A Fool's Tale

Chapter 36 - Assassin Revealed

I walked to Isidor's tower, smiling contentedly. The sun was shining, breakfast was great, the king was safe, and I planned to visit Talia later on. It had the makings of a perfect day.

Peridor was guarding the entrance. "Back into the magic game, huh. Just make sure you don't fall from this tower. It's a lot higher than the one at the jester climb"

"Ha ha. Very funny." But I was smiling. Nothing could possibly ruin my good mood today.

"So, have you heard any news about when the Kertan envoys will be leaving?" I asked.

"They're gone."

"Already?"

"Yep, right at sunrise. They took off without any fanfare. I guess they wanted to get back to their homes as much as we wanted them out of here."

"That's great. Thanks Peridor." I bound up the stairs in such high spirits that even a morning of painful spell casting couldn't possibly knock me down.

Entering the workshop, I noticed Isidor sitting at the worktable, but he wasn't tinkering with one of his enchantments as was his normal routine. He seemed to be deep in contemplation. He folded his arms and regarded me with a stern expression when I entered.

"Good morning," I greeted him nervously, my fine humor fading away. I sensed something amiss.

He didn't return my greeting.

"One chance, Gael. I will give you one chance to tell me what happened last night." Isidor's eyes blazed with fury and he seemed barely able to contain his rage. I'd seen him upset before, but this was a whole new level of anger.

My immediate impulse was to lie. To deny that I knew anything, but it was clear that Isidor already suspected my involvement in the advisor's death.

I looked him in the eye. "I suspected that Serpen Rose was going to poison the king and took one of your truth potions in order to prove his guilt." I purposefully left Talia out of my confession. Hopefully, she at least would avoid any trouble.

Isidor's face reddened. "You stole from me! You stole from me because you didn't trust me to listen to your fears of treachery."

I suddenly realized why he was so angry. It wasn't the theft so much as the fact that I had betrayed him. Isidor had opened up to me, told me about his interests in magic, showed me his treasures, and even protected me from Serpen, and I had taken his trust and loyalty, and thrown it aside like unwanted garbage.

"I'm sorry," I stammered. "I was afraid you wouldn't believe me, and then the king would die." I hung my head. "It just seemed easier and safer to take the potion without telling you."

"I don't even know what to say. The crazy risk you took with the king's life. Your lack of trust. Your dishonesty. I'm even stunned at your audacity that you returned today with that silly grin on your face, as if you could resume your apprenticeship with me, and just pretend like nothing had changed."

I didn't know how to respond. A part of me wanted to shout back that my plan had worked, but arguing would just solidify Isidor's belief about my recklessness.

He barely gave me a chance to respond anyways. A righteous fury had taken ahold of Isidor and he began pacing the room like a caged wolf. "Let me tell you what I saw last night, and maybe you can fill me in if I have something wrong." Isidor spat the words out as his feet echoed on the concrete floor. "I saw the king's advisor die horribly in front of my eyes, but I had no idea why or how. So after the feast, I received a short audience with the king and discovered the advisor had made a terrible confession about attempting to poison the king. King Roland asked if magic were involved. I was unsure and told him I needed to investigate further, but I remembered how a certain jester had conveniently tossed aside the king's cup, which may or may not have been filled with poison."