as to poison that girl? For the life of her, Nan could not think of anyone who stood to gain by doing such a thing. What would be the girl's fate? Would she recover or would it be the end of her?

Nan wiped an angry tear from her eye. Luke had disappointed her tonight. How could he be so heartless, as not to care for her? Had his hate overshadowed every sensibility that he had?

Peggy met her in the passageway.

"Come quickly, Nan. Zena has taken a turn for the worse...."