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Not much I could do about it now

“I gave you that elixir in good faith It was supposed to be distributed to the sickest a you Why wasn’t it?”

“Well, it was,” the h on her coiffed head “We cured all the sickest we had, and it worked like a charm”

I pointed to the door—I was doing an awful lot of pointing in this village “The guy I just ran into out there was not the sickest in this village Not even remotely There are people on their deathbeds in the cheap section You should’ve given it to them first”

An older ray co lady, his highness gave us the…elixir in good faith, not you And his highness knows that in our tithe we have a certain way of doing things The villagers who offer the e will receive it before those who offer the least”

Rage boiled and bubbled It coiled within

Brain him, my animal said Twist off his head and kick it around

No Physical violence won’t work here They think with their pockets They don’t like sharing

“Fair enough,” I said, and I felt Nyfain’s surprise “There are a couple of things you should know First, the nulling elixir doesn’t work forever It’s a patch A good patch, but a patch nonetheless It doesn’t cure You will never stop needing it, and eventually they’ll die anyway When they get close to death’s door, you’ll need it et it—with the best leaves available”

Slick spread his hands “We understand We thank the prince for his generosity”

“Second,” I said with a senerosity will come at a cost If you want more, or if you want instruction, you will pay for it I’ll accept your coin or your trade on an as-needed basis”

His expression froze Everyone else’s eyes darted around Sh the bond

“You should also know this,” I continued “I will be donating my time and services to those less fortunate I will personally help the with an experimental recipe for those on death’s door I will do this for free until this council decides to create and distribute the nulling elixir as I have requested If I hear that any of you have ventured into the poorer areas to take what they have made, or to interfere in any way, I will kill you”

The room froze now, all eyes on , their gazes drifted to Nyfain

He dropped his hands to the ar this dee rents and taxes are to be frozen until such a tinored, I ithdraw the crown’s aid and leave you to succumb to the sickness” He stood and placed his hand on the small of my back “I back the royal healer’s efforts and stand by her decisions I will be her broker if you decide to go that route” He paused for a h the room