"1 poison" - читать интересную книгу автора (Snyder Maria V)

The skin around ValekТs eyes crinkled as he laughed. He had a strong, angular face, as if someone had stamped it from a sheet of metal, but it softened when he smiled. Handing me his drink, he asked me to repeat the experiment.
With some trepidation, I took a sip, again detecting the faint orange taste. Bracing myself for the rancid flavor, I gargled ValekТs drink and was relieved that gargling only enhanced the orange essence.
УBetter?Ф Valek asked as he took back the empty cup.
УYes.Ф
Valek sat down behind his desk, opening my folder once more. Picking up his quill, he talked to me while writing. УYou just had your first lesson in food tasting. Your drink was laced with a poison called ButterflyТs Dust. Mine wasnТt. The only way to detect ButterflyТs Dust in a liquid is to gargle it. That rotten-orange flavor you tasted was the poison.Ф
I rose, my head spinning. УIs it lethal?Ф
УA big enough dose will kill you in two days. The symptoms donТt arrive until the second day, but by then itТs too late.Ф
УDid I have a lethal dose?Ф I held my breath.
УOf course. Anything less and you wouldnТt have tasted the poison.Ф
My stomach rebelled and I started to gag. I forced down the bile in my throat, trying hard to avoid the indignity of vomiting all over ValekТs desk.
Valek looked up from the stack of papers. He studied my face. УI warned you the training would be dangerous. But I would hardly give you a poison your body had to fight while you suffered from malnutrition. There is an antidote to ButterflyТs Dust.Ф He showed me a small vial containing a white liquid.
Collapsing back into my chair, I sighed. ValekТs metal face had returned; I realized he hadnТt offered the antidote to me.
УIn answer to the question you didnТt ask but should have, thisЧФ Valek raised the small vial and shook it УЧis how we keep the CommanderТs food taster from escaping.Ф
I stared at him, trying to understand the implication.
УYelena, you confessed to murder. We would be fools to let you serve the Commander without some guarantees. Guards watch the Commander at all times and it is doubtful you would be able to reach him with a weapon. For other forms of retaliation, we use ButterflyТs Dust.Ф Valek picked up the vial of antidote, and twirled it in the sunlight. УYou need a daily dose of this to stay alive. The antidote keeps the poison from killing you. As long as you show up each morning in my office, I will give you the antidote. Miss one morning and youТll be dead by the next. Commit a crime or an act of treason and youТll be sent back to the dungeon until the poison takes you. I would avoid that fate, if I were you. The poison causes severe stomach cramps and uncontrollable vomiting.Ф
Before full comprehension of my situation could sink in, ValekТs eyes slid past my shoulder. I turned to see a stout woman in a housekeeperТs uniform opening the door. Valek introduced her as Margg, the person who would take care of my basic needs. Expecting me to follow her, Margg strode out the door.
I glanced at the vial on ValekТs desk.
УCome to my office tomorrow morning. Margg will direct you.Ф
An obvious dismissal, but I paused at the door with all the questions I should have asked poised on my lips. I swallowed them. They sank like stones to my stomach, then I closed the door and hurried after Margg, who hadnТt stopped to wait.
Margg never slowed her pace. I found myself panting with the effort to keep up. Trying to remember the various corridors and turns, I soon gave up as my whole world shrank to the sight of MarggТs broad back and efficient stride. Her long black skirt seemed to float above the floor. The housekeeper uniform included a black shirt and white apron that hung from the neck down to the ankle and was cinched tight around the waist. The apron had two vertical rows of small red diamond-shapes connected end to end. When Margg finally stopped at the baths, I had to sit on the floor to clear my spinning head.
УYou stink,Ф Margg said, disgust creasing her wide face. She pointed to the far side of the baths in a manner that indicated she was used to being obeyed. УWash twice, then soak. IТll bring you some uniforms.Ф She left the room.
The overpowering desire to bathe flashed like fire on my skin. Energized, I ripped the prison robe off and raced to the washing area. Hot water poured down in a cascade when I opened the duct above my head. The CommanderТs castle was equipped with heated water tanks located one floor above the baths, a luxury even BrazellТs extravagant manor house didnТt have.
I stood for a long time, hoping the drumming on my head would erase all thoughts of poisons. Obediently I washed my hair and body twice. My neck, wrists and ankles burned from the soap, but I didnТt care. I scrubbed two more times, rubbing hard at the stubborn spots of dirt on my skin, stopping only when I realized they were bruises.
I felt unconnected to the body under the waterfall. The pain and humiliation of being arrested and locked away had been inflicted on this body, but my soul had long since been driven out during the last two years I had lived in BrazellТs manor house.
An image of BrazellТs son suddenly flashed before me. ReyadТs handsome face distorted with rage. I stepped back, reflexively jerking my hands up to block him. The image disappeared, leaving me shaking.
It was an effort to dry off and wrap a towel around me. I tried to focus on finding a comb instead of the ugly memories ReyadТs image called forth.
Even clean, my snarled hair resisted the comb. As I searched for a pair of scissors, I spotted another person in the baths from the corner of my eye. I stared at the body. A corpse looked back at me. The green eyes were the only signs of life in the gaunt, oval face. Thin stick legs looked incapable of holding the rest of the body up.
Recognition shot through me like a cold splash of fear. It was my body. I averted my eyes from the mirror, having no desire to assess the damage. Coward, I thought, returning my gaze with a purpose. Had ReyadТs death released my soul from where it had fled? In my mind I tried to reconnect my spirit to my body. Why did I think my soul would return if my body was still not mine? It belonged to Commander Ambrose to be used as a tool for filtering and testing poisons. I turned away.
Pulling clumps of knotted hair out with the comb, I arranged the rest into a single long braid down my back.
Not long ago all I had hoped for was a clean prison robe before my execution, and now here I was sinking into the CommanderТs famous hot baths.
УThatТs long enough,Ф Margg barked, startling me out of a light doze. УHere are your uniforms. Get dressed.Ф Her stiff face radiated disapproval.
As I dried myself, I felt MarggТs impatience.
Along with some undergarments, the food tasterТs uniform consisted of black pants, a wide red satin belt and a red satin shirt with a line of small black diamond-shapes connected end to end down each of the sleeves. The clothes were obviously sized for a man. Malnourished and measuring only four inches past five feet, I looked like a child playing pretend with her fatherТs clothes. I wrapped the belt three times around my waist and rolled up the sleeves and pant legs.
Margg snorted. УValek only told me to feed you and show you to your room. But I think weТll stop by the seamstressТs first.Ф Pausing at the open door, Margg pursed her lips and added, УYouТll need boots too.Ф
Obediently, I followed Margg like a lost puppy.
The seamstress, Dilana, laughed gaily at my appearance. Her heart-shaped face had a halo of curly blond hair. Honey-colored eyes and long eyelashes enhanced her beauty.
УThe stable boys wear the same pants and the kitchen maids wear the red shirts,Ф Dilana said when she had stifled her giggles. She admonished Margg for not spending the time to find me better-size uniforms. Margg pushed her lips together tighter.
Fussing around me like a grandmother instead of a young woman, DilanaТs attentions warmed me, pulling me toward her. I envisioned us becoming friends. She probably had many acquaintances and suitors who came to bask in her attentions like cave dwellers drawn to a blazing hearth. I found myself aching to reach out to her.
After writing my measurements down, Dilana searched through the piles of red, black and white clothing stacked around the room.
Everyone who worked in Ixia wore a uniform. The CommanderТs castle servants and guards wore a variation of black, white and red color clothes with vertical diamond-shapes either down the sleeves of the shirts or down the sides of the pants. Advisers and higher-ranking officers usually wore all black with small red diamonds stitched on the collars to show rank. The uniform system became mandatory when the Commander gained power so everyone knew at a glance who they were dealing with.
Black and red were Commander AmbroseТs colors. The Territory of Ixia had been separated into eight Military Districts each ruled by a General. The uniforms of the eight districts were identical to the CommanderТs except for the color. A housekeeper wearing black with small purple diamond-shapes on her apron therefore worked in Military District 3 or MDЦ3.
УI think these should fit better.Ф She handed me some clothes, gesturing to the privacy screen at the far end of the room.
While I was changing, I heard Dilana say, УSheТll need boots.Ф Feeling less foolish in my new clothes, I picked up the old uniforms and gave them to Dilana.
УThese must have belonged to Oscove, the old food taster,Ф Dilana said. A sad expression gripped her face for a moment before she shook her head as if to rid herself of an unwanted thought.
All my fantasies of friendship fled me as I realized that being friends with the CommanderТs food taster was a big emotional risk. My stomach hollowed out while DilanaТs warmth leaked from me, leaving a cold bitterness behind.
A sharp stab of loneliness struck me as an unwanted image of May and Carra, who still lived at BrazellТs manor, flashed before my eyes. My fingers twitched to fix CarraТs crooked braids and to straighten MayТs skirt.
Instead of CarraТs silky ginger hair in my hands, I held a stack of clothes. Dilana guided me to a chair. Kneeling on the floor, she put socks on my feet and then a pair of boots. The boots were made of soft black leather. They came up over my ankle to midcalf, where the leather folded down. Dilana tucked my pant legs into the boots and helped me stand.
I hadnТt worn shoes in seasons and I expected them to chafe. But the boots cushioned my feet and fit well. I smiled at Dilana, thoughts of May and Carra temporarily banished. These were the finest pair of boots IТd ever worn.
She smiled back and said, УI can always pick the right-size boots without having to measure.Ф
Margg harrumphed. УYou didnТt get poor RandТs boots right. HeТs too smitten with you to complain. Now he limps around the kitchen.Ф