Morning all. I hope you are having a fantastic Thursday thus far. I am ready to get this day started. Mostly because after I get this day started I can have my coffee. So let’s jump into the prompt. Timers set and off we go.
I think I am going to spend some time with Eloise.
Thursday, October 3rd: Eloise knew that she had been poisoned.
Eloise knew that she had been poisoned She could feel it in her eins and taste the tang of it on her lips. She had experimented with enough dangerous concoctions to know what certain poisons tasted like. She always had the antidote on hand and made certain to only taste the barest amount, never swallowing and thus remaining safe. She had been unable to resist knowing what these deadly concoctions tasted like.
Some of course were too dangerous to be able to do this with, even with the antidot around to prevent actual death, the side effects weren’t things she was willing to risk. Those she knew by description only. Admittedly most of those descriptions had come from Albrecht’s Book of Poisons. Johan Albrecht had an ample supply of political prisoners at his disposal due to the despotic king he served. He poisoned and then questioned many of them. There was always the possibility they were lying of course, but as he was also testing out antidotes, antidotes he was only willing to give his cooperative test subjects, she thought most of the descriptions were reasonable.
The one she tasted now, she knew from her own tasting. It was one of the lesser fatal ones, the antidote well known and usually stocked in most places people were likely to come across it. She had a secret stash of antidote. The trick was getting to it before the poison progressed too far. Even as she thought about it, she managed to make it up to her bedroom. She entered the room and moved to the secret drawer she had carved in the back side of the decorative fireplace. The small cache was big enough for only one vial. She had different antidotes stored in different places of course, but this was the one she needed. She pressed the button, slid out the vial, drank it down and put the empty vial back. She clicked the hidden space closed again and retrieved her wrist knives from her night stand. She buckled the set of slim knives on her wrist, knowing there wasn’t much time. Someone would check soon.
She tugged her shirt sleeve down to hide the knives and moved to her small writing desk. She took out a sheet of parchment and dipped her quill in the ink well. She lifted the pen filled with ink and made certain to dribble some ink along the page. She could feel the burning fading as the antidote took hold, but she also knew of the symptoms she would be facing at the moment as the poison ran it’s course.
She could practically see the description form Albrect’s book before her eyes. She started to write, miking sure her letters were shaky, meandering slightly down the page instead of running in straight lines across.
‘To the Proctor of the Eastern District. I have been poisoned. The man who poisoned me…’
She heard the footsteps on the stairs. A heavy tread. She knew the time was near. She saw him come. He entered the room and stood framed in the doorway. He smiled.
“Perfect placement,” he said. He walked over. She knew that after the shaking would come paralysis. She let her hand shake and then slow. Her tongue would be numb at this point. She tried to look as though she was talking. He smiled down at her and took the quill from her fingers and the parchment from the desk. He set down a second piece arf parchment, the letters already written in a hand that looked like hers. Here set the quill beside it.
“I’ll just leave it to finish you off,” he said. He patted her shoulder and turned and walked away. She heard his steps descend the steps. She glanced at the page and saw it was a suicide note. She sucked in a deep breath and let herself fall to the side, tumbling out of the chair. She heard his laughter come from below and then the sound of the front door opening and closing. She lay still, waiting to see if he was truly gone or if it was just a ruse.
Ten til Midnight 