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    “ You came!” she exclaimed, wrapping her
arms around him and crushing his mouth with her own. He lifted her,
stepping into the room and shutting the door behind him while they
kissed.
    “ You doubted me?” he asked, taking off
his muddy cape and throwing it over an old chair.
    “ I worried you wouldn’t be able to get
away,” she said. “There are so many guards.”
    “ Oh, but every man has a price,” Cadman
said, pulling the girl tight into his arms. “Plus, I pleaded with
them that I wanted to feel the touch of warm flesh against mine one
last time before this war began. I believe that is something any
man can understand.”
    “ Oh, you’re a devil, aren’t you!” she
giggled, pretending to pull away from him.
    “ My dear, sweet Johanna,” said Lord
Cadman, kissing her gently on the lips. “You are doing so well for
me.”
    “ Oh Cadman,” Johanna giggled, running her
finger down his chest. “I did just as you asked. I put three drops
in each time Master Keon has me mix the King’s evening calming
tea.”
    “ You were so clever to think of the tea,”
Cadman cooed. “I was having such a hard time figuring out how to
get it through his royal tasters.”
    “ You know I’d do anything for you,” she
murmured against his lips, pulling on the laces of his trousers to
loosen them.
    “ Well, I need you to do a little more for
me, my dear,” Cadman said, pulling out a vial of blue liquid. The
vial bore a triangular mark; in its center a dragon’s head engulfed
in flame.
    She took the vial and looked at its blue
color in the candlelight. “Is this something new?”
    “ Yes, just a little bit of magic to push
things along,” he said, taking the vial from her hand and placing
it on a nearby table. “You need to start giving this to the King,
just two drops a day should do it. And it is time you started
thinking about how you are going to remove that wretched bed wife
and her bastard. You will leave Baylin to me.”
    “ But why must I do it?” Johanna whined.
“I don’t feel right about killing a baby. Couldn’t you do
it?”
    “ I leave for Mirstone tonight to finish
preparations with King Gideon,” Cadman said. “We have almost
achieved our goal.”
    “ And then we can be together?” Johanna
asked. “You’ll make me your Queen?”
    “ Of course, my dear,” he replied, placing
a kiss softly on her lips and trailing down her neck.
    She pulled hard at the laces of his pants,
making them slide down his thighs. “Me? A Queen?”
    “ You will get everything you deserve,” he
replied, lifting her and pressing her up against the wall. She
lifted her skirt so she could wrap her legs around his
waist.
    Luana felt the suddenness of nausea come
over her. She quickly released her grip on the handmaid.
    “Luana, what is it?” asked Queen Valasca.
“Should we fetch Master Keon?”
    “No, I’m fine,” Luana said, regaining her
senses. She turned her hard gaze on Johanna. “You’re in league with
Lord Cadman. You’re poisoning the King!”
    Everyone in the Great Hall turned, shocked
by the commotion.
    “Milady, I don’t know what you mean,” the
girl pleaded. She turned and looked at the Queen. “Your Grace, I
would never! Please, you must believe me!”
    Valasca leaned in close to Luana. “Dearest,
what do you mean? What makes you think she’s in league with
Cadman?”
    “I saw it,” she murmured. “You must trust
me. She has been poisoning the King’s nightly tea. The tea Master
Keon gives him.”
    Johanna’s eyes grew wide as she sucked in a
breath. Her eyes flashed from Luana to the Queen, then back. She
turned on her heel and ran for the door.
    “Guards!” called the Queen. “Seize that
girl!”
    Johanna let out a scream when she saw two
guards running toward her. She turned, heading for a side door.
Another guard came through the door and grabbed her around the
waist, pulling her to the ground.
    “No!” she screamed. “I didn’t do it! I swear
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