From Ashes, Through the Fire (English) (From Ashes Vol.3)

Chapter 6 - Poison

Marian checked that the servants loaded the trunks on the cart without damaging them, and she sighed. She felt anxious and she didn't like the idea of spending those days at the castle, but Guy had said it was necessary to go.
The sheriff was waiting for the arrival of many guests and he had organized a period of festivities, extending the invitation to all the nobles of Nottingham.
The girl would have preferred to excuse themselves somehow and decline the invitation so they could stay away from the sheriff, but Guy had insisted to go, even if she didn't understand why.
For all of them it was always better to avoid having too many contacts with Vaisey, but maybe Guy wanted to take advantage of that opportunity to make everyone know about their engagement, Marian thought suddenly, and she found herself smiling.
That was certainly a good explanation, it had to be like that, Marian thought, and she wondered if Guy would take advantage of it to establish and announce a date for their wedding.
"Hey, Marian, where's Giz?" Allan asked, entering the main hall.
"He's already gone to the castle. He said he wanted to be there for the arrival of the first guests, we will reach him as soon as we are ready."
Allan sighed.
"I have no desire to spend so much time near the sheriff. He always gives me the impression that he wants to see us all hanging on the gallows."
"I think that's exactly what he wants, but he can't do it. Not without a really valid reason and we will be very careful not to give it to him."
"Talking about pigs, what happened to ours?"
"Why?"
"I went near the fence before entering the house, they all seem to be dead."
"But it's not possible, they were fine just a little while ago!"
"A little while ago?"
"Yes, I brought them some leftovers and they ate with gusto."
"Well, now they're all lying on the ground and I'm not sure if they're breathing. What did you give to those poor beasts?"
"Breakfast leftovers..." Marian said and she stopped abruptly.
Allan stared at her, worried.
"The same breakfast you gave to Giz?"
They exchanged an anxious look and they both ran into the kitchen.

The sheriff yawned, bored.
He hated getting up early in the morning, but he pretended to be jovial whenever one of the guests' carriages arrived. The local nobles were gathered in the courtyard of the castle, on the stairs, and they waited with the sheriff.
Vaisey could have let them wait more comfortably in the great hall, but if he had to stay there to welcome the guests, then the others also had to suffer with him.
They could stay there, standing under the sun.
He looked at Gisborne as the knight crossed the gate on his horse and Vaisey rolled his eyes, annoyed.
"Was it really necessary to invite him too?" He snorted, talking to Archer.
"He's one of the nobles, my lord. They should all be present to show your guests that you can count on the loyalty of your subordinates."
"I suppose he will take with him his leper friend and the dying old man. Archer, try to keep them away from me, today I'm not in the mood to endure that bunch of cretins."
"I will do my best, my lord."

"It couldn't have been the pancakes!" Marian said, trying to sound more secure and quiet than she really felt. "I have prepared them many times and neither Guy nor the pigs have ever had problems."
"The fact that most of the time the food you cook ends up to the pigs says a lot about your skills."
Allan fished an empty bowl from the tub of dirty dishes and he sniffed it, wrinkling his nose. "Is it normal for it to smell like this?"
"I don't know," the girl admitted. "I do not know why, but they never look or smell the same..."
Allan looked up at the sky, thinking that if Gisborne was ready to eat any dish cooked by Marian for love, then he never wanted to fall in love.
"What ingredients did you use today?"
"The usual: eggs, flour, honey, some spice..."
Allan looked at the mess on the table.
"Shouldn't there be more shells if you used the eggs?"
Marian blushed.
"Maybe some of them has fallen into the dough, but once it's cooked, you don't notice..."
"Poor Giz..." Allan said, then he stopped abruptly, noticing an empty bag. "What's this?!"
"The flour bag, isn't it?"
"Where did you get that?" Allan asked, now mortally serious.
"On the top shelf... I dropped the flour bag I used yesterday and the flour fell to the ground, so I had to get a new one."
"Marian... This is not flour."
"What do you mean?"
Allan put a finger on the traces of dust left in the bag and sniffed it.
"Are you kidding me, Marian? Didn't you smell it? Do you ever taste what you cook?!"
The girl looked at him angrily, offended because Allan's words had hit the mark.
"It's none of your business and Guy never complained! And anyway if it isn't flour, what is it?"
"If it was on the top shelf it must be one of the drugs that Djaq had prepared for Giz when he was wounded..." Allan said worriedly. "How much of it did you use?"
Marian paled.
"All of it. The bag was full. But if it's a medicine it can't be dangerous, can it?"
"Ask the pigs."

Guy got off his horse and he was forced to lean on the side of the animal so as not to lose his balance. He had the impression that the courtyard of the castle was circling around him and he was forced to close his eyes, breathing deeply to fight a sudden wave of nausea.
He had begun to feel unwell shortly after leaving home and he promised himself that in the future he would avoid eating Marian's pancakes when they were completely raw inside.
He took another deep breath to fight the malaise and he let one of the castle attendants take his horse away.
Guy went to the other nobles, cautiously: now the nausea seemed to have calmed down, but he was still feeling a little dizzy and had the feeling of not being able to think clearly.
Perhaps he would have done better to apologize and ask permission to retire to the lodgings that had been assigned to him, but he wanted to be there when the guests arrived to see if his sister really was among them.
Isabella...
He hadn't seen her for more than sixteen years and he still wondered how she had changed in all those years. The last time he saw her, she was just a frightened young girl and now she must be an adult woman, a married lady and maybe a mother.
Guy remembered the last look, full of hatred and pain, that his sister had addressed to him. He felt nervous, his stomach tightened again and his heart beating too fast.
Perhaps, Guy thought, the sickness he felt wasn't due to what he had eaten that morning, but to the anxiety and guilt he felt at the thought of seeing Isabella again after such a long time.

"Come on, Allan! We have to go to Guy, right away!"
Marian ran to the barn and Allan followed her, but, once mounted on horseback, he turned to her in a determined tone.
"We will not go to Nottingham. Not now."
"But Guy... He could die!"
"Exactly. We must first go to Clun and talk to Djaq, she will tell us what we can do."
Marian nodded, terrified and they both started the horses at a gallop.
"Were those pancakes more disgusting than usual?" Allan asked after a while. "Maybe Giz didn't eat so many of them if the taste was horrible..."
"I do not know," Marian sobbed. "I haven't tasted them. I don't know how many of them he ate..."
"Holy Heaven, Marian, I used to joke about it, but you really poisoned him!"

Guy briefly greeted the sheriff and he joined the other nobles on the stairs, hoping the guests' carriages would arrive quickly. They stood waiting in the sun and he had the impression that the temperature was much higher than normal. Even the light seemed too bright and it hurt his eyes, making his head throb painfully.
The sheriff approached him, looking at him with contempt.
"Well Gizzy, join the other noble parasites, like a good boy. I'm glad you decided to accept my invitation... A clue: no."
"If I'm here it's not for you, my lord. I have other reasons and certainly the pleasure of your company is not one of these. In fact, I would gladly do without it," Guy replied, on impulse, and Vaisey stood gazing at him for a moment, surprised by those insolent words.
Archer stared at his brother, amazed and alarmed. In the past, he had seen him accept far worse mistreatment and insults from the sheriff without saying a word, and now he was answering him in that provocative way without any real reason? What was he thinking?
"Are you drunk, Gisborne, or have you gone insane?" The sheriff asked in a derisive tone, noticing that Guy's gaze was clouded and that he didn't seem to be completely conscious.
"I've been crazy to serve you for all these years. How did I endure your black soul and all your disgusting habits for so long?" Guy stopped with a foolish laugh and he looked at Archer. "Did you know that he paints his toenails black? Have you ever held the bottle of paint? Because this was one of my very important assignments! When I didn't have to oppress the innocents in his name, of course."
"Gisborne, shut up or I'll have you whipped!" Vaisey hissed and, realizing that a carriage had entered the courtyard, he put a false smile on his face and sent Guy back to his place among the other nobles with a shove.