Each of the council members voiced their support and Jean dismissed them.

Vero waited until they were alone together before speaking her mind. “Why me? Surely your spymaster or sheriff would be better suited to the task.”

Jean pulled them closer together, so that they were leaning against one another.

“Because I trust you, Vero. I happen to think you’re the best woman for the job. Neither Frederic or Mattias know anything about magic or poison.” Vero was not certain about the claim that his spymaster knew nothing about poison, but she allowed Jean to continue. “And Aeolis is too much of a scholar to lead a search for a criminal. I’ll see to it that you’re given a fee, of course.”

“Money isn’t what I want from you.”

“Then what do you want?”

“I don’t know.”

Vero could feel her mood turning morose. Rather than relent to the emotion, she decided to try and rebalance her humors. She kissed Jean, who returned the gesture eagerly. When they broke the kiss, she found that she did feel better.

“I suppose I shall start with the sweets you sent… if Antoinette hasn’t eaten them all by now.”

“Sweets?”

“The sweetbread you sent-?”

“I don’t know what you mean.” Vero searched for any sign of jesting in his expression and found none.

She rushed from the council chamber, with Jean following close behind her. Together they raced through the castle until they reached Vero’s apartment. After reaching her destination, Vero was suddenly seized by the terrible notion that she did not wish to see what was inside, and stopped just outside the room.

Once she was certain Jean was beside her, she nudged the door open slowly. “Antoinette, come here please.”

There was no response, so Vero tried again.

“Antoinette come to the door this instant!”

There was still no reply and Vero felt a terrible certainty about what they would find. Taking Jean’s hand, she led them both inside where her fears were confirmed.

Antoinette lay unmoving on the floor near the window.

Vero knelt down beside her to check for any sign of life, but found none. Jean quickly pulled her into a tight embrace, where they stayed until the body had been taken away.

Vero walked down the stairs towards the wizard’s laboratory located beneath the castle. Jean had stayed with her for hours, until an urgent message arrived from the capital which called him away. He told her to stay in her room, but only minutes later she had left, almost as though in a trance.

“Where are you going?” Mattias’ voice startled her out of her reverie. “You shouldn’t be alone my Lady, not under the present circumstances.”

Vero did not turn around to face him and began her advance down the stairs once again. “I must see her at least once- before the examination.”

Mattias walked in lock step behind her. “I’ll accompany you.”

“That’s not necessary.”

Vero found herself hesitating in front of the door until Mattias opened it for her. “My honor compels me, my Lady. I hope you understand.”

She nodded. They moved together through a small straight corridor towards another door into the laboratory itself. A mechanism held the second door locked shut until the first had been properly closed and sealed.

Inside the laboratory, Antoinette’s body lay on a slab in the center of the room, stripped naked and deathly pale. Aeolus stood nearby scribing notes onto a sheet of vellum. All around the perimeter of the room, set into the walls, were creches containing an assortment of scalpels, tools, parchment, and other paraphernalia of his profession.

Mattias looked all around the room, while trying his best to avoid noticing the body. He may have been content to ignore the indignity, but Vero was not.

“Could you not leave her at least the barest shred of privacy?”

Aeolus clicked his tongue at her in his accustomed peculiar way, and closed the door behind them. “I know she was your friend, but all that’s left here now is meat. Meat, yes- but meat that we can learn from. Once I make the incision in her chest, I’m sure her spirit will fly free from her mortal shell. If, indeed, it's still trapped at all.”

Vero ran her hand through Antoinette hair. She pressed her face against Antoinette’s cheek, but her skin felt cold.

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“There’s no guarantee of that.” The chill in the basement affected her, and Vero wrapped her arms around herself. “Once you’re finished with the dissection, you’ll make arrangements with the White Sisters to have her placed in an aviary for a proper funeral.”

“Suppose I should miss something during my initial investigation?”

“See to it that you don’t.”

Aeolus just clicked his tongue and shrugged before going to work.

Vero stood back, but remained to watch, despite Mattias’ suggestion that they leave. Aeolus paid neither of them any mind whatsoever. He began with an initial inspection of her hair, skin, and fingernails. Once this was finished, he opened Antoinette’s chest cavity. It took him a great effort – eventually requiring Mattias to help – after which the knight left for the hall outside to vacate his dinner.

Aeolus carefully removed the maid’s organs one at a time, carefully weighing and examining each, before placing them in a brazier to burn down to ashes. He captured the smoke in a glass instrument placed over the flame, which appeared to be designed for the purpose. All throughout the process he took notes and constantly referred to texts written in Liturgical and Sylvan scripts, neither of which Vero understood. Finally, once he was finished, he stood over the body for a long time, seemingly lost in thought.

At last, Vero intruded on his musings. “What have you discovered?”

“Well,” he clicked his tongue, “it’s poison alright, that’s sure enough. But this was a new strain. Far faster acting and much more fatal than any of the maleficar’s other work. Previously, everything was disguised as a natural illness. This maid suffered a sudden seizure, then her heart stopped. A minute at most.”

“At least she didn’t suffer long then.”

The one responsible would die. Vero would not stop searching until it was done.

Aeolus shrugged, still lost in thought. “I suppose not.”

“Could this be the work of another poisoner else then?”

“There’s no way to tell for certain. But my intuition-” He made a queer sort of face at her. “-tells me that it’s all the work of the same man.”

“If that’s the case, then he or she must be aware of our investigation. They now know that there's no longer any purpose to hiding their work as natural illness… but the sweetbread was delivered before the council meeting. So, who knew of these poisonings before then?”

“The chancellor Ser Renaud, Father Ignacio, and myself. And Jean as well, of course. We’ve kept the matter as quiet as possible to avoid a panic. You believe the maleficar is on the council itself?”

“Perhaps… but it’s also just as possible that the one brewing the poison is just a hireling, working for a paymaster who was able to give it to the victims somehow. Probably while we all ate together. The three of you were all seated at the second table at meal time. Wasn’t that also where all the Umbrian nobles who fell ill ate?”

“Very cunning, my Lady. I believe you’re probably correct. Of our two suspects, the former chaplain obviously appears the most suspicious… after this afternoon’s outburst.”

“Of our three suspects. You’re an alchemist yourself. You probably know more about poisons than anyone else in this castle, except me. Although as I said, there are more than enough servants in the castle for a hired maleficar to blend in with- if they had a great lord to arrange it. I do still agree about starting with the priest, however.”

“You think that I am a suspect?” Aeolus sounded more delighted than offended.

“I consider it a possibility, why are you so excited?”

“I’ve just never been accused of something so exciting before.”

“What do you know about Father Ignacio?”

“He’s the oldest member of the council, or at least he was. The Marquis’ father installed him in the position when he first inherited the title. He holds doctorates in medicine and theology. I don’t trade in gossip, but you’ve already heard the rumors that the previous Marquis used him as a woman, which was always something of an open secret. I won’t miss him; all he ever did was toady up to the father when he was alive, and antagonize the son once he was dead. He was originally from the Imperium, so make of that what you will.” Aeolus gave her a look which told her exactly what he made of the priest’s origin.

“It explains why the previous Marquis found him so pliant.”

Aeolus chuckled, then stopped, and then started again. “I won’t gainsay my Lady’s judgement. He knows the healing arts, that’s for certain. And the same knowledge to heal a body may also be used to harm one. I have no proof, but he acted suspicious when we examined the first victims together… and I suspect may have been trying to prevent me from noticing the poison at all. He’s also the one who’s been spreading rumors that you’re a witch. Or at least the most vocal voice I know of- I’m sure you presumed as much. I don’t believe him, of course; he’s already accused me of much the same in the past. It’s the burden men and women of learning such as ourselves must bear.”

Vero noticed that Aeolus seemed to know a great deal about the rumor grapevine for a man who claimed not to trade in gossip. “And the chancellor?”

“Ah yes.” Aeolus scratched his chin and paced back and forth across the room. “Ser Renaud was also raised to his position by the Marquis’ father, a decade or so before the old man’s death. I don’t see why he would betray the current marquis now, but there it is. He is literate, but he’s had no training in any occult science so far as I know. If he is responsible, then I think he must have hired someone else to brew the poison for him, as you said. He’s the second son of a noble family in good standing; they’ve served the crown in Vermillion for generations. And the man himself as always fulfilled his duties faithfully, at least so far as I know.”

“And which crown did his family serve in the war?”

“The true crown, of course. And all the way through the conflict even.”

“That puts them on a very short list of patriots then. What about yourself?”

“I don’t pay attention to politics. I couldn’t even have told you which bastard was which until the whole thing was over.”

Vero shook her head. “What I meant was, how did you come to serve the Marquis?”

“Oh yes.” Aeolus’ eyes lit up. “I forgot that I was a suspect as well for a moment. I came here after graduating from the University of Whitegate where I specialized in alchemy. That was… oh, almost twenty years ago now. Gods! How the time flies. I don’t like to be immodest, but I’ve served both my masters rather well I believe. I was the one who brought down the wall at Kaer Longus, or rather it was my formula. You were in prison at the time I believe, but it was a terrific explosion. This poisoner is very skilled at his craft, and I confess that I am one of a very small class of persons with the necessary knowledge to be your suspect. Unfortunately – although I hate to say it – I really couldn’t be the one responsible.”

“Because?”

“I have no motive. Really, I’m just a simple scholar. All I’ve ever wanted was a place to pursue my research, and I have that. Money and politics are of no interest to me. In fact, the Marquis has been very eager to pursue some of my most outlandish ideas that even I don’t expect to work. So, you see, it really is in my own self-interest to keep him in power.”

“A lot of people act against their own interests.”

“A lot of uneducated people, yes. But I assure you, I’m nothing of the sort. No, no. I always act in my own best interest, I guarantee it.”