Stars of the Sea

Poison

"It's not as if she can kill someone in a party full of witnesses," Samirah said. "We'll have to keep an eye out for slow-working poisons though–that goes for you too Bella."

"Why would she kill me?" Bella scoffed.

"You seem to forget you're a princess," Samirah said.

"In name only," Bella said.

"You have money and power," Samirah said. Bella scoffed.

"Power to do what?" Bella asked. Samirah rolled her eyes.

"Deny it all you like, you have power," Samirah said. "Denying you have it just prevents you from using it." Bella rolled her eyes and slouched back. On the other bench of the carriage, Adar was sleeping with a shawl over his legs. Bella thought he stole it from Samirah, but she wasn't sure.

"Anyway, don't eat anything you don't see the hostess eating," Samirah said. She kicked the side of the carriage to wake Adar up. "Hey! This is important."

"Unless it is very life-threatening, let me sleep," Adar said.

"It is life-threatening!" Samirah snapped. Bella tucked her feet up under her and stared out the window while Samirah explained the importance of not getting poisoned. Adar rolled his eyes and took a small book out of his pocket.

"I'll be fine," Adar said. He held his pen between his teeth as he looked over a word puzzle. "Bell, what's a synonym for overprotective, seven letters?"

"Samirah," Bella replied. She looked anxiously to see if the joke was taken well, but Adar was laughing and even Samirah was smiling.

"When you drink poison, you'll be wishing you had listened to me," Samirah said to Adar.

"When I drink poison I'll be dead," Adar replied.

"So don't, because I'll be out of a job," Samirah replied.

"I don't think the crown wants Adar dead," Bella said. Samirah turned to stare at her. Under the weight of her gaze, Bella cringed. No one paid this much attention to her. It felt strange. "They want the riches of Zillah, and they can't get them if he's dead."

"How will they get them if I'm alive?" Adar asked.

"I do not know," Bella said. It was easier than saying, yes, my grandmother wants me to marry you, and it's clear that neither of us wants that and I would rather throw myself into the ocean or if that happened you would actually go and drink poison.

Bella thought that they got the idea.

"Bella, you should visit Zillah one day," Samirah said. "Soon."

Ah, Bella thought. You think that I am in danger. You want to get me out of here. Perhaps Bella was, with the invitation that the countess had personally given her in her pocket, an upcoming mission. Still, there was a voice at the back of her head that told her that Mira wouldn't hurt her.

Bella was probably just losing her mind.

"Samirah, do you not realize you could be a target?" Adar asked. Samirah scoffed.

"A guard?" she said.

"A trusted guard," Bella added, but she knew that the bond between Adar and Samirah had gone beyond just trust. It was one of the reasons Adar would never marry Bella.

"We're almost there," Samirah said, to change the subject. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked away.

The carriage pulled up to the estate, Eveningside.