Chapter 5: Holloway

Emmett Crane came into my room at ten the next morning, and he knocked first.

That was the thing I noticed.

He stood in the doorway and waited for me to say come in.

He was a lean man of about sixty with silver hair combed straight back, pale blue eyes and a charcoal suit that fit perfectly.

A gold Alliance pin sat on his lapel.

Behind him, Fiona held a tray with a covered cup.

"Wynne," he said warmly. "May I? I've waited a long time to see you on your feet."

I was not on my feet.

I was on the edge of the bed with a blanket over my knees and my hands tucked beneath it so he could not see them shake.

Maeve had pressed a folded cloth into my palm an hour earlier.

"If anyone watches you drink," she had said, "you keep it in your cheek and you spit it in here."

I held the cloth in my fist under the blanket and said, "Come in."

Emmett took the chair by the window.

Fiona set the tray down on my knees and lifted the cover.

"Tea," she said, bright and tender. "Drink it while it's warm, please. Papa wants to see you strong."

I took the cup in both hands.

The bitter green thread rose up out of the steam.

I put it to my mouth, tipped it, and let one swallow of the wolfsbane tea slide over my tongue.

I did not swallow it.

I kept it pressed in the pocket of my cheek and let my throat move as if it had gone down.

Fiona watched my throat.

I took a second mouthful and did the same.

Her shoulders loosened.

"There," she said. "Good girl."

Something small and cold turned over in my stomach.

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