I ran into The Vulture the next day. For some reason, I felt observed. Several times I looked back, expecting to find someone chasing me. The Vulture noticed my unease.
"Stop looking back," he told me as we walked. "No one is following us."
"How do you know?"
"I have been trained for years to detect if someone persecutes me. Trust me, I know about these things. "
I bit my lip.
I had been very daring to have tried to enter Her Majesty's office without her presence. What if the guards told her? It would be very difficult for me to justify my daring.
I thought the Queen would become suspicious of me. She would just have to connect the dots and eventually she would realize that I was hiding something.
The Vulture and I reached the bridge on the Street of Nails. Whenever we talked we tried to make it happen at different points from previous days. Never the same place. Repeating could be dangerous.
"I'm so sorry I can't have anything for today," I said.
"What happened?"
"When the Queen is not in her office, no one is allowed in. The guards did not allow me to enter. "
"I see…"
"What I can do?"
"Well, try again another time. This spying thing can take time. Sometimes getting a single piece of information, such as a date, or a location can take days. The important thing is to be patient. Desperation can lead to mistakes and making mistakes can lead to getting caught."
«I knew it!»
"There is something you should know," The Vulture continued. "Our informants in the Kingdom inform us that something is cooking."
"Is something cooking? What?"
"There is nothing conclusive yet, but it is suspected that the Dukes are putting together a conspiracy against the Crown."
"The Dukes? That is not possible ... they owe allegiance to the King. "
"We know, but in espionage, there is a rule: if something sounds like a goat, looks like a goat, and acts like a goat, it is most likely a goat."
"Erm ..."
"Do you understand?"
"I think so."
"Sometimes we wish something is not true, but personal wishes have nothing to do with reality. As spies, we must only trust the evidence. "
"I understand…"
"Maiden Daymara," The Vulture looked me in the eye. "You must become the Queen's favorite."
"Me? I don't think I can ... "
"Find the way."
"The current favorite is Urma. I don't think I can… um… replace her. "
I thought of Sir Raymi. How Urma had stolen from me what I most wanted in the world.
"As I told you: FIND THE WAY."
The Vulture said nothing more. He just walked away.
Sometimes he did that. He gave me an order and left without me having the right to reply. It was his way of establishing authority.
«Find a way, he says...»
My feet carried me back to the Royal Palace. When I stepped inside I prayed that the guards would not arrest me. My paranoia was getting out of control. I was alone on a spy mission, in which, if I was discovered, I would be beheaded, that, if the Queen had mercy because if she didn't have, I would be tortured for days.
I would only ask the Saints for the Ashaasins to kill me before I reveal anything.
«What have I got myself into?»
I walked quickly to get to my rooms and shut myself in the quiet of solitude, but I ran into Sir Raymi in a hallway.
What are you doing here right now?
I tried to run away, but he called me.
"Maid Daymara!"
I stopped and gulped.
He ran towards me. I couldn't even see him in the eye.
"Sir Raymi ... Nice to see you ...," I said trying to sound as convincing as possible.
"Maid Daymara, I have not seen you in a long time. Anyone would believe that you are avoiding me. "
Avoiding you? No, none of that," I lied, "it's just that I've been VERY busy."
"I imagine, yes. Royal duties must be very demanding. "
"They are."
Silence.
"If you'll excuse me, Sir Raymi, I must leave," I said coldly.
Perhaps he sensed the sparseness of my attitude. I showed in my eyes that I was avoiding him. In the voice, in my body.
I had not been able to forget how he had broken my heart. Why did he prefer Urma before me? It wasn't fair! I would be able to give him anything, while Urma didn't want him even for a company on a walk.
Saints really have a very twisted sense of humor. They give bread to those who have no teeth.
I locked myself in my room and wanted to cry, but couldn't. The anger was bigger than my sadness.
I must become the Queen's favorite ...
But how? First I must get Urma out of the way. And perhaps, I already knew the way to achieve it. I always had the answer in front of me: herbs.
I could cook a potion that would make Urma sick. That way she would have to absent herself from her duties, and I could step forward to replace her and earn the favors of the Queen. Perhaps Urma would end up being permanently removed from her duties at the Royal Palace.
I didn't feel bad for imagining Urma losing her job. I felt good. I longed for that to happen. She deserved it. The Saints had given her the opportunity to be happy with Sir Raymi and she rejected him like a stray dog.
I would be the avenger of the divine. Surely that was the role that the Saints expected of me. I was their chosen one to punish those who had blasphemed. Urma, the Queen. Both had broken the King's law. And an enemy of the King is an enemy of the Supreme and all thy children the Saints.
They were going to pay.
I made the potion. It didn't take long.
I opened the door to go out into the hall and made sure no one was watching.
It was empty.
I walked to Urma's chambers. Fortunately, she was not there. I opened the bottle of her wine and poured the entire content of the potion into it.
It's done…
"What are you doing here?" I heard a voice behind me.
I shuddered and turned around. It was Urma.
"What are you doing in my room?" She asked annoyed.
"Erm ... is that ... erm ...," I stammered.
"Speak!"
"Erm ..."
Urma noticed that her wine bottle was open.
"Are you stealing wine?"
"Erm ... Yes, I'm sorry Urma, I wanted some ..."
"And why didn't you ask for it?"
"Erm ... I just didn't want you to think badly of me for wanting to drink wine."
"Sure, and stealing it was a much better idea so I wouldn't think badly of you."
"Erm… yeah, you're right. I'm such a fool."
"If you want a drink so bad, I'll share with you," she said as she approached the bottle.
She poured some into a glass and handed it to me.
"Take."
"And you are not going to drink?"
"You're right, it's rude not to accompany the visit with a drink."
She also helped herself a little.
I thought I was going to get sick to my stomach too if I took a sip from that drink. However, I already had a solution in mind. After drinking, it would make me vomit immediately. I would expel just enough not to get sick.
"Cheers," Urma said, tapping her glass against mine.
"Cheers," I replied.
I saw everything slowly. How she touched the glass with her lips, how she closed her eyes when tasting the wine, how her throat contracted and expanded when swallowing, her face of pleasure from the delight she had just tasted.
She emptied her glass and smiled at me.
"Why haven't you taken everything?" She asked suspiciously.
"I want to taste it slowly ..."
"Right…"
Urma shuddered. She dropped her cup, which shattered into dozens of pieces when it hit the ground. She put her hands to her stomach and frowned.
"What ... what did you put in the wine?" She asked, falling to her knees.
That should not happen. The effect was never that strong.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH !!!" She screamed in pain.
Then she glared at me and fell unconscious.
"Urma?" I asked scared.
I shook her body.
"Urma? Urma? Answer!"
No, no, no, this should not happen.
"Urma?"
What had he done wrong? I prepared the potion as I always had.
Urma started coughing.
«Still alive!»
"Urma wake up, please."
And she did. She opened her eyes and stammered something:
"You ... did this to me ..."
"Urma ..."
"Queen ...," she made an effort to speak.
"That? Speak louder please. "
"You…. I… I will tell the Queen, "she said.
«No, no, no, no…»
I started shaking and sweating cold. All the possible consequences, all the possible punishments flashed through my mind. To be executed, tortured, exiled.
«No, no, no, no, no, no…. »
"I will tell the Queen!" She screamed in anger.
I moved with feline agility and took a pillow from Urma's bed. She opened her eyes full of terror as if she already knew what was going to happen.
"You ... stole Sir Reymi ...," I said.
"Day, no, please ... no ..."
Urma was so weak on the ground, she couldn't resist anything.
I threw myself on top of Urma and pressed the pillow against her head.
She kicked, a lot.
I must admit that she fought to the end, but she was so weak that even I was able to subdue her.
"Raymi was EVERYTHING to me and you took it from me! YOU TOOK IT FROM ME! YOU TOOK IT FROM ME! YOU! A SLUT! A DIRTY SHAMEFUL WOMAN! "
I could feel her gasping for air little by little.
Until her body stopped fighting.
It was already done.