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"Excellent" Maris s? ’Tis he who concerns me the most…besides h fro for a chaarderobe" Maris stifled a giggle

"What did you put in the food, my lady?"

"’Tis a plant called broones, for one of the old brooms in the kitchen had bristles made from the plant The dried branches, with leaves and flowers, may be steeped and used for medicinal purposes Yet, my mentor, Good Venny, alarned that ’tis an herb that reat power It causes the body to--ah--dispose of its contents in a violent h it won’t kill them, it will likely cause more than one to wish for death It was a ht to use until I saw the broom"

"Do you not think Lord Bon will suspect ’twas you that poisoned the nes

Maris rose from her prone position on the bed "Nay, for I told him that the meat stank, and that mayhap some of it was prepared for supper Then, I made myself sick upon Sir Dirick’s fine leather boots" She drew the tattered tapestry back fro with satisfaction that the sun had nearly set "Is all in readiness?"

"Aye I have hidden the foodstuffs I purchased in the village with your ring, my lady, and a mount awaits us near the hidden entrance to the keep"

Maris turned in surprise, delight spanning her face "A nes, how on earth…?"

"The stable reat feat to convince him that I plan to escape with a lover now that h tih a trunk and pulled a large leather pouch from its depths Inside were two heavy cloaks she’d found in the piles of clothing Bon had er she’d sneaked into her sleeve earlier that day

As the toroan frones and carefully opened the door

Dirick was doubled up on the floor, his face pasty with pain and glistening with sweat When he heard the oaken door creak open, he struggled to sit, but the pain that wracked his abdomen had obviously weakened hi that he had not chosen to leave his post when the sickness struck

Maris tried to slip past hith to snatch under the herated, comprehension in his face "By God, wones hurried past, but Maris, still caught by the ankle and not wishing to led to free herself "I had no choice," she told him, confident that he was too weak to stop the arm trembled with the effort to hold her and she saw a ripple of pain cross his face "Papa would not be here soon enough" With her other foot, she kicked at his hand, but his grip did not loosen "Releaseto claw at the arrab her wrist "Have you poisoned littered "Have you poisoned the whole keep in your haste to escape?" He could barely force the words forth and he yanked her down to her knees next to his prone body

Her face was nearly in his, and her long hair caught in the sweat on his cheek For a ret washed over her that he should be in such pain because of her doing

Then sanity reigned, and she pulled with all of her strength Dirick, weakened beyondbackward onto the floor Scra care to pull her skirts out of reach froers, she stared down at hi a foul curse as his arms crossed over his belly as if to hold the pain at bay

"Witch…" The asher skirts and the leather pouch, Maris forced herself to turn frones’s wake

Then she stopped, whirling at the top "You are not poisoned," she told hiet All will be well ere the h I doubt to see your deceitful face again, if I do, I shall see you pay for this treatain and hurried down the narrow stone steps, leaving hi Dirick remembered before he succumbed to the pain was Maris’s caustic words

And that defiant threat was the first thing to coained his faculties many hours later He kneas ht caling to his feet with the rough wall as his prop, Dirick tried to s to moisten his bone dry throat He’d lost count of how many times he’d voh the night Froreeted him as he made his way to the steps, others afflicted with Maris’s poison had not found their way to a garderobe either