Chapter 27 Chapter 27: The Dead Lands Poison

I hit the big oak doors of the Council Chamber with both my hands and pushed them open. The wood banged against the stone walls with a sound like a big drum. It was noon, and the sun was high in the sky, but the room felt cold. All the men in the High Council stopped talking and looked at me. They sat around a long table with papers and pens, but I did not care about their work.

"Close every gate in the palace!" I yelled.

My voice was loud and it made the old men jump in their chairs. Lord Cydian stood up fast and dropped his gold pen on the floor. He looked at my hands and then he looked at my face. I knew I looked scary because I was breathing hard and my eyes were wide.

"My Queen, what is wrong?" Cydian asked. He reached out a hand, but he did not touch me. "Why must we lock the doors?"

"Seraphina is dead," I told them.

The room went very quiet. One man dropped his cup of water and it broke on the floor. I walked to the head of the table and hit the wood with my fist.

"Someone put bad juice in her water," I said. "She had foam in her mouth. She died right in front of me before she could tell me your names."

"Our names?" a man in a red coat asked. He backed his chair away from the table. "We did nothing! We were right here all morning!"

"You all want me gone!" I barked. "You want a man back on the throne. You want to kill my son. You killed her so she would not tell me about your secret plan!"

The doors opened again and Silas walked in. He did not look like a friend today. He looked like a wolf that wanted to bite. He had his big black sword in his hand and his boots made a heavy sound on the floor. He stood next to me and looked at the Council with mean eyes.

"The gates are shut, Elena," Silas rumbled. His voice was deep and it made the floor shake a little. "No one is leaving. I have my men in every hall."

"Good," I said. "Now we find out which one of these men did it."

Silas took a step toward the man in the red coat. He grabbed the man by his shirt and pulled him up. The noble was shaking like a leaf in the wind.

"We do not need to wait," Silas said. He looked at me and showed his teeth. "Let us take them all to the yard. We can cut off their heads one by one until someone tells the truth. It is the Rogue way. It is fast and it works."

"No!" Cydian cried out. He fell to his knees on the rug. "Please! We are not killers! We want the kingdom to be safe!"

I looked at the men on the floor. They were crying and praying. They looked like small children who were lost in the woods. Then I looked at Silas. He was smiling again. It was that same scary smile from the morning. He liked seeing them on the floor. He wanted to kill them even if they did not do it.

"We are not doing that, Silas," I said. I put my hand on his arm to make him let the man go. "Put him down."

Silas did not move at first. He gripped the shirt tighter. "They are snakes, Elena. If you let them live, they will bite you again. We should kill the threat now."

"I am the Queen," I told him. I made my voice hard like iron. "We are not savages. We follow the law. If I kill them without a trial, the people will think I am just a monster from the Dead Lands. I have to prove I am a real ruler."

Silas let go of the man. The noble fell back into his chair and gasped for air. Silas turned to me and his eyes were dark.

"The law takes too long," Silas muttered. "While you talk and wait, the killer is still breathing our air. You are being too soft."

"I am being a Queen," I snapped. "I will not have blood on the floor just because you are in a hurry. We will ask questions. We will look at the bowl. We will find the truth."

"The truth is right here," Silas said. He pointed his sword at the Council. "They hate us. That is all the truth you need."

"Be quiet, Silas," I said.

I turned back to Lord Cydian. He was still on the floor, but he was not crying as much. "Cydian, get the man who knows about plants. Bring him to the dungeon. I want to know what was in that water."

"I... I already know," a small voice said.

A man in a gray robe stood in the corner of the room. He was the palace healer. He was holding a small glass jar with a black leaf inside. He walked to the table and set it down.

"I went to the cell after you left, My Queen," the healer said. He did not look me in the eye. He was very scared. "I smelled the bowl. I found this leaf stuck to the wood."

I leaned in to look at the black leaf. It was small and had sharp edges. It looked like a tiny claw.

"What is it?" I asked.

"It is called Ghostbane," the healer whispered. "It is a very bad plant. It makes the heart stop and the mouth fill with foam. It works slowly so no one knows it is there."

"Ghostbane," I said the word slowly. It sounded like a curse. "Where does it grow? Is it in the royal garden?"

The healer shook his head. He looked at the Council and then he looked at Silas.

"No," the healer said. "Ghostbane does not grow in the sun. It only grows in the dark and the fog. It only grows in the Dead Lands."

The room went so quiet I could hear the wind hitting the window. I felt like someone had punched me in the stomach. My blood turned into ice.

The Dead Lands. That was my home. That was where my army came from.

None of these nobles had ever been to the Dead Lands. They were too scared to go near the mist. Only a Rogue could get that plant. Only one of my own people could have put that poison in the water.