Poison. Part 23

Kyra painstakingly checked the measurement of every drop in the dilution medium. She added her alkalines and gently stirred in her colloids and worked through the process in complete silence. She loathed using the serum on Ariana again and risking her life, but there was only one way to uncover the truth. Kyra would get it right this time.

She had to.

Carefully, she swirled the diluted poison around in the vial and picked up her dropper. She prayed that this poison-unlike Doze-would have some effect on the obeeka.

She squeezed one drop on each princess's shackled left hand.

The effects were immediate.

The Ariana in the poufy blue dress began transforming-her blond ringlets darkened and lost their curl, and she began to shrink. A loud gasp filled the room as the false princess dwindled into a small childlike creature with unblinking black eyes, its hands almost-but not quite-small enough to escape the shackles. An obeeka.

Identical to the creatures Kyra had encountered at Arlo Abbaduto's lair.

Of course he was behind it. He'd replaced the princess with one of the shape-shifters in his employ. He'd known about the properties of Red Skull Serum when mixed with pine oil. He'd engineered the whole thing.

"You work for Arlo Abbaduto?" Kyra demanded.

The obeeka grimaced and tried to pull out of the cuffs. "He's not going to stand for this!" Its voice sounded like a whole crowd of people talking in synchrony. It made Kyra's skin crawl.

She had gone to Arlo for help. Now Rosie's failure to find the princess the first time around made perfect sense-Arlo had never wanted to help her. He just wanted her to cover his tracks. So he'd put something in the basket that would lead her to another of his puppets, Ellie the hermit. Maybe he thought Kyra would kill the old man. Or that Ellie would kill Kyra.

"I think the king is going to have some questions for you," Kyra said to the creature.

"You won't be able to hold me. You don't even know what I am."

"Dartagn?" Kyra called.

"Yes, my lady?" He appeared at her side.

"Release Princess Ariana from her shackles immediately."

Dartagn made a gesture, and a soldier unlocked the iron bands.

"We're going to need to reinforce the prisoner's shackles," Kyra said. "It's an obeeka and can change shape to slip out of bonds. In my rooms, I have a potion that will force it to maintain this shape, and an anti-rot concoction we were trying out in the gardens last summer that could keep it from degenerating its shackles."

Dartagn sent a pair of soldiers to fetch the potions, and a.s.signed two others to keep watch on either side of the creature.

Kyra stood up.

"You might have me," the creature said, "but you'll never find my master. Not if you interrogate me all day. I don't know where Arlo is."

"We'll see," Kyra said. She looked at the soldiers. "Just in case it might be dangerous, you should take it to the dungeon for the interrogation."

The two men unbolted the creature's shackles from the table and led it out.

The room erupted in applause and whistles, and people shouted her name.

Kyra felt a blush spread across her face.

The duke stood up and raised a hand for silence, his rosy cheeks glowing. "Thank you all for being here to witness this event. Our princess is safe, and a sinister plot has been uncovered that would have destroyed the kingdom we all know and love.

"I want to thank my daughter, Kyra, for persevering in the face of all obstacles. Darling, I'm so proud of you."

Kyra thought she caught her mother roll her eyes from across the room, but figured she had to be imagining it. The sentiment might be there, but her mother would never do something so undignified.

The duke clapped his hands. "Drinks! We must have drinks to celebrate!"

Ariana linked an arm through Kyra's and whispered in her ear, "You know, kitty cat, you don't need to go to such great lengths to find out my secrets. I'd tell you anything you wanted to know without a truth serum."

"Ari, maybe we should get you out of here. No joke. You really are dangerous with this truth serum in you. You might say something you wished you hadn't."

"Like that your mom scares me, but I think your dad is kind of cute, in an old-guy sort of way?"

"Exactly like that."

"Eh." She shrugged. "I'm not worried."

The tension in the room lifted, and everyone erupted into conversation and laughter as drinks were produced and trays piled high with cheese and meat were brought around. A few people bowed to Kyra as they pa.s.sed, or lifted their gla.s.ses to her when they caught her eye.

Kyra watched while, across the room, Fred taught her dad his fish song. The duke laughed uproariously as Fred got to the part about ducking his head under the water and tipped his ale over his face and spluttered. Her dad immediately reached for his mug to try it himself.

Beside her, Ariana laughed, then disentangled herself from Kyra to rush toward the men, shouting, "Save some for me!"

Ariana smiled up at Fred as he mimed along with the duke singing through the song, spilling ale extravagantly all over his face.

Kyra shut her eyes, but the image of her two friends enjoying each other's company didn't go away. She edged toward the door, a smile fixed on her face as each person she pa.s.sed congratulated her.

She accepted the praise but kept moving.

"Princess," came a deep voice behind her.

Kyra turned to the drooping-mustached man behind her. "Dartagn."

"I'm glad you've made everything right, princess."

"You know I hate it when you call me that."

Dartagn's eyes glowed. "I know."

"Dartagn, did you really believe I'd kill my best friend for no reason?"

He shook his head. "Of course not. I trust you. Why else do you think you were one of our special combat trainers? I don't invite just anyone to do that." He paused. "Did you really believe I hadn't found you in the woods?"

Kyra's jaw dropped.

"I knew my trust in you was not misplaced."

"You knew where I was all this time?"

He nodded.

It shouldn't have made such a difference that her combat teacher trusted her, but it did. She smiled and turned and was at last out of the room.

In the empty hall, she leaned against the smooth stone wall.

She was going to have to pull herself together. Everything was great now, right? Her best friend was alive and happy. She was no longer a fugitive. She'd saved the kingdom.

If everything was so great, why did she feel so terrible?

Her two friends were engaged to be married. And if Kyra had ever had any doubt that it would be a successful match, it was quickly evaporating.

Ariana was falling for Fred. And from the looks of it, Fred was falling for her too.

THEY WERE UP BEFORE DAWN the next day.

Kyra and her friends joined Dartagn and a contingent of the duke's guards on the road to the royal palace in Wexford. The party was quiet as they made their way to the castle, as though they'd used up their share of joy the night before. Kyra had knots in her stomach as she thought about what lay ahead.

Even picking up Rosie from the miller's wife didn't relieve the tension building in her.

The closer they got to the castle, the more she worried.

No matter the reason, she had tried to kill the princess. Would the king and queen understand? Would they believe her?

Ariana was back in her own clothes, and her hair had been prettily pinned by one of the d.u.c.h.ess's maids. When they reached the front gate of the castle, the guards lowered their weapons at the sight of Dartagn and their princess.

Kyra looked up at the ramparts and groaned. "Maybe you should go ahead and explain."

"It's going to be fine," Ariana whispered, taking Kyra's hand. "You're the hero. They aren't going to throw you in the dungeon. I won't let them."

"Thanks, Ari." They made their way with Rosie down the curving walk to the palace entrance.

Fred came up behind them and put a hand on their shoulders. "You'll make sure they won't throw me in the dungeon too, right, Ari? I did sort of disappear there-not the best way to make a first impression on foreign royalty...."

"We'll see," Ariana responded cheerfully.

She led them through the tall arched front doors of the castle and into the receiving room, while Dartagn went ahead to inform the king and queen.

Kyra sat on one of the sofas. Rosie curled up on a ta.s.seled pillow.

No one spoke.

At last, the door swung open and in walked the king in full regal dress, his crown firmly planted on his head, the queen trailing behind.

"So," the king boomed, "I hear we have a plot on our hands."

Kyra stood up and bowed to the royal couple. "Your Majesty?" Her heart in her throat, she straightened.

The king's eyes were on her, and she couldn't look away. "I hope you're planning to see this thing through, young lady," he said. "Dartagn insisted you be the one to lead the party to capture Arlo Abbaduto. I can't help but agree. No one is braver, truer, or more capable."

Relief flooded through Kyra.

The queen stepped up beside the king. "But don't even think for a minute that this party will include you, young lady," she said to Ariana. "Or you," she said to Fred. "I can't imagine what your parents would say if they heard you'd been involved with this."

The king opened his arms to his daughter. "We're so relieved to have you back." Ariana accepted the hug while her mother patted her shortened locks.

"So short, Ariana! Was this really necessary?"

"Of course it was, Mom. You don't think I'd have done it if it hadn't been, do you?"

A wry smile appeared on the queen's face. She knew just how little reason the princess needed to shear off her hair.

The king gave his daughter one last squeeze, then pulled back. "We've got work to do."

Within a few hours, Kyra was standing in the sun-dappled woods north of the city, surrounded by a contingent of the King's Army, who were going to a.s.sist in the capture of Arlo Abbaduto. Two members of the team had been a surprise to Kyra. They weren't soldiers.

They were potioners.

Hal and Ned.

They'd come up to her beforehand, looking like puppies who'd eaten her slippers.

"Kyra," Hal said. "I'm so sorry. We-"

"It's okay," Kyra said. "I wish you'd trusted me, but I don't hold it against you."

"I would if I were you," Hal said. "I was a fool. You always were too headstrong for me."

"And you never were..."

He waited. "Yes? Never what?"

"I don't know. Enough, I guess? Sorry," Kyra said.

He nodded and said, "True."

"I'm glad you're back, Kyra." A grin took over Ned's wide face. "Hal's been driving me nuts."

Kyra smiled. "I'm glad to be back."

"We're in this together, right?" Hal said.

"Yeah, Hal, we're in this together." It was shocking to her to realize she meant what she said.

"Arlo is a formidable enemy," Kyra began, speaking to the team. "We cannot underestimate him. Hopefully, we'll have the element of surprise, because wherever he's hiding, we'll find him. We've got this."

She held up a small container-one she'd kept since her dealings with the King of Criminals. Something inside it rattled angrily, like a bug in a box. "Inside is a potioners' coin, one of a handful I paid to Arlo a few weeks ago. I changed the owner's imprint over to him, but I held on to one of the coins...as an insurance policy. I didn't know whether I could trust him or not."

One of the soldiers snorted.