"So. Aconite?" asked Danny during a lull in the stream of treatments and tests. "Isn't that wolfsbane?"
"Yes," said the doctor, looking rather nervously at Matthew.
At least, Danny thought she was looking at Matthew. His vision was still kind of blurry, a reasonable side-effect of having poison splashed into them. She could have been looking at the family in general, all of whom were squeezed into the room. Apparently, as long as they stayed out of the way of the doctors, it was best for security purposes to have them all together.
"Both the tests on what was recovered from you and what was recovered from the cup indicate that the wine was dosed with massive amounts of aconite, and your symptoms match. It's a very, hm, traditional poison, so treatment is well known. We're monitoring both your blood pressure and your heart rate, and you've been given an activated charcoal treatment and atropine." She paused. "You seem to be recovering, although your heart rate is still much lower than we'd like. I'm actually surprised you're still conscious…"
"That's normal for Danny, now," said Jack. "Well, maybe not this low, but his heartbeat is pretty slow all the time, now."
"It isn't in his medical records," said the doctor.
"Had him checked back in the US. I guess it never made it here."
"We had other concerns at the time, Jack," said Maddie from where she was sitting in a chair next to Danny's bed.
Oh, yeah, Danny had the impression he was missing a metric ton of significant looks.
"Well," said Danny, "I feel… not great, but okay? Like, my skin is still pretty numb, kind of like when you get an anesthetic from the dentist."
There were, however, significant looks that Danny wasn't missing. Apparently, he wasn't seeing the ghosts with his physical eyes, but with something else, because they stood out sharply from their blurry surroundings. Right now, they were looking at him like Jazz did, when he said he wasn't hurt after a fight.
Really, he was fine. Spooked, but fine.
(In some ways, it was sort of a relief to know that he was human enough to be affected by poison. Being half dead had a tendency to make you hyper aware of your own mortality and dubious of it at the same time.)
"But, back to it being wolfsbane. Why wolfsbane? You'd have found that if that was why everyone else… I mean, they don't think you're a werewolf or something, do they? Is that a thing?"
Matthew sighed. "No, I'm not a werewolf." Another sigh. "Unfortunately. I'd love to only have to worry about wolfsbane and silver"
"No, that's not what's going on," said Maddie.
"So what is going on? I think I deserve to know, having been almost killed and all. Are you going to try again with the coronation? And- And has anyone found Vivian yet?" He tried to send an apologetic expression Vivian's way, for using her as a conversation pivot.
"Doctor Hys," said Matthew. "This discussion is about to touch on both family matters and those of state, so if you can continue your monitoring else where…?"
"Of course, your highness. May God and the ancestors bless you." Danny saw the door, briefly, as a rectangle of slightly dimmer light, and then the doctor closed it behind herself, and the family was alone.
"The Assembly is discussing regency," said Joanna.
"Which they really should have since the beginning," added Eugene.
Danny wasn't so sure of that. He wasn't clear on all the details, but regents had fewer powers than a sitting monarch. They couldn't change throne policies - like the one about approval of foreign businesses, Danny realized - or appoint new Secretaries - which would leave the Speaker hearing spy reports. Great-Grandma Rose had been Alfred's King's Secretary.
Other countries would probably have a conniption about the conflict of interest.
"It makes more sense than declaring one of us king or queen without the trials," agreed Joanna. "They were set on it, but now they think the poisoning is a… bad omen." There was a guilty sort of satisfaction in her tone.
Maddie scoffed. "Can you not?" she asked. "Here, with my son seriously injured, can we discuss this like rational human beings who live in this century?"
"If we were dealing with rational human beings," said Irene, "we would. But a person willing to commit so many murders isn't rational. Nor are… humans in general."
"Mom," said George.
"I want to know about Vivian as well," said Jazz. "There has to be something about where she went."
"The investigation there is ongoing," said Matthew. "For the rest of Danny's questions… To start at the beginning, you wouldn't know this, but in the very distant past, there was a legend that members of the royal family with the favor of the spirits and the ancestors were immune to wolfsbane poisoning. So, of course, any member of the royal family who was successfully poisoned didn't have their favor." His blurry form made a shrugging motion. "It's been discredited nearly that long - there were herbalists back then who were occasionally able to use belladona to counter some of the effects of aconite poisoning - but that particular method of assassination has become traditional for signaling certain grievances."
"Did Lord Kyppe have those grievances?" asked Iris, darkly.
"He's maintaining that he had no idea. Which, considering his position, is very nearly as bad," said Matthew. "Even if he turns out to be innocent, the traditionalist faction will be out for his blood."
"Ha!" exclaimed Jack. "Forget them! Maddie and I are out for his blood!"
"We'll keep that in mind," said Matthew, dryly. "And, then… You are right that we'd be able to tell if- if everyone else died of aconite poisoning. It decays quickly, but not that quickly." He shook his head. "We–"
He was interrupted by a phone ringtone, a high-pitched electronic version of the Avlynyse national anthem.
"Hello?" answered Sophia tremulously. There was some shifting as she moved through the room. "Alright," she said, voice already cracked and tearful. "I'm sitting down." There was a beat, and then Sophia made a high, keening sound.
"Mom? What- What's wrong?"
Another phone started to ring (still with the national anthem, but a slightly more traditional version), and Matthew swore. "What?" he snapped. "Oh, God. Are you sure it's her? Yes. Yes. We'll make the announcement… shortly." Matthew took a deep breath and closed his phone with a snap. "They found Vivian's body."
There was quiet. Danny was sure everyone had already at least suspected that Vivian was dead. Having it confirmed was something different.
"Oh," said Leo, weakly. "Oh. Do they… do they know how…?"
"You don't want to–" started Matthew.
"She's my sister."
Matthew exhaled slowly. "She was beaten to death. They stole her Key and the Lesser Seal." He inhaled again, loud enough to be heard. "We're going to need to make a public statement. And–" His phone tweedled. "And the Assembly wants to have a special session to hash out a regency decision, and–" another tweedle, "and, ancestors." More tweedles. "It's going to be never ending. My family is dying, and–" He fell silent.
"Matthew?" asked Irene from the same general area Sophia was in. Were they hugging? Maybe? "What's wrong?"
"Investigation just found that someone replaced the contents of Grandma's capsule pills with nitroglycerin," said Matthew, tersely. "Matches with her symptoms… heart stopped, but not the other signs of anaphylaxis, darn it."
"That's… three different causes of death, isn't it?" asked Jazz, thinly. "Four different methods, if you count the wolfsbane. That's unusual, isn't it?"
"I don't know," said Matthew. "It could be six, for all I– Nevermind that. We need to get back to Kyr Argyn, for the special session, and 'figure out what the future will look like.'"
"We who?" asked George.
"Adults," said Matthew. "Anyone eligible for regency."
"Not me, then," said Eugene.
"You, too," said Matthew. "Just because some idiots in the newspapers called you a bastard a few times doesn't mean you aren't perfectly legitimate, legally speaking."
"Wait, what do you mean I'm legitimate? I thought–"
"You can't expect me to leave Danny," interrupted Maddie. "He was just poisoned."
"Legally, everyone currently in the country–"
"I can stay, Mads," said Jack. "Me'n Jazz'll hold down the fort with Danny here."
"We really do need you to come," said Matthew.
"Fine," said Maddie. "Danny, I–"
"It's okay, Mom. I'll be fine. I am fine."
Maddie patted his hand. "We'll have to disagree on that. Jazz, if you notice anything unusual, let your father and the doctors know right away. And– Who from security will be staying with them?"
Matthew rattled off a list of names that Danny instantly forgot.
"Right," said Maddie. "Let them know, too. Danny, just… try to be safe."
Well. Ouch. Danny would have everyone know that he always tried to be safe. And careful. And a lot of other things.
It took a few most of a half an hour for everyone to move out. Apparently they had to coordinate with the security team, get everything lined up beforehand, etcetera.
"I think," said Danny, "that I'm in shock. Emotionally speaking."
"That makes all of us," said Jazz.
.
Jazz couldn't give him the kit until they were alone and Jack had dozed off.
"Security took me back to the house to get some of your clothes and things. You're going to have to help me, though. I don't know what's best for poisoning."
Neither did Danny, really. Surprisingly, poison, contact or otherwise, wasn't something he had to deal with all that often. Except for blood blossoms… and whatever was in Vlad's stupid knockout gas, and those spiders that one time… did Spectra's weird ghost mosquitoes count as poison?
Next chance they got, Team Phantom would have to look into poison remedies.
"Energy tablet for now," said Danny. "Then, um. The little jar of eyewash." The eyewash was a dilute solution of ectoplasm and salt, usually used for eye injuries, or the irritation that he sometimes got from his eyes deciding to be flashlights, but it could help. It'd be nice to be able to focus his eyes again.
Jazz passed over the tablets almost immediately. The eyewash, however…
Danny sniffed at the jar. "This isn't the eyewash." It was, in fact, the blood blossom cream. After a few additional natural portal related journeys, Danny had found that while just being near blood blossoms in ghost form was agony, touching them in human form gave him a nasty, itching rash. And hives. And… And there was a thought there, but it wouldn't come loose.
"It's the only jar you have," said Jazz.
Danny frowned. "Oh," he said. "I might have… Not brought the eyewash, I guess."
"Why?"
"It's liquid. You're not supposed to bring liquids on planes."
"We had a private charter flight."
"I didn't know that when I packed." He handed the cream back to her and chewed on the energy tablet. Ecto-dejecto and weird dehydrated orange juice powder. Yum.
Not.
"I brought something else as well," said Jazz, pulling something small and square from her purse and unfolding it.
Danny squinted. "Jazz," he said, his whisper dripping with as much disappointment as he could squeeze in, "is that a ouija board?"
"I thought it could help with, you know." She leaned in, and if the only witness wasn't dead asleep, she would have definitely given them away. "With communicating with your invisible friends."
"Can we not say things that make me sound crazy?" asked Danny. "And I know you can't be serious. Ouija boards are trademarked by Hasbro. Nothing trademarked by Hasbro can possibly be spiritual."
"I don't mean like that," said Jazz. "I mean, regardless of what it's supposed to be used for, it's still got the alphabet on it. If the ghosts here can't write anything out, they can at least point and you can read what they're saying."
Good idea, except… "I can barely see, Jazz. Everything is little blobs of color."
"Okay," said Jazz, "but you can still see well enough to point where they're pointing, right?"
"Well… yeah. I can see them pretty well, actually."
"Great," said Jazz. "Then, I'll read off what you're pointing at, okay?"
Danny looked up at Gwensyvyr, who shrugged, then nodded. "Okay, yeah."
"Then let's start with Vivian–"
"She's not here."
"What?"
"She went with Aunt Sophia and Lewis and Leo."
"Oh. Well. That makes sense. Who's here, then?"
"Uh," said Danny. "A whole bunch of people. And Gwensyvyr."
Silence.
"As in, the founder–" started Jazz.
"Of Avlynys Gwensyvyr?" they finished together.
"Yeah, that Gwensyvyr," said Danny.
"Okay. Um. Nice to meet you…?" Jazz paused for a long moment. "This is really weird. Did you see who tried to poison Matthew?"
Danny followed Gwensyvyr's finger.
"Hm," said Jazz. "That's a yes. Do you know their name?"
Gwensyvyr shifted.
"No. So. That's too bad. Anyone else here know their name?".
.
Matthew's would-be poisoner, as it turned out, was a young, red-headed man with a press badge that said his name was Wallace Hadryn. Right before the ceremony, he'd had a quick interview with the Cupbearer, and dropped two pills into the cup while distracting the Cupbearer 'masterfully' in the words of one of the ghosts.
The pills had been red. All but invisible against the dark wine. They'd dissolved slowly, and the Cupbearer's high-tech tests and traditional sip hadn't affected him.
"At least," said Jazz, "not at the time. I wonder if he might start feeling some symptoms anyway."
Before that, none of the ghosts had been particularly paying attention to the young man, so they didn't know who he'd talked to before, if anyone.
As for who had killed the others… The ghosts had no real idea. They'd been repelled from the area, and had only seen 'suspicious figures' at a distance. If that.
That was bad. It was very bad that whoever did this knew the ghosts were there and could get rid of them. Or that whoever had killed them had coincidentally stumbled on something that could banish ghosts. Even if they were weak ghosts.
Gwensyvyr had suspicions, though.
There have always been those who seek to tear power from this land and all kinds of people leave ghosts, Gwensyvyr had picked out, letter by letter. I fear this is a plan long brewed. We have been growing weaker for some time, even before your grandfather's death. Cut off from allies. Many of my kin have only woken for this latest tragedy, and will sleep again, perhaps forever, and some sleep still. No hope for the future.
At least, that's what Danny and Jazz had eventually puzzled out. Wonderful their ancestor might be, it was clear she'd never practiced the art of spelling. In any language.
"You think the ones doing this are ghosts?" asked Danny.
Perhaps. Or they are guided by ghosts. Look to the death of your grandfather, of your grandmother. Look at those who preach progress and stability, but only think of paper gold. She bared her teeth. Look at their corporations and businesses. These worms in the Assembly. I call especially for you to look on Julius Skippa. His father brought in that vile construction business.
"But why would they do it?" asked Jazz. "Apart from the usual mundane reasons, I mean. It seems like all they'd have to do is wait."
There are sacred things our family has long been charged with, older than this kingdom. Things that have been desecrated and not restored. Things that I may not speak of. Your grandfather was the last to attempt the trials. Vyvyan was preparing for them.
"They would have noticed something," said Danny. "Or the trials would have fixed some of it."
Gwensyvyr nodded and pointed at yes. I think, too, that the monsters wish to return. To take more than what they have taken already. Thus the seal. Thus the key. Would that I were stronger! I would tear them to shreds if they tried.
"But Matthew wasn't going to do the trials," said Jazz. "Not right away, at least, and with everything else, it would have been easy to distract him from ever taking them."
But Mathyw denied them. On the phone, and later, in the halls of Kyr Argyn. And I am not certain sure that we face only one enemy.
A ghost phased through the wall and made gestures at Gwensyvyr, who nodded.
Keep safe, little syvyrys. The title - applied to both him and Jazz - made Danny blink, then flush. His numbness must be getting better, for him to feel that. With you here, there is hope for the future after all. Then Gwensyvyr took a step back from the board and made a closing motion with her hand.
Jazz hastily closed and put away the ouija board. Just in time. Matthew had returned.
"Jazz, Danny, how are you?"
"Fine," said Danny.
"As well as can be expected," said Jazz.
Matthew smiled tightly. "Jack," he said. "Maddie wants to talk to you. Jack!" He nudged Jack's shoulder.
"Whazzat?"
"Maddie wants to talk to you."
"Alright, then," said Jack. "Will you–"
"I'll watch the kids, yes."
"Okay! Stay safe, kids!"
"That was fast," commented Jazz.
"It didn't seem that way," said Matthew. "You two didn't realize there were monitored security cameras in here, did you?"
Danny's heart leapt into his throat. From the way Jazz froze, he suspected hers had done the same.
It made sense that there would be, of course. In retrospect, security wouldn't have left them alone like this otherwise, but that meant…
"How long," asked Matthew, voice trembling with some emotion Danny couldn't place, "have you been a syvyr?"