The Duke's Bed Warmer-Chapter 19: Don’t Eat The Fish

Alina decided to spend the morning in the garden with Lady Talbot, hoping to distract herself from the incident with Lord Fenton.

Gardening was Lady Talbot’s hobby. Alina found it surprisingly calming. With her hands buried in the soil, her knees on the ground, and the warmth of the sun on her back, she could almost pretend she was just a woman in a garden, and not a bed warmer in a castle.

Lady Talbot was pruning roses when she spoke.

"The whole castle is whispering," she said, without looking up. "About the duke’s closeness with you. First the riding, and now Lord Fenton’s reassignment."

Alina’s hands froze in the soil.

"It’s nothing like that," she said. "He is just protective of his property, and apparently the narrative."

Lady Talbot looked at her.

"I don’t believe you."

Alina opened her mouth to argue, but Lady Talbot continued.

"I’ve seen him with his other bed warmers," she plucked a dead rose and dropped it in her basket. "He never rode with any of them. He never reassigned a lord for any of them. And he surely never looked at any of them the way he looks at you."

Alina didn’t know how to answer that. Lady Talbot smiled and returned to her work. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"You don’t have to explain it to me. I’m just telling you what I see." She gestured towards a group of hydrangeas. "Now, these hydrangeas need trimming. The trick is to cut above the node. Like this."

They worked in silence for some time, and it helped. Alina was completely immersed in gardening.

She didn’t notice Austin watching them from his window above. His gaze lingered on her longer than it should have. He saw how she laughed at something Lady Talbot had said, how she pushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear with dirt stained fingers.

For a second, something in his expression softened. Then he turned away and returned to his ledgers.

In the afternoon, Alina went to his room to read. He had given her permission to use his desk when he was gone, and she had taken advantage of it. His room was quieter than the library, and the chair by the window was also more comfortable.

Her book was on his desk, exactly where she had left it. As she reached for it, she found a note on top of it again.

Don’t eat the fish tonight.

She read the message again.

Fish? Why is he warning me about fish?

Her mind began to race.

Is someone trying to poison me? Was Rosalyn right?

She folded the note and tucked it between the pages of her book.

At dinner, everything seemed normal.

The soup arrived first. Finally, the vegetable broth she liked. She immediately finished it.

Then came the fish.

Servants moved down the table, placing plates before each guest. Alina stared at her plate, and slowly, pushed it aside, taking the vegetables instead.

She turned to look at Austin and found him eating chicken, when everyone else had fish. Beside him, Audrey was also having chicken. The chicken wasn’t offered to others, suggesting he had arranged it for himself and Audrey.

By the time dessert arrived, people suddenly began to get sick.

Lord Whitmore was the first. His face turned grey, his hand pressed to his mouth as he stood from his chair, mumbling an apology before stumbling. Lady Pemberton didn’t even make it to the corridor. She vomited at the door, her maids rushing to her side.

The hall erupted into chaos.

Servants rushed. Someone called for the physician, Dr Harlen. Almost everyone, who had fish was sick.

"Was it spoiled?"

"The kitchen should be investigated."

"I knew...it smelled off."

Alina sat in her chair with an empty pastry plate in front of her, watching the chaos unfold in silence.

Austin knew there was something wrong with the fish. Yet, he didn’t stop the fish from being served? Why?

She looked at Austin again. He was issuing orders like a man who was also surprised like others.

But when he looked at her for a second, he almost smirked.

He came late that night. The castle had not yet settled from the chaos. Alina had been awake for hours, waiting.

The moment he lay down, she turned towards him.

"Who poisoned the fish?"

"The kitchen is under investigation..."

"Don’t lie to me," she cut him off. "You left me a note this afternoon before the fish was even prepared."

He didn’t reply.

"You knew," she continued. "You knew something was wrong with the fish hours in advance. So either someone told you or you discovered it yourself. You warned me and arranged chicken for yourself and Audrey...but you didn’t stop the fish from being served. Why?"

Austin exhaled slowly.

"There are things happening in this castle that I can’t explain to you yet."

Alina let out a quiet, humourless laugh.

"Seriously? People got sick," she said. "Tell me the truth. Was someone trying to poison me?"

Austin laughed.

"Don’t falter yourself. The fish wasn’t targeted at you. A portion of it was contaminated. It wasn’t aimed at any individual. It was a political disruption."

"Political disruption?" She repeated.

"A political move," he said. "A faction within the court that opposes my trade negotiations targeted the nobles from the south. They wanted to make them sick at my table, embarrass me diplomatically, and weaken the deal."

Alina stared at him.

"So I was just... collateral?"

"Yes."

"But how did you know which servings were poisoned?" She asked.

"How many times do I have to repeat? I know everything that happens in my castle."

Of course he did.

"Then why do you warn me? Why not warn the nobles who were targeted"

"Because I don’t..." He stopped. "Because warning them would expose my intelligence network. Warning you was lower risk."

"Lower risk?" She repeated.

"Alina..."

"Of course, I am. I keep forgetting my place." She chuckled.

He didn’t say anything.

"Thank you for the warning, Your Grace. Goodnight."

She turned away from him. But sleep didn’t come.

Because no matter how many times she repeated his words in her mind they didn’t make sense.

Lower risk? Was I the only lower-risk person at the dining table? Lady Talbot was as well. If I were lower risk, then why did he warn me with a personalized handwritten note? Did he warn all lower-risk people with customized handwritten notes?

Austin Moore, you can’t even lie convincingly!