Page 95 of The Exile's Curse

"Poison," she said. "We need water for everyone. They should wash their hands. Clean any wounds carefully. Anyone who has kafiet near a cut should leave it alone and stay still until the healers can clean them up."

Mikvel nodded and turned on his heel, bellowing orders of his own.

Katiya came over to stand by Chloe. "What can I do?"

"Are you hurt?" Irina asked, eyes going up to her sister. For the first time, she looked alarmed. "Did you get cut?"

"No."

"Then see what you can do to help others."

“No, wait,” Chloe said. “The servant. The one who brought the tray to us. Do you know who that was?”

Katiya shook her head. “I don’t think I noticed.”

“Find him,” Chloe snarled. She stared down at Lucien, his face too pale. She could barely hear anything over the deafening panicked thump of her heartbeat in her ears. But she could feel him through the bond. He was alive. She had to make sure he stayed that way.

"Chloe," Irina snapped. "Pay attention. Keep feeding him your strength. We have treatments. They can work."

"Can work" wasn't "will work." Irina had told her that firewort could be deadly. For a moment, she thought she might faint. But no. Lucien needed her.

Irina glanced past Chloe. "Colonel, if you have any healers, you should send for them, too. They can help the royves."

"They could help you." Honore's voice was calm and crisp. Her colonel voice.

Irina shook her head. “They don’t know how to deal with firewort. Royve Ava will ask for help if we need it. Chloe is lending him her strength through their bond. No one else will be able to do more." She looked back at Chloe. "Don't let him go."

Lucien.Her stomach roiled, but she did as asked. Fed him power and waited for the healers to come.

It didn't take them long, and the panic in the ballroom subsided as they set to work. Ava joined Irina and Chloe, crouching beside Lucien.

"Firewort, I think." Irina nodded at the glass she'd laid carefully by Lucien's side. “In the kafiet. He must have already sipped some of it before Chloe broke the glasses," Irina said and looked at Chloe. "That was a neat trick, by the way. If all the kafiet is tainted, you saved a lot of lives tonight."

"The kafiet looked wrong," Chloe said. "I saw red in his glass."

The royve gave her an odd look. She pulled a cloth from her pocket and lifted the glass, sniffing it as warily as Irina had. "You are right, Irina. It's faint, but it's there." She cocked her head at Chloe. "I will worry later about how you know what color firewort is." She wrapped up the glass in the cloth and put it back down next to the bag she'd arrived with, placing a hand on Lucien's chest, over his heart. Just below where the marriage mark Chloe hadn't yet seen would be.

"Irina, there is patyiet in my bag. Mix a grain with a spoonful and put it on his tongue." She glanced up at Chloe. "I know Silya doesn't approve of this bond you formed, but it's just as well you did. It might just be what keeps him alive."

Lucien.

Goddess. Someone had tried to kill him. Maybe tried to kill both of them.

Her fear started to fade. What flared up to fill the void it left in its wake was anger.

Mikvel knelt beside Chloe. "Lady Castaigne, how can we help you?"

She managed not to snarl with an effort. Angering the king wouldn't do any good. "Find who did this." The words were still too sharp, but it was the best she could do. At least the king hadn't been harmed. “Start with the servant. He used magic, just before. It felt strange.” She cast a wild glance around the room, searching for that face again. The healers were moving between people sitting and lying on the ground, bandaging cuts and performing other tasks. Some of the courtiers looked as though they had passed out as well. "Why are those people unconscious? Did they all drink firewort?" she asked Ava.

The healer shook her head. "Everyone is alive. Firewort would have killed some of them. My guess is that the other glasses were dosed randomly with other substances. It would have made it harder to single out what happened to your husband if you had not acted so swiftly, my lady."

"So whoever did this knows healing. Or has access to a healer willing to help them. Or—" Her eyes narrowed. "Irina, you said the seers are the ones who use firewort." She turned to Mikvel. "Where's Sejerin Silya?"

"Right here." The sejerin's voice came from behind her. Chloe twisted but didn't let go of Lucien's wrist. It was easier to feed him power while touching him.

The seer looked unexpectedly rattled.

"No seer did this, Lady Castaigne. I give you my word. Your husband's powers are not in accordance with our beliefs, but we wish him no harm."

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