--Chapter 2: Investigation--

"Edmund!"

I tried not to groan as I heard Susan's voice over the murmur of the other people that were filling the courtyard around the cook.

"Edmund, have you seen—"

She stopped short when she saw Corin.

"Prince Corin! Your father was worried that some harm had befallen you! How on earth did you disappear so quickly? Is that blood on your shirt?"

My heart skipped a beat.

"Prince Corin?"

Susan looked at me like I was mad.

"Yes, Edmund. King Lune of Archenland is visiting from Anvard and decided at the last moment to bring his son with him…" she stopped when she saw the look on my face, one that doubtless showed how shocked and surprised I was. "You didn't know?"

"No." I replied, giving Corin a reproachful look. "I didn't."

Corin looked at me sheepishly.

"Now, what's all this about murder?" Susan asked, floating gracefully over to Cook and laying a hand on her shoulder.

"My assistant—my nephew—Geoffrey," Cook murmured, her eyes wide with terror. "I walked into the kitchen to check on the bread, and…well," she shuddered, looking away. "Maybe you'd better see for yourselves."

Susan started to follow the cook, but then turned back to me, shaking her head.

"Perhaps you should go, Ed. The sight of blood makes my stomach turn."

"Oh it's not blood, your Majesty," Cook said, her face pale as flour as she turned again to my older sister. "He's been poisoned!"

A frightened murmur rose up in the crowd, and I glanced around anxiously. It wouldn't do to have the people of Cair Paravel worrying about poison and murder. Rumors would begin circulating and Peter would be overly cautious for months.

"Maybe we should go somewhere away from all this," I said, drawing Cook and Susan out of the courtyard and into the hall. Corin followed us, his face as white as a sheet. Once we were out of the open and in a quiet hallway, I turned to Cook.

"How do you know your assistant was poisoned?"

Cook finally broke down and began to cry. She mopped her red face with her apron as she sobbed.

"He took a drink of the High King's goblet, just to be sure it was safe to drink, and then he just fainted…fell to the ground!"

I turned swiftly and headed toward the kitchen.

"Edmund, be careful!" Susan shouted after me; I glanced back and gave her a reassuring nod, and then sprinted as quickly as I could.

When I reached the kitchen and saw the man lying on the ground I frowned and hesitated. Hoping that the poison would not be dangerous to touch, I knelt by the man's side and felt his pulse. Susan and Corin burst into the room. I glanced hastily up at my older sister.

"He's not dead! Still alive. Get Lucy now!"

A look of understanding crossed Susan's face, and she turned immediately, gathering up her skirts and running faster than she had in ages. I stayed beside Cook's assistant, loosening his collar and waiting for my sister to return.

"Is there anything I can do?" Corin asked, shuddering as he gazed down at the nearly dead man.

I winced at the look on his face, wondering why I hadn't had him kept away. He seemed terrified, but resolute. That was a good sign. I wondered briefly if he'd had any past experiences with poisoned people, but then decided to give him a reason to escape for a few moments and get over the shock.

"Yes. Go fetch some water from the kitchen. He'll be quite thirsty when he awakens."

If he awakens.

Cook sobbed on next to me. She mopped her red face continually with her white apron, which was now smudged, grimy, and probably in a much worse condition than when she had put it on that morning.

"Cook," I said suddenly, straightening and putting a hand on her shoulder, "Good Cook, I need your help."

The sobs stopped almost instantly as the woman turned to me and said earnestly, between sniffs,

"Oh, King Edmund, what can I do?"

I knelt again beside the man and felt for a pulse. Still there.

"I need you to tell me exactly what happened when you saw that your assistant had been poisoned. Tell me everything."

Cook's cinnamon eyes filled with tears, but she blew her nose bravely on her apron and managed to keep from bursting into tears as she related the morning's tragedy to me.

"Well, Sire, I was bringing in the bread for the midday meal. My assistant—he's my sister's son, Sire—decided to take it upon himself to make sure the High King's wine was safe to drink. He's always pretending, Sire, Geoffrey is. I shook my head at 'im," Cook continued with a sob, "and not ten seconds later he got all stiff-like, and then slumped to the ground."

I nodded and smiled grimly.

"Thank you, Cook. That solves that mystery."

The cook began to ask me what I meant, but just then the door swung open with a bang, and in raced Lucy, her diamond bottle of cordial in her small hands.

"I brought it, Ed," she panted, her eyes shifting from me to the young man on the floor with lightning fast speed. "Oh Edmund! Is he still alive?"

"He is and will remain alive if you hurry, Lu," I replied, trying to make plain to her our need for haste. It would be terrible if she was just a moment too late to save him.

Lucy knelt immediately, twisting the cap off the bottle and holding it over the young man's mouth. With a practiced hand, she gave him exactly one drop of the precious juice. We all waited in silence. After what seemed like ages but was really about seven seconds, the young man coughed once and then took a deep breath of Narnian air. Cook flung her arms around him, and then leapt up, actually dancing for joy.

"He's alive!" she cried, tears of joy appearing in the corners of her eyes. "Oh, thank you, Queen Lucy!"

"Water," croaked the young man, his lips parched and his tongue dry.

Corin stepped up immediately with the water pitcher he had found, giving the boy a good, long drink. Then, the young man sat up and looked around.

"What happened?" he asked, sounding ever so much better than he had scarce seconds ago. "Aunt?"

Cook knelt beside him and stroked his hair tenderly.

"You drank the wine from the High King's cup, Geoffrey," she said softly.

"And the poison that was meant for him too," I added, standing suddenly.

Lucy gasped. It occurred to me that Susan had not told her the circumstances under which the man that needed healing had been hurt.

"Poison? Someone tried to poison Peter?"

I nodded wearily and ran a hand through my hair.

"So it would seem."

The young man, Geoffrey, rose to his feet with help from the cook.

"I owe you my life, Queen Lucy," he said gratefully, bowing unsteadily to my sister.

"And we owe you our brother's," she replied with an equally grateful smile, curtseying back.

I cleared my throat, stepping between them—and the looks that were passing between them. Peter and I already had enough trouble with suitors for Susan. Lucy was only 15; I wasn't nearly ready to even think about starting the whole bother again with her.

"Cook, please escort your nephew to the healers. He is in no more danger of dying, but in order to keep from suffering any unnecessary aftereffects of the poison, he should take it easy for the next few days and take the prescribed remedy. Windmane the Centaur will ask what herbs to use…tell her that Geoffrey needs the cure for 'Adder's Blood'."

Cook gasped at the name of the deadly poison.

"Adder's Blood? How do you make that out—with all due respect, your highness?" she added this last bit rather apologetically, feeling that she had been out of place in her exclamation.

I shrugged and nodded at the pitcher in Corin's hands.

"The symptoms. The victim goes rigid five seconds after the poison is administered, and then collapses immediately; they are also found to be extremely thirsty when revived. If revived, though seldom are."

I decided not to mention that when victims of Adder's Blood were not revived, their bodies turned a light blue color in death.

The door slammed open again, and this time Susan entered, huffing and puffing in a most unqueenly fashion. She saw Geoffrey on his feet and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Lucy made it in time after all," she remarked serenely. "I'm so glad."

Cook escorted her nephew out, and Lucy trailed along behind, "In case Windmane needs help", she said. Corin was right on her heels, staring up at my youngest sister with wide blue eyes, full of curiosity and admiration.

Su and I were left alone in the room.

"Adder's Blood," I said after a moment, glancing down at Peter's goblet, nearly emptied of the poisoned wine. "A poison found in the veins of the Calormene Adder, the most venomous serpent in the land, whose blood itself is its venom."

"So the assassin is from Calormen?" Susan asked from beside me, a tremor in her voice.

I turned to her with a frown.

"Not necessarily. It could be that someone else wants to place the blame on Calormen for this tragic occurrence."

Susan nodded sagely at this comment, and then smiled at me.

"Edmund the Just. Perhaps your title should have been 'Edmund the Wise'. It might fit you better. That boy would not have lived were it not for your quick thinking. Peter will be so proud of you."

I blushed at the compliment, and then felt silly for being so pleased.

"Thanks, Su," I said quietly, picking up the goblet and turning it over in my hands, "but maybe we shouldn't tell Peter about this just now."

At the bewildered look on my sister's face, I explained my statement.

"I mean, think about it. He's busy enough as it is, and with this new 'poisoning', he'll be up to his neck in trouble. Maybe if we could just keep it quiet…"

"Susan!? Ed?"

I stopped abruptly as the voice of said older brother drifted into the kitchen. The heavy wooden door slammed open, and Peter bound in, breathing hard, as if he had been running. He staggered over to Susan and put a hand on her shoulder, glancing worriedly at me as he spoke.

"Are you two all right? Lucy told me what happened."

I nearly groaned as I realized that the secret of the poison was already out. Of course Lucy would have told Peter; she never could keep anything a secret.

"We're fine, Peter," my older sister replied calmly, giving him a patient, motherly look.

The High King let out a sigh of relief and ran a hand through his windblown hair, most likely disturbed in the act of sprinting all the way from the throne room to the kitchen, a most unkingly feat, to be sure.

"What happened, Edmund?"

I shrugged and gestured at the cup.

"I suppose our dear little sister told you about the poison?"

Peter's brow furrowed, and he frowned, picking up his goblet and glancing into it.

"She mentioned something of the sort, but I didn't get the full story. She was awfully excited.

He raised the goblet up to his face and my eyes widened.

Is he about to drink that? Surely Peter wouldn't be such an idiot…

…but then again…

Before my older brother could inadvertently kill himself, I cried, "What are you doing?!" and slapped the goblet out of his hands. The poisoned wine splashed all over the floor, and Susan's dress, a shriek emanating from the wearer of the stained garment. Peter jumped back.

"What on earth, Edmund?" he shouted, staring at me like I had gone mad.

"That wine is poisoned," I replied, giving my older brother a frustrated look. "Why in Narnia were you about to drink it? Shouldn't you be a bit more cautious?"

Peter sighed and rolled his eyes toward heaven, leaning heavily on the wooden table.

"Lion's mane, Ed, I was smelling it. Some poisons can be identified by their smell." He grinned at me. "And you're always saying that I worry about things too much."

Susan gave me an annoyed look, and then glanced down at her lovely yellow dress, now stained a shade of dark purple.

"Maybe 'the Wise' doesn't fit you so well after all," she remarked dryly after a moment of embarrassed silence.

I felt my face go hot.

"Sorry. Peter, we already know what the poison is."

The High King cocked his head and raised his eyebrow again.

"Really? How can you tell for sure?"

"The symptoms of the victim," I replied, my throat suddenly growing dry at the thought of what the cook's nephew would have looked like had we arrived but a few minutes later. "Pete, it's Adder's Blood."

I watched, slightly amused, as the impatient look on Peter's face morphed instantly into one of horror. The horror lasted less than a second though, and was quickly covered up with a look of veiled concern as my older brother slipped into his court face.

"Adder's Blood. A Calormene assassin, you think?"

I shrugged, giving him a grim smile.

"It could be. It's most likely a Calormene; but we can't really know. It might be someone else trying to rouse us against Calormen for some reason or another."

Peter nodded, recognizing the reason in my statement. He sighed and rubbed his head thoughtfully.

"Yes, it would probably be best not to jump to conclusions in this case. Keep an eye out, though. You never know what the consequences might be if this," he gestured at the goblet, "happens again."

He picked up his golden cup from where it lay on the floor and placed it carefully on the table. The poisoned wine that was pooled on the floor was as red as blood, and I shuddered, making a mental note to have it cleaned up.

"Come on, Su," Peter said with a casual smile for our sister. "You'd best get out of that dress before someone thinks the wine on it is blood and comes riding to your aid. Lord Col couldn't keep his eyes off you at the noon meal."

Susan grinned at him and stuck out her tongue at Peter in a most unqueenly fashion.

"Lord Col indeed. I almost wish that someone else, beside our Narnian nobles, might come for a visit every now and then. It's a bit dull when there are no new dignitaries to dazzle."

All this my sister said with a teasing smile, flipping her hair over her shoulder grandly as she spoke. She knew how Peter despised the days on which her many suitors visited, each one begging to be admitted to see the lovely, beautiful, gracious, fair, noble, graceful Queen Susan. She'd been given more adjectives than the rest of us put together, though Peter provided a good rival when it came to the ladies and princesses that came seeking his hand.

"The King of Galma and his two children are arriving sometime this month," Peter replied, patting Susan on the head with a grin. "Perhaps you will find some new poor devil to beguile with your feminine charms."

Susan batted her eyes at him and sighed romantically.

"And I suppose that one of the king's children is a young lady who is oh-so-interested in meeting the High King of Narnia, who is rumored to be the most handsome and courageous man in all of Narnia, Archenland, and Calormen?!"

This time it was Peter who stuck his tongue out at her, and they both grinned at the fun. I rolled my eyes. Older siblings. Who could understand them?

Who wanted to?

"I'll see you around, Ed," Peter said, nodding his farewell to me as he turned to go. "Keep your sword with you at all times; just in case."

"And you keep Lucy nearby every time you want a drink," I replied dryly, giving one more glance to the golden goblet on the table and the spilled wine on the floor. "Poison, especially the Adder's Blood, is not a thing to be unconcerned about."

To be continued…