Lady Kenneth: breakfast
Lady Edwina: breakfast
Lord Turren: breakfast
Lord Primrose and Lady Daphnie: encountered just now, no recent food
I tapped the pencil against my lips, studying the list. There had to be a pattern here, something I was missing.
Starting a new section, I added the known contaminated items, including tea and cakes.
What about unknown foods?
Dominic had been affected at the wedding ceremony, but were other fae courtiers affected and if so, when had they last had something to eat or drink?
I frowned at the page. The lack of a pattern was almost a pattern in itself. If this was contamination, it was incredibly widespread. But if it wasn’t contamination, then what else could be causing the spontaneous, uncontrollable giggling in multiple people across different times and locations?
A spell perhaps, or some kind of enchantment affecting the court itself rather than specific food items?
I started a new page, writing “Alternative Theories” at the top, then listed them out. A magical contamination of the court itself could explain the widespread effect and would affect anyone in contaminated areas. What determined who giggled and who didn’t?
If this was a deliberate spell cast on specific individuals, it could target multiple people. But how would the caster maintain it? That would require enormous power. This seemed unlikely given the randomness of effects.
An environmental magic disruption might relate to the wilting plants and could be affecting both plant life and people, but the mechanism remained unclear.
I stared at the third point, my pencil hovering over the paper. The wilting plants and the giggling had not started at the same time, according to Dominic. That didn’t mean they weren’t related, but they may not be.
I took a few notes about the wilted plants, though I couldn’t come to any conclusions. A glance inside showed a few plants here, also wilted.
Savory tilted her head, watching me work.The tree that loses its leaves in autumn isn’t dying, merely transforming. Sometimes what appears as chaos is simply change we don’t yet understand.
“That’s lovely,” I said, still writing. “But not particularly helpful for solving this mystery.”
Isn’t it? You’re looking for corruption when perhaps you should be looking for transformation. What if something is changing the court’s magic rather than poisoning it?
I paused, considering her words. Change versus corruption. It was an interesting distinction, and one that might explain why my fingers had sensed something off about the tea leaves without being able to identify an actual source.
I needed more data.
Turning to a fresh page, I created a new heading, Festival and Plant Death, and wrote down the known facts as Dominic had laid out for me.
Then I studied my notes, looking for connections. The emotion-responsive plants were suffering most. The festival featured emotion-responsive flowers. And people were experiencing uncontrolled emotional responses in the form of giggling.
I wrote out my hypothesis, that something or someone was disrupting emotional magic and energy in the court.
A knock at the door interrupted my thoughts.
“Your Majesty?” Alaina’s voice called through the wood. “I have your tea samples.”
I rose, crossing the sitting room to open the door. Alaina stood in the hallway with a young servant beside her, both carrying trays laden with various tins and containers.
“Thank you so much for bringing these personally.” I stepped aside to let them enter.
“It’s my pleasure, Your Majesty.” Alaina directed theservant to set her tray on the low table between the sitting room chairs, then placed her own beside it. “I’ve brought you a variety of leaves to experiment with. The spring harvest blend we served this morning, plus several others. Summer moonlight, autumn spice, winter frost, and the ceremonial blend we use for special occasions.”
I moved closer, examining the collection. Each tin was clearly labeled with elegant script, and Alaina had included measuring spoons, strainers, and even a teapot for brewing.
“This is perfect,” I said. “I truly appreciate the thoroughness.”
