CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Contains spoilersOverview
In the immediate aftermath of the poisoned dessert, Violet orchestrated a counter-leverage using arinmint she had secretly served earlier, while Xaden and Trager fought to keep Garrick alive. Faris refused to yield the antidote, forcing Violet to hunt the kitchen for clues. She identified the cook as the poisoner and deduced a blue-tinged ingredient tied to overripe fruit and errisbirds, but during the confrontation the cook injured Ridoc with a thrown knife. The house descended into chaos as Mira locked down exits and the triumvirate began violently reacting to Violet’s toxin.
Summary
As Garrick collapsed from the poisoned cake, Xaden laid him on the floor and began rescue breathing while Aaric monitored a weakening heartbeat. Violet demanded answers from Faris, who smirked and refused to identify the poison. Talia was horrified to learn that Faris had staged this “test” at her request, while Nairi and Roslyn pushed away their plates and Mira prepared for a fight.
Violet smelled Garrick’s cake and detected a sickly-sweet note like sun-rotted fruit. With Garrick turning blue, she promised Xaden she would find the poison. Faris taunted her, and Violet revealed she had already poisoned the hosts earlier with arinmint tea before dinner, describing the coming symptoms as vomiting progressing to blood. Nairi began retching, confirming Violet’s leverage. Faris still refused to concede, claiming he could outlast them and have guards search for an antidote, but the house shook with dragon roars as Violet warned she had riders, fliers, gryphons, and dragons at her back.
Trager arrived to assist, coordinating with Xaden to maintain Garrick’s respiration while calling for stronger cardiac output via compressions. Recognizing Faris would not yield, Violet shifted tactics and asked Mira to secure the house. Mira deployed their team to seal all three exits, while Violet sent Dain to fetch her father’s Hedotis field guide from her room.
Violet and Ridoc pushed into the kitchen, confronted a ring of servants, and traced the cook to a pantry. When Violet demanded the poison in Hedotic, the cook drew a knife; she disabled him with twin throws to his forearms but aggravated her rib injury. Noticing blue half-moons under the cook’s nails—recently scrubbed—she inferred a blue residue from handling the toxin.
Violet and Ridoc searched the worktable, connecting the sweet scent and the isle’s colorless fauna to errisbirds and a blue-tinged substance. The cook burst from the pantry and hurled a knife; Violet pinned his hand to the doorframe with a thrown dagger, ordering him to stay. She turned to Ridoc and saw the cook’s knife embedded in Ridoc’s side, injuring him even as Garrick still struggled to breathe in the other room and the triumvirate suffered escalating effects of arinmint.
Who Appears
- Violet Sorrengail
protagonist; identifies leverage with arinmint, leads house lockdown, interrogates and incapacitates the cook, deduces blue-tainted poison source.
- Xaden Riorson
Violet’s partner; administers rescue breathing to Garrick and coordinates with Trager.
- Garrick
Xaden’s best friend; poisoned by cake, cyanotic, heart weak, receives rescue breathing and compressions.
- Mira Sorrengail
Violet’s sister; organizes defense and seals exits, ready to strike the hosts if needed.
- Aaric
ally; monitors Garrick’s heartbeat, stays with Violet as ordered.
- Cat
ally; present during the emergency and reassigned to help secure the house.
- Ridoc
ally; accompanies Violet to the kitchen, is injured by the cook’s thrown knife.
- Dain
ally; sent to retrieve Violet’s father’s Hedotis field guide.
- Trager
flier/medic; arrives to assist, performs chest compressions on Garrick and directs Xaden’s rescue breathing.
- Faris
member of the triumvirate; orchestrates the poison “test,” refuses to reveal the antidote, begins suffering from arinmint.
- Nairi
member of the triumvirate; starts vomiting from arinmint.
- Roslyn
member of the triumvirate; present, affected by Violet’s leverage.
- Talia
Hedotis leader; shocked and angry that Faris tested guests and endangered her son, shows distress as Xaden fights for Garrick.
- Cook
new; poisons the cake on instruction, shows blue residue under nails, attacks Violet and Ridoc, is subdued by Violet.
- Tairn
Violet’s dragon; confirms he is en route and urges Violet to think like Faris.
- Andarna
Violet’s dragon; reports Chradh burning part of the forest.