Chapter Nine: Poison
The queen and Nozomu retired, leaving Mitsuru and Mahiru alone. Misoka and Akira had already gone to bed. Mitsuru peered into her face.
"Come on, you gotta get some sleep," he said. "You're nearly dead."
But Mahiru wasn't tired. She slumped against Mitsuru, and suddenly her body convulsed. A ragged cry tore from her mouth, but it was so soft, because she had no energy to make a loud scream. Mitsuru looked at her in alarm.
"Mahiru!" he said, shaking her. "Snap out of it!"
She moaned and her body convulsed again. She slipped out of Mitsuru's grasp, but he caught her before she fell to the ground. She lay comatose in his arms.
"Misoka!" Mitsuru yelled. "Akira! Nozomu!" He swore in frustration – "Damn!" – and summoned wind to fly Mahiru over to her room. But he stopped in time. She might fall if he flew her.
Mitsuru began to run, towards Misoka's room. He banged on the door.
"Open up! Open the damn door, Misoka!"
He waited impatiently until the fox demon opened the door. Calm and collected as usual, although his dignity was ruined somewhat by his flowered pajamas, he stood in front of Mitsuru with a book in one hand.
"What is it, Mitsuru?" asked Misoka. "What happened to the princess?"
"That's what I want to know!" Mitsuru said. "She just collapsed."
Misoka beckoned Mitsuru into his room. Mitsuru followed him and he lay Mahiru on the unused bed.
He looked around. So this was what Misoka's room looked like. It was clean, neat, and tidy. Nothing seemed used except for the bookshelf. A closet stood at a corner of the room. It was open. Misoka went to it, and he shoved aside the clothes and pressed his finger to the end of the metal bar which the clothes hung on. Suddenly, the floor of the wardrobe, supposedly solid oak, slid away, revealing more – books.
"Damn, Misoka, this is no time to read!" Mitsuru said.
"These are my magic books," Misoka replied. "Medicinal cures and symptoms of certain poisons are found in here."
"You think Mahiru was poisoned?" Mitsuru asked.
"Yes," Misoka said, not looking back, as he searched through the pile of books.
"What the hell?" Mitsuru asked. "Who'd want to poison Mahiru?"
"Many people," said Misoka. "I begin to wonder if the queen and Shirogane are not in league with Dawn's Venus."
"What? When I get my hands on those bastards…" Mitsuru clenched his fist.
Misoka paid him no heed, and he took out a slender earthy colored book. The words were printed small, and sketches were drawn in every available space. He went to the end of the book.
"Here it is," said Misoka. "Mahiru was poisoned, by cyanide." He looked up. "That poison is so powerful that even a spoonful can kill. It may be too late to save the princess."