Someone is trying to kill you

When she found him, he was seated in front of a fire, with a red-haired man beside him, drinking.

Lucien had a deep grimace on his face, whatever they were thinking about had to be serious.

She froze, was this the wizard from earlier? If he was, it meant she was too late. Who knows how much of the poison he had consumed?

"My Lord?" She called unsure.

Lucien's face lit up almost as soon as he saw her, and immediately went to her, "Levina, you are still here."

"Umm...," she stuttered and looked around, she had not realized that it had gotten dark. She was so engrossed in finding Lucien that she lost track of time.

"Are you alright?" He asked with a slight frown. She looked somewhat terrified and out of breath too.

"Yes, I am. But I have something to tell you," she said, eyeing Soren suspiciously.

Soren walked up to them, "Hello," he waved at her, and hung the other hand, with which he held his cup, over Lucien's shoulder. He squeezed Lucien's shoulder suggestively while flashing a smile.

"Soren, this is Levina," he gestured towards Levina, "Levina this is Soren, my best man."

Levina bowed her head slightly, "Good evening, my Lord."

Soren took his hand off Lucien's should and held his stomach, as he bent over and burst into laughter. Lucien and Levina stared back at him in surprise.

"She called me my Lord!" he slapped Lucien's shoulder, in between bouts of laughter.

Levina frowned, and Lucien laughed when he saw her change of expression, "That is just Soren being Soren. He is always in the mood to make jokes, besides," he leaned closer to Levina's ear, "He is a bit tipsy."

Levina wished she had time for any of this, but she didn't. She had to talk to Lucien urgently and also try to make it back on time, so her father would not get a heart attack.

"Please call me Soren," he started to walk away, "Be good both of you!" he threw over his shoulder, his voice a slight slur.

"What is it?" Lucien led her to a bench that overlooked the dovecote.

Levina swallowed, unsure of how to go about divulging the information to him. Should she leave the part of the wizard in the castle out?

"Talk to me!" he frowned, he was beginning to worry.

"Someone is trying to kill you," she started. She looked into his face searchingly for any trace of doubt. But he stared back at her, his face blank and his eyes cool.

"I overheard a man in the buttery, he cast a spell of some sort, and the next thing he was telling someone to give 'this' to Lucien. And I had to go all over the place searching for you, I almost thought that maybe they'd gotten to you before I got a chance to," she rambled, and only let out the breath she didn't know she was holding in, after she concluded her statement.

She looked at Lucien and he still looked unruffled from the information she passed to him. Did he believe her? She really hoped he did.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" she asked, agitated.

"Just take a deep breath," he replied, with a furrowed brow. He tried to take her hands but she snatched them away, she could not afford to create another scene.

"You don't believe me?" she sounded hurt.

"It's not that, I ju…"

"Then what?" she interjected. "Somebody is trying to hurt you. I am not making that up," she raised her voice. How would she make him believe her?

"Levina, calm down and just listen to me."

She looked like she was about to argue but decided against it.

"Maybe you did not hear them correctly, I am at home, no one here would want to hurt me," he started. "And you said they were in the buttery right? Well look," he pointed to an empty keg. "I and Soren were drinking, maybe it was one of the guards that I sent to get the drink you overheard."

Levina looked at him, unsure of how to react. She wished she was making all this up; that she heard wrongly, but she knew what she heard. She knew the spell that was cast all too well. It would instantly make his heart stop, without creating a mess or leaving a trace.

"And you said you heard a spell?" there was a trace of amusement in his voice. "There are no more witches, they were all removed from Arvenia."

"You mean killed. They were not removed they were killed," she said defensively.

There was a short silence, which was dominated by the chirping of crickets.

Lucien sighed, "The point is, there are no more witches. And there is certainly no witch in this palace, I can assure you of that."

Levina had almost laughed but she was in no mood for laughter. She hated that he did not believe her, he didn't even stop to consider the possibility of what she said being true. He had just completely ruled it out.

But she couldn't help but wonder, maybe she heard wrongly. If Lucien had consumed the poisoned drink, he would have long been dead. Or at least the person would have arrived with the poisoned drink by now. She tried to search the darkness for any sign of a person walking towards them. But it was really difficult to see anything beyond the place where the fire was lit.

"But what if I am right?" she sounded defeated, staring into her palms.

Lucien thought for a while, he could see how bothered she was, by whatever she thought she heard. More than anything he liked that she was worried about him. His lips curled in a smile, "Tell you what?"

"What?" she looked up at him.

"I will be careful with whatever it is I eat or drink. Would that help?"

She shook her head and bit her lower lip, "I need you to be extra careful. If possible don't take any food or drink not given to you by me. If you are hungry, let me know, I will bring the food…."