"Lay them down," Cerise ordered, and Ammond and Hothan complied. Cerise took a vial of green liquid from the pouch at her belt and forced Alle's mouth open, carefully dropping the sharp-smelling liquid onto her tongue. She did the same for Macaria.
"None of us has felt well today," Kiara said, helping Cerise administer drops of a second liquid.
"How did you feel?" Cerise asked tersely as Macaria began to stir. In a moment, Alle groaned and grimaced.
"Alle's had a headache since this morning, and my stomach's been worse than usual," Kiara replied. "Macaria was complaining of being terribly tired. She perked up some after she went down to practice with the bards for a while, but when she came back this evening, she tired easily." She looked at Cerise. "Do you know what it is?"
Cerise nodded, tight-lipped. Alle opened her eyes. "Why am I lying in the snow?"
"What's the last thing you remember?" Cerise asked, letting her hand move from Alle's forehead down her neck and chest, stretching out with her healing magic.
"I had a horrible headache, and I thought that if I just closed my eyes for a while, that it might be better," Alle replied. "What happened?"
Macaria caught her breath sharply, and Cerise motioned for Hothan to help her sit. She opened her eyes, and shivered. "Where am I?"
Kiara knelt beside her. "Safe. We're trying to figure out why you and Alle got sick." "It's not sickness," Cerise said in a clipped voice as she finished running her hand over Macaria's forehead. "As soon as I came into your room, my magic told me the air was bad. I've seen this before. Fire sends off bad vapors as well as heat. If something blocks the flue, the bad air fills the room. You're lucky that you were in my room instead of going to bed early. All three of you might have died."
Kiara and Cerise exchanged a glance. Kiara realized Cerise shared her suspicions. They said nothing as Hothan and Ammond helped Alle and Macaria walk back into the bedchamber, and Kiara secured the balcony doors behind them. Cerise motioned for them to come to her rooms, and made sure the door to Kiara's chambers was shut tightly with blankets sealing the gap beneath it. They opened the windows wide. "Tomorrow morning, I want you to check my chimney personally," Kiara instructed Hothan. "If anyone asks, tell them I complained because of the soot. Take a long stick and see if you can find something stuck in there. Once the air clears, we can try the same thing from the bottom."
"Shall I inform Master Crevan?" Hothan asked. Kiara shook her head. "Not yet. Let's see what we find."
They slept fitfully, huddled together and covered with layers of blankets, as the fire in Cerise's fireplace was no match for the winter wind that blew through the open windows. Jae slept at Kiara's feet, huddled next to Tris's dogs. As soon as it was light, Hothan left his post at the door
for the dangerous climb to the palace roof.
They ate breakfast in Cerise's room and dressed in Tris's chambers, to give the guard time to check the chimney. After another candlemark, Kiara returned to her own rooms, which were freezing cold. The fire had gone out, and the open windows had cleared the air. Wrapping her cloak around her, Kiara motioned for Cerise to bring her a lantern and grabbed a poker from near the hearth. Kiara shoveled the embers into the fireplace bucket, and laid a heavy mat over the still-warm hearthstone as she lifted the lantern and twisted into position to see. Gingerly, she poked upward with the iron bar. The bar struck something hard. Kiara handed Cerise the lantern, and poked harder, using both hands. The metal bar rang out against stone.
"There's something wedged in there, just beyond where I can reach," Kiara said. "It's got the
chimney partially blocked."
"But not beyond the reach of a man," Cerise mused.
Just then, Hothan returned. His face was red with cold and he was rubbing his hands together. "You're right, m'lady. There was a rock wedged in near the top of the chimney-fit well enough to let the smoke out, but covered enough to keep the bad air in. I was able to pry it loose, but I probably broke a brick or two doing it."
Kiara dusted herself off and motioned for Hothan to take her place at the hearth. "Thank you. There's something stuck at this end, too. Please, try your luck." She handed him the poker. After a few minutes, Hothan gave a hard push and bits of rock fell to the ground. Kiara bent down and picked up one of the bits, turning it in her hands. "That's strange," she mused. She looked at Hothan. "You're quite sure the thing jammed in up above was a rock?"
Hothan nodded. "More like a shaped rock, from a building. It had been chiseled." Kiara looked at Cerise and the others. "This is the same-look at the tool marks." "Someone meant for the chimney to be plugged. They meant for us to suffocate," Alle said quietly.
The seventh bells tolled outside. Macaria jumped up. "I'm due to meet with Carroway and the bards," she said, rushing into Cerise's room to change clothes. "I'll find out if they've heard anything-or seen anyone around the rooftop. And I promise to bring back fresh pastries if cook hasn't sent some up by then." Macaria slipped past the guards and into the hallway.
"What now?" Alle asked. "One of us has been in the rooms at all times." Kiara took the rock and dropped it down the garderobe. "Who came near the fireplace?" Alle frowned. "When I've been in the rooms, only the servants who deliver the firewood. Macaria and I take turns leaving for meals, but it's usually the same two men who bring the wood and set the fire morning and evening."
"Did you notice anything different? Did they spend longer than usual or do anything out of the ordinary?" Cerise asked.
Alle thought for a moment, and then shook her head. "I have to admit-so long as they came in and went straight to the fireplace and left without touching anything, I didn't hover over them. I don't remember them acting oddly."
"To most of us, servants are nearly invisible," Cerise said quietly. "That makes them the perfect spies-and the perfect assassins."
"No one asked to enter your rooms except for the fire starters, and the kitchen servant who brought up your supper," Ammond said. "I agree with Lady Alle. It was the same two men who usually come, and there was nothing about it that stood out in my mind." Kiara looked to Ammond. "See if you can find the servants who brought the wood yesterday-morning and evening. Say that the logs were too green and didn't burn well. Or you might say I didn't like the way the fire was set. Anything to give you an excuse to see if the two regular fire starters made the rounds yesterday and whether anyone is acting suspiciously. We probably can't prove who did this, but perhaps we'll flush out some information."
"Done, m'lady," Ammond said with a bow, quickly leaving the room. "Now, we wait," Kiara said, glancing at Alle, who nodded. "Whoever did this will know something went wrong once it's clear we're not dead. If we're lucky, he or she will double back to figure out what happened. And if we're not lucky. maybe whoever's behind this will wait a while before trying something else."
Ammond returned within a candlemark. "I found one of the fire starters," he reported. "Caught up with him when he came back to the woodshed for another load. His name is Lasset, and he's been at the palace all his life, except for when he ran away last year to hide from Jared. He's an older man, and he was most distressed that m'lady was unhappy with her fire," Ammond said. "Once I got him to stop apologizing, he mentioned that he hadn't seen Sarrey-that's his partner-since last night. Seems Sarrey missed making the rounds this morning, and left Lasset
with the whole job. He says he doesn't do your rooms until after tenth bells in case m'lady