I shake off all the things Idon’tknow. But I can’t deny basic facts. “Montague killed the king and queen. He was killed during the attack. That’s why there was a scandal. But if he thought he hadleverage, it didn’t work. Harristan and Corrick clearly aren’t getting more silver from Ostriary.”
Maybe Rian can’t deny that either. “And they’re not benefitting from sales of the Moonflower?”
He asks this like a genuine question, which takes me by surprise. I have to remind myself of what Olive said, how he truly does mean well—but he also doesn’t care who gets hurt when he thinks he’s right. “No. They’re not.” It draws my attention back to the maps. “So let’s say someoneispoisoning all of Kandala somehow. Why did you show me the maps? What have you figured out already?”
“Nothing yet. But I showed you where Moonflower grows here.” He points to Kaisa again. “Where does Moonflower grow in Kandala?”
I point to the northernmost sectors. Based on how he’s positioned the maps, they sit farther north than Kaisa. “Here. Moonlight Plains and Emberridge. But how would they poison the entire country? They barely produce enough Moonflower totreatit.”
Rian winces. “I’m not sure. But it doesn’t take very much poison to cause an effect. Just a bit of boiled stem will cause the fever in an adult. A bit more will bring the coughing.”
“And it has to be boiled?”
“Or soaked,” Rian says. “Though that takes longer. Far quicker just to boil it.”
I study the maps, remembering the way Corrick and I did the same thing in the palace. It was so late at night, and we went through books and records and pored over maps, talking about how Sunkeep fares the best with the fevers, but it has the lowest population in Kandala. He revealed that several people had theorized that Sunkeep’s access to the ocean water might stave off the feversickness, but it was determined thateverysector has access to fresh water. It was a dead end.
“Could the ‘medicine’ be tainted?” Rian asks. “Could they be handing out vials of poison mixed in with the cure so no one would know what they’re getting?”
I shake my head. “No. Moonflower is sold as petals. No one is given vials of elixir because it doesn’t really last, and the elites are allowed to buy as much as they want.”
Rian scoffs. “Of course they are.”
I can’t even disagree with his reaction.
“How much does it take?” I say. I look up at him. “You said you brought so much Moonflower to keep Bella subdued. Does the poison take repeated doses?”
He hesitates, and for the first time, a hint of shame flickers in his eyes. “Yes. And you have to be careful. Too much, and it can be debilitating. Toolongand damage can be permanent.”
I think about that, turning it around in my head. “But if people in Kandala were given access to an antidote, even infrequently, maybe we weren’t curing the fever sickness. Maybe we were just holding back the poison, over and over again. Only the most vulnerable fell very sick and died.”
Or those who didn’t have access to medicine at all.
My eyes trace the lines of the rivers that neatly slice through Kandala on both sides again, the Queen’s River in the east, and the Flaming River to the west. Rian saidboiledorsoaked. There’d be no way to hand out vials of poison to the entire population on a regular basis—but there must be hundreds of streams branching off each river, leading into towns and valleys that each have their own system of water mills, with pumps and wells and sewers all throughout each sector, even the Wilds. The Royal Sector, completelylandlocked, even has running water provided by a complicated sewer system that diverts water directly from mills fed by the Queen’s River.
The Queen’s River, which starts at the northern tip of Kandala, just like the Flaming River.
The northern tip of Kandala, coincidentally home to the two sectors where the Moonflower grows.
Where the “cure” was discovered.
I stare at the map. Maybe every sectordoesn’thave access to fresh water.
“They’re putting it in the water,” I say in horror.
“In thewater?” Rian says in surprise.
But Rocco leans close. “How, Miss Tessa? How would they do it?”
I have to shake my head. “I don’t know. I don’t know enough about water mills or wells or how any of that works.” But now that I’m thinking about it, a lot of other things begin to fall into place. “But it would explain why Sunkeep doesn’t have as many sick people. If the rivers are poisoned in Emberridge and Moonlight Plains, by the time water travels that far south, the poison is probably diluted. It would also explain why people who work at the river docks always seem to get the worst fever sickness.”
I tap my finger against my chin. I’m on a roll now, and I can’t stop. “It wouldalsoexplain why it’s so difficult to determine who gets sick and who doesn’t. Some people might be drinking water from a rain barrel, some people might be drinking from a well, some people might be drinking water from a faucet. With the size of Kandala, the rain surely dilutes the poison from time to time, too, so there’d be no way to figure out a rhythm or pattern to who is getting the sickest either. And some people would be morevulnerable than others. Maybe the sea life can be affected, too. So people who eat fish would be influenced. Or what about livestock who’ve drunk the water? Would the poison be in their flesh?” I let out a breath. All of a sudden, I want my books. I need to get to the king. I need to warn someone. “This is too big! There’s too much.”
But then my eyes lock on Rian’s, and I remember what he said about returning to Kandala.
I don’t know if I can attempt returning again so quickly.
“We have to go back,” I say. “We have to go backnow. I have to tell the king.”
