Chapter 179: The Teacup [Part 2]
"Just as I thought, these do not have the poison on them. Please look at the cup, Your Majesty," Ravyn said after minutes of examination.
I did as Ravyn requested. I grabbed the fine ceramic and found black spots inside.
"That is not tea, is it?"
"No... it may look like the remnants of the tea, but that’s the poison, already attacking the ceramics. If ingested, it might have been far worse."
Damon caught the cup before it broke too. No doubt he was trying to secure evidence.
"This cup was specifically laced with it."
I smiled. "I have just been queen for a few weeks, and yet I’m already a victim of poison. Someone really wants me gone."
"Your Majesty, take heart!"
"We’ll not rest until we find who is responsible!"
"No one shall leave until we do!"
"We must find the evil woman!"
"Whoever dares to harm the queen will be charged with treason!"
"We’ll not let this slide!"
"Yes..." I said, eyeing Sloane at the end of the table. "We will... and when we do. Justice will be served."
"L-Lady Aria! You said plants were brought from Beloria recently!" Sloane yelled at her. "How could you accept such plants without inspecting? The human kingdom could be trying to harm our queen!"
"I-I-I—" Aria couldn’t speak as terror filled her.
"Lady Aria, please rise. There’s no need to remain in that position."
"Your Majesty?" she sobbed.
"It’s okay, I know you had nothing to do with this, you’re just caught in this entanglement, and as we dig for the truth, your innocence will be proven."
She stood and bowed. "Thank you. Your Majesty!"
"It was Lady Aria who insisted that she made tea for you! How could you let her go without questioning her?!"
"I didn’t say she was completely out of it. I said as we uncover the truth, her innocence will be proven."
"Then you’re handling this the wrong way. She’s the major suspect!"
"Major suspect?"
"Yes!"
"Then... if we’re going in that direction of suspects, then you’re one too."
"Wh-What?" She uttered with a forced smile. "You cannot be serious. Why will I stoop so low to—" she froze when it finally dawned on her.
Everyone, and I mean everyone, gave her dark looks, even her ladies, who she came with. She was the center of attention, and the hostility was pinned on her.
"Why are you all looking at me that way?"
"Isn’t it obvious, Lady Sloane? Since the beginning, you have been the one who’d been in opposition and the loudest..." I gave a thoughtful expression. "It’s almost as if you feel anxious about something. Your makeup is ruined with sweat, and your eyelid keeps twitching."
She gasped in disbelief, mostly because she didn’t believe I had been monitoring her this entire time.
Sloane stood to her feet and slammed her palm on the table, and it shook upon impact. This attracted the knights closer to her. Fear screamed on her face.
"I didn’t want to resort to this but..." I sighed, bracing myself.
The mention of poison hasn’t shaken me as I hoped, but I had a feeling this would.
"What kind of poison was used, Ravyn?"
"The poison is a type that destroys the womb, and makes the victim unable to have children."
I clenched my fist tightly, and my ice flared the entire table; the others were in shock as the temperature dropped too, becoming colder than it was earlier.
"A poison to take one’s life would have been easier. I’d have thought you wanted death, but this? Subjecting a woman to such horror?" I pinned Sloane with a brutal look worth the force of a blizzard. "It’s unforgivable!"
The ice turned to spike, and it pointed just at her throat. "Y-Your Majesty... Eloise!" she yelled at me.
"Seize her!"
"No! I’m innocent! Don’t you dare touch me!" she growled, eyes glowing as her canines dropped. She was close to shifting, but the knight held her down, forcing her face on the table, and blood smeared the surface.
"YOU BITCH! I’LL GET YOU FOR THIS!"
"Take her away!"
She was dragged out while screaming at the top of her lungs, cursing me endlessly. The ladies were in shock because no one had ever seen her like this before.
The once Lady Sloane Altherin, who was once poised and delicate, was screaming like a madwoman.
~•~
I have never been to the dungeons before. It was designed to hold Lycan, with irons reinforced with magic. It looked centuries old, but it was strong enough to hold a force. It was dark and smelt of filth.
A knight held the torch up for me so that I could see, my shoes resonating through the air as I strode the corridors.
I made a turn and stopped in front of a cell where I heard sobbing.
"Hello, Sloane."
She lifted her face, and when the light touched her face, there was a wound from when the knight had held her down on the icy table.
"I can’t heal!" she yelled in tears. "What did you do to me?! What did you do?!"
"I’m just as curious," I said calmly as I stretched my hand forward. "Shall we find out then?"
"Wha-What—" she couldn’t finish as her screams of agony filled the dungeon.
She dropped to the ground, thrashing as her nails clawed at her face. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING? MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOP!"
"Just as I thought..." I said not once flinching from her misery. "Earlier, when your face was slammed on the ice, some of the icy crystals penetrated your skin. It has infiltrated your moonblood and stopped you from healing in that spot. I didn’t know I was capable of this." My hand fell to my side.
When Sloane looked at me with trembling, bloodshot eyes, and tears of blood, it was pure fear.
I grinned, my eyes glowing. "Thank you for being a worthy test subject. Now I know the extent of my powers."