The Owner of the Vial

The girl paced around her small room, torn between staying put and getting the hell out of there. But even though there was nothing she would have liked better than to escape, it would be plainly impossible to do that. At least not immediately, when everyone was held inside the palace grounds. Acting on the archduke's orders, the soldiers wouldn't allow anyone to leave the premises – not even the nobilities. If they couldn't do it, how on earth could she?

That's just half of her problem, though. The other half was the buzzing news she had caught during dinner at the pantry earlier that evening: Concubine Number 20 had collapsed. From the bits and pieces of information she could gather, she knew that the imperial doctor had already been summoned to the emperor's quarters. It would be just a matter of time before they discovered that she was poisoned. And it would also be just a matter of time before they found out that she was the one who did it.

No, she couldn't think that way. She couldn't give up so easily, not when her whole family depended on her. Her mother was too sick to even get out of bed, and her twin brothers were too young to work. They should be out on the streets playing like little children their age did, not inside the house trying to help out with the chores while she went out to find work – any kind of work.

If she was executed – which she had no doubt she would be, given who exactly she tried to poison – her family would likely perish soon after. She couldn't even begin to imagine the man stepping up to take care of them out of the goodness of his heart if she died. The idea was so laughable it was almost good enough to pass off as a joke. Kindness didn't exist, at least not in her world. While the archduke and the emperor were willing to go through hell and high water just to save 20, she had to scrape by whatever means she could in order to survive and provide for her family.

She's never even met a guy who had offered to help her, let alone save her. Just what did 20 do to make the two most powerful men in the empire treat her with so much devotion? It wasn't fair, it just wasn't fair. So the girl singled out her best option: she couldn't afford to die; that meant someone else had to.

*****

"If you can't save her, what can you do?" Alessandro directed his ominous gaze at the doctor. He had previously thought that those three days he had waited for 20 to calm down after she had learned his real identity was long. After all, during that time he had to rein in his patience because he couldn't talk to her regardless of badly he wanted to – not until she decided she was ready to be on speaking terms with him again. Now he knew that he was being foolish and naïve to think that way, because those few days couldn't even begin to compare to this moment, when every passing minute was its own version of eternity for him.

"I can slow down the poison from spreading throughout her body, Your Majesty," the doctor answered, trying to keep the panic from showing in his voice, but without much success. "But I can't completely stop it." Why did the girl have to be poisoned out of all things, he wanted to ask unreasonably. She could have just suffered from a life-threatening sickness, or shot by an arrow, or sustained major burns. Then he would know what to do, and he could save her life with relative ease – and manage to keep his own as well. But no, she just had to be poisoned. Now her life was in grave danger and, for that matter, so was his.

"Do what you can," Alessandro consented. "But remember, my warning still holds. You will die the minute she does." He turned back to 20, and his expression changed completely. His gaze turned warm, and his voice softened to just above a whisper. "You're doing great," he said, bending down to kiss her on the forehead. "Just hold on. I'll definitely save you."

After kissing 20 on the cheek – to Alessandro's verbally colorful opposition – Caio left the bedroom and stepped into the hallway again, where two of his soldiers were waiting for him. "What is it?" he asked. If he were presented with better choices, he would have opted to stay by her side until she woke up. That was a no-brainer. But he was well aware that wouldn't help her in any way.

And since Alessandro had already vowed to do whatever it took to get an antidote for the poison, he must then take up the reins and solve the other side of the equation – figure out who was behind the poisoning in the first place.

"We found this suspicious looking bottle, General," one of the soldiers said, handing Caio a small crystal vial.

"Where did you find this?" He took it and held it to the light, discovering that it was already empty. But when he opened it, a strong metallic scent instantly filled the air. The smell was so strong it made his eyes watery, so he put the lid right back.

"In one of the servants' rooms, General," the other soldier informed him.

"Which servant?" Caio asked, somehow getting a foreboding feeling even before he heard the answer.

"Concubine Number 19, sir."