Potions Master Chapter 5:
I have Chapter 6 conceived conceptually and I've started outlining it. I hope to get it ready faster than it took me to finish this one. Please send feedback and any suggestions. Thanks for reading!
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By Jon McGee, cottagecore.stories@gmail.com
My first test as House Brooks' Potions Master came two months into my tenure at Castle Gloucester.
Relations between the Crown and the Southern States had long been strained, but as I settled into my Position, that tension threatened to break. At the Southern States' request, the Queen tasked Prince Linden with finding an enduring peace, or waging war to accomplish one if necessary.
"This disunion has gone on too long," said the Queen. "I will have it ended. The Southron Duchies request that you mediate their grievances, Prince Linden. Resolve this as you will. We have the Southern people, but these Lords and Ladies are tiresome. They must be resolved before your coronation."
With not much more than a year before he would take the Throne, all who knew of the Queen's charge understood that this was the Prince's final task to prepare him to be King.
The Prince assembled a Small Council to advise him. I was surprised to be included, with Lore Master Skylar, Colonel Fletcher of the Royal Army, and Vice Admiral Morrow of the Royal Navy. The Prince appointed others to advise and assist, but we four served as Council. Save me, all were experienced hands in the Southern States. I felt decidedly out of place, but I soon learned why Prince Linden asked me to participate.
"Poison," explained the Prince. "It is not well known, but the Southern States are said to settle their grievances with poisons. We would have your advice on such matters since We will likely travel South to resolve these matters."
"Must you travel?" asked Colonel Fletcher. "You are the sole heir to the Brooks Line. Were you to fall, the Line would end. Traveling South would veritably invite your assassination. Of course the Order of Succession is clear, but even so, without you, the Kingdom would descend into chaos, and the South would slip away."
"Some would have me remain here, protected in Fortress Gloucester," said the Prince. "The South's schemes undermine the Crown and its Lords and Ladies sneer that I hide behind the Queen's skirts. I hear your concerns, Colonel, and of course, you are correct: this trip will be dangerous. But a King who cannot travel where he wishes does not rule. I will go South and Master Green, you will keep me alive."
"Poisoners!" I spat. "Contemptable and cowardly!" There was some element of showmanship in every Royal interaction.
The Council tutted its agreement.
"But are these just rumors, my Prince? We all have heard of stereotypes of one State or another. It is not commonly said that the Southerners poison."
"Thus, your first job," said the Prince. "This was a theory of my father's. Prove or disprove it. I would have you work with Master Skylar. Before traveling South, I will know the truth of it and have your solutions."
Master Skyler moved us forward. "I have compiled a dossier of notable deaths in the last three generations of the Southern Courts. Untimely deaths, convenient deaths, unexpected deaths, and deaths that make no sense or too much sense."
The Price explained, "You will work with Skylar to determine which deaths could be from poisonings, and which poisons are favored by whom, and what antidotes will allow me to avoid meeting the same cowardly end."
Weeks of study followed.
The Prince opened our next Working Group with some history, mostly for my sake, I am sure.
"The Southern States continue to bear deep resentment for their Conquest a century ago," he said. "To most, Queen Rue's Consolidation made good sense. Why have two realms when one would serve all, and better? But the Southern Courts never true gave their allegiance to the Crown, as much as their subjects benefitted."
Master Skyler continued. "As King Rowan's health began its decline when the Prince was but a boy, Duke Reed of Granite State sensed weakness." I knew the general contours of Duke Reed's Rebellion, but not the details.
"On the cusp of winter," Prince Linden explained, "when snow and ice would soon seal the Southern Road through the Granite Range, Duke Reed announced the purported succession of the Southern States: Granite, Copper, Quarry, Iron, and Lead. In their Proclamation, the Southerners claimed again to be the South Kingdom, no longer subject to the Crown's Authority."
Colonel Fletcher picked up the narrative. "Despite his waning energies, King Rowan struck back, harder and faster than the Southrons expected. Winter came late that year, to the traitors' dismay. Before the passes closed, I led three Royal battalions of cavalry followed by an equal number of infantry deep into South. We laid siege to Southern States' capitols."
Vice Admiral Morrow continued. "Within a week, the Royal Navy blockaded the Southern ports of Iron, Copper, and Lead. We deprived them of food and trade, just as winter began to bite. Royal Marines took the beaches of Iron and the Copper. As Winter took hold, the Crown solidifies its position."
Master Skyler, born in the South, explained, "The rest of the Kingdom rallied behind the Crown. The Northern and Central States supplied troops and equipage. The Crown hardened its supply lines to wait for Spring."
"While the insurrectionists hid behind their walls," said Colonel Fletcher, "the Southern folk suffered mightily. But for Royal supplies, many and more would have starved or frozen."
"My father King Rowan was fading as winter gave way to spring," said Prince Linden. "However, he dashed the Rebellion's hopes of a power vacuum when he named my mother, Queen Holly, Queen Regent, with Absolute Authority to execute Royal Power when King Rowan was indisposed, from his grant until my coronation will divest her of Authority."
"Again, a miscalculation by the Southern Courts," said Master Skylar.
"They knew the Queen Regent as soft, a product of the wealthy North. Courtly and demure, as she was indeed. Wrongly, they did not expect her to have the metal to rule."
"Fools," laughed the Prince. "She was more ruthless than my father."
"As spring advanced, the Queen Regent was unyielding," continued Colonel Fletcher. "First, she issued an open letter to the Duchies the Southern States."
"Renounce this Insurrection,' she demand," said Master Skyler. "Do so, and you will be readmitted to the Kingdom, with punishment commensurate with your crimes. Reject this offer at your peril. This is your one chance.' The letter promised the gallows for insurrectionist leaders and Attainder and Banishment for their Houses."
"We knew from the winter past that the subjects of the Southern States did not support the rebellion," said the Prince. "The Crown had shown the Southern citizens generosity, and they reward us with their support."
"Of the insurrectionists," said Colonel Fletcher, "only House Lead stood down. House Minewrath was wealthy through trade with the Western Islands. The Duke joined the insurrection with some reluctance, it was said. Dreams of independence clouded his better judgment, perhaps."
"When faced with the Royal Navy and the gibbet," said the Master, nodding to Vice Admiral Morrow, "he gave up on the futile war. He paid a massive fine and agreed to a Sedition Duty that he continues to pay to this day. He sent his three sons to foster with Loyalists in the North, and was release from further penalty."
"Such is the way of insurrection," said the Prince to knowing nods by his military advisors. "I know why his life was spared, but I now regret it nonetheless. Perhaps we should have left him a son. Now, he is trouble."
"It must be said, the insurrection showed the Crown who our friends were," Master Skyler said. "Duke Wrathwroth, the wealthiest noble and largest estate-holder of Granite State, quartered the Crown's Officers overwinter and provided ample supplies. Lady Wrathwater of State Iron did the same, assigning her Builders to help the Royal Marines block the Road out of Granite State, further isolating States Quarry and Lead. There were others."
"They are an angry lot, these Southern Lords and Ladies," I observed idly.
"One by one," said the Prince, "the remaining Southern States fell."
"First Quarry," said Master Skyler. "Landlocked and without resources other than stone and ore, it had no supplies to sustain a fight."
Colonel Fletcher scoffed. "The soldiers threw down their arms at our approach. Inside the castle, we found the Rockwraths starving, the rats all eaten and the leathers boiled for soup. Lord Rockwrath hung from the castle gate. The Rockwrath family and the families of its Court were Attainted and then Banished with naught but the clothes on their backs and what little they could carry."
The Prince concluded, "Duke Wrothstone was appointed Regent. Next fell State Copper."
Vice Admiral Morrow explained: "Lord Rainwroth and his family, and what little of his Court remained, were lost at sea when they sought to run the Royal Blockade. A nasty storm raged that night, and the traitors thought to maneuver their corsair between our Royal Frigates and the cliffs of Cape Harm. The ship broke apart on the cape's Teeth. None survived."
"House Rainwroth was no more," said the Prince. "The Queen appointed an ancient offshoot of House Rainwroth, House Rainwrath, to serve as Interim Regent. Duchess Rainwrath attended the Queen following King Rowan's coronation and had passed the Crown valuable intelligence in the weeks before the insurrection."
Colonel Fletcher resumed the Lore. "With State Copper subdued, Lord Minister Archer sent half the Marines from Castle Copper to Castle Granite, reinforced by two Northern Battalions that crossed the Granite Road. The rest of us besieged the Iron Palace. Neither fight ended quickly."
Master Skyler: "In State Iron, the Crown's trebuchets eventually reduced the Iron Walls to scrap and rubble. The Builders diverted the Iron River. With the moat gone and the walls down, the palace guards surrendered. Their lives were spared."
"Lord Codsworth was hung," said the Prince, "his line Attainted and his immediate family Banished. His younger brother, who had fostered in State Clearwater during the rebellion and purportedly a Loyalist, was named Lord Regent. We have come to regret his appointment."
To the nods of all around the table, Master Skyler said, "Duke Reed proved the toughest nut to crack."
Vice Admiral Morrow explained, "Castle Granite stood on an island in the midst of the vast Granite Lake. Hundreds of fathoms deep, it never froze over. Before the siege began, Duke Reed pulled down his bridges. Archers and wall-mounted onagers and ballistae had the advantage of height, so we could not rebuild the bridges without calamitous loss."
"Infinite lake fish, fresh and cured in the castle's holds, promised a long fight, even after the Royal Navy sunk Duke Reed's schooners," said Master Skyler. "The castle seemed impenetrable."
"The castle was impenetrable," said Prince Linden. "As summer waned and cold crept down the mountains, the Queen's advisors began to consider dire measures. The Grand Mage suggested outlandish spells, and the Grand Potions Master's ideas were too gruesome to consider, cruel and indiscriminate and apt to escape the castle to the ruin of us all." I shuddered, imagining what must have been suggested.
"Still," said Colonel Fletcher, "something had to be done. The war had stripped the Southern States of resources and was straining the entire kingdom. Forests had been felled to build siege equipment, crops had gone unplanted, breeding stock slaughtered for food. As the battle dragged on, the Southern Citizens faced another winter of wolves and crows."
"It was Prince Linden who solved the problem, or so it is said," said Master Skyler.
Prince Linden acknowledged the rumor with a nod. "I attended all War Councils, although I was told that I was there only to observe. Still, one afternoon, as the Queen's advisors made ever-more unrealistic proposals, I spoke. The Queen was being poorly advised, or so I believed."
"Your advice proved correct," said Vice Admiral Morrow.
"The War Council could only think to attack. I asked why," said the Prince. "Only the Queen took my question seriously. Her ministers did not know their lore. Even the Grand Lore Master was unaware that every time Castle Granite has pulled down its bridges and hid behind the Granite Wall, the castle was defeated with time, not might."
"The Grand Lore Master was from the North," explained Master Skylar, "an expert in economic development and Statecraft."
Said the Prince, "I explained to the Queen that the last time Castle Granite was laid siege, during the Conquest, Queen Rue had built a navy on the shores of Lake Granite, only to have her ships smashed to driftwood by wall-mounted siegecraft. Lore Masters Wyann and Dauber documented the battle extensively."
"Sources obscure, to be sure," mused Master Skylar, "unless you are seeking Southern Military Lore."
"After losing her Granite Navy, Queen Rue chose not to attack frontally. She imposed a strict blockade. Nothing was allowed into the castle and nothing made it out. The Crown installed hawkers and falconers on boats and barges, to take down the messenger birds the archers missed. After two years, Castle Granite sued for peace."
"During those two years," Master Skyler continued, "Queen Rue helped to rebuild the Southern States. She supplied food, brought in breeding stocks and seeds, helped to replant orchards and forests felled in the war. The ruined ports in States Iron, Copper, and Lead were rebuilt and trade began again. By the time House Granite surrendered, Queen Rue was loved across the South."
"This was the third time in recorded history that patience rather than might conquered Castle Granite," said Prince Linden. "Master Greensmiths wrote of a similar result perhaps eight generations before Conquest. Master Arkwright too, many years before that. In all instances, it was time and patience that prevailed, not attack. I reasoned that even if they did not sue for peace, they would bleed to death from their gums over time. Fish can only feed so much.'"
Master Skyler drew down the focus. "Castle Granite lasted through the winter before Duke Reed's Chamber Guard slew him in his bed. Through Attainted and Banished, the rest of House Reed was allowed to live, if expelled from the Kingdom. But they banked large sums in the Southern Islands, from where they now foment trouble."
"At least we no longer have Castle Granite to contend with," said Prince Linden.
"Another of your ideas, if rumors are to be believed." asked Master Skyler.
The Prince nodded grimly. "It was my suggestion to tear down that accursed fortress. The wall first and then the castle. Store by stone. Our Builders left naught but the watery foundation and steam works as a reminder for those who would defy the Crown. We used the stones for Good Works. Improved roads, bridges across the Granite River, sawmills and grain works and the like."
"It brought peace for a time," said Vice Admiral Morrow.
"And the love of the Southern Citizens," noted Master Skyler.
"But not the Dukes and Duchesses," said the Prince. "My Queen Mother insists that another rebellion may be upon us and I agree. Give us your report, Lord Minister Fletcher."
"As I believe you all know, Duchess Regent Wrathwroth will rule Granite State until her Step Daughter Lily comes of age two years hence. Today, Duke Rainwrath leads Copper, Duchess Wrothstone Quarry, Duke Codsworth Iron, and Duchess Minewrath Lead. All have sworn fealty to the Crown."
"Yet are not believed to be loyal today," I said, perhaps naively.
"They were loyal," said Prince Linden, "to a State. As you may know, I fostered in their courts, two months in each, as is our tradition. I sat beside these lords and ladies, learned the workings of their Courts, saw their approach to power and the Crown. I was young, in my teens, but each of these lords honored the Crown, though some not dearly."
"But it appears, no more," said Colonel Fletcher grimly.
"No, not if reports are to be believed," sighed the Prince. "We have been told by our Loyal Infiltrators in the Southern Courts to expect an Entreaty seeking an end to Duke's Reed's Sanctions and a path towards independence."
"And if the Crown rejects the South's Entreaty?" I asked.
"We have word that State Iron has increased ore production threefold. State Lead is selling its reserves to the Southern Islands to build up capital. With the end of the Troubles in the Southern Islands, sell swords come cheap. Further. we have heard that the port states are building dreadnaughts in a secret shipyards in the Reaches of Lake Granite."
"Another insurrection, then," I said. "How senseless. What motivates them?"
"Some of the same old grievances," said Master Skyler. "Although the families installed in place of the Insurrectionists were Loyalists, they also all hail from ancient Southron families. They resent the Crown. It's in their bones, the damned fools. Add to that the fines and tithes imposed following the Rebellion, and they have come to conclude that the Crown is unjust, tyrannical even."
"There is also outside agitation," said Vice Admiral Marrow. "House Reed, of course, and others."
"Then there is the matter of ambition," said Master Skyler. "Duke Wrathwroth was as loyal a partner as the Crown could want in Granite State, but he died shortly after the Peace was finalized. His second wife, the current Duchess Wrathwroth, serves as Regent for Lily Wrathwroth, the Duke's only child from his first wife, for whom the Duchess bears no love. She is said to want to name her own son Duke, and serve as Regent until he comes of age."
The Prince scoffed. "She knows that the Crown would never countenance a second-borne stepping ahead of the true Lady Wrathwroth." He chuckled darkly and added, "not that Lily Wrathwrorth would step aside while she still draws breath."
"She is said to be high-spirited," said Skylar.
The prince laughed again. "Indeed she is," he said with genuine admiration. "We were friends when I fostered in her father's Court."
"Lastly," said the Prince somewhat wearily, "there is my role in all this."
"You, Prince Linden?" asked Vice Admiral Morrow. "Whatever can you mean?" We other advisors shared confused looks.
"I fear that during my Fostering in the Southern States, I did not make a strong impression. According to our Whisperers, they think me callow, weak, and vain. I gave them some cause, I admit, though it is foolish to judge a man at nearly 20 for the boy he was at 14. They seek to test my mettle now."
As the Council felt to be concluding, the Prince asked for my Poison report. "If I am to travel to the South, I must be prepared."
"You will be, Your Majesty," I said. "While we have no hard evidence of poisoning, I believe that there were at least seventeen cases of poison used to settle significant disputes among the Southern States in the past twenty-five years, and fifty-odd more in the preceding decades."
"So many?" asked the Prince.
"Indeed," I said, "and likely more. Perhaps many more. The seventeen cases of which I speak are almost certainly poisonings. There are a number of other deaths where the age of the decedent, or the circumstance of death, leave open too many questions, but I suspect due to the surrounding circumstances they were also poisoning."
"Blazes," swore the Prince, looking agitated. "What can be done?" I had never seen the Prince flustered before.
"Much and more, Your Majesty," I said to calm him. "The important news first: I am aware of no poison likely to be used against you for which I cannot brew an antidote. Nasty works to be sure, and deadly serious, but all either too obvious to use against Your Royal Person or subject to general antidotes. I will supply you with everything you need to protect you when you travel south."
"Nonsense," said the Prince with finality. "When I go south, you will accompany me. It is time we put your riding training to the test, Master Green. Now, tell me more of these poisons."
"Some few, nearly half, were obvious," I explained. "Inter-family quarrels where not much notice would be had. Ambitious younger siblings, mainly, but a few jealous lovers. The deaths were written off as food poisoning or accidents or illness. Whatever the substance, usually belladonna or bloodroot tincture, these are too blatant for us to fear."
"Blatant?" asked the Prince. "You mean, unlikely to be used against me because it would be obvious that I was poisoned."
"Exactly, my Prince," I said. "The Southern States cannot want open warfare, which would surely result if you were obviously assassinated, through poison or otherwise."
"The Queen would wipe them off the Island," said Colonel Archer.
The Prince nodded, asking "what of the other poisonings, the less obvious ones?"
"There are two prime candidates. The first is quentintine. Three weeks to the day after ingestion, the victim dies of an apparent attack of the heart."
"You told my mother of this, did you not?" asked the Prince.
I nodded. "You must drink no wine mulled with mace, Your Majesty, for those are the activating ingredients. It kills only when warm, so you need not fear a cooled potion with your dinner. There is no proven antidote, although I have some ideas."
"I detest mulled wine," smiled the Price, "so that will be easy."
"A happy coincidence," I said. "Master Skylar was able to document six instances where a convenient death occurred precisely three weeks after a banquet or other gathering at which mulled wine was likely served. Hunting parties, winter balls, that sort of thing."
The prince nodded thoughtfully. "That leaves three others, unless my math is wrong," he said.
"Three deaths," I agreed. "All from madness or mania some time after we suspect they were dosed. I deem this poison unlikely as well," I said.
"Too obvious?" he asked.
"There is no history of such conditions in the Brooks Line nor your mother's family. It would be a step removed from blatant assassination, but likely not enough to protect the South."
"And what of the others, where you suspect but cannot establish a poisoning?" asked the Prince. "Is there anything new I should fear?"
"You should fear nothing, My Prince," I said. "I have seen no poison—proven or suspected—that I cannot cure, most of all prophylactically."
The Prince exhaled. "That gives me peace," he said.
"Then I am sorry for what I say next. Of the known and suspected poisons used in the South, I have no concern. What does concern me are those poisons unused in the South and perhaps unused before on our Island."
"Tell me more," said the Prince.
"I will start to say we are fortunate. There are few substances that can have the desired effect—a single or few administrations, resulting in death or incapacity some time later. Most either act immediately or require a long course of administration. However, using the Royal and Guild Libraries, I have identified two long-acting poisons we must prepare against."
The king sighed.
"Don't worry, my Prince. Neither are likely and I have a solution to each. The first, the cantarella powder, which can kill weeks after ingestion. It is sprinkled on food or drink, brushed onto a cheek you would kiss, or even mixed into the wax of a candle. Inhale the poisoned smoke and die. However, it is a lethal mix and not likely to be used against you. The dose would need to be precise to not kill instantly."
"And the second?" asked the Prince.
"A bit trickier,' I said, "but I am not terribly concerned. Aqua Tofana is said to be colorless, tasteless, and odorless. It too can kill instantly or weeks after ingestion, but it is more forgiving than cantarella powder. I have already brewed the antidote, which is similar to the Common Antidote but requires a little more finesse."
"You expect me to be poisoned, don't you," asked the Prince.
"will treat you as if you will be poisoned," I said, "but I hope you are not. The antidotes of which I speak cause you no harm to consume, and counteract all common poisons and most uncommon as well. You will not meet harm from a poisoner while I am present," I promised.
"I hope to be able to hold you to that promise," said the Prince. "My mother surely will."
And so, as Spring crept up the Granite Mountains, we made out way South on the Royal Road.
I considered what was to come.
Snow and ice still rendered the Southern Road impassable, but it would be cleared by the time our company reached the Great Pass, or so wrote the Royal Builders tasked with clearing our way.
We were escorted South by a company of the First Royal Cavalry and preceded by two companies of the First Royal Infantry, which had established fortified camps at each stop we would make along the way.
Once over the Great Pass, we would make our way to Castle Clearwater at the head of the Clearwater Valley, the seat of the last Loyalist State before the South. There, the Prince would meet the Southern Council, as the Southern Duchies had styled their leadership group, for the Prince to issue his decision on the Petition.
The Petition, we all agreed, had been drafted to ensure the Prince's rejection. It proposed ending all sanctions related to Duke Reed's Rebellion effective at the end of the present year and setting a schedule for the Southern States' succession from the Kingdom in five years' time.
Following the Rebellion, the Crown had claimed title to all lands and properties owned by the Attainted Houses. Royal Caretakers were installed and the Prince reported that the lands generated the Crown enormous Royalties, which the Southern States resented, even if the Crown used many of the proceeds for improvements in the Southern States.
The Petition claimed right to all these Royal Properties, as well as all equipment and material of each property, and offered nothing in exchange.
Left unstated but clearly implied, was the Council's threat of war. So naked was the Council's affront to Royal Authority that the Petition made no attempt to justify its demand, save the desire for the end of war duties and self-rule. The Queen was ready to call her armies, but the Prince used that to his advantage.
"I will take your Petition under consideration," the Prince wrote to the Council. "But know this now, before you hear my formal response: the Petition it is not a productive starting point. Rather, it is naked affront to Royal Authority. I want peace, as you may also desire, but know that the Kingdom stands behind the Crown, as do most of your gentry and commoners."
He continued: "If there will be war, do not expect the Queen Regent's leniency from me. I will present my fuller Response when we meet in the Spring. In the meantime, I invite you to reconsider your Petition."
Although the Prince and the Southern Council continued to correspond over the winter, it was all diplomatic niceties and logistics. The Petition remained unchanged.
As we rode south, I carried with me a heavy supply of the Common and Uncommon Antidotes, as well as more obscure brews and supplies and equipment to make more.
The Royal Mage had also been at work. On his right index, the Price wore a plain silver band set with an amethyst crystal and etched inside with runes of detection and healing. The ring was enchanted to heat if the prince held any food or drink that might sicken him, whether adulterated or simply unwholesome. The Prince had his doubts, but with my potions, the Crown felt reasonably comfortable in the Prince's safety.
The Prince invited me to share his tent on our journey South. We had each brought a few tomes to read along they way. I carried manuals of ancient Southron potions and the Prince brought Royal Tomes dealing with the Southern Conquest. Master Skylar joined us during the evenings with reading of his own.
The night before we would reach the Great Pass, I asked the Prince, "is it true that the road is not yet cleared?"
The Prince looked up from the volume he was reading, which describing building the Southern Road that connected the Kingdom following the conquest. "The road was cleared," he said, "but an avalanche and rockslide buried it again this morning. It will take some days to re-clear the way."
"Then, I wonder," I asked the Prince, "would like to accompany me on what may be an adventure tomorrow night?"
"What sort of adventure?" he asked, his interest piqued.
"Unicorns," I said.