Spit foamed around the queen consort’s mouth. Tears of blood dripped from her eyes. She contorted and choked. But the cause of her suffering could not be seen.
Poison? But if it was, then when had it been administered? And honestly, Elias had not seen a poison act like this before.
Then all of a sudden, she slackened, body going limp.
“What …” Konrad trailed off.
Juniper knelt and took the queen consort’s wrist in her hand. After several seconds, she looked up at them. “She is dead.”
Moments later the healer monks and grand monk came running. But the queen consort was beyond their assistance. The grand monk accompanied the healers into the room, to assess her as best they could and determine the cause of death.
Meanwhile everyone else waited in the sitting room. The others spoke, trying to make sense of what had occurred.
But Elias wasn’t listening. He stared at the flames burning in the fireplace.
Gerard sat beside him on the settee. “You all right?”
“I can’t make sense of it.” Elias shook his head. “I just keep feeling that something bigger is at play. That something is going on. But I can’t work out what.”
“What do you mean?”
Elias didn’t speak for a second, trying to gather his thoughts. “There have been three attacks here at the White Monastery during this peace assembly.”
He rubbed a hand over his face. “The first by Princess Lantana of Botanial at Prince Ash Rosewood and Lord Barrett Morton’s wedding, the second by Warden Flint of the Grey Mountains on Luther and Onyx, and now on us by the queen consort of Draconia and the empress of Voltaria and Zephyrias.”
“What are you getting at?”
“I don’t know!” Elias closed his eyes as if he could see the problem more clearly with his eyes shut. “But that is three attacks. There is no obvious connection between them. But in two of the attacks, the perpetrators clearly had been working with someone else, someone who has remained hidden.”
Gerard seemed to ponder that for several moments. “You think whoever was behind this attack might have been working with Warden Flint too?” He sat up straighter. “Could they have been working with Princess Lantana as well?”
“Maybe. Maybe it was those masked figures,” Elias said, but he wasn’t sure. “Our stepmothers did not seem to want to ruin the treaty like the others. So maybe not.”
Gerard exhaled. “Whatever the case, it is not good.”
“No, it is not. And now this perplexing and sudden death …” Elias looked up at the ceiling. “I’m baffled.”
“It is confusing.” Gerard gripped Elias’s hand in his. “But whatever we have to face, we’ll face it together. We’ll work it out.”
Elias smiled at him, a weak, tired smile. He leaned against Gerard, taking strength and comfort from his steady broad shoulder. “We will.”
Moments later, the grand monk came in, thick brows drawn low.
“What did the healers find out?” Konrad asked.
“They think it must be poison,” the grand monk said. “Although, they have not yet determined which. We will continue to examine her and determine …” He trailed off.
Hurried footsteps sounded down the corridor from a different direction. Everyone turned towards the doorway. The grand shield gripped her sword and drew. She and the warrior monks stepped forward. But it was the grand healer and Healer Doran who burst into the sitting room.
“Your Majesties!” Healer Doran cried out.
“By the Way of the Dove, what has happened?” the grand monk asked.
“The dragon king is dead!” Healer Doran shouted.
Elias’s mouth fell open.
Gerard jumped to his feet. “What?”
