Midway pt. 10 Trusted Poison
How much could I trust? How mush should I distrust? On one hand are wild tales with the possibility of Sky being an adversary and the King of a foreign land as an allie. Or was it all a trick to have my hand turn against my family? How do you begin to answer questions that could in themselves be false? I needed evidence that the makings of my questions were real. I needed to know two things. Could Teco be my father? And who was Sky's father? If even one of the stories Teco told were true it would mean the chance of them all holding weight.
I needed a way to know for sure , without any shadow of doubt who was in relation to whom. If there was one thing I believed that Teco told me it was the poor quality of our kingdoms ability to investigate. Nearly two weeks had passed and still we seemed no closer to finding who poisoned the King. To ask that an investigation be held to find blood lines lost by time would be too big a risk and too much a challenge. I needed someone smart but capable of keeping silent. Santo came to mind. I didn't want to use him in such a way that might endanger his life but he was the only person I knew who could possibly help without raising alarms.
I'd just returned from my ride back to the castle. In the late hours of the night I retired to my quarters and searched for enough peace of mind to sink to sleep. When I entered my room I was once again greeted by the sight of a body in my bed.
Par- Lady Yale
She did not speak. My mind so confused I believed that what she offered me once might bring me release. I left the lights off and went to join her in my bed.
Par- My brother has been searching for you
I spoke and still she said nothing as I crawled beside her.
Par- I'm glad that you haven't left us
Still no answer, not a single word ,but there was something. A cold sensation. I pulled the sheets from her body and there she layed in a pool of her own blood. Her throat was slit and her hands were cut to ribbons most likely from herself attempting to block a blade.
Par- guards
I screamed.
Par- guards
I screamed again, and before my third my room was entered.
My life was not the only one threatened that night . There were attempts on all of our lives. Earlier that day Louis was nearly killed by a group of arrows shot though a window into the castle. Sky was attacked by a masked assassin in the castle gardens. And I might have known these things fist hand if not for my ride to and from the embassy, but I might have also been killed.
Our father was no longer the only royal in our castle to survive near death. But there was something a miss. Sky said she fought her attacker but they managed to get away. Sky never lost a battle. Louis was almost shot by three arrows while walking the castle grounds, but was saved by his attacker confusing a house guests for a royal. I was meant to die in my sleep, but Lady Yale was in my bed rather than myself. Sky was attacked head on, and her attacker not only got away but could not be described. If there was anyone a stealth approach was fitting to use against it would be my sister. But I had no reason to doubt my sister's claims , none other than those planted by a foreign king. I needed answers to questions before I could begin to speculate, but I'd had enough. I needed a resolution.
I couldn't sleep in my room until Lady Yale's body and blood were moved , so I decided I was going to have a long night. While my brother slept in a guarded safe room for protection my sister seemed unphased by her attacker getting away , so she was out somewhere in the castle. She was probably speaking with the guards or in the training ring keeping her mind off of everything. She was always her most calm in a battle. I took the opportunity to do a short investigation.
I entered my sisters room. With the light that Santo gave me I could look around without needing to turn on the rooms lights which would give me away. It was a strange gift , the way that it made things glow in all sorts of different colors. Nothing was the same color, unless it was the same. Teco had given me a vile of the poison that was in our birthday cake , I wondered if I could use my light to match it with its source inside Sky's room.
I shined the light on the vile and it glowed bright green. I then knew what to look for, but if my sister was truly the one behind our danger she would never leave something incriminating in plain view. Where to begin invading one's privacy? I checked under her bed , in her cabinets, her personal armory but found nothing out of the ordinary. There were no signs of anything that glowed bright green like the sample of poison. I began to feel shame for allowing another King to get in my head and control my thoughts. Ready to leave I put away my light sliding it into my pocket, but only when the room was dark could I see what I'd been missing. There was another source of light beaming through the stone wall onto my face. It was a thin line of light , one that I might have missed if not for my eyes being in the dark for so long. I couldn't find a way to open the wall but I knew it was there. That seemed to be the end of my investigation, but could I really let everything go? I'd have to see.
When morning came I sent a summons for Santo. I hadn't slept at all the night before and my battle with Non was still present in the bruising on my body. Needless to say I did not look my best. I waited for Santo in a special room. Louis had his bed room or perhaps The Splint , Sky had the training ring , but where I felt most safe was the castle Frame room. A room of walls holding portraits of every generation of Fae's royalty. I'd yet to have my portrait painted so there was an empty space on the wall under King Father and Queen Mother, and between Louis and Sky. I didn't want to be King , I didn't want to be a royal and I loved that room because until my portrait was on the wall it was like I was never royalty at all. It was like seeing my choice, standing outside of what my family all wanted, and no one could tell me who I was until I allowed it. As King I could never be with someone as brilliant as Santo because he was not of a royal blood line. As King I could never hold the company of such a marvel as Jin and her amazing family. As King I could never be close to a member of another Kingdoms royal guard like Non. But as King I could lead my people into a future where they wouldn't fear minds like Santo. As King I could make diversity a norm for people like Jin. As King I could keep us out of war with my allies in the other Kingdoms. I had years to consider my choice but lately the question was on my mind more frequently than I liked. Santo arrived in time to keep me from spiraling into my thoughts.
Santo- Its rare that I'm summoned to a castle you know
Par- I hope I didn't break you from your work
Santo- quite the the opposite, I haven't been able to get much work done since the last night we were together
Par- I suppose it has been a few days
Santo- I knew what to expect, a prince can't be expected to keep all of his coins in one bank
Par- but you are quite the bank to invest in
We shared a laugh.
Santo - I'm assuming you didn't send for me for a second date
Par- I might have , but your assumption is right , I need to know something that is long unknown
Santo- and what is it that you want to know
Par- is there a way to test bloodlines
Santo- there are a few , why
Par- I need you to teach me how to go about running these tests without being noticed
Santo - well this isn't really my ground of expertise, but if you want to test blood for blood , you will need just that
Par- blood
Santo- from the two subjects being tested against one another
Par- well how do I take a person's blood without their knowing
Santo- who might I ask are you testing
Par- it's safer if you don't know
Santo- does it have something to do with last night
Par- how do you know about last night
Santo- news travels fast when in relation to the throne
Par- alright, well once I have the blood then what do I do
Santo- bring it back to my work shop and I'm sure I can take it from there
Par- it's not safe for you to be so closely involved
Santo- I was involved from the moment you sent for me , besides It would take a while to teach you how to run the test on your own , and from the look of your lack of sleep I'd say you want results quickly am I right
Par- what did I do to deserve you
Santo- you were open minded
Gathering blood samples from Sky Queen Mother and King father would be a challenge. I thought of a few ways to go about the ordeal.
Sky seemed to be the simplest of the three to gather a sample from. I thought I might offer to spar with her and collect a sample by wounding her, but there was the risk of her breaking me in the process. So I decide on a simpler plan to wait until after one of her training sessions in the ring and collect her blood from the sand.
King Father had recovered significantly, but he was still unable to leave his bed or even speak. With his chambers being guarded heavily round the clock I would need a very stealthily approach to collect his blood sample. Or so I thought, due to his condition King Father had grown a nasty cough that would often expel blood. I planned to go check on him and be the one to take his blood rags from the room.
All that was left was Queen mother. How to collect her sample was taking more thought. She would not simply bleed in a training ring , and she was not sickly and creating samples easy to procure. She was heavily guarded and very cognitive.
But there was a fourth sample I needed. A fourth sample I wanted. Teco , was he truly my father? It was too late to collect a sample of his blood even if I could have came up with a plan to receive it. So I kept my thoughts on the bigger situation at hand. My suspicions towards my sister were growing too quickly not to proceed. I needed to know one truth, just one solitary piece of information to tell me to worry or be at ease.