The Deepest Blue(73)

“Do you know how to help her?”

“She’s supposed to be helping us, remember?”

“Well, she’s not doing that right now.”

Lady Garnah gave him a quelling look and then pulled out a vial and let a drop fall into Lady Biliarn’s mouth. The twitching slowed. Lady Biliarn’s breathing became more steady. In a broken whisper, she said, “What have you done to me?”

“Poisoned you,” Lady Garnah said matter-of-factly. “You’ve had one drop of antidote.” She wiggled the vial in the air. “If you tell me what I need to know, you may have the rest. If not, the one drop will wear off, you’ll be in excruciating pain, and then you’ll die in your own excrement. It will look like an allergic reaction to—oh dear, is that anemone-laced cheese? You have an anemone allergy, don’t you, my dear?”

Kelo backed away. “What have you done? You said it would make her talk . . .”

“This will make her talk,” Lady Garnah said. “I had no idea you were squeamish.”

“But she knows who we are and what we’ve done!”

“She won’t remember. I’ve added a helpful herb to the antidote that will ensure that,” Lady Garnah said. “If she survives. The survival bit is up to her. Antidote or no antidote, Lady Biliarn?” She held up the vial again.

Lady Biliarn sucked in air. It sounded as if she were breathing through a tiny hole. Everything in Kelo made him want to yell out for help. Lady Garnah was clearly insane, and she was killing Lady Biliarn.

But if he were found here like this . . .

If they didn’t learn who held Queen Asana’s family . . .

He didn’t move.

“What do you want to know?” Lady Biliarn asked, her voice so strained it was hard to hear. He leaned closer.

“Very simple. One question. One answer. Who holds Queen Asana’s family?”

“No one,” Lady Biliarn whispered. Her legs began to twitch again. “They live happy, prosperous lives.” She gasped like every breath cut her throat.

“Ooh, the drop of antidote is wearing off. How much pain are you willing to withstand? Tell me: Where is her family?”

Lady Biliarn began to cry. Fat drops slid down her perfect cheekbones. “I do not know. I swear to you, I don’t.”

“You know they were taken.”

“It’s how it’s always done. But who holds them is secret.”

“Then tell us who would know.”

“Only a member of the Family who has them. And that’s not mine. Or if it is, I am not important enough to know it. Please, the antidote. This is the truth!”

Lady Garnah didn’t move. She studied Lady Biliarn’s face as the woman began to twitch again and gasp for air. “Give it to her!” Kelo cried.

Shooting him an amused look, Garnah poured the vial down Lady Biliarn’s throat. Her head flopped to the side. “Now you may call for help. She had an allergic reaction, remember.” Standing, Garnah swept across the room and closed herself in the music closet.

Kelo ran to the door. “Help! Someone, help!”

In the distance, he heard footsteps. When the courtier reached him, he said, “Please, help, Lady Biliarn has had an allergic reaction. She ate a wedge of anemone cheese and collapsed.”

IF I HAD INTEGRITY, KELO THOUGHT, I’D STOP THIS.

But he didn’t. He set aside the nearly complete portrait of Lady Biliarn, displaying it by leaning it against one of the harps. The new arrivals would be able to see his work and anticipate how he’d capture their best side. He’d done a nice job on her portrait, before she’d eaten the cheese. He’d captured her dignity and majesty in the moments before she lost both.

Lady Garnah emerged from the closet and, using tongs, she plucked the cheese off the plate and dropped it into a bag that she slid into another of her many pockets.

“Don’t we need that?” Kelo asked.

“Two allergic reactions in a row would be suspicious, don’t you think? No, for the next one, encourage them to drink the beverage. You’ll be able to question them freely.”

“Wait—it really does work as you said?”

“Of course. I don’t lie. Unless it suits me.”

“Then why didn’t you put the same stuff on the food?”

“Because that wasn’t for them,” Garnah said. “It was for you.”

He recoiled. She’d planned to poison him? Why? It didn’t even make sense. “But I wasn’t going to eat any of the food.”

“Not for you to ingest. For you. I needed to see how far you’re willing to go and how much you’re willing to compromise your ideals to achieve your goal.” She gave him a motherly smile. “I think you’ll do nicely.”

He pointed to the spot in the carpet where Lady Biliarn had fallen. “You did that . . . put her through pain . . . to prove a point to me?” This . . . it was wrong. It was appalling.

“Yes,” she said, nodding eagerly. “Also, it was fun.”

A knock on the door. Kelo tried to compose himself as Lady Garnah hid again in the closet. This time his model was a dignitary from the Family Toral, and he came without servants. Near as Kelo could glean, he was a lower-ranking official. But Kelo obediently offered him the beverage, and he drank before even sitting down to be painted.