Heart Over Sword-Chapter 287: Not Poison?

The hall was tense, with the physician looking over Loraven’s symptoms. The pressure was on as beads of sweat trickled down the side of his face. This was the king’s mistress, and all eyes were on him. Evanna’s gaze never faltered from his, her hand twitching to heal her mother, but she couldn’t do it in front of others.

It wouldn’t bother her if this gift was exposed. Evanna would be returning to Direwood forest with Arawn anyway, but she wanted to see how this physician planned to help Loraven. If Killian knocked the glass from her mother’s grasp, then it had to be poison-

"It is not poison," the doctor spoke after forcing Loraven to throw up on her side. Nothing came up, and after providing her mother with some calming herbs mushed into a watery liquid, she was left there, head in Garrett’s lap, falling asleep. Evanna stared at Loraven’s face and lips and registered her reaction after sipping the contents of that glass.

"No offence, but that’s absurd," Evanna hissed, glaring at the physician. She looked inside his bag of tools, searching until she pulled out a syringe and some vials.

"What do you think you are doing?" The physician asked, sounding flabbergasted. "Your mother was unwell before tonight. Whatever she was given most likely wore off, Your Highness!"

Impossible. Loraven was healed with magic. Evanna’s nose twitched, the only sign she disliked his commentary.

Ger watched from the front of the crowd, his aura and presence causing others to stand back even more. He was frustrated by how little he could do, especially considering how much he’d gained from his death, and even more so because of the whispers among the nobles. They never gave their wagging tongues a rest!

The beast within him burned with the desire to be released and caused the palace to erupt into flames. It added to his own temper, and he had to clench his eyes shut and focus on calming down. Ger always had a short fuse, and now he couldn’t lose his temper because of this beast; this dragon that he’d turn into would happily kill everyone in sight.

"I know you like to think of yourself as the smartest person in the room," Isabel sneered, her too-high-pitched voice forcing Ger’s eyes to snap open. He glared at the princess, whose hand half covered her face as she snickered with some of the nobles nearby. "But he is the royal physician."

Evanna ignored them, pulling on the syringe that sucked in some of the wine. She was not concerned with her mother now that she appeared peaceful. Nonetheless, the slight off-colouring of Loraven’s lips and her violent reaction to the wine showed that poison was indeed the case here.

The princess glanced at Isabel, who continued to mock Evanna, using the situation to earn points with these snobs that clung to those with the most power, hoping to gain something in return: the leeches. Her gaze then flicked to the Queen, who was sternly discussing with Osian that their guests could not be detained for too long.

"They can if this is an assassination attempt-"

"The physician just confirmed it was not poison!" Queen Eleanor hissed back. "These are powerful noble houses. There is only so much disrespect we can show them."

Evanna held two vials of the wine and handed one to the physician. "You will test this for poison and report back to me. I will be in Lady Loraven’s chambers." Evanna held his gaze and almost blinked back in shock at how he gulped from her intense stare. "You will not meet anyone or do anything other than this before returning. Do you understand?"

"Y-yes, Your Highness." The physician nodded vigorously.

"Good. Ronan, Axel," Evanna called without looking away from the physician. When she heard Axel’s loud footprints and the slight vibrations on the floor, she ordered, "Please assist our dear physician here. Ensure he does not get distracted or lose his way."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Evanna looked at her friends, a slight frown between her brows at their use of honorifics. They certainly were no longer on the road, and she would have to call them by their titles now, too. The titles she handed out to them- they deserved it.

Slowly, she rose from the floor, her gaze dropping to her mother as the king spoke to the nobles, offering them guest rooms for a few days. To those who could not read between the lines, Osian was basically keeping them captive until this was cleared up. The nobles may have a fancy room and eat and drink to their heart’s content, but they could not leave the palace grounds. It was a smart idea, and a look between Evanna and Osian confirmed that he, too, was not convinced by what the physician said.

As those in the hall started to leave and the guards, as well as Garrett and Ger, assisted in carrying Loraven, Evanna looked back to the corner of the room where Arawn and Killian had been, but the spot was now empty. Evanna was more curious than worried about the elven prince and vampire.

King Osian moved away from the Queen, who continued to smile and act strangely pleasant, telling others where to go.

"Where is your fiancé?" King Osian asked in a hushed tone, his gaze sweeping the area as he kept his features neutral. It was only Evanna, who was close to her father, that she could tell he was anything but calm.

"He is looking into matters," Evanna replied swiftly, just like his hushed tone of voice. "Whoever poisoned mother will not get away with it. No matter who it is." She cast the king a look, causing him to frown and look away. fгeewёbnoѵel_cσm

"Say no more unless you have evidence, Evanna," Osian warned quietly. "To everyone else here, you are mine and Loraven’s." The king looked back at her, his gaze full of concern. "I know these walls have not been kind to you because of our... relationship, and the outcome has been unpleasant for you-"

"You do not need to explain further, father." Evanna held her hand up, stopping him. "I am not foolish enough to cast blame on anyone without what I need to put them away for good."

Osian nodded once and gripped her shoulder tightly, a gesture of comfort in front of others before turning away, the guards closing around him more, alert for any more potential threats that this time would be towards the king. Evanna watched him for a moment until her gaze landed on Queen Eleanor once more. That was rather rash and bold. Not smart at all.

Evanna’s glare dropped as the Queen looked in her direction, feeling her heated stare.

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