Chapter 38: Deadly Concoction

Renira pulled the heavy, coarse wool of her cloak tighter around her shoulders, keeping her head bowed low as she navigated the bustling marketplace of Shadow’s Edge.

The midday sun beat down on the cobblestones, but a shiver raced down her spine. She kept her eyes fixed on the dirt, avoiding the gazes of the merchants and nobles who might recognize the disgraced mistress.

Her mind, however, was not in the market. It was trapped in the suffocating darkness of the previous night.

After the guards had unceremoniously dragged her from the grand hall and deposited her back at her family’s estate, Renira had retreated to her chambers in a state of hyperventilating rage.

After which she had snuck out to find out more about the plague. But she had found nothing much about it, unable to access the rooms they kept the bodies. It was upon her return that she noticed the shadows near her balcony beginning to shift.

She had almost screamed. A massive panther had slinked into her room. But it wasn’t a normal beast. It smelled of rotting meat and the feral sickness.

Just as she had reached for a silver dagger, the beast had spoken.

"We have a common enemy, little one," the creature had purred, its glowing eyes locking onto hers. "The Empress. She stole the love of your life from you."

Normally, Renira’s cunning mind would have demanded answers. She should have rightly guessed that this very creature, or its masters, were the ones causing the plague that was ravaging the outer regions.

But her delusions were far too strong, and her desperation too vast. She didn’t care about the plague. She didn’t care about the mechanics of the sickness. All she cared about was the promise of power. She would use this dark magic. She would rescue her king from the Empress’s wicked web, and then, she would be the saviour of Shadow’s Edge.

"Two bundles of crushed nightshade and a vial of concentrated wyvern bile," Renira whispered to the shady apothecary, sliding a heavy pouch of gold coins across the wooden counter.

The old panther beastman eyed her cloaked form suspiciously, his ears twitching as he snatched the gold. "Ain’t many high-born ladies asking for poison weeds, my lady. The bile is highly restricted."

"It’s for a.....pest problem," Renira lied smoothly. "Do not question your betters. Just give me the ingredients."

The apothecary grumbled but handed over the wrapped bundles and the sealed glass vial. Renira snatched them and hurried out of the market.

The instructions the shadow-panther had whispered into her mind were simple but vile. If she crushed the blood-petals of the nightshade and mixed them with the wyvern bile, the resulting concoction would be undetectable. And if a panther beast ingested even a single drop, their mind would shatter. They would go completely, irreversibly feral.

Renira slipped through the wrought-iron gates of the Vane family estate, bypassing the main courtyard where the servants were busy with their chores. She needed to get to her private wing without being seen.

She was alone anyways, as her older sister and her children were at the kingdom playing with the prince.

No one would hear her. No one would see her.

She slipped into her private chambers, locking the door behind her. Her room still looked like a mess, but she ignored jt. She threw off her cloak and rushed to her vanity.

Her hands, usually so steady when applying her pearl powder, trembled with a adrenaline. She unwrapped the bundles of dark, thorny flowers and set the vial of thick, yellowish wyvern bile on the marble surface.

"Let’s see what you’re made of," she whispered to the flowers.

Using a mortar and pestle, Renira began to crush the blood-petals. The flowers resisted at first, but as she ground them down, they released a thick, crimson sap that smelled faintly of copper and decay. She crushed them until her arm ached, until the petals were nothing but a dark, bruised paste.

Next, she uncorked the wyvern bile. The stench was awful, burning her nostrils, but she didn’t flinch. She poured the thick liquid into the mortar.

The reaction was instantaneous.

The crimson paste hissed, bubbling violently as it met the bile. The mixture frothed and expanded, shifting from a bright, bloody red to a deep, abyssal black.

"Yes... yes!" Renira giggled.

She carefully dipped a glass pipette into the black sludge, drawing up the deadly venom, and transferred it into a small, crystal vial. She corked it tightly, holding the tiny bottle up to the light. It looked harmless. It looked like a simple bottle of dark ink.

But it was the key to her salvation.

Renira’s mind raced, painting a beautiful, flawless picture of her future. She wouldn’t give this to the Empress yet. No, that would be too quick. Too merciful.

She would sneak this into Valen’s drink, completely erasing Leonidas’s connection to the empress of Zyleria.

"I’m coming, my love," Renira whispered, pressing the cold crystal vial to her lips. "That wicked witch has had you in her claws for far too long. But Renira is going to fix everything. Just hold on. I won’t be long now."

She slipped the vial into the hidden pocket of her bodice, patting it gently.

All she needed now was an excuse to get close to the prince, and finish him off when he wasn’t watching.

Renira walked over to her mirror, staring at her own reflection. Her dark violet hair was slightly scattered, her eyes bright with madness, but she looked beautiful. She looked like a queen.

Leonidas’s soon-to-be queen.

"Smile, Renira," she told her reflection. "Very very soon. Leonidas will be free of the spell, and he would cast his sights on you again."

The strange panther had also promised to give her the cure for the concoction, so the king would see and remember her worth.

Just imagine it, Renira!

The saviour of Shadows Edge, putting an end to the plague.

Your time will soon end, Empress Karina.