[Zez]

"Proclaiming to Tell the future, spreading the false word of the gods and Heralds, and being oblivious to the happenings of the world around him. Stormwarden Sil'es deserved to die. The Assassin of Tea." Zez spoke.

Now back in the Stormwarden's chamber, and being surrounded by guards wearing Amaram's crest, Zez read the note aloud. It was a small paper that had been affixed to the bottom of the teacup—a truly risky move by the killer, the note could have been found before Sil'es began to drink. The writing itself was crude, though Alethi script was more like symbols than letters, so many only did their best. It was written in red ink, not blood, no, but dark and red.

"A threat? Or perhaps this is more a letting us in on- something? If this truly was the same assassin as the others... they've never left word before." One of Heral's men pondered, scratching at the thin stubble on his chin.

An 'Assassin of Tea'. Does that mean an assassin who gathered the information or one that... literally uses tea to poison their victims. Zez thought, realizing she had passed the maid in the hall on her way to collect the spanreed. Oh.

Zez clicked back to reality, passing the note over to another ardent in the room to look over. "Did you say others? So- this person has done this multiple times?" She looked to the ground as she asked, inspecting the area where her master had fallen. The body had been carefully and respectfully removed, though the smashed cup still lay sprinkled across the floor. "They're taking a risk each time, if so. What if I had been here and gotten tea, as well? Would they have settled... for us both dead..."

A strong sense of dread washed through her, having not quite thought about the idea until it was already free from her lips.

"Yes'm, Brightness," Qork, a younger and much more timid soldier said. "There's been talk of this sort'f killing across Kholinar, as well as one in Jah Keved, though right along 'he border."

"No need for Brightness, just Zez works." She nodded to him, then continued across the room to Sil'es' desk, which was just as tidy as she had left it before. "So, if this person has done this multiple times, they're doing quite well for themselves... Have we discovered what type of poison was in the tea? Something strong but indetectable, I imagine? Blackbane?" Zez spoke with a sense of regality—as if she understood what was truly going on—but really had little idea of the situation they were in.

Not every day that a Warden's scribe saw a murder, let alone one this close.

Captain Heral entered the doorway again with a small cylindrical container held carefully in his right hand. He walked slowly as if being careful not to spill it, even though it was a capped tube. "Sadly, Zez, this is something much..." He stopped, realizing it would do no good to explain the... pain. "We don't know for sure, but it seems like something... bad..."

Zez noticed the captain's entrance but took one last look over the desk. Sil'es had pulled a copy of "Lizzelo's Accord and Record" from the shelves while she was gone, no doubt. He often spoke about how he liked the quality of pictures and was sad he couldn't read further into it without her help to read it.

"Oh... we can't know for sure what it was that killed him?" She turned to the guard, which were only four-strong, not including the captain, who made five. "Storms..."

"We can try, but it might already be too late to test it." Heral said, passing the container over to one of his guards—Temo, the one who had whispered in the hall before—then stepped back. "This is knobweed sap, a very strong antiseptic, as you know. If there's any trace of the poison in the spilled tea, we may be able to see a reaction."

Temo slowly uncapped the container and used the knife from his belt to scoop out a tiny amount of the white, sticky substance—like milk that was allowed to slightly curdle. With how expensive the stuff was, every drop needed to be used well.

They brought the knife over to the spilled tea and broken cup on the wooden boards, holding the sap out just over the liquid. A single drop fell from the blade. When it landed, the tea sizzled and popped—a reaction.

"Alrighty! So a reaction occurred, what does that tell us? Blackbane?" Zez pried, slightly curious to know what it was, though the terror still ate at her mind. Why are you... excited to know? Curiosity is good, but sometimes not knowing is better. Healthier.

She pushed off her conscience.

Heral, Temo, and the rest of the guards looked to her, then to each other. Finally, Heral spoke; "Miss Zezilia, that means we're dealing with Backbreaker poison. Sil'es most likely... took no more than a single sip of that tea..."