Chapter Two: One Cup Kills Three Men

Cassian’s eyes hardened. Lain broke it over his cup. The wine boiled black. The poison was real. But it was in Lain’s cup, not the shattered jug. The killer had touched the tableware beforehand; the servant, vial, and spilled wine had been distractions. Herbert pointed wildly at Mordred. “The Office of Ceremony controls the cups! The marquis told me—” A thin red ray pierced his throat. Smoke curled from Mordred’s ring. Herbert fell. The servant bit a poison capsule hidden in his tooth and collapsed. As Tarren backed away, Cassian’s guards put steel to his neck—the merchant’s guarantee was enough to detain him. One cup removed three men from the board. Herbert was dead. The servant was dead. Tarren’s political life was dead, at least for now.