Star sipped the drink. “Peach juice.”
“Now take another sip and roll the liquid around your tongue before swallowing.”
She did as instructed, and her eyebrows rose in surprise. “There are also honey and orange flavors.”
“Correct. This time, gargle the juice.”
Shrugging, she took a mouthful, gargled, and winced as she swallowed. “Spoiled, fermented oranges.”
Valek couldn’t help being impressed. Most tasters picked up the rotten flavor, but not the fermentation. “The peach juice is laced with a poison called Butterfly’s Dust. The only way to detect that poison in a liquid is by gargling it. The foul taste is the poison.”
“How much poison did I swallow?”
“Enough to kill you.”
She jumped to her feet with a curse. “Is this a joke?”
“No, but don’t worry, there’s an antidote to Butterfly’s Dust.”
Sinking back down in relief, she scanned his desk. “Where is it?”
He opened a drawer and pulled out a glass vial filled with a white liquid. “This is the antidote. However, a dose only prevents the poison from killing you. It doesn’t cure you. You’ll need to visit me every morning for your dose. Skip a morning and you’ll be dead by the next.”
“Son of a bitch. You tricked me.”
“No. I’m ensuring that you won’t run away. That you’ll report for duty every day. If you commit a crime or an act of treason, you’ll be taken to the dungeon to wait for the poison to kill you. Symptoms are severe stomach cramps and nausea followed by uncontrollable vomiting. If your stomach starts to hurt, you’re overdue for the antidote.”
Actually, it was the “antidote”—a drug called White Fright—that was in her peach juice. A handy concoction that took a day to work and did indeed cause those symptoms unless another dose was administered. Useful to put a person out of commission for a day. Star would live through the experience, but the longer she ingested White Fright, the harsher her withdrawal would be. As for Butterfly’s Dust, it didn’t exist.
Star stared at the vial of White Fright.
Valek picked it up. “This contains about two doses. I keep my full supply hidden. Even if you found it, it would eventually run out and you would die.”
A knock sounded and Hildred, one of Valek’s corps, entered. She wore a housekeeping uniform.
“Hildred will help you get settled,” Valek said.
Star reluctantly pulled her attention from the vial.
When she reached Hildred, the agent wrinkled her nose and said, “We’ll stop at the baths first.”
Right after they left, Kenda entered. “Well?”
“She’s smart and has a keen palate.”
“Do you want to bet on when she runs away? I give her a week.”
“That’s too soon. I’ll bet a month. Either way, keep an eye on her at all times.”
“I’ve Hildred and Inrick on babysitting duties.”
“And at night?”
“Star isn’t getting her own room. She’s sharing with Amensa.”
Amensa was one of his agents. “You’re housing her in the hexagon? Is that wise?”
“You know how the saying goes: keep your friends close, and your enemies closer. Besides, Amensa is a very light sleeper and wakes with a blade in each hand. Hard to sneak out when your roommate goes for the throat.”
