Red Dragon's Keep

Jalyn walked back toward the hearth, stopping to taste the stew that simmered in the pot hung over the kitchen fire. She’d prepared a special dinner for the high table.

Looking around to check if anyone was watching, she slipped a small glass vial from the side pocket in her voluminous skirt. She unstoppered it and poured the contents into the stew. That should send those who thought themselves above her scurrying for the toilet. Maybe it would be enough to kill.

This was the tenth time she had used poison to try to kill the Arachs. None of them had worked. The idiots had complained of odd tastes, but that was all. She could not understand why the poisons hadn’t done the job. The Arachs all deserved to die. I’ll just keep trying until something works.

Her face contorted in a satisfied sneer, she moved back to the dessert table to check her underling’s efforts.