Page 23 of The Sorrow of Shadows

“Specifically, what produce?” My tone is slightly elevated as I try to contain my enthusiasm for finally getting somewhere.

“Carrots, potatoes, celery, some parsnips I believe.”

Alarm bells go off in my head. “Did you say parsnips?”

“I did, Princess. I use it in my stews.”

“Please take me to where you store the produce. I need to see itnow.”

“Of course. Right this way.” He looks slightly confused but leads us to the pantry. He gestures to a section of the wall. “This is all the produce, and right there,” he points to the shelf third from bottom, “are the parsnips.”

I lean down and pull out the box. It only takes me a moment to find what I suspected was there. “This whole box needs to be disposed of, Mino. These aren’t parsnips—they’re hemlock root.”

Part of my training as a soldier was how to survive off the land. I was taught common poisonous plants and berries to ensure I didn’t accidentally poison myself or others by eating the wrong thing. It’s not a skill set needed at court, so I wouldn’t expect most of the kitchen staff to recognize the difference between parsnip and water hemlock.

He stares at me wide eyed, “Of course, Princess. I—I had no idea. I n-never would have allowed for the delivery had I known.” He’s panicking, but I know it wasn’t him. It might have been a slight oversight on his part, but it wasn’t his fault it made its way into Aurelius's breakfast.

“I know, Mino. Thank you for helping us figure out what the poison was. Perhaps cut ties with this vendor.” If I could figure out who the vendor was, Imightbe able to figure out who was behind this.

Once he is gone, I turn to Aurelius and Jade. “That’s it for today. We’ve done enough for now.”

“Perfect timing, because Julian will be here momentarily,” Jade says matter-of-factly.

“How—”

“That twin thing still freaks me out,” I say at the same time as Aurelius.

Jade just shrugs as Julian opens the door and strides in. “Made any progress?”

“As a matter of fact, we have,” I tell him. “We still don’t have a ‘who’, but we know what the poison was and potentially where it came from.”

“Intriguing. Well, at least you have more information than you did yesterday.” Julian rubs his chin, deep in thought. I take a moment to look him over. He, like his twin and myself, is dressed in fighting leathers. I typically only carry daggers when I’m atcourt—my shadows being the real weapon—but he wears weapons like noble ladies wear jewels. He has a dagger strapped to each muscular thigh and another smaller blade tucked into his right boot. Strapped to his back is his preferred long sword, Bella, her sapphire encrusted handle gleaming in the light. He named every blade, but I only remembered Bella because there were hundreds of them. I’m sure there were more that I couldn’t see, knowing him.

I’m leaning against a kitchen counter, Aurelius to my left doing the same. “Now that we’re all here, let’s talk without the prying eyes of the council,” I announce and clap my hands together. “Tell me everything you didn’t say in front of Lord Smelly-us.” I chuckle at my joke.

“That joke was exceptionally bad,” Jade says.

“Did you really just call him ‘Lord Smelly-ass’?” Aurelius looks at me incredulously.

“No, I called him Lord Smelly-us, but I think I like Smelly-ass better. It suits him.”

“But why?” Aurelius side eyes me like I’m the crazy one.

“Because he’s always got his nose in other people’s business,” Julian says as if that was obvious, which it is of course.

Aurelius rolls his eyes at the three of us and pushes himself off the counter. “Of course, why didn’t I think of that? Now if you’ll excuse me?—”

“Not so fast, pretty boy.” Jade puts a hand on his chest to stop him. He gives her a confused look, then looks over to me.

“You summoned them here to get an account of the current state of the armies. That’s what they’re here to discuss with me, so this is your meeting, too. Unless there was some other reason you pulled my second and third from the front lines,” I challenge while picking invisible debris off my shirt. I glance up at him, waiting for an answer.

“Of course not, Princess.” There’s a glint in his eyes as if to say he’s playing along for now. “That’sexactlywhy Isummoned them here.” He dares to smirk at me, and I roll my eyes.

I catch the twins exchanging a look that tells me they are having one of those weird twin conversations that doesn’t require words.

“Anyway,” I say, dragging out the word. “Please continue, Julian.”

“Prince Ayden is playing with you, B,” he says bluntly. He’s never had a filter and is always brutally honest. It’s one of the things I admire most about him.

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