A Magic Steeped in Poison (The Book of Tea #1) (60)

“Move,” I demand of the princess, all courtesy gone. When she does not listen, I pull her away.

“What are you doing?” She looks at me, lost to panic, hands clawed and teeth bared, ready to tear me apart if I hurt Ruyi. This is beyond loyalty and care of her handmaiden, this is … something else.

“If you want her to live,” I tell her, “get out of my way.”





CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN


Princess Zhen moves aside, biting her lip.

“My father is a physician,” I say to her, adopting the voice he uses when his patients’ family members are in hysterics. “I will do her no harm.”

No more than what has already been done, anyway, but I don’t tell her that.

She nods then and gestures for me to continue.

This for me is a different kind of ritual. Steady hands, calm nerves. Not so different, I realize, from being a shénnóng-shī.

I pull the dagger out and, ignoring the gasp of protest next to me, cut away the layers of Ruyi’s tunic until the wound is exposed. I hiss when I see the splintered shaft of an arrow buried in her side, the blood bubbling around it.

I touch the skin above the wound, and she writhes under me, coming in and out of delirium. She is still reactive, and that is a blessing at least, but I know this is not a regular arrowhead. It was coated in a poison designed to inflict pain.

I’ve seen it before. Crow’s head.

The plant has beautiful purple flowers, but the entire plant, especially the root, is poisonous. If even a small piece of the root is ingested, it can kill someone in an hour. I’ve seen it used by the mountain bandits, soldiers dying from their poisoned arrows when they do not reach a physician in time.

I gingerly palpate her side. The flesh around the wound is hardening, black vessels spreading outward, the poison seeping into her body.

“Tell me,” the princess asks, her face streaked with tears. “How bad is it?”

“She’s been poisoned,” I say. “I can pull out the arrowhead and stop the bleeding, but I also have to draw out and neutralize the poison before it kills her.”

“Anything you need.” She draws herself up. “Anything you need and it is yours.”

Despite the urgent task at hand, a darker part of myself recognizes that this is my chance to get the answers I need. I told Kang I would ask for the head of the Shadow. And now I have not only her identity but her life in my hands.

“Why was Ruyi in Sù?” I ask.

Princess Zhen blinks, not understanding.

“Tell me why she was in Sù!” I demand. “Is she the one responsible for the poison? Is she distributing it at your behest?”

“How dare you!” she snaps, taking a step in my direction, fists clenched at her sides.

“The longer you wait,” I remind her, “the deeper the poison will enter her body, and the harder it will be to save her.” I gamble on the suspicion that she is willing to trust in an untrained physician’s assistant rather than call for the aid of one of the royal physicians. It means she has something to hide.

The princess weighs this, then she sighs as she looks down at Ruyi. “I sent her to look into who is behind the poisonings, and whether they had a direct hand in what happened to my father.”

“Why did you hide his death for so long?” I ask. “Did he disagree with your plot utilizing the tea bricks? Were you planning to cause the unrest yourself and come back with a pretty cure? Win the hearts of the people?”

Red blooms across her face. “I would be very careful with your next words. I could have you executed the moment you step out of this room.”

Ruyi’s body thrashes again underneath my palms. She lets out a guttural moan. I hold her down quickly, pulling her eyelids back. I can see only white.

“Look at her!” I yell at the princess. “Tell me. Why was she in Sù?”

“Stop! Yes!” The princess climbs onto the bed and kneels at the head of her handmaiden, speaking rapidly. “She was there investigating on my behalf, following the procession that delivered my invitations across the empire, seeing if anyone would interfere. But someone followed her at each turn, sowed seeds of distrust, until it became difficult for her to keep her disguise.

“But I swear to you.” She reaches out and grips my arm. “I have nothing to do with the poisonings. I want Dàxī to be reunited and strong. I will not do it by killing commoners.”

She could be lying to me still, but her eyes are only for Ruyi, her concern obvious.

“A life for a life,” I say to her, ready to bargain. “If I heal her now, you will owe me a favor. Do you have the cure-all stone?”

Princess Zhen blinks at me, then dismisses me with an agitated wave of her hand. “That’s just a folktale. It doesn’t exist. Do you think I would not demand its use now if it were real?”

So Kang told me the truth, but something inside me still crumples at the thought.

“Then the use of your royal physicians,” I tell her. “For treatment of the poison—”

She interrupts me with a growl, unable to hide her frustration. “Don’t you understand? The poison is what killed my father. The royal physicians were unable to slow down its course. The only way to stop it is to discover the antidote.”