The Husband Poisoning Society, Chapter 8

Chapter Eight: Accusations

"Obviously our new duchess is the culprit." Magnus said. "She was right next to his grace during dinner. Women are serpents, Yssian women doubly so."

"We were at your charming outhouse when his grace died." Lynn objected.  

"That means nothing. That one said the poison had an alchemical agent to delay its activation." Magnus pointed at Fiona. "That gives her plenty of time."

"Why would she kill her new husband? She wouldn't gain power from it. She'd just get married off again." Amy said.

"Who knows why women do anything they do?" Magnus shook his head. 

Laila smacked Magnus's shoulder. "She gains nothing from this. Women are not insane. His grace has a brother who has already declared himself duke. Obviously Lord Agnar is guilty."

"You would accuse your new duke?" Magnus bristled. 

"He isn't your duke or mine yet. Right now he's only a murderer."

"This is all speculation." Vincent pushed between Magnus and Laila. "We don't know enough yet to make any accusations."

"Indeed.” Fiona said. “But while we are speculating, Magnus has implicated Duke Xander as well. His grace was at the head table and has better motive than Monique to want Duke Siggis dead."

"I would never stoop to such treachery. I would challenge him to a duel and deal with the dispute like a man. No Hyperborean would use poison. The culprit must be an outsider."

"The idea that a Hyperborean wouldn't use poison makes it a useful misdirection if it is a Hyperborean." I said.

Xander spun to look at me. "Such a man would be without honor."

I pursed my lips, "Have you never known a Hyperborean without honor?"

Xander scowled and then nodded. "True. Not all Hyperboreans measure up to the standards of our ideals. Damn. This tells us nothing."

"It tells me that I will not marry Agnar until he has been cleared of any guilt." Monique said.

"Well spoken, your grace." Laila said. 

"You do not have that choice, I am afraid." Duke Xander said. "If his majesty declares Agnar Duke, you will be married to him. It is that simple."

Monique stiffened, "I have a bodice dagger and I can always make a final decision on whether or not I marry anyone."

Amy gasped, "You don't mean...?"

"I do."

Leon sighed and shook his head. "We are getting nowhere. Duke Xander, is there somewhere for Ren to sit?"

"Is the tall one infirm?" Xander asked, looking at my cane.

"She's a seer," Leon said.

All eyes turned to me. I nodded. 

"The She-Wolf of Ys is a seer?" Laila asked.

"What a catch." Xander said. He paused, and then nodded. "This way."

Duke Xander led us to a small building next to the long house. It was built with an A-frame and the roof lay heavy with snow. Inside was what appeared to be a first aid station. I lay down on a cot and motioned to Fiona and Amy. My fiancees stood on either side of me and clasped my shoulders.

"Is that necessary?" Monique asked.

I smirked, "I tend to kick when visions get nasty."

I closed my eyes and reached out, focusing on the feeling of the vision. The world spun around me, and then everything went black. 

Black dahlias bloomed out of the darkness. I heard a voice, "None of you are safe from the Husband Poisoning Society!"

And then my vision cleared and I saw myself standing in the midst of what appeared to be a tribunal. Lords and ladies sat in raised seats in a circle around me. It reminded me of when I had abdicated my place in House Octavian to marry Amy. In my vision, I glared at Duke Xander and announced, "I am the guilty one. I poisoned Duke Siggis. Nobody else was involved. I acted alone."

Another black dahlia floated behind my head as I spoke. 

A huge humanoid bat burst through the scene and into a room in a castle. The bat thing screamed, "Now you will die for Hyperborea!"

The vision shifted again, and I saw Fiona sitting in a stone room, her knees pulled up to her chin. She was weeping. I had never seen Fiona cry before.

"I do not know what to do." Fiona said. "I have never not known what to do. There is no way out of this."

Amy and I moved to comfort Fiona, and I realized that the room was a jail cell of some sort. And then the vision grew dark. Purple hyacinths blossomed and in the darkness I heard the voice of Duke Xander.

"There is only one way through this. And I expect that none of us like it."

And then I was laying back on the cot, staring at the ceiling. 

"Well crap." I muttered.