A Touch of Poison

Chapter 11

"You look awful, Gwen!" said Rhosyn in a hushed voice as the two of them walked down the meadow path. "Was it really that bad?"

"Worse," Gwen croaked. She'd started feeling a lot better these past few days, but her voice was still rather awful-sounding, and her throat burned and itched. "You should have seen what I looked like just two days ago."

Rhosyn considered her friend carefully, then glanced down the trail behind them to ensure the two hooded guards weren't within earshot. Then she gave her head a tilt and leaned in closer.

"So, you're escorted everywhere now?" she asked, her voice a mere whisper.

"Anytime I want to leave the castle, yeah. It was that, or I wasn't even going to be able to come out here and visit you."

"Can you try again?" she asked. "You know, giving up eating that stuff?"

"No," Gwen sighed. "My meals are supervised now, and the kitchen staff have all been warned that I'll get sick again without my 'medicine'. And honestly, I'm not even sure I could do it again. Even if I had lots of help and support, I don't know if I could put myself through that a second time. It was pretty awful. I felt like I was dying."

"I wish I hadn't found that book," Rhosyn said, scowling slightly. "It wasn't fair to raise your hopes like that."

"Nonsense, Rosie. You were looking for a cure, the same as me. Not your fault that this one didn't work. Besides, finding that journal is still a blessing." Gwen glanced at the two guards, and then spoke to Rhosyn in a hushed whisper. "I've been thinking a lot these past few days. We know what this herb looks like, right? From the drawings in that book?"

"Right," Rhosyn agreed.

"And more importantly, we now know where it grows, too. I've checked some of these notes, and looked up some of the places on the big map in the library. Nearest is less than a week away, by horseback. They're far, but not too far."

"Not too far for what, exactly?"

"I could run away!" she said in an excited whisper. "If I do need to continue eating that stuff, I could just pack some things and sneak off to where it grows!"

"You mean 'we', don't you?"

"What? Rosie, I can't ask you to give up your life here," said Gwen, shaking her head. "You've got the horses! You have a boyfriend, and I just couldn't stand it if-"

"You mean Darin?" Rhosyn's eyes went hard. "I don't think I'd exactly call him my 'boyfriend' at the moment."

What do you mean?"

"I think he's trying to gather information from me," she said, her tone becoming cold. "The night I got back, shortly after I gave you the journal, he showed up at my place. He brought dinner with him in a picnic basket, asked me how my trip was."

Gwen gave her friend an odd look. "But why would that make you think-"

"Gwen, Anifail didn't give me a chance to tell anyone I'd left. At first I thought that maybe you'd told Darin so he wouldn't worry, but you've never actually met him! And even if you had, how would you have been able to tell him while under the effect of the geis sphere?"

"Hey, and how did he know precisely when you had returned from your trip?" Gwen asked, frowning. "That does sound kind of odd, now that you mention it."

"Exactly. So I asked him how he'd found out I was gone to begin with. He just sorta shrugged it off, said that some friend must have told him. After that, I started paying attention to some of the things he was asking me. He wanted me to elaborate on my duties as your lady-in-waiting, and tried to get me to talk about our friendship."