The Water Howlers - Book II ✔

Chapter 35 - Ki

"What should we do?" Emmie asked.

They were all standing in a circle, staring down at the body of the boy. Thatch and Ori had managed to move him from the hidden passageway and into the princess' bedroom without being spotted. The boy, for that was what he was, just a boy, younger than her, maybe fourteen, lying so still with a trail of pale green foam on his lips from the poison he ingested.

Ki looked at Ansira, noticing the intense gaze the girl was giving the young boy.

"Do you recognise him?" She asked her, but Ansira shook her head.

"No, but he doesn't look like a typical servant here, so I suspect he was newly recruited for this purpose alone."

Thatch huffed. "You'd think the king would be more careful with his pick of servants." Four pairs of eyes stared at him, and he shrugged. "How about instead of just standing here, we figure out how to expose of him? Do we just yell down the hall that a dead boy is in here? I doubt that'd go over very well with the 'folks'."

"Maybe we should have left him in the wall?" Emmie said, her worried eyes glancing from Ki to the boy on the floor.

"A little too late for that now," Thatch replied.

Emmie narrowed her eyes at Thatch and bit back, "Then what do you suggest?"

Just then a knock on the door had them all frozen in place.

Ansira was the first to collect herself and moved towards the door. "Yes?" she called out softly, her voice steady and normal, as if there wasn't a young boy lying dead on the floor in the adjoining room.

"Miss, I'm here with the herbal tea for her Royal Highness." Ki groaned inwardly. Of course, this wouldn't be easy.

"Please leave it outside, the Princess is still sleeping." Ansira's tone of voice insistent.

"But miss, I was told she'd need it straight away to help recover from the poison. It must not cool too much, or the effect will wear off."

"One moment, please." Ansira turned to stare at Ki and the others with wide eyes.

Ki surveyed the room. The washroom to the right was the best place right now. She motioned for Thatch and Ori to help drag the body into the tiled room. They stashed him by the wall opposite the wash basin and then shut the door. They hurried back into the other room as Ansira opened the door for the royal medic. He who rushed into the room with a tray ladened with a metal cup, a pot with steam rising from it and some cloth. He set it down on the bedside table and looked the unconscious princess over.

The royal medic was a short and slender man with grey streaks in his dark hair, his face weathered from age. He expertly checked Isadaya's pulse before beginning to pour a cup of herbal tea. The scent spread through the room and Ki picked up notes of ginger, sage and mint. It wasn't the worst herbal tea she'd smelled. She remembered some awful-smelling concoction her uncle sometimes drank after he'd been too generous with the spirits, and this was at least a pleasant smell.

"The first healer said it didn't matter if the tea was hot or cold," Thatch muttered as a frown appeared on his face. Ki's eyes shot to the medic who was trying to coax the tea into Isadaya's mouth.

"Stop that!" Ki summoned a gust of wind that knocked the teacup from the man's hands and sent it crashing against the door, splattering tea everywhere.

As soon as Ki yelled, Thatch had leapt from his spot and tackled the man to the floor. Ki rushed to Isadaya's side and started wiping whatever droplets had gathered on Isadaya's lips. The princess stirred and moaned. Ki looked down to see both Thatch and Ori was restraining the man who struggled in their grip. His head was angled down towards his right shoulder, and it looked as if...