Page 64 of Under the Lion Star

“Oh, great,” she said sarcastically. “That’s what I was worried about when you were slowly dying before my eyes.”

“I’m fine,” I assured her before taking a swig of water.

“But you almost weren’t,” Z scolded. “You could have died because you kept me in the dark about the specifics of this assassination plot. Atlas has since filled me in, but you can’t keep shit like that from me, Leor.”

I winced, her increasing volume spurring on the headache.

“Sorry,” she whispered. “But I’m fucking mad at you.”

“Our first fight,” I grinned.

She sighed and left my side to grab a few articles of clothing, tossing them at me unceremoniously.

“Get dressed,” she said curtly. “I missed breakfast because of you. Sanna is preparing a lunch in the garden, and I’ll be damned if I miss another meal.”

Atlas sat across from me, the dark rings under his eyes betraying the fact that he’d barely slept while I was unconscious. He motioned to my plate, but I was hesitant, knowing that someone had found a way around our previous poison-detecting attempts.

“It’s fine,” Zialda said quietly, resting her hand on my thigh under the table. “We’re now feeding all your meals to mice and lizards, which covers about ninety-eight percent of potential poisons.”

“Lizards,” I parroted.

“If you thought catching mice was hard,” Liras sighed. “Lizards are fucking horrible.”

“I’m glad you’re not dead,” an emotionless voice came from across the table.

It was a voice I hadn’t heard in months, and although it sounded off, I’d never been more pleased to hear it.

My eyes met Orin’s, and my brother nodded as if it wasn’t a big deal he’d finally spoken aloud.

“Me, too,” I replied.

He didn’t say anything else throughout the meal but was clearly following along with the conversation. When Sanna arrived, I glanced around the table, trying to communicate with them not to mention my brush with death to my sister.

“She knows,” Zialda explained. “She visited you a few times last night. I’m also going to start taking her with me to my aunt’s. Sanna wants to learn herbology.”

“Okay,” I nodded, unsure how I felt about Sanna leaving the city. “Make sure Orin or Liras go with you if Pullam isn’t available.”

Sanna threw her arms around me, clearly glad to see that I was on the mend.

She recounted her most recent outing with Zialda and her sisters, and I fell a little further for my wife, knowing that she’d taken to looking after my siblings so wholeheartedly. They decided to go out again, and Zialda explained that it would be a way to let anyone watching know that I was unharmed. After all, the queen and princess wouldn’t visit a market if I were on death’s door.

When the women left, Atlas exhaled sharply, leaning back in his chair and groaning.

“This is so fucked,” he sighed.

“It would have to be someone familiar with poisons,” Liras said calmly. “And the knowledge that Zialda would recognize the symptoms and try to treat it. While also knowing that you and Atlas had been using rodents to verify the safety of each meal.”

“I didn’t tell anyone,” Atlas assured me.

“It wouldn’t have been difficult to deduce when I managed not to die the first five times,” I frowned. “Z outed herself.”

Their eyes were on me as they waited for me to continue.

“At the council meeting, she was talking to Lord Corrin about an herbology book he was returning,” I waved my hand dismissively. “He takes books from the castle library for his daughters. I think two of them are in university.”

“The university has a library,” Liras raised a brow.

“Lord Corrin doesn’t have the mind for assassination,” I dismissed the thought. “He’s a nice man, but he’s an idiot.”

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