Of Blood & Power

S I C K N E S S

THE WILDEST COMMOTION HAD DESCENDED UPON THE ROOM.

Although it was due to King Holt's sudden spell, it certainly wasn't out of care for his wellbeing. It was out of respect for their's. They all suspected that his fit was because of the food. They thought it was poisoned.

"Please, please," Erienne exclaimed in an effort to quiet the feverish chatter. But Erienne understood the reaction, and personally, she would've been even more erratic had she been one of them. Which, she sort of was. She knew that it hadn't been a coincidence her perfectly healthy father had fallen ill while they were eating.

He had been poisoned. Erienne's mind raced. She'd only had a bite of food. It had been steamed vegetables, and she felt fine. Was this Adrian or some other faction's latest plot to kill her? It was a catastrophic scheme. It meant potentially killing foreign royals on the off chance the poisoned food would kill her. Adrian couldn't have planned something that would sour diplomatic relations that much.

It had to be the work of some erratic third party. A friend or relative of the twins she had killed, maybe? The slaying of a loved one could easily lead to the construction of terribly-planned revenge-plot. Erienne connected her eyes with Adrian across the room and made her way toward him.

"Please, do your best to control them. I have to go see my father."

"Of course," Adrian replied. His voice was surprisingly soft and understanding. Erienne gathered up her heavy skirts and hurried to the infirmary.

The room had a thick black curtain as a door. Eriennne knew what that meant. She slowly entered. At the far end of the room was a figure on the bed. They were  covered with a white sheet. Lilibet knelt over the bed, head in her hands, sobbing. When she saw Erienne, she stood up, her features steeling.

"I want you to prepare his body as best you can and leave it on the bed. Do it, quickly. He and I leave tonight," Lilibet snapped to a nurse in Weissan.

"Yes ma'am," one of the nurse muttered. "You might...want to exit ma'am. What we do next might distress you." Both she and Erienne left the room. Inwardly, Erienne searched for the right words to say to her father's widow. It was hard to feel anything but numbness toward his death. But when she turned and faced Lilibet, she was surprised to see simmering hate in her eyes.

"My condolences," Erienne said in Weissan She even curtsied. "I believe it may have been a botched murder attempt on my life—"

Lilibet laughed bitterly. "Do you honestly think I have no idea what you did?" She asked this in Samari. Erienne looked up.

"If you're saying I had my father poisoned—"

"—which you did—"

"I didn't! The poison must've come from the rebellion. The court, the nobles, the people—they're trying to have me killed. I would never have my father killed."

Lilibet narrowed her teary eyes. "But you hated him. He neglected you your entire life and sold you off to a foreign land. You hated him."

Erienne delayed her response for a few moments. "I did. But that doesn't mean I would stand for his murder."

Lilibet laughed emptily. "Wouldn't you? I heard that when you learned the terms of the marriage agreement, you were more than happy to let the marriage dissolve."

Shock came first. Then anger. "My father would've died from his own hand had the marriage been dissolved on its own accord. That would've sat well with me, yes. But I would not stand for his murder by my hand."

Lilibet took several steps toward her until she was so close their noses nearly touched. "Hear me Erienne, and understand it with every part of being; I know what you've done. You will pay very dearly this. Neither me or your family or your country will ever, ever forgive you for this."

Erienne opened her mouth to respond but Lilibet had already withdrawn and was walking away. Erienne's head swirled. Who could've possibly told Lilibet she knew the terms of the marriage contact? It couldn't have been Shia, she knew her aunt would never betray her. And yet, how could she have known? Erienne pondered over this for several minutes before gasping in sudden realization.

She knew who'd done this.

                                     ***

Erienne practically dragged Adrian into the white room. When the door had been shut and she turned to face him he didn't try to hide the smirk on his face.

"You," she said. "You did this."  She swiped at her nose. It was running a little.

Adrian's smirk only widened. "I did." Erienne took a step closer.

"You stand nothing to gain from this and everything to lose. The other kingdoms will never trust you again. You've damaged diplomatic relations beyond repair, You now have the satisfaction of killing the man who took your mother from you but-" she broke off in a coughing fit.

"But I sent the letters. The letters that told my dear mamma you were ready to let our marriage dissolve because it meant the death of your father. Letters in which I expressed your vehement hate for him. In the eyes of the current queen of Samaria, and soon the entire kingdom, you killed the king. You forget that I've ensured that Samaria will never be your country again, ever." Adrian took a step closer. "You killed the father of the next king. Tell me, Erienne, who do you think wants your head more? Weiss or Samaria?"

"You've still irreversibly damaged the relationships with the other foreign royals," Erienne said shakily. "The ends didn't justify the means."

Adrian's eyes grew brighter. "But they did."

Erienne was ready to ask how, and she opened her mouth to do it. Instead, she was taken over by an incredible hack. When Erienne withdrew her fingers from her mouth, she noticed they were covered in more than just saliva and mucus. Her palm was dotted with specks of blood. She looked back at Adrian. 

"Don't worry, it's not as fast acting as the one I gave your father. It'll take twenty hours before you finally succumb to the poison. The symptoms get worse though, more pronounced. More painful." Adrian was grinning with glee. "I couldn't resist." Adrian stepped even closer. "The humiliation I had to endure because of you, his voice trembled at this, was enormous. I couldn't possibly let you die without suffering. Tonight, I will send draft out letters that will be sent in the morning. The monarchs of the other kingdoms will be given apologies—via letters and in gifts—about the debacle that occurred tonight. You'll be blamed of course. The rejected child who'd chafed for years without paternal love jumped at the opportunity to kill her father. Her plate was poisoned by accident, with the very same poison that killed her father. And she, thank goodness, is dead."

Erienne's heart slammed against her chest.

"I've given orders for the servant to make, ah, he laughed at this, you as comfortable as possible. But, you know, I can't make any promises. I've ordered the royals not to touch you, but there's only so much I can do about your security." Adrian traced his finger along Erienne's face.

"Goodbye Queen."