Poisoned

Disclaimed

-Valek pov-

KILL him, Valek, kill her, Valek. That was all the petty nobles had said to me, even right before I killed them.

I looked up slightly at the gasping prisoner. I was about to look away, but something surprised me. The prisoner was a girl.

"A women? The next prisoner to be executed is a women?" I knew my voice was cold, it was cold nearly all the time. Except when I was talking to people I cared about- namely Ambrose.

She trembled, but stayed firmly upright. I found myself impressed by her determination.

"I should have taken more time to read your dossier," I had done what I usually did, skip the name, move down to the crime. It had never occurred to me that Reyad's killer would be a girl. "You're dismissed." I shooed the guards away.

I looked at her file. "Yelena, today may be your lucky day." I watched as she looked as if she had swallowed something bitter, like a sarcastic remark. Instead she bowed her head, refusing to look at my eyes.

"Well behaved and respectful. You're starting to look like a good candidate." She looked at the only neat part of the room; my desk. And more importantly: my panthers.

I had carved them in memory of my older brother Yuri. He had two panthers that would fallow him around wherever he went. They loved him. Everybody loved him.

"You've been tried and found guilty of murdering General Brazell's only son, Reyad." I paused, thinking about an odd coincidence that I had been thinking about for the past few days. It suddenly made sense. "That explains why Brazell's here this week, and why he has been unusually interested in the execution schedule." I said more to my self than her. If she was listening, good for her, if she wasn't, good for her. I didn't really care.

"I suppose you're going to protest the conviction. Say you were framed or you killed out of self defense." Neither of those were excuses for murder, I would know. I leaned back in my chair and waited for her cowardly reply.

"No, Sir, I killed him." She whispered, and I straitened up, at least she was honest. I liked honesty. I laughed.

"This may work out better than I'd planned. Yelana, I'm offering you a choice. You can either be executed, or you can be Commander Ambrose's new food taster." I waited with bated breath for her answer.

"A fool would refuse the job." Her voice was raspy and cautious, as if she suspected this was a cruel joke.

"Well, it's a lifetime position. The training can be lethal. After all, how can you identify poisons in the Commanders food if you don't know what they taste like?" I said honestly, rearranging some papers on my desk.

"You'll get a room in the castle to sleep." I continued, "But most of the day you'll be with the Commander. No days off. No husband or children. Some prisoners have chosen execution instead. At least then they know exactly when they're going to die, rather then guessing if its going with the next bite." I grinned at her, but it wasn't pleasant, more like a feral snarl.

She shivered and closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened then she asked "Who tastes the Commanders food now?" the words sounded wrong in her mouth, as if they weren't the question she wanted to ask.

"I do. So I'm anxious to find a replacement. Also The Code Of Behavior states that someone whose life is forfeit must be offered the job." I pointed out mildly.

She paced around my cluttered little room, dragging her chain with her with a raspy sound.

I watched her for a few minutes, then asked, "What shall I tell the executioner?"

She looked at me with clear green eyes. "I am not a fool."

I felt a surge of relief wash through me. It would be a shame to kill her. And even though I knew she shouldn't. This dirty, but beautiful creature fascinated me.

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PEACE, LOVE, VEGETARIANSM

-ELESARY-