Tista Poisoning (1)

Edico tapped his index against the steel bracers hidden by his cloak. He didn't know the last time he had felt so anxious. In fact, he didn't know if he had ever felt so anxious. Even when he returned as the sole survivor of a mission and was called to Escar's audience chamber, expecting to be stripped of his title but getting promoted to sycount instead, he didn't feel like this, and he didn't know why. He had undertaken countless missions before where his life was on the line, and torture was the consequence of failure. But this was different. There was just something about Sara Reece that made him want to protect her, and the people going into Alexbrook Tavern were stone-cold sober but bathed in the stench of decadence. And when they left, they didn't have so much of a buzz, but they were grinning with excitement and anticipation, looking at each other. It was unsettling. He wanted Lady Reece out of there as soon as possible.

Edico looked at his pocket watch. An hour had passed. It was the deadline, but it wasn't. He'd have to make a decision soon whether to prioritize the mission or Lady Reece's life—or compromise. He was certain he'd opt for the latter.

2

Sara stumbled through the bustling streets, losing balance like some stereotypical Irish drunkard. She felt like her skin was crawling with bugs, just under the skin, biting her arms from within as if fighting for sunlight. The pain from her chaffed and bruised thighs returned tenfold, and the damage she had done to them during her period of self-imposed leprosy magnified it. It made her limp as she stumbled forward, moving to the street Edico was on. The thought of passing him like this was terrorizing, but she pressed forward.

Suddenly, as she was crossing the street, she crashed into someone and retched on the ground.

"Hey!" a woman yelled, jumping backward. "What are you doing?!"

"Sorr…." Sara's body convulsed.

A man beside the woman grabbed her arm and hushed her. "Come on, honey. Let's go."

"Don't hush me! She threw up on my shoes. It's gross!"

"Don't make a scene. Look…." He pointed at Sara's armor, peeking through the cloak, and the woman backed away. It was nice. Beautiful, even. Most importantly, it was silver and green, the colors of the Escaran Kingdom. "Come on, let's go." The woman's face twisted into a snarl. "Okay."

Sara grabbed her head. It felt like everything that just happened registered in her brain, but it was dumped into a sea of intellectual soup and stirred up. This is bad…. Wait…. Then she turned and found that people had moved away from her and the vomit, exposing a line of sight between her and where Edico was standing—

—but he was gone.

Where is he? Sara thought. A bad premonition loomed over her like a guillotine, and a moment later, it came true. People started flooding out of Alexbrook Tavern like ants escaping a water-drenched ant hill. Each one of them was sickly pale, yelling at each other.

"What are you doing? We need to go!"

"He said he'd remember us!"

"Then let him come to us if he remembers! Right now, he's going to kill us!"

"Leave him, Kal. We need to go!"

Sara watched in horror, her mind swirling with raging emotions. Shit. Shit-shit-shit-shit-shit! she internally screamed, adrenaline pulsing through her veins, sobering her up as the human body fought for survival. Then she limped forward, using the commotion to make it to the back alley, praying she'd make it in time.

3

"Where is she?" Edico demanded, grabbing Ubis by the collar. He had already cleared out the patrons by flashing his royal armor underneath his cloak; now, he was interrogating the tavern owner about Sara's location since he was the person who hid the silvermoon bloom upstairs.

"I-I don't understand," Ubis said, as if he was genuinely confused about why he was under scrutiny. However, that was a ploy. The man knew who Lady Reece was and where she was and was feigning ignorance. He must've been an incredible liar, but he was used to people like him.

Edico hoisted Ubis by the collar as if he were a toddler and slammed him on the bartop with a resounding crack. The impact dislocated his shoulder. Good. Ubis started to scream, but Edico cut him off, grabbing the man by the cheeks and pressing until his mouth popped open. Then Edico unsheathed a silver dagger (a royal weapon engraved with two montas charging up the handle toward the Escaran Kingdom's insignia) and put the blade into Ubis's mouth.

"Listen to me," Edico whispered. "I'm going to ask you a question. I'll speak it very clearly so you cannot mistake my words. Then, you will answer it. If you don't, your silence will be permanent. Next, I'll put a piece of paper in your hand and ask you to write the answer, and you will write it. If you don't, you'll never write again. But that still won't free you. By the time I'm done, you'll be answering my question by pointing your bleeding stubs. And if you still refuse…." Edico's lips curved into a wide grin. "We'll have to get creative. Do you understand?"

Ubis's eyes filled with terror, and he nodded.

"Okay. I'll ask my question. Where is the blonde teenager that came in here an hour ago? She had brown eyes, soft features, wearing a black cloak similar to mine. I watched her walk in here. Now tell me. Where. Is. She?" He removed the blade from his mouth.

"I-In the back," Ubis said. "U-Up the stairs. Bathroom."

"Why?" Edico asked with drawn-out syllables.

"S-She was sick. I swear."

Edico remembered Sara's pale complexion and sickness as she walked to the door and the way she collapsed after the divination pulse. He grabbed Ubis by the arm, threw him onto the floor, and pushed him toward the stairs. "Move!"

4

Ubis moved up the steps slowly, falling intentionally to work out the details of the situation, his mind moving a mile a minute. His throat was dry and cracking, and his thoughts were befuddled. He couldn't get more confused. Didn't that blonde girl have a royal insignia? So why was her fellow sycount threatening him? Was he tricked?

It was likely enough. The whore was probably running from a sycount and thrust the stolen plant into his hands so he could take the fall. That seemed the likely scenario, but it didn't make sense why she would be wearing the same exact gear as the man beside him. Both had charcoal gray cloaks and royal armor beneath them…. Wait.

The scene that had just played out flashed through his mind in an instant, and he recognized why there was something nagging at him. It was the insignia. The blonde had one, but the man didn't. He only had the cloak and armor. If that was the case, maybe Ubis could entice him with bait.

"Look," Ubis said as they reached the top floor. "If you're wondering why she—"

"I don't care why she came here," the man said. "That's your business. But if she's not here, or she's hurt, it is my business, and you'll find Farulon forging your bones on an anvil by nightfall." He grabbed Ubis's good shoulder and squeezed it so hard he thought it'd crack. "Move."

Ubis winced as he stumbled forward, realizing that the man was with the blonde, but the cunt didn't make her business known before she waltzed in and dropped a death wish into his arms. He loathed her, but at present, he was praying she had enough decency not to run off and leave him for her partner to kill. Then he'd die, and her job would be ruined. Stupid bitch.

The momentum abruptly stopped as the man reached the door, giving Ubis whiplash. "Lady Reece!" the man yelled.

On the other side of the door, the witch that set him up groaned like she was being fucking tortured, and his shoulder suffered the cost.

Suddenly, the sycount stopped thinking and lifted his boot, smashing into the door and sending splinters shooting through the room like sawdust. Ubis thought he'd be cleared of suspicion when the man saw his girl. He was wrong. The moment Ubis saw her, he prayed for his life.