Everyone around the room was floored by that announcement. Hurman's old friends felt conflicted, having teased Hurman about ascension while wondering what could cause such a thing. Liz's grip lessened slightly, but only so she could hold Hurman's hand more gingerly in support.
"Good," Rhyner continued. "Do you know about Melida being poisoned?"
"What?"
"And there's the root of the problem…" sighed Rhyner. "Mertin agreed to help Libarn only to gain access to their underground connections in search of a cure. But Hurman didn't know that Melida's unknown disease was caused by a different sort of poison administered somewhat regularly by your assistant manager, Hrald."
"WHAT?! But--"
