Glamshara stepped forward tentatively, blowgun in hand, her eyes cold and calculating. Her features bore a strong resemblance to Queen Grizshara’s, but her hair was a vivid purple, and her glowing violet eyes only accentuated her striking appearance.

“If you’ve come for my head, you’re wasting your time,” she said, her voice sharp and steady. “I didn’t poison the princess.”

“Trickster witch!” Bohemond spat, lunging forward with his sword drawn.

Justin reacted quickly, stepping into Bohemond’s path, raising his cane defensively. “Hold on, wait a second! Let’s hear her out.”

“Smart one,” Glamshara said, her lips curling into a slightly mad smile. “So, Borgruk, I guess this little mystery is beyond the abilities of the goblins, to where you have to bring in two humans and an orc?”

Borgruk scowled. “The orc is a Blood Warden. His magic was nearly powerful enough to counteract the poison. So now, they have offered to find an antidote. And justice, if it’s to be had.”

“Ah, justice,” Glamshara said. “You have a funny sense of it if you’re coming after me. It’s easy to blame the crazy poison mistress, isn’t it? Especially when she’s so jealous of her dear baby sister who stole the succession!”

Kargan shot her a wary look. “You’re…not helping your case here.”

Borgruk growled from behind them, his hand gripping his scimitar as. “She’s sly, this one. She’ll twist your brain with her lies!”

Glamshara’s smile widened. “Your brain? You’re not so much brain as earwax, Borgruk. Besides, you were here during the excavation. Same as me.”

“You think I could make a poison like you?” He laughed harshly. “You’re dreaming!”

“No,” Glamshara said, her tone turning deadly serious. “You didn’t make the poison. Takes a bit of intellect, not to mention the ability to follow directions and read. Then again, you are most definitely someone’s useful idiot. Of that, I assure you.”

Borgruk growled again, his patience thinning. “I’ve heard enough. Let’s bind her and bring her back.”

He took a step forward, but Glamshara raised her blowgun in warning. “You know my aim is true, Captain. I’d think twice if I were you.”

Borgruk hesitated, eyes narrowing.

Kargan shook his head in frustration. “None of this helps. If she’s telling the truth, then that means the actual poisoner is still out there.”

Glamshara gave a yellow smile. “And what’s your name, love?”

“Kargan,” he said. He nodded next to him. “This is Justin and Bohemond. Like Borgruk said, we’re here to investigate.”

Bohemond stepped forward. “You have one chance to explain yourself, Glamshara. If I even think you’re lying—”

“Yes, yes, I know what’ll happen,” Glamshara interrupted, stepping closer. “But I’m not the enemy here. I didn’t poison my niece. That work was far too sloppy.” Her smile stretched. “If I wanted her dead, trust me…she would be.”

“She will be dead if no antidote is found,” Justin said. “So, what you said doesn’t really make sense. The princess has two, maybe three days left.”

She looked at him, seeming to get the measure of him. Justin met her gaze.

“Why did you flee?” Borgruk demanded. “That’s something only the guilty do!”

Glamshara clenched her jaw, anger flashing in her eyes. “Is it, Borgruk? If that’s what you think, then you suffer a shameful lack of imagination. The truth is far more complex.”

“Get to the point,” Bohemond said. “This is a stalling tactic.”

“As you wish.” She seemed to gather her thoughts. “As soon as I saw the poison working, I knew what it was. I’m of the Alchemist class. I have a boon called Venomous Insight. It allows me to see what's inside a poison at a glance. Not only that, but to see what kind of poison is at work in others. So, I knew exactly what it was as soon as it passed Nyrissa's lips: Shadow’s Kiss. Rather than give everything away and let the would-be murderer be tipped off, I left. I had to act quickly and work on an antidote and administer it before anyone was the wiser. Luckily, the right ingredient was down here. I remembered seeing it during the expedition.”

“What happened?” Justin asked.

“I’m getting to that. I thought I could whip something up in a few hours. Be the hero for once. And that would’ve worked, except…” She trailed off, frustration creeping into her voice. “The Heart of the Moonflower—the main ingredient for the antidote—was missing from the supplies, not to mention the Sandbloom extract, and a few other items we catalogued.”

Justin’s gaze sharpened. “And all that was here when you first investigated the lab?”

“That’s right. I saw these ingredients during the initial expedition. We all did. No one knew their significance, so I had to explain it to everyone. Heart of the Moonflower will cure any poison produced by a blooming plant. Even when two or more blooms are combined, like in Shadow’s Kiss. It’s what we call a Universal Antidote, at least in regard to poisonous flowers. But it was gone. Someone took it and I don’t know who. In the meantime, I’ve been trying to come up with something else to buy the princess more time. So far, my efforts have failed. There are a lot of ingredients down here. A lot of combinations to go through.”

“How was she poisoned, anyway?” Kargan asked. “No one explained that part.”

“That’s simple. You probably already know this, but the poisoning of Nyrissa was a mistake. The Queen is the more logical target, and they attempted it by poisoning her dessert. Everyone knows my sister loves Ember Yam Pie. She’s absolutely crazy for the stuff. But the murderer hadn’t counted on my niece stealing the Queen’s pie piece during the Feast of Fates.”

“Seems like a strange coincidence,” Justin said. “Nyrissa just happened to steal the Queen's dessert, thus foiling the attacker’s carefully laid plot.”

“It is a strange coincidence,” Glamshara agreed. “But think about it. It’s hard to imagine why someone would want to kill Nyrissa. But rather than fess up, the true poisoner pinned the blame on me. I knew they’d do that as soon as I left, but all I cared about was saving Nyrissa.”

“That’s noble of you," Justin said. "And why would this other person want the Queen dead?”

“That’s anyone’s guess. Power? Revenge?”

Bohemond leered at her. “As things stand, if Nyrissa dies, you’re next in line after the Queen. And the Queen herself mentioned you have your differences.”

“Yes. But I’d never kill her over them.”

Justin needed to focus on the details. Glamshara could talk in circles all day. “Tell me more about this sharing of food. Of the pie piece, did the princess eat every bite?”

“That’s right,” Glamshara said. “Every bite.”

“I trust you were present at this dinner?” Bohemond asked.

“Of course I was! I’m family and it was the Feast of Fates. Comes but once a year. Even Pervy Uncle Jorkus was there, and nobody likes him.”

“I was there, too,” Borgruk said. “I couldn’t tell anything was wrong at the time. No one could. It was only three days later that we noticed something was wrong with the Princess, and that Glamshara was missing. Only this morning was it was confirmed to be Shadow's Kiss poison by Zogmar.”

Justin watched Glamshara closely. “Was the Queen the only one who was served this pie, or was it just a piece of a bigger pie? Did others eat it?”

“Why are you asking about the pie, Justin?” Kargan asked, his voice laced with frustration.

“She mentioned the pie was poisoned. Well, it would be strange if the Queen were the only one who was served a single piece of pie.”

“I can only assume it was baked into her piece in particular,” Glamshara said, thinking. “The pie was precut, and the pie server already in place. The Queen is always served first. Doesn’t take a genius to figure out how it happened.”

“The devil is in the details,” Justin said, not to be dissuaded. “And who is responsible for checking the food before it goes out?”

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“The Head of Kitchens,” Borgruk said. “A gobliness named Halkra. She’s been questioned extensively already. She has served the Queen well for years, and her father before her. She claims to test each item of food before it gets sent out, and that’s backed up by the cooks and servers. Her horror at being involved seems genuine. I know her as well. She’s not one to lie.”

“She could have tested the wrong part of the pie,” Bohemond said. “Only one piece had it, after all. The Queen’s piece, which was absconded by the daughter.”

“Exactly,” Glamshara said. “Can we move on now?”

“Not yet,” Justin said. “I have one last question. Why would Nyrissa steal the pie? I would assume as the Queen’s daughter, she would be served next. So why would she suddenly jump to get the pie, unless she has a rabid affinity for it?”

“The child is notoriously impatient,” Borgruk said. “That she would steal her mother’s food, if stealing it can be so called, isn’t unusual. It’s been known to happen if it’s a dish she really likes."

Justin thought it over. It was clear this murder plot was far more intricate than he’d first thought. Glamshara had mentioned the Princess stealing the pie was an unfortunate coincidence, while Borgruk had said it was somewhat common. It was hard to know which one was more accurate, and it might be smart to question others about this detail later. Why poison the Queen's pie piece if there was even a small change it would go to the wrong target?

“Let’s get back on track,” Kargan said, “before all this pointless pie talk. Let’s talk about the missing alchemical ingredients. How do we know you didn’t take them for yourself? Set up this whole situation to make yourself look innocent? You’ve had plenty of time to come up with a story.”

Glamshara’s eyes flared with anger, but she kept her voice controlled. “If I wanted my sister dead, I would’ve done it far more discreetly. Poison is too obvious. That’s my specialty, and I’m not a fool. Whoever came up with this plan wanted the blame to fall on me. It’s easy to blame me. I have a motive; my sister and I don’t get along. But my sister knows me better than that. She knows I wouldn’t act this recklessly.”

Justin held back the thought of revealing the Queen’s doubts. It seemed she was slowly leaning toward blaming Glamshara. Could someone else be poisoning the Queen’s mind? Zildur, perhaps?

“Who else is close to the Queen?” Justin asked. “Anyone who disagrees with her on something important? Anyone who’s been wronged in the past? Someone who wants her power?”

“All her advisors are likely suspects,” Glamshara said, her voice bitter. “Grashuk, Zogmar, Zildur. As for the disagreement, I wouldn’t know. I don’t move in that circle anymore.”

“Aside from odd family dinners,” Justin said.

“I’ll give you that.”

Kargan watched her closely. “If you didn’t take the ingredients, who do you think did?”

Glamshara’s expression darkened. “There were only a few of us present when the lab was first discovered—me, Zogmar, Borgruk, Grashuk, and Ralthog. Any of them could have taken it. Or, more likely, someone came down later. Zogmar and I never left the supplies alone, and the others were guarding us. If it’s the second option, it could be anyone in the tribe, really. That would have been the smart thing to do.”

Borgruk grunted. “As for me, I’m loyal to the Queen.”

“I don’t doubt that,” Glamshara said, though from her tone, it was hard to tell if she was being sincere. “Now, as for the missing ingredients. The Heart of the Moonflower is rare—extremely rare. It doesn’t grow here. It’s found miles underground, in very dangerous places. There was only one, and it’s gone. The poisoner likely has it in their possession; perhaps you can start with searching their rooms. As for the Sandbloom essence, they are from Farun, in southern Serenthel. We just don’t get access to that kind of stuff, so I was excited about it. As for the other stolen items, they were red herrings to throw us off the scent, to make the theft look more general. But the thief left marks unintentionally. The Sandbloom essence has been tampered with, and I can prove it.”

“You can?” Justin asked. “And you can prove that you didn’t do it yourself?”

"I can," Glamshara confirmed.

Bohemond crossed his arms, frustration etched on his face. “So, let me get this straight. Your story is: someone, not you, stole the Moonflower to make sure there’s no cure for the princess. And they knew to steal it because you blabbed about how it’s a universal antidote. Because everyone knew of its importance, anyone could have taken it, assuming they were the poisoner. But the person who would most know its importance would be Zogmar, would it not?”

“It’s possible,” Glamshara admitted. “But I think it runs deeper than that. Whoever did this didn’t just want the Queen dead—they wanted to ensure there was no way to save her at all. Nyrissa was just caught in the crossfire. The would-be murderer is someone close to the Queen for sure. Someone who could slip into the kitchen unnoticed and add poison to her sweet treat. That would not have been me.”

Borgruk sneered. “I’m with the others. You took the ingredients to make yourself look innocent. You knew someone would come for you eventually, so you made up this story.”

Glamshara shook her head, her voice tight with frustration. “If I had the Heart of the Moonflower, I’d already have the antidote prepared. Do you really think I’d be wasting time down here otherwise? If I was trying to escape, I’d be far away from the tribe by now.”

Justin stepped forward, his mind racing with possibilities. “If what you’re saying is true, then Zogmar is a prime suspect. Besides you, he’s the only one with advanced alchemical knowledge. Does he have any issues with the Queen?”

“No,” Glamshara replied, her lips thinning. “I’ll admit that Zogmar and I have had our differences, too. He’s always hated me for my talents, especially since I found the class core he thought he deserved ten years back. I’ve a Level 12 Alchemist now, no easy feat.”

“Damn,” Justin said. “That’s impressive.”

“Thank you. But while Zogmar would be happy to throw me down a chasm, he’s loyal to the tribe and the Queen, by my estimation. Grashuk—he’s ambitious. He’s married to Zildur, and they both live in the palace. If anything happens to the Queen and the Princess…”

“Grashuk would be the natural one to take over the tribe, as the Warlord,” Justin finished for her. “Assuming he got you out of the way first. Maybe their plan was to kill the Queen and isolate Nyrissa so she’d be easy to control. Except the plan went off script.”

“My niece is already under Zildur’s tutelage, learning Chaos Magic,” Glamshara added. “They are quite close, especially owing to the fact that Nyrissa has taken on the Shaman class.”

“She can’t be twenty yet,” Justin said. “No way.”

“Well, we Goblins can take our classes a bit younger, at age ten. Perhaps it’s in exchange for our shorter life spans. Plus, as heir to the tribal throne, Nyrissa has access to resources most don’t. Anyway, Zildur almost treats her as if she’s her own. If her hand is in it, then I’m sure she’s grieved by how it backfired.”

It painted a convincing picture, but Justin still wasn’t sure who to trust. “That’s a tidy story. You mentioned you had proof about the extracts?”

Glamshara nodded. “Come with me.”

The party followed her to a set of shelves, where she opened a small chest and revealed a row of vials filled with a bright magenta liquid.

“These are the Sandbloom extracts,” she said. “When I returned to the lab, I noticed several had been tampered with.”

Justin and the rest watched as she explained.

She held one vial up to the faint light of a nearby ether crystal. “This is one of three vials that was opened and resealed poorly. See the bubbles in the mixture? Air was introduced. Whoever did this wasn’t skilled in alchemy. They left evidence behind.”

“Would Zogmar be that sloppy?” Kargan asked.

Glamshara grunted. “He’s sloppy, but not like this. He knows the value and it would go against his nature to ruin that. As it would mine. That leaves the other three that were here…Ralthog, Grashuk, and…”

“It wasn’t me,” Borgruk said. “No way!”

Justin was quiet. Could their guide somehow be involved? It was an uncomfortable thought. They were relying on him for information. He’d have to watch him closely while pretending not to.

“That leaves this Ralthog, then,” Kargan said. “And Grashuk. Although, as mentioned before, they could have sent someone else down who wasn't connected to the original excavation at all. That would've been the smart thing to do."

Glamshara nodded. “The shoddy job could explain why the poison is taking longer to act than expected. Nyrissa should’ve been dead by now. Thank the Goddess she isn’t.”

“Why not simply take the Sandbloom essence?” Bohemond asked. “Why take it out of the vials and try to make it look like it wasn’t touched?”

“They didn’t want both the Sandbloom and the Moonflower to be found missing at the same time—it would’ve been too obvious. That’s why they stole a few other high value items, too. They took what they needed of the Sandbloom, then resealed the vials sloppily, adding a bit of water to disguise their actions. Sandboom is so vibrant that no one would have noticed it…except for the bubbles. They were wise enough to take it from three vials rather than from one or two, so the colors wouldn’t be off too much."

Bohemond, still unconvinced, growled. “And how do we know you didn’t tamper with these yourself?”

Glamshara sighed in exasperation. “Because I don’t benefit from this! I’ve been down here working nonstop to find a solution. Without the Moonflower, I’m running out of time. Do you think I’d use poison to kill my family? Me, a poison specialist! It’s so crude, it’s insulting!”

“Yes, but maybe you are counting on us thinking that,” Bohemond said.

Glamshara looked as if she wanted to shoot him with her blowgun.

Justin turned to Kargan. “What do you think?”

Kargan’s expression was thoughtful but serious. “We need more information. If Zogmar or this Ralthog are involved, we need to follow that lead. Maybe we can question Grashuk and Zildur more closely. Search their rooms. I doubt it’ll turn up anything, now that we’re hunting for clues, but it’s worth a shot.”

Borgruk shook his head. “This reeks of manipulation. That’s all I’ve got to say about it.”

Bohemond rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “You know, there’s one thing no one is mentioning. Grashuk was eager for us to resolve this quickly. He wants this done fast.”

“That cave rat was never known for subtlety,” Glamshara quipped with a smirk. “Did he offer you a reward?”

“He did,” Justin confirmed. “Though he didn’t give details. The case is settled in his mind.”

Her eyes darkened as she spread her long hands, stained with silvery residue of ingredients, as if to say, “there you go.”

Justin knew they could name Glamshara and be done with the Vault, but it didn’t sit right. The truth felt more complicated than that. They had to dig deeper, untangle the full web, uncover the story.

“We’re not naming anyone yet,” Justin said. “Like Kargan said, we need more information. If Grashuk, Ralthog, or Zogmar—or even Zildur—are involved, we need to find out.”

Justin left Borgruk out of the equation, since he was present. Something told him Borgruk wasn't involved. The Queen would not have appointed him unless she fully trusted him. Then again, he didn't want to leave anything to chance.

Glamshara’s eyes narrowed, but she nodded in agreement. “You’ll need to question them, then. Start with the ones who were here. They’ll have answers, I’m sure of it.”

Justin took a deep breath, weighing their next move. “We’ll go back to Zogmar again. Let’s see how he reacts when we ask about the Sandbloom and Moonflower. Then see if we can find Ralthog. He's the only one we haven't met yet.”

Borgruk hesitated. “And while we’re gone, she’ll have time to escape.”

“You’ll find me here, working,” Glamshara replied calmly. “Like I said, if I wanted to leave, I'd have been gone long ago.”

“We should go,” Kargan said, stepping forward.

“Keep me updated,” Glamshara said as they turned to leave. “Who knows? I might have something for Nyrissa when you come back. It won’t cure her, but it could buy some time.”

“We’ll keep that in mind,” Justin replied. “Let’s move.”

As they left Glamshara in her lab, Justin lingered, glancing back around the corner to watch her. She stood among the ancient alchemical equipment. Her face was a mix of frustration as she worked. He could have stayed to watch longer, but time was pressing. It did indeed seem as if she was looking for a solution. But wasn’t that what she would want them to think?

Innocent or guilty, the truth needed some time to be worked out.