Maya's POV
"Don't move, Your Highness."
Mordecai's smile is pure poison as his guards surround Kael and me. Twenty swords point at us like we're the criminals instead of them.
"This is treason," Kael says coldly, but I hear the exhaustion in his voice. The poison is winning. He can barely stand.
"No, Your Highness. This is protection." Mordecai steps forward, holding up a document with official seals. "The Royal Council has voted unanimously. You are clearly under the witch's spell—meeting with her secretly, alone, against all advice. For your own safety and the kingdom's security, we must intervene."
"You have no authority—"
"We have every authority when the king is compromised." Mordecai signals his guards. "Take His Highness to his chambers. Confine him there until the witch is burned and her influence broken."
Guards move toward Kael. He reaches for his sword, but his hand shakes. Too weak. The poison has stolen his strength.
They're going to lock him away and kill me. Then they'll control the kingdom completely.
Unless I do something insane.
"Wait!" I shout, stepping between Kael and the guards. "Before you arrest him for talking to me, don't you want to know what we discussed?"
Mordecai raises an eyebrow. "The witch speaks. How amusing."
"I'm not a witch. I'm a scientist." I say it loudly, clearly, so everyone in the hallway can hear. "And I told Prince Kael that I can cure his poison. Completely. Within two weeks."
The guards pause. Mordecai's smile falters.
"Impossible," he says. "Every physician has tried—"
"Every physician in Valoria doesn't know what they're doing." I cross my arms, channeling every bit of confident Maya Chen from my old life. "I know exactly what poison is killing him. Shadowthorn. Three-plant compound from the Eastern kingdoms. Causes slow organ failure. Fatal within two years of exposure. And I know the cure."
Murmurs ripple through the guards. Even they know the prince is dying. Even they've seen him weaken day by day.
"You lie," Seraphina steps forward from the crowd of nobles I didn't notice before. Of course she's here. Probably helped plan this coup. "If you knew the cure, why didn't you offer it before?"
"Because I was too busy dying in an alley where you left me!" I snap. "But since Prince Kael was kind enough to pull me from the dungeons for this conversation, I thought I'd mention: I can save his life. The question is whether this council wants him saved."
The accusation hangs in the air. Mordecai's face goes carefully blank.
"Of course we want His Highness saved—"
"Do you?" I look at each council member. "Because from where I stand, this whole thing looks like a setup. Prince Kael meets with the one person who might cure him, and suddenly you burst in screaming about spells and corruption. Almost like you don't want him getting better."
"How dare you suggest—"
"I'm not suggesting. I'm observing." I turn to the guards. "Think about it. If the prince dies, who takes over? The council. Who benefits from him staying sick and weak? The council. Who would lose all their power if he suddenly got healthy and strong again? The—"
"SILENCE!" Mordecai roars. "You will not poison more minds with your twisted logic!"
"Twisted logic?" Kael's voice cuts through the chaos. He's leaning against the wall, barely standing, but his eyes are sharp. "She raises an interesting point, Chancellor. This council has been very... helpful during my illness. Taking over so many royal duties. Making so many important decisions. One might think you've grown comfortable with me being too weak to rule properly."
Mordecai's mask cracks. "Your Highness is unwell—"
"I'm dying. We all know it." Kael straightens up, using what little strength he has left. "But if Lady Elara can cure me, then I'm very interested in hearing her terms. Unless the council has objections to their king getting healthy?"
Silence. Mordecai is trapped and he knows it. If he objects to the cure, he admits he wants Kael dead. If he agrees, he loses his excuse to arrest Kael.
"The witch cannot be trusted," Seraphina tries. "She'll poison him again—"
"Then we test the cure on someone else first," I say quickly. "Someone already sick with something similar. If my methods work, you let me treat the prince. If they fail, you can burn me with my blessings."
"And what do you want in return?" Damien speaks up from the back. "You said you have conditions."
This is it. The moment where I either win or die.
"Three things," I say, holding up my fingers. "First: I work freely, no chains, no guards in my workspace. You can lock me in at night, but I need space to prepare the cure properly. Second: Everyone I treated in the slums gets protection. No more mysterious deaths. No more poisonings blamed on me. If they die while I'm curing the prince, we'll all know who's really responsible."
I stare directly at Seraphina. She goes pale.
"And third?" Mordecai asks through gritted teeth.
"If I cure Prince Kael—when I cure him—my name is cleared completely. All charges dropped. My title restored. And I get a formal investigation into who actually poisoned him in the first place." I smile sweetly at the council. "Because we all know it wasn't me. And I think it's time we found out who it really was."
Kael coughs—or maybe he's hiding a laugh. "Ambitious conditions."
"Desperate times." I look at him. "So what do you say, Your Highness? Do we have a deal?"
This is the moment. If Kael agrees, we're allies publicly. The council can't separate us without looking suspicious. If he refuses, I'm back in the dungeons and he's locked in his chambers, both of us dying slowly.
Kael studies me for a long moment. Then he does something that shocks everyone:
He takes off his royal ring and holds it out.
"A deal," he says, "is sealed with an exchange of value. Lady Elara, I accept your terms. In return, I offer you the protection of the royal house while you work. Anyone who harms you or your patients answers to me personally."
I take the ring with shaking hands. It's heavy, gold, marked with the royal dragon. Wearing it means I'm under his direct protection. Untouchable.
Mordecai looks like he's swallowed glass.
"The council must approve—" he starts.
"The council serves at my pleasure, not the other way around." Kael's voice drops to ice. "Or have you forgotten who actually wears the crown, Chancellor?"
It's a warning. A line drawn. Kael is telling the council that despite being weak and poisoned, he's still the king. And he's choosing me as his ally.
"Of course, Your Highness," Mordecai says smoothly. But his eyes promise murder. "We simply want to ensure your safety. Perhaps Lady Elara should demonstrate her knowledge first? A small test to prove she's not simply stalling?"
"Fine," I say before Kael can refuse. "Give me a patient. Someone sick. I'll show you exactly what I can do."
Mordecai's smile returns. "Oh, I have the perfect candidate. Guards, bring in the prisoner."
They drag someone from a side corridor. My heart stops.
It's Old Nan.
She's beaten, bloody, barely conscious. They've hurt her. Badly.
"This woman was found harboring a known witch," Mordecai announces. "She's contracted a severe fever—probably from the witch's curse. If Lady Elara is truly a healer, she can cure her. If not..." He shrugs. "Well, we'll know she's a fraud."
Nan's eyes find mine. They're full of pain but also warning. This is a trap. Whatever I do to cure her, they'll twist it into evidence against me.
But I can't let her die.
"Bring her to my workspace," I say, trying to sound confident. "I'll need my medical supplies from the slums—"
"Already confiscated as evidence," Seraphina says sweetly. "You'll have to work with what the palace provides."
Of course. They've taken everything I made. Everything I need.
"Then give me access to the royal herb gardens and a laboratory. I'll recreate what I need."
"Granted," Kael says before anyone can object. "Commander Theron will escort you and provide whatever materials you require."
Theron steps forward from the crowd of guards. Our eyes meet briefly. He knows this is dangerous. But we have no choice.
"How long?" Mordecai asks.
"For the fever? Twelve hours if you give me what I need." I look at Nan's gray face. She's worse than I thought. "Maybe less if I'm lucky."
"Then you have until dawn." Mordecai's smile is cruel. "If the old woman is cured by sunrise, we'll consider your claims. If she dies..." He doesn't finish the sentence. He doesn't need to.
Guards pick up Nan and follow Theron and me toward the laboratory wing. As we leave, I hear Mordecai speaking quietly to Seraphina:
"The herbalist has the substituted plants ready?"
"Yes. The girl will think she's making a cure, but she'll actually create poison. When the old woman dies, we'll have proof she's a murderer."
My blood runs cold. The poisoned herbs. Sarah warned me. They're going to give me contaminated ingredients so whatever I make kills Nan instead of curing her.
But I can't refuse to try without admitting I know about their plan.
Which means I have twelve hours to cure Nan using ingredients I can't trust, in a laboratory probably sabotaged, while being watched by guards who want me to fail.
And if I succeed, I get to try the same impossible task on a dying prince.
I look down at Kael's ring on my finger—the weight of his trust, his risk, his desperate hope.
"Don't worry," I whisper to unconscious Nan as they lay her on a table. "I've survived two betrayals, a time-travel death experience, and a frame-up for murder. A little poisoned herb situation? That's just Tuesday."
But as Theron hands me the first batch of "medicine" from the royal herbalist, I see his face.
And I know he recognizes the smell.
These aren't just substituted plants.
These are the exact same herbs used to poison Prince Kael two years ago.
They're not just trying to make me fail.
They're trying to make me kill again—this time with witnesses watching every move I make.