A Beast's Tale

Chapter 71

"A colorless, odorless, tasteless, fast-acting poison? How diabolical." Clavis laughed. "If it's truly undetectable, it might even work on you, Chev!"

"I doubt it," Nokto muttered. He went to his desk and slid the top sheets from a stack of paper, then shook his head and flipped through a few more pages. "I've heard nothing specifically about trade in new plants or medicines, but..."

"But Jade doesn't want us to know about this. If our two-faced friend hadn't made the mistake of targeting Ivetta, we wouldn't know about it now." Clavis' bright smile darkened as his eyes narrowed. "How did you keep from killing him, Nokto?"

"He's bigger and stronger than I am; he's a better swordsman than I am—and I thought if anybody could kill him and make it look like an accident, it would be King Highness. But he wouldn't have done that just to force her into confessing about the king's death." Nokto frowned and glanced back at me. "Is this what he was after? Fishing for information about this new plant, trying to find out what we already knew?"

"Yes," I confirmed. "That and the weapons dealing. He wanted to ensure we weren't complicit before he brought Jade's concerns to our attention. He implied the plant has entered Rhodolite and that he's following its trail, but the only name he let slip was that of his uncle."

"I've never liked Fernan," Clavis said, leaning back against a bookshelf and crossing his arms over his chest. "Or Emidio. Now, I'm a huge proponent of wearing a smile at all times and in all situations, but I don't trust those two when they smile. Or speak. Or breathe."

"And you'll take almost anybody as a friend, won't you?" Nokto said, smirking at Clavis. "If Fernan isn't smuggling the plant across Jade's border with Obsidian, the next most direct route is through your territory. Your loyalty to Rhodolite is often in question, hm? And you know plenty of people who would love to get their hands on an undetectable poison."

Clavis waved his hand in dismissal. "Don't we all? But I don't associate with Fernan and his ilk. I can pull a few strings and ask a few questions, however. It could be entertaining."

"Here it is." Nokto picked up a sheet of paper and brought it to me. Messy lines of names, dates, and transactions scrawled across the page. "It could be nothing, but Baron Flandre has had recent dealings with Jade, which is unusual for him, and he couldn't account for the entire weight of that shipment. I suspect he's had dealings with Obsidian as well, although I have no evidence to prove it yet."

"He has," I said, scanning the numbers. Nokto had a good eye. The discrepancy was small enough most would have written it off as a clerical error due to sloppy handwriting.

"Oh?"

I handed the paper back to Nokto. "He's a leading member of the anti-war faction."

Clavis' eyebrows drew together. "When did you figure that out?"

"Another of your friends in low places, Clavis?" Nokto commented.

"Another of the many who lost their families on Bloodstained Rose Day, thanks to Chev's impeccable ability to prioritize the kingdom over something as trivial as human life."

"If you're so fond of him, you may question him yourself when he arrives tomorrow for the gala," I told Clavis. "Today, confer with Green about this new plant. He'll be leaving the infirmary now. Clown, find the trail that shipment took and identify each person who handled it, then coordinate with Green."

Nokto nodded. "One more thing. That Benitoitian merchant with black-market connections. He's been staying clean since he found out we were on to him, but recently, he made two trips across the border to Benitoite, around the area where that gunpowder disappeared. I did a little more checking, and he has a cousin who lives near there. Low-ranking nobility with a sudden increase in both profits and expenditures, per Silvio. He's looking into it further."