Deserter

EIGHT

{Chapter Triggers: mentions of injuries, mentions of a weapon, mentions of tending injuries, allergies to medication, poison and discussion of a substance's effects. Those are all I can think of/figure out from reading through the chapter, I apologize if I missed any and feel free to inform me.}

"I assume from Sir Roman's most flattering look of genuine hatred that you haven't found out who poisoned the king?" Anxiety propped his head up on his hand, sitting cross-legged on his cot.

"It wasn't you, was it?" Patton asked. It sounded like nothing more than a formality to Roman.

Anxiety scoffed. "Of course not. Even if I could fit out that window, I've never been a climber. And there were men guarding me all night. Not to mention that you were here."

"I was." Patton smiled. "And speaking of..."

He pulled the key-ring from his pocket and walked over to the door of the cell.

"What are you doing?" Roman demanded.

"Checking my patient's bandages. Away from the door please, Anxiety." Patton chirped.

"I'm not moving." Anxiety shrugged, leaning back against the wall.

Patton stepped into the cell, then deftly pulled the door closed and locked himself in.

"You're a madman," Roman muttered. He really wasn't sure anymore if he was addressing Patton or just passing judgement from afar.

"Shirt off, please." Patton motioned for Anxiety to sit up. The man grunted and tugged off his tunic.

Roman raised his eyebrows, surprised. "What happened to you?"

"I tripped on your over-shared opinion."

Roman growled and moved one hand to his sword, loosening it in his scabbard.

Patton tapped the top of Anxiety's head lightly with two fingers. "Play nice."

He set his medical kit on the edge of the cot and began to unwind the bandages around Anxiety's side gently.

Roman watched quietly for a minute, then took a seat in one of the little chairs that was in the visitors area of the tower room.

"Let's say we trust you when you say you're here to help the king..." He said slowly, eyeing Anxiety. "What would you tell us?"

"Lord Deceit sent one of his top assassins, with a group of trained men. Their plan is to break into the castle and do as much damage as possible before killing Thomas- Ow, Patton!"

Patton winced sympathetically and shook his head, moving his fingers away from the bruise on Anxiety's side. "Sorry. I just needed to see how deep it was... Hold still." He picked up a small jar from his medical kit and opened it.

"What is that?" Anxiety asked, recoiling a little bit. "It smells horrible."

"It doesn't- hang on, you can smell it?" Patton frowned.

"You can't? It's disgusting!"

"Well I'm not using that then." Patton shook his head and put the jar back down. "Are you by any chance allergic to Blackvine?"

"No..."

"Hmm. Usually people who dislike the smell of that salve are allergic to what's in it. Regardless, I shall use something else."

As he gently applied another salve to the bruises on Anxiety's side, the tower door opened. Roman stood up as Logan walked into the room.

For a moment everyone was silent. Patton didn't look up, keeping his attention on his work. He re-wrapped Anxiety's side with fresh bandages, then handed the man his shirt and turned to face his colleagues on the other side of the bars.

"I believe I owe you an apology, Patton." Logan said stiffly.

The healer shrugged, smiling. It looked a little stiff to Roman.

"Water under the bridge, Logan. Did you find anything in Doctor Picani's quarters?"

Logan held up a small vial. He had it in a handkerchief, keeping it from touching his skin.

"It's half-empty, we found it under the corner of his bed. It seems to have fallen there while he was packing, and given the speed with which he seems to have departed, that would be unsurprising."

Patton nearly leapt out of his skin when Anxiety spoke, standing right next to him at the bars.

"Could I see that?"

Logan eyed the man warily, and Anxiety rolled his eyes. "It isn't as if I'm going to drink it. I just want to see it."

"Just give it to him, Logan." Patton shook his head.

The strategist sighed and handed the vial between the bars, offering it to Anxiety in a way that would allow him to take the fabric wrapping around the bottle.

Anxiety ignored this completely and plucked the vial out of Logan's palm. Patton made a worried noise and he waved the healer off.

"Half of it is gone and the king is only unconscious, I will be fine."

He carefully uncorked the vial, holding it up to the light coming through the tower window. After staring at it for a moment, he brought it to his face and took a deep breath.

"It is generally advised not to breathe poison's fumes." Logan muttered.

"It's Morydin." Anxiety sounded genuinely surprised. He held the bottle to the light again. "Why would someone trying to poison the king purposely buy Morydin at a quarter-intensity?"

The other three men frowned at each other, trying to figure out if anyone in their group understood what Anxiety meant.

"What is Morydin?" Patton finally asked. Even being versed as he was with various substances, he didn't recognize the name.

"Morydin is a very rare, very expensive poison." Anxiety explained, replacing the cork on the vial and handing it back to Logan. "Lord Deceit pays a pretty penny for it."

"Why is it expensive?"

"Well for one thing, it only does what it is made to do for about a week before becoming completely useless." Anxiety shrugged. "And it is one of the few poisons that can be altered greatly to achieve a number of different things. Depending on how it is brewed, it can do as little as give the drinker a stomach ache, or as much as killing a grown man with a single drop."

"And this... variation?" Logan asked, looking at the vial in his hand.

"He used half of it on Thomas-"

"King Thomas." Roman interrupted, more out of habit than anything else. Anxiety ignored him.

"-and the man is only unconscious. It's a lower dosed variety, but it was made very recently because it still smells like Morydin should when it can be used for whatever it was purchased for."

{So I used a name generator that has a 'poison' category and picked Morydin from the list, then googled the word just in case and it's a Christian metal band. I like the name though so I'm going to leave it}