Cordy was on the ground, her face parchment white. Her entire body was vibrating, arms and legs thrashing, whacking painfully against the legs of the nearest chairs. I was hovering over her, panic stabbing at my chest. Behind me there was the scrape and clatter of chairs being knocked over as Asher and Lettisha scrambled to their feet, and Asher’s voice rang out through the hall, “Poison! She’s been poisoned!”

The effects of this announcement sent ripples of panic through the dining hall. More scraping and scuffling as people shot to their feet, straining over their tables to try to see what was going on. The elite guard pushed people to the side as they rushed to Asher, and then the crowd parted as Megan swept forward. The queen crouched down beside Cordy, and Megan’s dress pooled around her, the glistening white fabric collecting dirt as she did so. She caught Cordy’s shoulders, pulling the thrashing girl’s torso onto her lap. “Charlotte!”

Loki appeared at her side, dark brows creased with worry. “Charlotte is gone.”

Another ripple through the hall, this one of panic and dismay. It was obvious that this had been timed perfectly. Charlotte was gone. There was no one with enough magic to heal her.

She was the only one…wasn’t she?

I turned to Lettisha, who looked warped and blurry through the tears that were forming in my eyes. “Can you help her?”

Lettisha looked completely panicked at the thought, wide eyes flicking from Cordy to the Queen and back to me. “I…Charlotte only taught me a little…I might mess it up.”

Cordy’s lashes flickered, and you could see a thin strip of white beneath them. There was foam on one corner of her mouth, or spit, I wasn’t sure. My eyes were locked to her face, transfixed by the horror. Part of me wanted to look away, but somehow that would seem like a betrayal. My friend needed me. I had to do something.

Cordy had stopped thrashing, but her arms and legs were still twitching and jumping. Was that a good sign? Or did that mean she was closer to death?

I was biting my lip so hard I started to taste copper and salt. “Lettisha, please. You have to try.”

“Do it.” Megan’s voice was firm. “If anything goes wrong you won’t be held responsible. Try something. Anything.”

Lettisha dropped to her knees beside Cordy, reaching out one shaking hand she placed it on Cordy’s throat. At first nothing happened, and I fidgeted from foot to foot. Did you see anything happen with healing magic or did this mean it wasn’t working?

Lettisha’s eyes were shut tight, and she was breathing deeply. I could see her eyes flickering underneath her eyelids. The silence in the dining hall was complete, loaded with tension.

Lettisha’s hands were shaking violently now, and I was startled to see a fine lace network of frost appear on Cordy’s throat. After what seemed like hours, Cordy jerked, gasping for breath. Her eyes snapped open.

Lettisha sighed and slumped backwards, nearly striking the floor, and I darted forward and grabbed her shoulders, holding her up.

Cordy blinked at us, confused. Her voice was croaky. “I feel like crap. What just happened?”

“You’re okay,” Megan’s voice was warm and reassuring, she was still cradling Cordy, holding her up off the stone floor. “You’re okay. Someone tried to poison you…Lettisha healed you.”

Lettisha shifted in my arms, her voice was exhausted. “Sort of. I contained the poison in her system. It’s still there. I don’t know how to take it out. But it should be okay until Charlotte gets back.”

Cordy struggled to sit up suddenly, eyes wide. “It wasn’t meant for me! It was for Jess, I was drinking from her goblet.”

Another murmur swept the hall. The jotun looked at one another with wide eyes, whispering, eyeing one another suspiciously. I noticed the elite guard spreading out around the room, standing in front of the doors and windows. They intended to block this room off until we found who’d poisoned Cordy.

Tried to poison me. My brain automatically corrected itself. The thought was vague, distant. Not as horrifying as it should be. I was too filled with relief that Cordy was alright.

I helped Lettisha stagger to her feet. “Are you okay? That was amazing!”

She gave me a weak smile as I helped her into her chair. “I’m just tired. I’ll be fine.”

I turned to see the Queen still kneeling on the dirty stone floor beside Cordy. Once she seemed satisfied that Cordy would be alright she let her husband help her to her feet, gliding over to where Lettisha sat. “That was very good.”

“Thank you.” Lettisha brushed blonde hair back from her forehead, where it was sticking to her damp brow. “That was…I didn’t even know I could do that.” She glanced over at Cordy. “But I’m glad it worked.”

Cordy gave her a shaky smile and a thumbs up, which made her grin.

Megan dropped her voice so that only the four of us could hear her. “I’m going to make an announcement, Lettisha. I’m going to have to ask you to play along with me.”

Lettisha looked a little bewildered, but she nodded, and Megan turned to face the crowd. The queen raised her voice so that it rang from the rafters. “As you may have noticed, the elite guard has closed the doors for now. Please don’t be alarmed. Lettisha is about to work a spell to show us the person who used the poison.”

Lettisha’s eyes widened, but she ducked her head so nobody could see how surprised she was, turning the motion into a nod. I was impressed. Clearly Megan was hoping to flush someone out.

The dining hall echoed with people talking, whispering to one another. No one was pointing fingers yet, but it seemed like that would be the next logical step.

Lettisha muttered to me, “I actually have an idea.”

Megan backed up a step, startled, as Lettisha stood up. She used my shoulder for support, still unsteady on her feet, raising one hand over her head. On her fingertips a silver ball of swirling mist began to form, growing brighter and larger, until it was the size of a baseball and almost blinding to look at. I squinted at her, watching in amazement as the ball of light floated above her palm. She gestured outwards, and it floated forward, towards the table beside us. The jotun at the table leaned away, expressions wary.

I scanned the crowd, wondering if someone’s facial expression would give them away. Lettisha projected her voice over the whispers and said, “This will tell us who the guilty one is.”

Nobody moved as the ball of light floated through the crowd. It neared the doorway where the servants were standing, and there was a commotion. One of the servant girls broke away, screaming, shouldering her way through the door. “He told me to! He told me!”

The nearest elite guard grabbed for her, catching a handful of her tunic, dragging her back in through the door. She was short for a jotun, with long, flax colored hair and light brown eyes. I couldn’t tell if she was a fire or a frost jotun. I felt my stomach dropped as she was dragged towards the queen. The entire time the servant girl was staring at me.

“He told me,” her voice caught. Tears were starting to flood her eyes. “I couldn’t stop myself. He made me.”

Megan strode forward, seizing the girl’s chin in her hand. Her voice was firm, though not angry. “Who told you? Spit it out girl.”

The servant girl’s entire body shook. Her mouth moved but only strangled gasps fell from her lips. It was like there was something inside her trying to get out, but it was trapped. She couldn’t speak.

Lettisha’s mouth dropped open, and then she darted forward, nearly tripping over the train of the Queen’s long dress. The poor servant girl had her face grabbed again, this time Lettisha held on to her, palms pressed flat on either side of the girl’s cheeks. “She’s got a binding spell on her.” Lettisha’s voice was shaky with excitement. “Charlotte taught me about those.”

A woman’s voice said from the doorway, “I taught you about what?”

Nearly all of us jumped, and a relieved roar went up from the crowded room. Charlotte was standing in the doorway, shaking one of the elite guards off her arm with a look of annoyance. Her long white hair was caught up in twin braids, and strands of it had fallen out around her face. She was cloaked, and there was a long grey walking stick in her hand. “What’s all this?” She shot the guard another irritated look when he tried to bar her way. “Move, Joseph, or I’ll turn you into a newt.”

The guard backed away, looking thoroughly chastised, and Charlotte swept into the room, saw her apprentices glowing ball of light and stopped abruptly. Her eyes flicked from Cordy, now being propped up by me, to Megan, who was holding the arm of the distraught servant girl.

“I leave for one second,” Charlotte muttered, “and the royal court descends into total chaos.” She rolled her eyes.

Megan spoke up, “We’re looking for whoever tried to poison Jessica. It appears this girl,” she gestured at the servant, “has something to do with it. But Lettisha says she’s got a binding spell on her.”

Charlotte’s pale brows shot up. “A binding spell. Well spotted, ‘tisha.”

Lettisha let the light fizzle out in the palm of her hand, her shoulders relaxed. “And Cordy has a ball of poison floating around in her that I’m not sure how to remove.”

Charlotte quirked one brow at her apprentice, who shrugged. “Good lord, alright. Let’s have a look at Cordy first.” She strode over and placed one hand over Cordy’s chest, eyes flickering shut. “You did a good job, she would have been fine for days, should you have to leave it there.” She flicked her wrist out with a snap. “As it is, you don’t.”

Cordy sagged, her face pale, and I had to work hard to keep her up. “Is that it? It’s gone?”

I’d been expecting more. Bells, whistles, small explosions maybe. But Charlotte was rubbing her hands together, staring at the servant girl with narrow eyes. “Now it’s your turn.”

She placed one hand on the girl’s forehead, and Charlotte shut her eyes tightly, mumbling something under her breath this time. Her mouth became a hard, thin line, and she actually pressed on the girl’s face, as if she were trying to shove her back. The servant girl’s expression contorted, her mouth twisting into a grimace. Then she gasped, and Charlotte jerked away, shaking her hand out again. She darted a sharp look at the Queen. “We have a sorcerer somewhere in our midst. I was barely able to get that…”

“It’s him…” the servant girl gasped. She was babbling now, crying and choking. It seemed whatever had been keeping her from speaking was gone, and now she was trying to say it all at once. “It’s him! The elite guard! Him!”

She was pointing at Juku.

The elite guards were in motion immediately. To their credit, they didn’t hesitate to grab one of their own. Juku, who had been leaning in the doorway until now, tried to shake two beefy guards off, and then settled for glaring at Loki and Megan. “This is ridiculous. She doesn’t know what she’s talking about. She’s lying.”

“Why would she lie?” Loki asked.

Juku’s expression was rebellious. “Old girlfriend. She hates me now.”

“I never…” the servant girl sputtered. “I didn’t…”

“Enough,” Loki said firmly. “There are ways of finding out, I’m sure.” He glanced at Charlotte, who nodded.

“Ways!” Juku spat, and then he laughed, tilting his head back, showing us all the red scar that circled his throat. “You think this two bit witch is going to give me a fair trial? Enough!” He threw his arms back, slamming the guards against the wall. His laughter was laced with venom, insane and ugly. Something crackled on his fingertips, lacing between his fingers, a kind of buzzing black energy.

“You people never learn! You’d think someone would remember that your mad queen Eira had me hanged. That didn’t work either!” His gaze flicked from the Queen to me suddenly, and it felt like the air was being slowly squeezed out of my lungs. “Now I have a new Queen, one who isn’t a frigid bitch. And my new queen wants you, darling.”

I couldn’t move. It felt like I’d been locked onto the spot and my legs were impossibly heavy. Someone was crushing my chest in an iron grip. I watched, helpless, as the dark electricity danced on his fingertips, cracking and spitting. He laughed again. “You’re such a fool. I can’t believe you couldn’t feel me with the link. I know you felt something. You knew somehow, even though I blocked my magic from you, that we could cause true devastation together. You knew the weapon that we could become.” His voice dropped to a low hiss. “The weapon that your mother wanted us to become. Too bad I couldn’t convince you to come outside for one last lesson.”

I only had time to blink as he moved,  flinging his arms forward, shooting crackling darkness towards me. I braced for impact, saw the blur that was Asher running for me out of the corner of my eye. It was too late. He wouldn't make it to me on time.

Then a flash of white light bloomed in front of my eyes, nearly blinding me. Charlotte.

White crashed into dark. The shimmering glow merged with the crackle of black energy and they both fizzled into nothing. When the glare faded from my eyes it was to see Charlotte looking shaken, but still standing firm in front of me. Juku’s expression was surprised, but then his mouth curled into a snarl, and he brought his arm up again.

Charlotte’s voice rang through the hall like an alarm, “Jess, run!”

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