The Husband Poisoning Society, Chapter 6
Chapter Six: Lord and Duke
Lord Agnar had not attended the wedding. We had to go to Castle Wulfling to speak with the duke’s younger brother. The game designers had based the Hyperboreans on ancient Norse civilization. I didn’t think that the Vikings had a lot of castles. But there was one thing that I had learned while living in the world of Ossedei. The game designers were not sticklers for accuracy. The castle seemed built in an Anglo-Saxon style. Tapestries hung on the walls, but the castle was as cold as the longhouse. I began to wish I’d brought a shawl. Quincy shuffled at my feet and shivered in excitement.
“Lord Agnar,” Duke Xander stared at the younger man, “You were not at the celebration. And now your brother is dead. It does not look good. What do you say for yourself?”
“Duke Agnar. Brother Siggis is dead. Therefore, I am Duke.”
“Not yet. The King has not transferred the ducal signet ring or the rank to you yet. He may choose somebody else.”
“The duchy is mine by right!” Agnar spat as he spoke.
“No. The duchy is yours at the pleasure of King Hardrada. He can choose another. Tradition dictates that the duchy falls to you. But the law says the decision rests with the king.”
Agnar was tall, standing eye to eye with myself. He was an ugly man. He had dark eyes, and a crooked nose and stringy blonde hair. He looked as though he might have been passable in appearance before several blows to the head.
“Until His Majesty grants you the title, I outrank you. And I am ordering you to cooperate with this investigation. Do not force me to prove my authority.”
Agnar spun away from Duke Xander and stared at the back wall of the castle.
“I will not forget this indignity. Your Grace.”
“I am unconcerned.” Duke Xander answered. “My concern is for Hyperborea. And one of her dukes has been murdered.”
I stood at the front of the group, beside Leon and Vincent. Lynn, Amy and Fiona stood behind us. Fiona outranked me, but I’m the loud one. So it seemed I had been nominated as our spokesperson. At the back Laila and Monique waited.
“Will you cooperate?” Xander asked.
“I will not. I am duke. Only the King can judge me.” And with that pronouncement, Angar strode to the back of the room. He collapsed into the heavy oak chair reserved for the duke.
“That is not the result I wanted.” Duke Xander said.
“It was suspicious.” I answered.
The duke looked back at me, and after a moment of silence, he nodded. “It is suspicious. He was not at the celebration. So he could not have done the deed himself. But anyone at the celebration could be his agent. I can’t stomach the idea of such treachery. Please. Prove these suspicions wrong.”
“We’ll do our best. But Lord Agnar is definitely the prime suspect right now.”
I turned back to face the rest of the group, “Okay. What do we know?”
I paused. “Laila. Why are you still here? Monique has a vested interest in learning who killed her husband. But why are you following us around?”
“I’m interested.” She stared at Monique. “That is, I’m interested in what happened. He was my duke. And this is the most excitement to hit the longhouse in years.”
Monique blushed again.
Fiona shook her head. “Perhaps it might be best if you returned to your family.”
“No,” Monique said. “She can stay. That is, I want her to stay. If she wants to stay, of course. Please.”
Fiona raised an eyebrow, “Your grace. You are duchess in your castle. I defer to you.”
“I am. That’s right I am, aren’t I? That’s a strange feeling.”
“Speaking of strange feelings,” I said. “What happened to your eye?”
Monique didn’t answer, turning away instead. Lynn stepped up and put a hand on Monique’s shoulder.
“Siggis happened. I don’t know what she said. I didn’t hear anything wrong. But he hit her. I got her out of there and to the outhouse to buy us some space.”
“So, we don’t need to feel sympathy for the victim then.” I said.
“I knew this would happen,” Lynn said. “I knew the council would offer up a human sacrifice. They would rather do anything but something that might require some backbone.”
“You offered yourself up as a human sacrifice,” I said.
“That’s different.”
“Indeed?” Fiona said. “I fail to see how.”
“It was my idea and my decision. Nobody ordered me to do it.” Lynn said.
“I accepted this task.” Monique said.
“You shouldn’t have been asked to take on this task in the first place.” Lynn’s voice was rising.
I felt something brush the hem of my skirt and looked down. Quincy sat before me, a drinking horn in his mouth.
“Quincy, you little genius.” I said. “Is that the horn we need?”
Lynn jolted, “How did Quincy find that?”
“Quincy is a smart little dog. Aren’t you, boy?” I scratched behind his ears.
I took the horn from Quincy and handed it to Amy. The horn had been made from an actual horn, probably a lindwyrm given that we were in Hyperborea. The maker had carved swirling depictions of lindwyrms into the horn. This reinforced my certainty about the origin of the horn. Amy seated herself at a table and went into her trance. We waited. Minutes passed. I shivered. And then Amy began bleeding from her nose and she grimaced.
“That isn’t good.” I said.
“Was the horn warded?” Fiona asked.
Amy shivered and then shuddered. A bloody tear leaked from her left eye.
“She’s pushing the reading.” Vincent noted. “Will she be okay?”
“She will be fine. Amy is very good at this.” Fiona said.
Minutes stretched on. And finally Amy opened her eyes.
“Whoever poisoned the horn wore warded gloves. Powerful wards too. I couldn’t break them. But I can confirm that no servant who handled the horn did the poisoning. Whoever poisoned the horn, was a guest.”
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