Apocalypse

Chapter Four ~ Queen Gryffin

The streets were deserted as we wound our way to the old structure that towered over the rest of the city, save for faceless eyes that peeped through windows. The smell of burnt bread and sweat wafted around, tickling my nose and setting my teeth on edge. Wes, who functioned best in a crisis, was calm and thoughtful as he walked, his eyes drifting around, lazy but alert.

I, however was antsy and hated anything that confused me. Like why the vampires were lurking about after sunrise. Or how the werewolves were controlled to attack. But most of all, how Koren Agard survived.

We climbed the steps to the castle and made our way to the royal guest suites where Queen Gryffin temporarily resided. There was a flurry of activity around her room as various healers and maids fluttered about, carrying towels and herbs and bowls of hot water. I slipped inside after Wes and observed the proceedings. Apparently, the queen stubbornly refused to awaken, despite the best efforts to revive her.

I gnawed at my lip and frowned. Queen Gryffin was slightly paler than her usual pallor and a sheen of sweat covered her face and hands; the only parts of her body that were visible due to her luxurious garb. She trembled ever so often, but each attack passed unnoticed due to the activity in the room. Lastly her eyes, beneath her closed eyelids, were rapidly darting about as though she were in R.E.M. sleep.

My brows pulled together as I concentrated. I saw those symptoms before. During training; poisons. I choked on my gasp when I realized what it was. I needed to know that I was wrong. Anything but that.

I rushed to the queen's prone body and started shoving the healers away. They were doing more harm than good. A second later Wes figured out what I did and yelled for all the healers to back away.

I undid the shredded royal robe, the heavy material slipping through my fingers unto the floor. A maid scurried to pick it up before I stepped on it as I signaled for someone to bring a surgical lamp. Under the robe, the queen wore a simpler cotton dress, embroidered around the waist and hems but despite the added protection of the robe, parts of the dress was ripped and torn.

The lamp flashed on above my head and I felt the heat at the back of my neck. Wes, who put on surgical gloves, leaned over me and gently pulled open Queen Gryffin's mouth. A sickly sweet scent pervaded the air. My hand clenched around the bed frame. Wes took a cotton swab and dragged it across her tongue. When he pulled it out, it was tinged indigo. I stepped back, right into Wes, and sagged against him.

The signs are evidence of an extremely deadly, slow acting poison. Consumed in large amount leads to instantaneous death, however if only a small amount is ingested, it forces the body into a coma where the poison gradually seeps through the veins and arteries and gives the patient a painful, drawn out death.

"Nightbane," Wes' voice was barely a whisper, but it furled through the air and touched everyone, leaving a shiver in its wake. I glanced up at Wes and was met with an anxious gaze that mirrored my own.

My coat swished around my ankles at I hurried out the room, Wes at my heels. I glanced at my watch and located Alex through the G.P.S. function. It was only 10 a.m. and I'd already felt as though the day had passed. I exhaled slowly as I made my was through the castle to the holding cells in the dungeon.

The rhythmic dripping of water pinged throughout the cells, irritating me almost as much as the lack of light. I swerved around a corner and smashed myself into the cold, stone walls. Wes, despite the heavy atmosphere, found the will in himself to cough-laugh at my ineptitude. I massaged my nose with my freezing fingers and cursed him under my breath as I let my other hand trail along the wall to avoid another intimate meeting with the surrounding confines.

Nearer to the other entrance on the western side of the castle, Koren sat on a cot to the far end of the cell, his back parallel to the wall and his palms resting on his knees. His head turned sharply in our direction before he cracked open his eyes and watched us, the hazelnut colour of his eyes swallowed in the darkness.

He smiled good naturedly at us and asked, "I'm free already?" The lilting tone of his voice made me smile in the darkness of my hood.

"We have a question." Wes said to the murky darkness where Koren's head seemed to float in the blackness. Koren's eyebrows rose and Wes took that as a sign to continue.

"Was Her Majesty eating anything on her way here?"

Koren's eyebrows seemed to disappear under his bangs. "I'm pretty sure she was eating a blackberry pie inside the carriage."

"Who placed the pie in the carriage?" Wes continued.

"Isn't that more than one question?" Koren smirked.

I cocked my head. He seemed so much more compliant just minutes before.

His eyes flashed in my direction and he shrugged, his eyes seeming to bore into mine, which was impossible because he shouldn't have been able to see under my hood.

"It was there when we were ready to leave. I thought nothing of it. Just a snack for the road for Her Majesty." He said nonchalantly as he leaned back, engulfing his entire figure in darkness.

I frowned. An inside job? Who would want to kill the Queen? After all, they were the one providing refuge. I groaned internally and turned around, making a beeline for the exit. I got around the corner before I walked smack into another wall. This time I didn't catch myself and landed on my rump.

Everything seemed to be going wrong today.