City of Starlight

Chapter 9 - Poison reveals all

(Daniella's POV)

It surprised me that we were still allowed to use the guest dining hall for breakfast despite angering King Arthur following Merlin's release last night. I assumed he didn't say a word to anyone other than his trust knights because he was too proud to admit to his own people that he had welcomed a 'threat' into his kingdom. However, there was undeniably a tension building up between him and our companions. Accordingly, Granny had been notified to start preparing for us to  live and gather in the tavern during the remainder of our time in Camelot. In the brief visit to the tavern yesterday, Merlin also unfroze Snow and David who had come into a confrontation with Arthur and Guinevere while retrieving the sword, Excalibur. 

With Merlin amongst us and on our side, it was doubtful that Arthur would mount an attack. The question on everyone's minds was whether the great wizard could free Emma from the darkness and quite ambiguously, he told us that it was as much his decision as Emma's. After breakfast, he would have a private chat with Emma. Though this sounded manageable, as it happens, there would always be something wrong at one given time. Snow suddenly exclaimed, "Regina, are you ok?"

I whipped around and noticed how mother had suddenly gone very still. Then, with her hand covering her mouth, she spat out her tea back into the teacup in her hand. "Wolfsbane," she muttered.

"What?" Snow exclaimed. 

Without answering her or giving her a glance, mother got up and checked every tea on the table. David spoke up worriedly in the midst of her strange behaviour, "Isn't it a poison?" Mother replied heatedly, "Yes. A commoner's poison. Though this one tastes slightly different. Perhaps it's because this particular type had been collected from the forests of Camelot."  After setting down the last cup, she assured everyone, "Don't worry, only my drink contained the poison."

Snow's incredulous expression opposed mother's statement completely. "Oh I'm worried. It's the second time someone's tried to kill you since we arrived. We need to get out of here." Mother merely rolled her eyes and snipped back, "Didn't you try to kill me twice? Believe me, I'm quite used to that kind of sentiment by now, though I appreciate your concern and I'm rather eager to find out who was responsible for this." 

The remainder of breakfast was ruined by this scandal as efforts were made to interrogate the kitchen staff. During this process, Merlin and Emma disappeared to talk about the dilemma surrounding the Darkness. It was mainly David and Hook who did the interrogation, as everyone knew that mother's ways of extracting information might get out of hand quickly. We stood in the background and watched as the kitchen staff gave us blank and confused expressions. That was when Hilda spoke up and mentioned, "I'm not sure if this is related, but I know of a squire who sometimes collect herbs for the healers in the castle when he's out for a hunt in the forest."

Mother replied, "He wouldn't have been able to harvest this particular type of Wolfsbane unless he was in the presence of somebody with magic. Wolfsbane normally appears when it senses dark magic. Unless the boy you're thinking of possesses magic, he cannot be the culprit."

As soon as mother said this, I felt my insides shift. As I balled my fists together uncomfortably, Snow asked, "Well perhaps he was with a witch, or even near Emma's magic at that moment. What's his name?"

Hilda scrunched up her face whilst reaching into her memory and finally, she said the one syllable that I dreaded, "Rhys." 

Before anyone could respond, I swallowed and felt my voice go up an octave as I asked shakily, "Where is he?"

"Probably in the combat room fencing with the other trainees." 

My blood ran cold and as I attempted to take deep breaths to steady my palpitating pulse, I swallowed. I didn't dare meet anyone's gaze as I muttered, "I'll go look for him." Then, I left everyone's baffled expressions and teleported to the ground level of the castle in search for him. As all castles followed a similar layout, I made it to the combat room in no time. Nervousness, disappointment and anger all simmered like an explosive potion in my blood. Knowing that everyone knew I had magic by this point, I used it without hesitation to open the doors. They slammed violently behind me when I walked in, making the boys inside freeze and glance at each other, not knowing what they should do. Even though they were technically loyal to Arthur, I was the one with magic. Though I suppose it would have been evident that I was upset, I schooled my expression and asked calmly, "Is Rhys here?"