The Palace of Lost Memories

Chapter 23

They checked the house and announced it was clear of dangers before allowing me to enter. I went straight to my father's workroom and looked over his tidy desk. Books had been shelved, papers stacked, and the dish that had been burning over the heat box was nowhere in sight.

"Are any of these books out of order?" Quentin asked, indicating the shelves.

"I couldn't say. My father had no order to his books. My neighbor might remember which ones he put back and where. I'll ask him."

"I'll do it," Hammer said. "You and Quentin stay here and test the sample."

"You don't have to return to the palace?"

"The king will remain indoors for the rest of the day and most likely tomorrow. My men are on guard both within the palace and the commons. Only kitchen and serving staff are allowed in the kitchen until further notice."

"For once, the cook agrees with the captain's measures," Quentin said. "He hates people wandering in and out, picking at the food. Dogs too. Without him yelling so much, I hear it's a better place to work."

"There seem to be quite a few senior staff with tempers," I said.

"Are you including me in that assessment?" Hammer asked.

"I'm yet to see you lose your temper, although I worried that you were close today with the king. It was unfair of him to accuse you of not trying to find the poisoner when you're supposed to guard him every moment he leaves the palace."

He stepped closer and lowered his voice. "I owe you thanks for your defence of me."

"It didn't do a lot of good. You managed to deflect his temper without my help."

"Even so, I'm grateful, but I want you to be more cautious in future. The king is volatile. I'd prefer you to avoid his notice."

He was right, of course, and I needed to restrain myself. The thing was, I'd not been prepared for my own outburst. The only conflict I'd ever experienced was with my father, and I'd always stood my ground with him if I thought he was being unfair.

"It's not that easy," I said.

"So I've noticed."

"I do tend to open my mouth when I shouldn't."

"That's not what I meant." He turned away. "I'll speak with your neighbors while you perform tests."

"Wait a moment. You were going to tell me about the palace cells."

He hesitated in the doorway and rested his hand on his sword hilt. "There's nothing to tell."

"Are there prisoners in them?"

"Of course," Quentin said. Hammer glared at him over his shoulder and Quentin swallowed loudly. "Not many. Very few, really. Maybe one or two. Or three."

"The prisoners are not your concern, Josie." Hammer strode out, leaving me feeling like I'd been rapped on the knuckles for my impertinence.

Quentin helped me set up the heat box then placed a small amount of the dog's discharge into a dish. We noted down the smell, color, and texture of the discharge after the heating process then checked the results against the handwritten notes in one of my father's books.

"Here," I said, pointing to a page. "The poison is a combination of these three ingredients. It's different to the poison used on Lady Miranda, although it does contain traitor's ease. No direweed though, which explains why it didn't have the same earthy smell. The sickly sweet smell comes from the cane flower which affects the heart. It means he was poisoned twice. The first time wasn't enough and merely gave him chest pains. That's when he used the catspaw. The second dose, ingested later, was fatal." I scanned the rest of my father's notes but there was no antidote listed, not even any suggestions on what to try. "Damn."