Protect the Prince (Crown of Shards #2)(90)

We slipped through the hallways much like Sullivan and I had done last night, and our destination was the same—the dungeon.

To my surprise, no guards were posted outside the dungeon entrance, but I supposed there was no reason for them to be here, since they no longer had a prisoner to guard. We headed inside and went to the weather magier’s cell.

Sullivan had locked the cell door with his lighting, but I wrapped my hands around the bars and killed his power with my immunity. A few seconds later, the last blue sparks of his magic fizzled out, and the door creaked open.

“I still don’t see why you wanted to come here,” Paloma grumbled. “What are you hoping to find?”

“I don’t know. Some sort of clue. Something that will at least tell me whether the weather magier poisoned herself or if someone did it to her instead.”

“What difference does it make?” Paloma asked. “You already think someone poisoned the magier. It’s the basis of your whole traitor theory. Besides, she’s dead, so it’s not like she can tell us who she was working with.”

“I know, but I wanted to see her cell again.”

Paloma shrugged, still not seeing my point, but she kept watch while I stepped into the cell.

The area looked the same as it had last night. A cot pushed up against the back wall with a wooden bucket for a chamber pot in the corner. The bucket was thankfully empty, and the blankets, sheets, and mattress had been removed from the cot, leaving only the metal frame. The magier’s body had been removed as well, although the coppery tang of her blood lingered in the air, along with the faint hint of the poison that had killed her.

Now that might be a clue.

I crouched down in the spot where the magier had died, since that’s where the stench of the poison was the strongest. I drew in several deep breaths, drawing in the air over my tongue and tasting all the scents in it. I also spread my fingers out wide on the flagstone where the poisoned water had dribbled out of the glass, then reached out with my immunity.

The aroma was faint, as were the traces of magic, but I still recognized them as the same soft, lavender scent and parasitic, venomous vines of power that I had sensed in Heinrich.

I drew in several more breaths and reached out with even more of my magic, but the aroma and the sensation stayed the same, confirming my suspicions. So I let go of my magic and sat back on my heels.

“Did you find something?” Paloma asked.

I nodded. “The magier definitely didn’t poison herself.”

“How do you know?”

I got to my feet and dusted off my hands. “Because whoever killed her also used the same poison on the king.”

Paloma frowned. “That doesn’t prove anything. The magier still could have killed herself.”

I shook my head. “I don’t think so. This poison isn’t like wormroot. It’s not designed to kill you right away using only a few drops. It smells too soft and subtle for that.”

“So?”

“So the weather magier would have had to take a massive dose to kill herself, more poison than could be packed into a hollow button or tooth or some other small hiding space.”

I spotted an empty pitcher and a glass on the table in the corner outside the cell. Everyone already knew that the magier had drunk the poison, but I still went over, picked up the objects, and smelled them. The pitcher was clean, but the glass still reeked of poison, and the floral scent was much stronger on it than on anything else.

My nose crinkled. “But a glass of water filled with poison would have been more than enough to kill her.”

“But you still can’t prove that the magier didn’t poison herself,” Paloma pointed out.

I set the glass on the table. “I know, but this magier wasn’t some scared young girl like Libby was. This magier was older, stronger, tougher, more experienced. Even when she was defeated in the library, she kept spewing threats at Sullivan and me. The magier wouldn’t just give up and poison herself. At least, not without trying to escape first. No, I think our mysterious traitor poisoned the magier’s water, and the magier drank it without even realizing what it was.”

I glanced around again, but there was nothing else of interest. I knew the how and why of the magier’s death. Now I just needed to know who.

“Who was in the dungeon last night? Who was here when the magier was brought in?”

Paloma’s face scrunched up, as did the one of the ogre on her neck. “Heinrich, Sullivan, Serilda, Cho, Xenia, Rhea, Alvis, Helene, Dahlia, me. Pretty much everyone who was at dinner, along with several guards. Everyone was shouting, yelling, and running around.”

“So there’s no way to tell who poisoned the magier. Anyone could have slipped it into her water glass during the confusion.”

Paloma shook her head. “I don’t think so. Sorry, Evie.”

I hadn’t thought that examining the magier’s cell would give me a lot of information, but it had told me a few important things. Namely, that the traitor had access to both the king and the dungeon. That was still dozens of people, but out of all the names Paloma had mentioned, only one person had the obvious magic and skills to subtly poison Heinrich while giving the magier one large, lethal dose.

“We’re done here,” I said. “Let’s go.”

“Where to?” Paloma asked.