I did not go to the grey ledger that day. If Kael was guiding me, I wanted to know why. And if someone else was watching us both, I did not want to hurry.
The next morning, I did something that frightened Nora.
"We are going to visit Doctor Dane," I said.
"Why?" she asked, her voice rising. "My lady, he is on your list!"
"Exactly." I tied the of my hat. "A suspect is best studied from close. And I want to see his garden."
The Royal Physician lived in a tall brick house near the palace, behind a high wall covered with ivy. The gate was open. In the garden, I saw neat rows of herbs, and thyme and sage, and a glass house at the back, as large as a small church.
"Elise!" Marcus Dane came out of the house, wiping his hands on a towel, a warm smile on his face. He wore a gardener's brown apron over his fine clothes. "What a lovely surprise. Is something wrong? Are you ill?"
"Only a small headache, Doctor," I said. "I did not sleep well after the banquet. I remembered that you once gave me a remedy when I was small. I hoped you might share the recipe."
He walked us slowly through the beds, naming each plant and explaining its use, like a happy teacher. Here, willow bark for fever. There, for sleep. His voice was warm, and he seemed delighted to have a guest.
"And that?" I asked, looking at the great glass house.
"My winter garden." He waved a hand. "Only delicate plants for delicate medicines. It must be kept warm, and dark, so I do not allow visitors. I am sorry."
I looked at the glass house. Heavy dark curtains hung inside the glass on every side. A thick iron lock held the door shut. And on the path leading to it, in the dark soil, I saw something very small and violet-white. A single petal, as thin as a .
Marcus saw it too. He stepped forward, quite casually, and swept the petal into the dirt with his shoe.
"Silverleaf," I said, to see his face. "Do you grow silverleaf there, Doctor? I read that it is very rare."
His smile did not change. Not by the width of a hair. But his eyes went flat and still, like a pond where the wind has died.
"A few plants," he said lightly. "It is a precious herb. I would not want it stolen. You are a very well-read young lady, my dear."
"I was bored," I said.
"Ah." He laughed. " has created many scholars."
He brought us tea on a small table under an apple tree. A servant poured three cups, and Marcus lifted his own and smiled at me.
"Please. A little chamomile for your head."
"Thank you, Doctor, but I have already had tea this morning," I said, as sweetly as I could. "Too much, and I will be restless all day."
He laughed softly. "A girl. You remind me of your late mother. She never drank a cup she had not seen poured."
I stood motionless. My mother had died when I was ten. In my first life, I had never heard that.
"Did she?" I said.
"Oh, yes." He sipped his tea. "Everyone who loved her was a little afraid for her. I hope you do not her fears."
It was a gentle sentence. But I felt as if a cold hand had touched the back of my neck.
We left soon after, with a small paper of peppermint candy that Marcus pressed into my hand, as he had when I was small. At the gate, he walked us out himself.
"Come again soon, Elise. And please give my to your father."
I thanked him, and turned to go. Nora was already ten steps away.
"Oh, Elise," Marcus called behind me.
I stopped.
"You have been reading in the Royal Archive, I hear," he said pleasantly. "Poisonous plants, was it? An unusual taste for a young lady."
The world went very quiet.
I had told no one but my father, and my father would never repeat it. I had left the Archive only the day before.
"News travels fast," I said, and smiled with my whole face.
"In Highmarch," said Marcus Dane, smiling too, "it travels faster than the wind."