84, Evidence

The following morning, Ayya stood next to the throne in the council chambers. Tenac stood behind her and Hinat and Firlea were sitting on the benches closest to them. The king was sitting on his throne and Zerden stood behind him on the opposite side of Ayya. The doors to the chamber opened, and the bishop walked in followed by the council. She could see the bishop was talking to one of the council members, but stopped as he noticed the people in front of him. As he stopped, so did the rest of the people. Everyone stared at the king and Ayya.

“Your majesty, what is going on?” the bishop asked. 

“We have an interesting day ahead of us, my friends. Please come and take your seats. We have a lot of ground to cover,” the king said. The council, including the head, scurried to take their place. The bishop stood a moment and looked at Ayya. She could tell he was trying to figure out what was going on. Then he slowly took his place. “Thank you, everyone. I have also invited a couple of guests. Zerden, could you please bring them?” the king asked. Zerden walked to the double doors and returned with Father Link, an older priest Ayya hadn’t seen before, and Sister Loise. 

“What is Father Ludi doing here? I haven’t called for him?” the bishop asked.

“I called him, as well as Father Link and Sister Loise, so they could witness what is going to transpire here today. Please take a seat amongst the council,” the king said. They waited for the three people to take a seat and for Zerden to take up his post. “Lady Ayya, would you please get us started?”

“It would be my pleasure, your majesty,” Ayya said. She stepped down onto the floor and took her place where she had been sitting while being questioned. Tenac followed her. She cleared her voice and started to explain to the council how they had discovered the source of the sickness and then she explained what she had found in the book. As she did, there were several whispering conversations amongst the council. Everyone seemed shocked the sickness was, in reality, a poison. 

“This is all good and well, neatly packaged. But what evidence do we have?” the bishop asked. He looked distressed. 

“I’m glad you asked,” Ayya said. “There are ways to detect the poison in the water. I’m going to perform it today, in front of all of you,” she told him. “Can I please have a glass of water and two empty glasses?” she asked. The head of the council called a servant that brought in a table and a glass of water and two empty ones. “This is water from the castle’s well. It should be free from poison. No one in the castle has become ill. Father Ludi, Father Link, were you able to collect what the king asked you for?” she then asked. 

“We did, Father Ludi said. He stood up and walked to the table, bowed towards Ayya, and placed two sealed containers on the table. “This is from two of the wells that have been closed off. The soldiers confirmed that they have stayed sealed and Father Link and myself can guarantee it hasn’t been tampered with since it was pulled up, about an hour ago,” he said before sitting down.

“Thank you,” Ayya told him. “There is a liquid called ‘Miroda’s water’. It’s a magically produced product that will turn any liquid or food containing poison into a bright yellow colour. Father Ludi, I think you know of the liquid I speak off,” Ayya said. The man smiled at her.

“I do. During my time as the former king’s healer, it was a product I used often,” he agreed. Ayya unsealed the two containers and filled the two empty glasses with the water from them. 

“Let’s start with the water from the castle,” Ayya said and took a small vial that Tenac held out. She dropped five drops in the glass, and everyone waited, staring at the glass. Nothing happened. She repeated the process on the second glass and as soon as the first drop hit the water, it started to shift. When all five drops had been added, the water was a lemon yellow colour. There were gasps and mumbling in the hall. Ayya ignored it and continued to the third glass. The reaction was the same as with the second one. She ended up with one glass of clear water and two with bright yellow. 

“I can’t believe it, the water has been poisoned,” Father Link said. 

“It can still be any poison, it doesn’t prove it is causing the sickness,“ the Bishop exclaimed.

“That is true, and that brings me to my next point,” Ayya agreed. “I can use magic to determine what compounds are in the material I’m testing. To give you a demonstration, I have asked Sister Loise to help me. Sister, I asked you to brew a tea without telling me what you added into it. Is that right?” Ayya asked.

“It is, and I did so and wrote the ingredients down,” the sister confirmed. 

“Could you please give the note to the head of the council,” Ayya said. The sister stood up and walked over to the head and handed him a paper, and then she placed a sample of the tea on the table. “Thank you,” Ayya said and took out a piece of paper. She opened the seal of the sample and placed the paper over the opening. She used her magic the heat the tea and as the steam hit the paper, letters started to appear on the paper. Ayya kept the focus until no more letters appeared on the paper. Ayya picked up the paper and read it. She smiled. “Water, apple, rosemary, carrot, wine, yellow onion and cinnamon. Remind me to refuse the next time you offer me your tea, sister,” Ayya said, and there was laughter from the council. 

“That is everything that is on the list,” the head of the council told them. 

“Impressive,” the king said. “I think we can assume this spell of yours is working.” Ayya nodded and took the new piece of paper Tenac handed her and put it over one of the glasses with the yellow-coloured water. She summoned the magic and made the water boil, watching as the letters appeared on the paper. When they stopped, she read them out loud. Except for the water, there was trace amounts of algae and moss and then the list of all the substances required to make the poison. Last was bone wood, not Belladonna. There was once again silence in the hall. 

“That is the untranslated version of the poison,” one of the council members said. He was clearly shocked. Ayya remembered him as one of the most aggressive followers of the bishop. 

“My friends, this is serious. Lady Ayya has proven not only that the sickness is manmade but also that whoever committed this heinous crime got the inspiration from the book lady Ayya has read. She has proven that they have needed to understand Old Urundi. We are grateful for all of this. But the aari will provide one last clue for us today. Lady Hinat, would you please explain,” the King told them. Hinat nodded and walked out onto the floor. Ayya took her seat next to Firlea, and they held hands. Tenac remained where he was, giving his support to Hinat as he had done for Ayya. 

“In the same way that Ayya can detect what compounds are in a material, I can detect who has had physical contact with an object. We have talked to the librarian in the royal library and they confirmed that before the king checked the book out three days ago, the book hadn’t been checked out since added to the library, over a hundred years ago,” Hinat told the council. “I would like someone to give me an object I can use for demonstration. It will not harm the object,” she continued. It took a while, but then a young council member stood up and walked up to the table and put down a pair of gloves. He looked at Hinat and blushed a little as he stood to the side. Ayya and Firlea looked at each other and smiled. They were going to tease their friend about that. But Ayya wasn’t surprised Hinat had got admirers. She was gorgeous with her dark skin and golden eyes. Her beauty wasn’t seen often in Domne. 

“Thank you,” she said and held her hand over the gloves. Ayya could see a purple shimmer surround the gloves, and what looked like smoke rose up from them. The smoke hovered over them and in the smoke Ayya could see the face of the man that had handed the gloves to Hinat. Then there was the face of a young woman. Then it showed the man again, and the young woman again. The image switched back and forward between the man and the woman a number of times. Then it was an older woman that bore a resemblance to the man. Then the image of an older man. That’s when Hinat stopped the magic. 

“Does what Hinat showed us seem correct?” Ayya asked the young man. 

“Yes, the young woman is our maid. She usually takes my clothes when I arrive home. The older woman is my mother, who gave me the gloves. The man is my father who they originally belonged to,” the man explained. 

“Thank you for your help,” Hinat told him and handed him his gloves. The man nodded and took his seat. “Tenac, may I take the book?” she asked. Tenac nodded and handed her the book that he had carried since they realised how important it was. Hinat placed the book on the table and started the magic. Ayya focused on the smoke that was rising from the book. Hinat’s face showed, then Tenac’s. It was followed by Ayya, Firlea, Ayya, Tenac, Ayya, the king, an old man Ayya knew was the librarian, the king, the bishop, the librarian, an old man and a young man and then there were no more faces, only smoke. “That is all,” Hinat said. The silence was deafening. 

“Bishop, care to explain?” the king said.