The Sad State of the Queen of Thorns

The pills were white, and looked to be about the size of a small clump of sand. He ground it in his hands and sniffed it. He didn't dare taste it. The fool Lotus' words were still fresh from the day before. He felt it with his magic. "Seems he told the truth…" It was obvious to even the casual observer, if you were trained in magic, that it would poison the person who took it. It also housed a powerful addictive element. 

"My pills." The queen moaned, looking at them with a clearness of eyes that shocked those around her. Even more than the dying man who was still attempting to struggle, lightly against the inevitable.

"Just die." Lydia muttered as she marched up to him and she slapped the dying man as hard as she could. It broke the rose and forced his head into a new position, even as a new thorn poked through the front of his neck. He was gasping, his eyes desperate and pleading. 

"Lydia-"