Thomas waited for the sting of the viper to come but it never came. Instead, it kept hissing in his coat. He got up from the ground, wincing slightly. The snake had vanished from his coat and he became afraid. He quickly ran out of the dungeon.
George and Simon were loitering around the place, and when they saw him coming out, they stopped him.
"What were you doing in the dungeon?" Simon asked warily.
Thomas stared at the man for a full minute, in an eerie silence. "Sightseeing."
"Sightseeing?" Simon scoffed. "What kind of sight do you wish to see in the dungeon? That place is ground zero for everything gore and disgusting."
"That's exactly what I wanted to see." Thomas said. "allow me to return to my room, I think I might have seen something more than I can hold."
"Something like what?" Simon probed. He wanted anything at all which he could use to hold the man as a prisoner or at least, send him away from the castle.
Thomas ignored the question and continued his slow walk toward the main castle. He couldn't digest the fact that he might have just ruined all the king's chances of ever becoming well.
He exhaled deeply. A woman caught his attention and he stopped to watch what she was doing. She seemed to be talking to an iron soldier that stood in the castle corridor. Those things were meant for designs, why would she be talking to it? Was she mentally stable? Shaking his head, he resumed his slow walk to his room.
He took off his coat and a small vial fell out of his pocket and fell to the floor. Fortunately, the vial fell on the carpet rug, so it made less noise and was safe. He bent to pick it up, it was green. Just like what the king had requested. He smiled to himself.
He went into his bathroom and slipped the vial into a small basket where all his toiletries were kept neatly. At least, no maids were assigned to his room, he did his cleaning by himself.
Thomas took a shower to rid of the smell of the dungeon from his body and when he came out, he dressed up. He was about to leave his room when he suddenly remembered something. He stopped and looked around, taking notice of everything before he left.
"There is something off about that man," Simon said. "I can't seem to shrug off the feeling."
"Stop thinking about such crap, Thomas is a nice person," Felix said. "Also, why isn't George ready for the journey yet? He says you haven't given him the map."
Simon nodded. "I learned that the location had changed and I do not know where it is. I think I can show him what it should look like and he will have to find it himself."
It was a lie, he had misplaced the map to the place where he always got the antidote and he didn't want anyone to find out yet. He wanted to investigate the matter all by himself, he knew that it would arouse suspicion if he suddenly misplaced the ticket to the king's wellbeing. That being said, he had to keep the incident a secret.
"It's alright, inform George about it and let him prepare himself," Evander said. "Felix, I think we should give him some money, just in case he requires to get something... Or if the people who are now in charge of the antidote require a certain amount of gold for it."
Felix nodded in agreement. "That makes perfect sense. That being said, Evander shall prepare a written decree which will be passed to the entire Wisteria, I will address the servants and everyone else in the castle."
"Simon, ensure that you never leave the king's side. If you wish to bathe or anything, send a guard to call me. I shall stay with the king until you are done with that."
"Why?" Simon inquired. "Can't I just use the king's bath? There is a guest bath in the king's chamber, I can just use it. Or better still, I could cross to use the opposite room's bath while leaving the king's chamber locked from the outside."
"Whatever suits you," Felix answered. He wasn't going to enter into an argument with Simon or anyone for that matter.
"That being said, everyone gets to work," Felix announced. "George, inform all the servants to be here immediately. Inform the commanders and the soldiers as well. Oh and tell Thomas on your way, to come here too."
"Yes, beta Felix," George said, bowing slightly. Nothing irked Simon more than watching George bow to someone else other than the king. He followed the man into the castle.
"You were quick to lose your loyalty," Simon said. "I remember the king making a law to never now to anyone other than himself-"
"And the people he approves of," George added, stopping his walk abruptly. "Noble Simon, if you will not act cordially, I shall have to enlist your name as one of the suspects of the tragedy which has befallen the king."
Simon was taken aback. "Me?" He asked, pointing to himself.
"I did nothing, and I have proof. Unlike everyone else in the castle."
"Don't make me do it, Simon," George warned. "You will be surprised at how quickly your proof of innocence will be turned into evidence against you."
After speaking, he continued his journey to the servants' quarters to inform them of the news. Simon narrowed his eyes on him. He growled and left. It was almost morning and George was supposed to be leaving soon.
The people were gathered before Felix, Evander, and George. Thomas stood by the corner, leaning on the wall. Simon stood on the opposite side of Thomas, also leaning on the wall, focusing all his gaze and attention on Thomas.
"Greetings to all of you." Felix started. "The reason I have called you all is to tell you that a great tragedy has befallen Wisteria! And if care, and I mean proper care, is not taken, then we shall all perish!"
There were murmurs among the people as everyone tried to decipher what tragedy had befallen them. Where was Calhoun anyway? It had been 24 hours and no one had spotted the king. All eyes silently searched for Patricia. She stood at the farther end, hiding from everyone.
"The king, I'm afraid, has been poisoned!" Felix announced. "The king is ill, but it's not a regular illness."
"Now although we planned to keep this a secret from the people of Wisteria, we have to let all of you know because you are the ones who will now protect the king."
"The servants are not allowed to leave the castle anymore. Until the king awakes and is healed properly."
"The soldiers are to guard the castle as well as the Wisteria borders. No one comes in without permission from your commander by extension me, and no one goes out as well."
"Evander will make sure that you all are well informed. If you need anything, refer to your commanders and they will refer to Evander who will refer to me."
"I have to remain in the castle, overseeing things. The servants will take turns to guard the king's chamber and the only one who is allowed in is noble Simon."
"Simon!" Felix called. The man walked over to stand before the assembly. Felix pointed to him. "This is noble Simon. He is the only one you can allow in. I and Evander as well will have permission to go in and out at will."
"Anyone else, and I mean anyone else, who isn't approved of by me, Evander, or Simon, shan't be let in."
"We wouldn't want anyone feeding the king with a more corrosive poison than the one in his body already," Felix said, fixing his gaze on Patricia who tried to hide. "Am I clear?"
"Yes sir." The assembly chorused.
"Perfect. Now, I want you soldiers to take the letter that Evander has written and deliver it to every household in Wisteria. Read it to them and remind them to stay safe." Felix ordered. "Clear?"
"Yes sir!"
"We have found an antidote for the king. However, it should take five to seven days to fetch it." Felix continued. "George will go on the journey to get the antidote and we will hope that he can come back in time before anything happens."
"George! Grab your things and the soldiers will see you to the borders." Felix said. "Let the king's spirit guide you and bring you back safely."
George nodded. He took the small bag which he made and hung it over his shoulder. He followed half of the soldiers that were to stay out of the castle. The other half were positioned in places where they could guide the castle perfectly.
"We need eight guards to stay at each tower of the castle," Evander said. "Usually, the king used to stay there and watch over Wisteria. Now he is no more, we need people to stay there and watch over them."
"No more?" Felix asked, alarmed.
Evander facepalmed himself. "Indisposed I mean."
"My god! I would have wondered if the king had died and all our announcements were in vain." Felix said, trying to calm his already racing heart.
"Come on, I think it's time for you to resume your duty. You will stay at the town hall located in the center of the town. That's where the people will come to meet you."
"Aw, I hate that place," Evander said.
Felix sighed. "Me too, but we don't have a choice. If I left you here, someone could plan a heist against you and Simon and the both of you would not even know about it."
"Very funny," Evander said.
"Not cracking jokes, Evander," Felix said seriously. "I can only hope that nothing goes wrong."
"Who is Yara?"
The two men stopped their conversation to stare at the man who had rudely interrupted them. But their faces held shock and not anger. They weren't angry he interrupted them, they were shocked that he knew about the man.
"What?" Thomas asked. "Did you expect me not to know what happens behind every wall in this castle?"
"So do you then know who poisoned the king?" Felix asked.
"Even if I do, what difference does it make?" Thomas returned. "It's not like finding out the perpetrator or perpetrators will wake the king."
"True." Evander agreed. "But then we can prove to him that we were able to solve one need while he was away."
"Fancy reason," Thomas commented. "Tell me who Yara is and I will tell you who my suspects are."
"Yara is the Alpha of the blood pack. He is a wicked and scheming evil man who has a deep-seated hatred for Calhoun." Evander said.
"Why?" Thomas asked. "Is it because he is king?"
"Not exactly," Felix said. "It's more like because he is the descendant of Marjun Montego. If Calhoun had been anyone else and not a Montego, even if Wisteria was the best pack, Yara wouldn't bat an eyelid."
"So he hated Calhoun's grandfather?" Thomas said. "And he took the hatred to generations?"
"I find this weird. Isn't Yara supposed to be dead by now? He lived with Montego during the war against the sorcerers. How come he is living even after a few hundred years?"
"I heard his clan learned a spell that could put a wolf to sleep without aging," Evander said. Felix turned to glare at him. Thomas had asked one question, how come he learned much more?
Thomas chuckled when he saw Felix's glare. "Listen, I know more than you think, I'm only asking for this because something happened."
"What happened?"
"I went into the dungeon to check on something, perhaps I could find my suspects for questioning, but I figured there were seven grounds and I went to the last of them, hoping I could find a prisoner that could shed more light on what the king was going through."
"A prisoner?" Felix asked. "Why should a prisoner know about such?"
"Well because we bad eggs know those poisons better than the good ones," Thomas said. "But that's not the point. The point is, I met Yara down there. He stole something from me, and somehow he found out that Calhoun was poisoned."
"What?!" Felix and Evander exclaimed at the same time.