The Witch's Reward by Liz McCraine

Author:Liz McCraine [McCraine, Liz]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Liz McCraine
Published: 2015-12-21T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

With a heaving sweep of an arm, the old, dusty law books cluttering the top of the desk were flung through the air. They landed in broken, lifeless bumps on the hard floor, like dead bodies with equally dead words.

Roaring with unsuppressed impatience and anger, Lucien turned away from the crystal. His hands rose to either side of his head, clenched fists to his temples as though trying to contain the frustration. His plans were going to be ruined! That lazy, shiftless, no good soldier couldn’t even manage to kill one slip of a girl. And the prince! That self-righteous pup kept interceding where and when he was least wanted.

He couldn’t wait much longer. The group was only a few days’ ride from the palace. The king continued to be ill, but his sickness was progressing far too slowly for Lucien’s peace of mind. At this rate, the fool would still be alive when the witch arrived. And Lucien knew that if she saw how sick the king was, she would heal him. If only Lucien had started administering the poison months ago, this could all have been avoided. The king would already be dead, Lucien’s lifelong desires would finally come true, and the witch would be just another subject he could use in his experiments.

But he hadn’t discovered the existence of that tasteless, odorless poison until just recently, when he’d travelled to Signon on official business. And though he would have loved to have given Steffan a heaping dose of the noxious powder the moment he’d discovered it, Lucien couldn’t risk the suspicion that the king’s sudden death would arouse. Thus it had had to be a slow poisoning.

Now it looked like he’d have to risk the suspicion and up the dosage, anyway. He could practically see his goals and ambitions fading with each passing moment. And all because of the king’s unexpected strength against the poison, and his son’s equally unexpected instincts to protect a worthless girl.

And that soldier. Why couldn’t he complete a simple murder? It wasn’t as if the witch was fighting him. No magic had been detected from her vicinity since she had been discovered, so she wasn’t using her magic to stay alive. No, the soldier was merely incapable of the task.

And to think he’d had such a formidable, deadly reputation.

In addition to finding the poison in Signon, Lucien had also found Smithen there. The man had been sentenced to death for the murder of two entire families, the reason for which was unknown. He was reputed to be both bloodthirsty and intelligent, a deadly combination. It was easy enough for Lucien to free him from the dungeon—a little poison in the guard’s dinner ration, some threats, and Lucien had a hired killer.

It had been equally easy to convince King Steffan to accept the man as a soldier, telling him that Smithen had lost his whole family to sickness and wanted to be far away from where he’d lived with his beloved wife and children and the painful memories that existed there.

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