Done 10
The servant came back into the hall and set the plate in front of Six. She nodded now that was more like it. Nothing weird smothered in gravy and as disgusting as it looked. She picked up some of the fruit. She ate all of it before starting on the meat strips. They were dry so she dipped them in the sauce.
It tasted weird to her, almost as though it was a cross between teriyaki and barbeque sauce, almost too tangy to the point of metallic. She only ate a few pieces with the sauce on it. As the evening wore on she began to feel weird. It was after the food was done and the plates had been removed.
A band had moved into one corner and couples were on the dance floor. "will you dance with me, my lady?" said Nuada six looked up at him. She felt dizzy and thoroughly nauseous. No way would she be steady enough on her feet to dance. Anais shoved her chair back and pushed her almost out of it. "she would love to" he responded. Nuada took her hand and led her towards the dance floor. At first he mistook her sudden silence for insecurity, but then he thought about it.
The lady had never shown the slightest bit of insecurity to anyone except for that candid moment in the courtyard."I'm going to put my arm around you please do not stab it" he said he wore a devilish smile on his face. If six were feeling better she would have found his comment amusing. Instead she allowed the contact and leaned on his shoulder. The strength of his arms helped keep her upright. Nuada felt her rest her head on his shoulder and looked down at her in shock.
Was she showing him some affection? The song started it was a slow one so he kept her close to him, relishing in the brief contact she was allowing him. This marriage would never be dull he mused. He bent down and took the risk of kissing her forehead. Her skin felt clammy and hot beneath his lips.
He drew back some, to look at her. She clung to his arms as if she were afraid to let go. Her skin held a greenish cast to it. "My lady are you well?" he asked. She shook her head no and leaned into him of her own accord. "would you like some air?" he asked she nodded yes, air sounded nice, plus she wanted to hurl.
He led her towards the balcony doors. She never made it. She collapsed into his arms half way there. Nuada caught her before she hit the floor. The hall went still, the king approached them. Nuada scooped her into his arms. "I'm taking her upstairs send a healer to attend us, she's ill" said Nuada.
He carried her up the stairs outside the ballroom and down the hall. "easy my love hang on for me, please" he whispered. He laid her on his bed and sat down next to her. He thought it might be her girdle perhaps causing her to breathe wrong but he discovered she wore none. Her figure was naturally that shape, her muscles toned not soft like females often were.
She must work out then he mused, perhaps she would do so beside him one of these days. Maybe it was something they could share. The healer came in followed by his father."I left your sister in charge of our guests, what is wrong with her?' asked the king
The healer kneeled beside her. Pulled a small light out of his pocket pulling back her eyelids then shone a human lamp light into them. The healer frowned and tested her pulse. "what did she consume?' asked the healer
"Some frague, some fruit and some meat that was all" said Nuada. Nuada looked worried and gazed at his fallen fiancé the healer tested her pulse then opened her mouth and held down her tongue.
He used the lamp again to look in her mouth. Nuada frowned at the creature. The healer hummed and hawed."I see very interesting" said the healer. "What is interesting?" snapped Nuada. He was worried damn it and the healer's attitude was not helping.
"Your highness perhaps you should retrieve the ladies plate before the evidence is destroyed" said the healer "what evidence?" said the king "the lady has been poisoned your majesty" said the healer. Nuada rose off the bed, his eyes livid with rage. "Stay with her father, please" said Nuada. He strode out the door, down the stairs and into the great hall. He Walked strait for her plate. A servant was already picking it up to clear it. Nuada grabbed it from him before he could carry it away. "No one on the kitchen staff goes home tonight until I speak with them" he ordered.
He carried the plate away with him. The servant watched him go in confusion. Nuada walked back up the stairs carrying the plate. If something happened to Denair whoever was responsible would pay dearly. He entered the room. The healer had Denair tucked into the bed.
"Good just set it over there" said the healer. Nuada refrained from snapping at him for ordering him about. He was too worried to care right now. The healer left her laying there and pulled several vials from him bag. He dipped a dropper in a bottle and dropped a single drop on each piece of food.
The healer frowned, nothing the food was untouched "what of the sauce?" said the king. The healer took a drop and dripped it in the sauce. The sauce turned a brilliant blue where the dot hit.
The healer hissed in his breath in anger. "We must bleed her" said the healer "say what?" said Nuada "she has been iron poisoned" said the king. Nuada surged to his feet, anger evident in every line of his frame. He walked over to the plate. "how much?" Nuada asked.
He looked down at the plate with an absurd sense of guilt. If he hadn't replaced her plate they would have never had the opportunity to touch her. "enough to kill three of our warriors, fortunately she isn't strait fae" said the healer "that much should have killed her instantly" said the king.
He looked at the contents of the small bowl in revulsion. Nuada looked down at Denair, his face lined with worry. "My prince you may wish to leave" said the healer. "If my beloved must go through this I will not forsake her" said Nuada. The healer nodded the king looked at his son. He rested his hand on his son's shoulders."I shall deal with our would be assassin" said the king "save him for me, I want to personally take his head" said Nuada.
He watched with sickening dread as the healer withdrew needles from his bag. "We may need to replace some of which we take, will you donate some to her?" said the healer Nuada nodded yes. "of course" he responded.
He sat on the bed beside her and wiped her forehead with a towel. "I would gladly take a thousand cuts from your blade my lady if I could spare you this" he whispered. The healer tied a bandana around her arm and raised the vein.
He put the needle in her skin and her blood flowed into the small jar. He noticed with a sickening feeling that her blood was more red than amber. The healer swore when he saw this. Nuada looked at him a question forming on his lips. "your blood would be incompatible it seems, damn those humans why could they not leave her one way or the other" said the healer.
He took only a little "we must wait and do it again some time later, we cannot bleed her completely now without her dying of its loss" said the healer. Nuada closed his eyes in sympathy.
He had been poisoned thus as a teenager. He had taken a wound on the battlefield; the human he had faced used an iron blade instead of the usual bronze. He had nearly died if not for his father and sisters donations of blood. Denair would be suffering longer than he had those few days.
Without the ability to replace her blood loss the iron would stay in her system longer. He knew first hand how painful such a substance could be. He grasped her hand when she sobbed in her sleep. "I know it hurts love but just hang on I am here and I will not leave you" said Nuada
The king strode into his hall, seldom had his court seen him angry. This was the first time in several centuries anything had roused his anger this badly. The last time had resulted in a war. Tonight's was definitely going to result in an execution.
"Father?" said Nuala "he stays by her side" answered the king. He eyed the room. "No one leaves until after I am done, guards bar the doors" said the king. He walked into the kitchen area after he saw they had followed his orders. The kitchen staff went to their knees at his entrance. Even those carrying something. "Which of you prepared my future daughter in laws plate?" he asked the servant who had served her raised his hand the king stopped in front of him. The man swallowed in fear.
"did anyone aid you?' said the king. The servant thought about it. "no my lord I prepared it all" said the servant. He looked at the floor. "Begging pardon majesty, but the chef placed the sauce on the plate before he took it out to her" said a small kitchen boy.
The chef glared at the kitchen boy in anger. The king raised his hand and the child approached "you saw this?" said the king "yes majesty" said the child. the king looked at the chef, the man looked slightly gray with fear.
His mistress said the girl would drop dead at home none the wiser of the cause. "Where did he go from there?" said the king "into the meat locker sire" said the child. The king nodded towards his guards "watch him" said the king. The king walked into the freezer and dug through the shelves.
A small vial was hidden behind the remains of the sauce. The king picked it up, it was almost empty. He snorted in anger; he shared his son's temper in his youth. Time had tempered it some but not now. He walked out of the freezer and approached the chef. He grabbed the man around the throat.
"who gave this to you?" he demanded the man gasped something under his breath. The king loosened his hold some, realizing that he was cutting off his oxygen supply. "Please have mercy majesty" he gasped. "Your accomplice's name and I might make your death less painful" said the king. His eyes were livid with fury and his nostrils flared when he spoke. The chef looked down in defeat; his only hope now was a swift death "the lady Altese" said the chef. The king frowned; one of his son's former lovers had done this treacherous deed?