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Audra’s words echoed in her mind then.‘You will come to learn that most things to be feared exist in life, not in death…’

Bile rose in Thea’s throat. She wouldn’t die. Not until she was twenty-seven, but… There were worse fates than death.Years of torture. Imprisonment…She’d hurled a knife at the king for gods’ sake. They’d think she was anassassin. But there hadn’t beentime– she’d used whatever she had to save him.

The guards were brutal, yanking her arms back so hard they nearly tore from their sockets —

‘Wait,’ the king commanded.

The guards froze in place, but did not loosen their hold on her.

The king motioned to a wiry man who had been lingering near the curtains behind him.

‘Did you try the wine?’ the king asked, his voice deadly soft.

The king’s cupbearer, Thea realised with a start. She hadn’t even considered that there would be someone to test the king’s food and drink. She’d made a mistake.

‘Yes, of course, Your Majesty.’

‘When?’ the king asked.

‘When the wine was served, Your Grace.’

Thea’s heart sank. The fate that awaited her now was not one that had been carved in stone, but one borne of her rash actions, her recklessness.

‘Try it again.’ The king’s voice was hard.

‘Sire?’ The cupbearer blinked, wide-eyed at the monarch.

‘Try it again.’

Thea tensed, watching the cupbearer’s trembling hands reach for the decanter.

‘Use my goblet,’ King Artos instructed.

Face paling, the cupbearer bent down to retrieve it from the floor. With all eyes upon him, he poured the rich, garnet liquid into the goblet, his lips moving in prayer as he did. He looked to the king a final time.

King Artos merely waited.

The cupbearer took a deep breath and closed his eyes, raising the goblet to his lips. He drank deeply, as was required.

The entire hall was transfixed, Thea almost forgotten amidst the theatrics, though her arms throbbed from where the guards gripped her.

The cupbearer lowered the goblet, his shoulders sagging with relief.

A silent cry caught in Thea’s throat, her heart seizing as she realised that she’d made a harrowing mistake, she’d condemned herself —

The cupbearer spluttered, his brow furrowing in confusion as he clapped a hand over his mouth, embarrassed.

Thea didn’t dare move.

‘I apologise, my king —’ He coughed again, a ragged rasping sound before he swayed on his feet, his eyes red-rimmed.

The cupbearer staggered, clenching the table linens in his fists as he choked, spittle foaming at the swollen corners of his mouth.

He vomited blood, collapsing face-first onto the king’s table.

More guards rushed forward, surrounding the king, while others hauled the cupbearer back to examine him, recoiling at what they found.

His parted lips were blue.