Chapter Text
Talia was released from the House of Healing after about a week. Talamir had told her she’d need to take a break from spying, but that was alright. According to Kris and Elayna, she had something new to focus on. A Gift. Empathy. Elayna explained to her what the Gift meant, that she could sense the emotions of others, project her own, and possibly even influence others, and that they had a Mind Healer to properly train her.
And so Talia took up a lease on a new apartment in one of the safer parts of Haven, with the building right next door to a small town house, with a beautiful garden, that was owned by a sweet old widow who took a liking to Talia, often giving her extra fruits and vegetables.
The result was that Talia had a bowl of black currants on the table when Kris next visited. “Where did those come from?” he asked.
“The woman next door gave them to me from her garden,” Talia said. “She told me that she had grown too many to use, herself. I thought I might make some jam with them.”
Kris, who loved black currants, himself, grabbed a small handful and ate them, savoring their mouthwatering sweet-tart flavor even as Talia gave him a stern look that was likely meant to be intimidating but wasn't. Not in the least.
Not when Kris knew her as well as he did.
Talia snatched the bowl away and put it on the counter. “How am I supposed to make jam if you eat them all?”
“Sorry,” Kris said, grinning. “I never have been able to resist the things. Are you ready to get started?”
“Yes. Now do I do this grounding and centering thing?”
“First, sit and get comfortable,” Kris said. He began leading her through the exercises, but soon found his mouth drying out. He got some water from the pitcher Talia always kept, and continued, confused when no amount of water could seem to quench his sudden need. And then the headache hit.
“Are you alright?” Talia asked.
“I don't know,” Kris admitted. “Have you had any of the currants?”
“No. I told you, I’m planning to make jam.”
Starting to feel his stomach cramp, Kris stood and went over to the bowl. He picked up one of the berries and examined it closely. “Don’t make jam from them. Throw them out. I’m going to see a Healer, immediately.”
“What's wrong with them?” Talia asked.
“Those aren't currants,” Kris said. “They're deadly nightshade.” He collapsed, then, no longer conscious.
Before Talia could panic too much, her apartment was swarmed with Healers and Heralds, who must have been summoned by Tantris. Unfortunately, she didn’t recognize any of them. The Healers carried Kris off and took the currants without any prompting from Talia. The Heralds seemed suspicious of her.
“Is Kris going to be okay?” She asked a Healer, to no answer.
A Herald approached her, finally. “I’m Herald Kyril. I’m going to need you to come with me to the guard post to answer some questions.”
Talia nodded, scared. Surely they didn’t think she’d poisoned Kris on purpose, did they?
Her best bet, she knew, was to just go with them and answer Herald Kyril's questions, and so she let them guide her to a large building on palace grounds. She thought she remembered it from the tour she had been given of the grounds and the safer areas of Haven.
Once inside, Kyril led her into a private room and motioned for her to take a seat. “Do you know what Truth Spell is?” he asked.
Talia shook her head. “Nobody has told me about it.”
“It's very simple,” Kyril explained. “There will be a blue mist surrounding you, and you won't be able to see it, but I will, and there are two stages. In the first stage, the mist will disappear if you lie. In the second stage, you’ll be forced to tell the truth.”
“I won't lie, anyway,” Talia said.
“I should hope not,” Kyril said. “But because of the crime you’re accused of, I do have to invoke it.”
“Will it hurt?”
“Not a bit. You won't feel a thing. I promise.”
***
Herald Kyril was just sitting down to question the obviously frightened young woman who may have poisoned a Herald when the door to the room burst open. It was Lord Orthallen.
“Is it true this chit just poisoned my nephew? Ah, Bridget, is it, I suppose he was going to break things off with you in favor of that Healer? And you couldn’t let that happen could you?”
“You know her?”
“She used to be an undercook in my household, Kris was sleeping with her. I had to ask him to be more discreet so as not to disrupt my household.”
Kyril was shocked by this, but tried not to let it show on his face. It sounded very unlike Kris.
“I’d like to be here when you question her, considering it is my nephew and all,” Orthallan said.
Kyril had the utmost respect for Lord Orthallen, and it seemed like a reasonable request coming from one of the Queen’s most trusted advisors. “Of course.”
With a clerk to take notes, Kyril began the proceedings.
“I’m going to be using Truth Spell, since there was an attack on a Herald’s life.” The girl nodded, clearly scared. He cast First Stage Truth Spell, then continued. “State your name, for the record.”
“Talia Cooper.” The Vrondi held steady, but it was different from the name Orthallen had called her.
“Have you ever gone by any other names?”
“Yes.”
“And what are those names?” He pushed.
“I’m sorry, Herald, that’s on a need to know basis. And you don’t need to know.” The girl had guts, that was sure. The Vrondi had held steady through her announcement. So she believed what she was saying. Well, it seemed Second Stage was called for. Silently Kyril invoked Second Stage Truth Spell, and then asked again. “What names have you gone by?”
“Talia Sensdaughter, Talia Bryanswife, Talia Cooper, Janet Carter, and Bridget Stafford.”
“Why have you gone by so many names?”
“Talia Sensdaughter was my maiden name, Talia Bryanswife my married name. When I got divorced I changed it to Talia Cooper. Janet Carter and Bridget Stafford were both aliases I used in my work.”
This was going to take a lot longer than Kyril had thought to interrogate her.
“Sensdaughter and Bryanswife, are you Holderkin?”
“I was, yes,”
“Was?” Kyríl pressed.
Talia nodded. “I left that life behind. I no longer consider myself Holderkin.”
***
:Chosen?:
:What is it, Rolan?:
:You need to get to the guard post here in the palace grounds, immediately. Tantris informed me that his Chosen has been poisoned, and I have it from Kethas that his Chosen is currently interrogating Talia, as she stands accused.:
Talamir hadn't moved this fast since he was a young man. This was very much an emergency. If he didn't get there in time…
He didn't want to think about the implications. He was more than slightly panicking as he made his way to the guard post.
Unfortunately, it was too late by the time he got there. He could hear Talia answering another question. Kyril must have been using Truth Spell, possibly even Second Stage, because he heard Talia admit to being only fourteen. Still… “Kyril, stop!”
“Talamir, she's been accused of a very serious crime,” Kyril said. “And she's already confessed to multiple aliases.”
“And I will pull rank if I have to,” Talamir said. He wisely didn't say that the girl would one day be Kyril's superior. He wasn't sure if the other man could handle that.
“And help her cover up her crime?” Orthallen asked.
“They think I poisoned Kris,” Talia said, “but I didn't. Herald Kyril could have just asked me that instead of all the other questions.”
Kyril had the good sense to look embarrassed, at least, regarding the fact that this girl had just pointed out the obvious. He could have just asked Talia point blank about the poisoning.
Talamir, realizing the damage was done at this point, but not sure how much more to let her admit to, motioned to Kyril to continue. “Go ahead, but if you ask her a question I don't want her answering, I’ll tell her not to answer.”
Kyril turned back to Talia, having never removed Truth Spell. “Did you try to kill Herald Kris?”
“No,” Talia said. “I would never do that! He’s been so kind to me. I thought they were black currants. The woman next door gave them to me from her garden. I had no idea what they were. I was planning to make jam from them and told Kris not to eat any, because of that, but he did anyway. And we weren't sleeping together.”
“If Kris wasn't sleeping with you, then why were you meeting in secret?” Kyril asked, relieved to hear that Kris hadn't acted dishonorably.
“He's my tutor,” Talia said. “He's been teaching me. And today he was supposed to teach me to Ground and Center, because I have a Gift. Healer Elayna called it Empathy.”
Talamir recalled the conversation with Kris. “You see? There's no jealousy involved. She's just been getting an education, and this poisoning was clearly an accident.” Personally, he wasn’t so sure, but he wanted any further investigation to be done without Orthallen’s knowledge.
“Well, I suppose I’ll have to be satisfied with that,” Orthallen said. Was it just Talamir, or did Orthallen sound extremely disappointed?
“Just one more question, youngling,” Kyril said, “and this is for the purposes of your own safety. “Tell us where to find Bryan, so we can ensure to arrest him for forcing you into marriage. The age of consent is sixteen.”
“Don't answer that,” Talamir said.
“Talamir, he has to be arrested for his crime,” Kyril said.
“But it wasn't consummated,” Talia said.
“He still forced you into an underage marriage,” Kyril said.
“One might think Talamir is trying to protect a predator,” Orthallen said. “So young, and unable to tell the difference between currants and deadly nightshade, young Talia is undoubtedly too innocent to understand how serious this is.”
Damn. “I am not covering up a predator,” Talamir said. With a sigh, he nodded to Talia.
Talia looked down. “Bryan doesn't exist,” she said. “It's an alias for Herald Alberich.
He
is my ex-husband.”