Chapter 53:Poison?

Baldwin followed August when they walked outside of the castle yard.

Baldwin inquired, "Will you spar with me more?"

Tilting his head to the side, August inquired, "You have all of those men. Why do you need me?"

Baldwin slightly groaned and replied, "I mean, you are better than all of them together. I want you to train me"

August's reply was blunt "No"

Baldwin inquired "Why not?"

"We don't teach outsiders our art," replied August

Prince proceeds with an idiotic question. "Can I become one of you?"

To which received a blunt reply "No".

With a sigh, the prince offered, "Then can you spar with me?"

"I can," replied August, but before the prince could show excitement August added, "For an extra pay of course"

Baldwin slightly frowned "Come on! I saved your life!"

August looked right in his eyes saying "I didn't need your help there"

August not being able to defend against a guard was not entirely true. Witchers are great at utilizing their signs to their advantage when they face an overwhelming enemy or when you are not ready for something, it was a convenient and fast way to turn the game around.

He could either do a fast and sudden attack or shield himself with a good defence that could not be easily broken.

"You could just be nice and agree" argued Baldwin

August shrugged his shoulders making his way towards the place which the king nicely provided for the rest before the start of the rally, which will take place in several weeks when a giant is estimated to go back to sleep.

August left Mahakam in September taking him a bit more than a month to arrive at Lan Exeter and arriving in the middle of October. The rally will start on the second week of November and to arrive there will take until the start of December.

The place itself was not too far away, but it was located in the mountains, since Giant woke up, he destroyed the paths that were usually leading towards the mines that miners dig. Because the paths were destroyed, making it hard to reach the destination. Also, there will be quite a bit of people participating in the rally itself, making it impossible to make it quick.

….

A few weeks of rest quickly went by. August enjoyed some rest, having a warm bath and a comfortable bed every night. Occasionally August had a sparring session with Baldwin which he won day after day, making prince practice every day more and more.

From time to time August took a walk around the city, to see how people lived here. But what he discovered was some distress going around. Some worrying rumours and gossips that went around were of a small concern for him.

He didn't want to investigate them any deeper since nobody paid him for that. August also made preparations for any kind of situation that he could face during the rally itself. Making various potions that could prove to be of any use.

One day before the rally took place King Estril gathered his son, August and Francesca Findaboir for a royal dinner.

…

August walked towards the big table and took a seat on one of the beautiful chairs that were coloured in golden colour. A few minutes later, Baldwin and Francesca arrived and took a seat.

King Estril looked around and when everyone took a seat, he said, "I'm happy to see all of you here. Before we start, I wanted to say a few words about the rally that is about to take place."

Taking a slight pause, Estril continued, "I want to, first of all, wish good luck to you all in returning safe and alive back home"

He turned and looked toward his son

"Baldwin, I know that you wished for something like that, so please be careful." Estril looked right towards his son with stern eyes, silently advising him to be extra careful.

Then he looked towards August firstly and then Francesca, getting a slight nod in response from both.

With a smile on his face, Estril announced, "Now, please enjoy the food"

Servants walked with a lot of original dishes and placed them on the table, while also serving a bottle of wine for each one present.

They poured a glass for everyone and silently walked away.

Everyone started to eat slowly and elegantly, but August. He never took something like etiquette lessons and had no clue of how to handle himself behind the table at the royal meetings.

While others were eating slowly, seemingly enjoying every single bite of their food, August ate quickly, making Baldwin for some reason spend up as well.

In fact, Baldwin had a bit of a different mindset from his father. He was passionate about swords and fighting on them a lot. He despised those that were bad at fighting on swords, but respected and listened to those better than him.

This particular trait also made him, not intentionally, but still trying to do something that August does as well, hoping to raise to his level. By copying some of his traits and routine.

Because of that everyday morning sword practice that August did, to stretch some muscles and get ready for the day, now it was never a peaceful activity. Baldwin would always come and disturb poor Witcher.

August quickly ate a lot of food before taking a glass of wine and smelling it.

As soon as he did, he noticed that the smell was not normal. There was a strong smell of silver in the wine, that could indicate one of two.

There are either silver barrels that are used to store this wine, or there is a poison in this wine. And one of them was more likely than another.

Potion called Fisstech or how it was called on streets white death. It is a white powder that is used to drug people. It causes one to turn stunned and lose consciousness. However, in August body it would have a bit different results.

Because of the resistance that he has, the potion will cause him to lose some senses and confuse him see some hallucinations. Making him unfocused, but at the same time, August wanted to see who and what had planned this.

He always carried some of the white honey with him, since it will neutralize almost anything that goes inside.

Drinking a full glass in one go, August polished it with some food. While taking some white honey hiding it within some of the food, to stay unnoticed by the one behind all of this.

When the dinner was finished August walked back to the apartment that he lived in. Behaving like being under drugs influence he simulated that he was affected. Having unfocused eyes, and an irregular walking path, like this he slowly walked back home.

As soon as he closed the door behind himself, and inhaled a lung full of air, he smelled the sweet smell of Primrose with some fresh leaves. Following the scent, he walked inside his bedroom.

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Hmmmm, this is kinda obvious, but I don't care. There is a bigger plot behind the scenes after all.

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