The Beast Within

A King's Game: Chapter Nine

"It's for naught!"

CRASH.

Odd Gran was throwing every object within reach.

Roland and I had arrived just in time to watch her throw a magnificent tantrum. She was not enchanted to look beautiful, and the gnarled creature that hobbled around the dungeon looked more like a goblin than a woman.

The scene was quite humorous, but I stifled my laughter. 

"You!" she screeched when her eye found me.

In a blink she was near me, stopping just short of slamming into my body, and she pressed the bulb of her nose against mine.

"What is wrong with your blood?!"

"I-I don't know what you mean," I answered, stunned by her threatening welcome.

"The tainted bile in your veins has killed two serving girls and one kitchen boy!"

She scrambled to a table covered with a blanket. Beneath it was a large lump, and when Odd Gran pulled the blanket away Roland and I gasped to see three young bodies, all dead.

"This is your fault!" she screamed.

"It's not!" I yelled back. 

I was disgusted and angered by her work, and would share no blame for what she had done.

Odd Gran was poised to strike, but Roland stepped between us.

"Are you telling me that you took three innocent lives in one night?"

Odd Gran shook her head.

"No, no. Not three. There were four!"

She waved her hand toward a corner of the dungeon and a torch burst into blue flame. Its light revealed a trembling and dangerously pale servant girl laying on the floor. Her eyes were wide and her tongue hung limply from her mouth. She was alive, but it was clear her time was limited.

Roland approached and stood over the girl, but he did not move to touch her.

"Four potions diluted with the wolf," Odd Gran said as she moved to Roland's side, "and four bodies incapable of accepting it. I've checked the damn measurements a hundred times, but no matter how I tweak the recipe, it's poison. This one here got the smallest dosage of saliva—and look at her! Only moments away, the poor wretch."

Odd Gran's voice was devoid of any sympathy, but filled with bitter disappointment.

"Was there any kind of change?" Roland asked. 

"Just the shakes, like all the rest, followed by a draining of color. Then comes the convulsions, and they're gone within minutes."

"How long has she lasted?"

"A full night and all of today, but the whole time has been a misery."

I pushed past them and knelt near the suffering girl. Neither Roland nor Odd Gran tried to stop me, but stood back and studied my interaction. The girl didn't notice I was there. Her eyes rolled around and her body twitched. Her hand was against her chest at an awkward angle, as if she had no control over where it went.

I smoothed the hair from her sweat-slicked face.

"It's all right," I whispered.

A moan erupted from her mouth, but it was not clear if she heard me. Violent convulsions took hold of her and I placed my hand under her skull to keep it from slamming against the stone floor.