The man lifted the vial as if to let the light expose concentrated specks of its lethality. "Finally I have required the perfect poison to do away with him. Swift, sure, and, because of my circumspection in acquiring it, incapable of giving me away. I would have preferred to have effected a false reconciliation in order to prevent suspicion at all, but were he at all capable of compromise, I wouldn't need to remove him in the first place."
The man was still admiring the devilish mixture when his butler eased open the study door and presented a salver on which rested a few sheets of paper. "The latest divine proclamations, sir."
"Hmph. I suppose one ought to keep abreast of such things. Let's see. 'In view of the recent battle at Iestol Fields . . . charge bonus reduced by 3 . . . axe wounds have increased chance of infection . . . crafting skills . . . recipes moved from haberdashery list to milliner list . . .' What! 'Poisons in their current state have limited counterplay?!' That's why I wanted to use it! 'The chance of death on the first application has been lowered across the board . . .' My efforts and expense have come to nothing!"
"Very good, sir. Shall I engage an ax instructor?"
"Yes. He can start by demonstrating on me. If I survive, find me priests willing to beg the gods not to update quite so often. How can we make plans as things stand?"
"Most inconvenient, sir."
Finis
No comments:
Post a Comment