“Poisons?” He looked up at Gaven, not even addressing me.
“Yes,” I answered truthfully, and three sets of eyes stared at me in shock.
“Are you so unstable that you would admit to purchasing poison to murder me within my presence?” Prince Xander questioned.
“No, because I would never lie to you.” His face had gone stone cold, his eyes darkened, and I rushed forward to lift a dried herb and explain. “This is balinko. The leaves are dried and can be brewed into a tea for migraines, but the seeds, if ingested, are poisonous. As are most medicinal herbs. I use part of the monkshood root to cure blackouts, and yes, it is another name for wolfsbane, but I had nothing to do with harming your mother.”
“You say these purchases are for you. Are you injured?”
“Yes.”
“Show me,” he ordered. Holding up my hand, I showed him my bandaged palm and wrist. His eyes widened and he sucked in his breath.
“Come here,” he ground out between clenched teeth. His nimble fingers quickly unwound the bandage to look at the cut along my palm, the one I received from healing his mother. He ran his finger along my palm, and I shivered at his gentle touch.
“I’ve seen you heal the cut on my mother. Yet, you are unable to heal yourself?”
“That is correct. Magic is a very fickle thing.”
Xander didn’t release my wrist but slowly turned it over to reveal a smaller cut from when he cut away our wedding bindings. “And this one. Did I do this?”
“Yes,” I answered, blushing, not wishing to sugarcoat what his recklessness did. I could have healed it easily, but I wanted to let it be a lesson to myself.
“I’ll be more careful,” he said. Prince Xander looked at me, his eyes red, his chin unshaven. Effects of staying up too late hunting the beast, most likely. But his pained look made my stomach drop and my breath catch. I couldn’t let him affect me like this.
“So will I.” I yanked my hand from his and headed inside, Pru on my heels carrying my packages.
“Your Highness, I have received disturbing news.” A page bowed before the Prince and I slowed to hear his announcement.
“What is it?”
“The servant girl Herez has run away. A note was found saying she was too terrified to stay at the palace and would go home to her family in the country.”
My heart ached for poor Herez, and Pru’s head dropped in sadness.
“I see.” Xander sighed.
“There’s more. Other servants are gone as well. We do not know if it is because they ran away or because the b-beast got them.”
“Gaven, will you do me a favor?” Xander asked.
“Anything, my prince.” Gaven stepped forward.
“Please succeed where I have failed and find this mysterious beast. For I no longer believe we’re hunting a normal creature but something of myth and legend, and that is your specialty.”
Gaven nodded. “I will leave at once, Your Highness, and will not return until I have news.”
Chapter Eleven
I focused on making a tea to help Queen Anya regain her strength. Humming softly, I placed the finished herbal remedy in a silk satchel and smiled, hoping it would help. Knowing it was better that Pru deliver them, I waited to hear if she took them. When Pru told me she did, I then worked on brewing more of my own medicine, an herbal remedy that kept the dreams at bay and the darkness away. Taking a sip, I was careful to hide my packets of wolfsbane tea in my small satchel. No one would understand why I needed it, and if they found out I had it, I would be shunned on the spot or accused of being the one to try and murder the queen.
When my tasks were done, I stared at the chair that still sat in front of the door that separated the prince’s rooms from mine. I had yet to hear him enter the room, and I doubted he even slept there.
Moving the chair, I pressed my ear to the door and was greeted by silence. I lifted my hand over the lock.
“Locherra.”
I heard a clinking as the door unlocked and swung inward. Stepping into the darkened room, I realized my mistake. This was never the prince’s room, or at least it hadn’t been in a long time. All of the furniture was covered with sheets, the drapes were closed, and silver cobwebs hung from the chandelier.
A large portrait hung above the fireplace mantel. It was a fine depiction, painted by an expert’s hand. Xander looked around five years old, his young face void of emotion, his eyes haunting as he stood next to his mother, the queen. I frowned. It wasn’t Queen Anya in the portrait, but another woman, the king’s first wife. King Gerald rested his hand on the young Xander’s shoulder, and even through the painting, I could feel the heavy burden of royalty resting upon the young boy.
“Have you ever smiled, my prince?” I pondered aloud, knowing if the threat of war had been hovering over this family for years, there would have been little to smile about.
Moving about the room that seemed to be a mausoleum rather than a bedroom, I couldn’t help but stop to admire the chessboard and pieces laid out on the table midgame. The black set was fey beasts, and the white set was majestic elves. But the beast queen was missing.
Looking below the table, I searched to see if it had rolled away, but didn’t find anything. Checking under the bed, all I discovered were cobwebs and dust balls.
“What are you doing?” Xander stood in the doorway, his face grim. “Who gave you permission to enter here? It’s off-limits.”
“No one. I came here looking for you,” I said, stepping away from the bed and noticing dust now covered my black veil and dress.
“What is the point of placing guards outside your door if you continually leave your rooms without them?”
“There is none,” I snapped. “And why should I be kept in my rooms?”
“For protection.”
“I don’t need protection.”
“From you,” Xander said, his eyes narrowed and his lip curled up. “Leave!” he growled at me. Storming into the room, he grabbed my upper arm, but I shrugged him off.
“No. I need to speak with you.”
“There’s nothing you could say that I would want to hear.” He paced back and forth, glaring at me.
“I don’t trust the emissary from Florin. He is—”
Xander was shaking, his rage great, his hands clenched into fists. “None of this concerns you.”
“How can you say that when the threat of war concerns all?”
“This is a matter between my father and me. No one else. We will find a way to solve this problem without you. Or should I say despite you.”
“I can help,” I tried to reason with him.
“No thank you! Don’t think I don’t know what a bargain with a daughter of Eville entails. My father made one years ago with your mother, and look what happened. I’m married to you.”
“I am not my mother,” I said, realizing the truth. As much as I strived to be like her, to make her proud, to turn my heart cold, I couldn’t. I did care.
“You are just like your mother.” Xander walked around me, keeping his distance as he looked at the dark veils that hid me. “Swoop in at a time of despair, make promises and then leave, reaping the rewards of our country.”