Of Killers and Kings

[cannibal cookbook]

"Moon roses. They are very pretty, aren't they?" Irene asserted, her smile never fading. "I wonder if the butterfly will have the same colors as the roses." She stood and went back over to Dorian. "She's such a darling. But where are her parents?"

[Sick Salacious X]

"I haven't got a clue, and as I've mentioned she barely utters a word, despite the lack of others her age I figure this place is as good as any, she'll at least be looked after and fed so long as I'm around." Dorian shrugged, he didn't see too much of a reason to fuss excessively about the child. Odds were she was a runaway.

[cannibal cookbook]

"Poor girl," she sighed as she watched the girl go back to her work. "I'm sorry. I hope I'm not distracting you from your duties or anything. I just-" her sentence was cut short by a distant scream coming from back towards the kitchen/mess hall area of the building. She turned to face the sound and immediately went off towards it to see what was going on, having to lift and hold her long skirt to keep herself from tripping on it or having it drag across the ground as she ran.

As it turned out, one of the cooks in the kitchen had decided to sneak a few sips of wine that morning and dropped dead a few seconds later. As he did, the bottle broke and the dark red liquid had spilled across the floor. People were now crowding around the area to see what all the fuss was about.

"What happened?" Irene questioned quickly as she knelt over the body and checked for any signs of life.

"I- I don't know," one of the maids replied. She had hand covering her mouth as she whimpered. "I heard a crash so I came in this room to see what happened and he-" she stopped and shivered. "He's dead, isn't he?"

[Sick Salacious X]

Dorian had followed behind the nurse, and looked at the body with a frown and a yawn, "That's cyanide poisoning." He commented boredly, gesturing toward the face, "He turned blue so he suffocated, but he's also really pale, I figure he drank some early today, not enough to kill himself in one go and decided to have more after he didn't feel so well."

Syrcie had followed the two into the kitchens and upon seeing the body and hearing Dorian's heartless examination burst into tears, fleeing the scene.

"Did I say something?" He asked, looking genuinely confused.

[cannibal cookbook]

Irene got up and only glanced at Dorian with a shake of her head. She then proceeded to run out after the girl to find and console her, and dually inform someone to move the body out of the area. As she turned a corner, she collided with the chest of someone and looked up to realize that it was none other than Tariq. "Oh, I - I'm sorry," she stuttered nervously.

"What's going on?" he inquired urgently.

"Someone... apparently someone drank some poisoned wine and now there's a dead chef in the kitchen," she informed. "I'm sorry. I don't really know how it happened but I was just on my way to find Syrcie. She ran away crying after she saw it."

With a nod, he let her go and himself went to the scene to inspect. "Alright, everyone clear out," he demanded as he entered the crowded room, hardly sparing a glance at the gardener who was also present. The mass of people began to slowly back away and return to what they were doing but not without whispers being exchanged. He picked up a chunk of the bottle that wasn't broken and looked at the label. It was an expensive wine, only normally used for certain ceremonies.

[Sick Salacious X]

"Cyanide." Dorian chimed, too lazy to repeat his reasoning as he prodded at the body, "It's derived from plants." He added with a grin.

[cannibal cookbook]

"I'm aware," Tariq retorted as he stood straight and inspected around the rest of the room as further investigation. "Do you think this was meant for Callias?"

[Sick Salacious X]

"Impossible, who would have reason or means to poison him." Dorian said with all the sarcasm he could muster, "Certainly it was meant for the cook, I mean look at him- he's got all the markings of being an a*****e."

[cannibal cookbook]

"Well, I'm considering all possibilities," he snorted. "There's enough to say about vengeful wives whose husbands have drinking problems as well." With a brow then raised, he continued. "What are you still doing here, anyways? You're not helping by just standing there watching."

[Sick Salacious X]

"I just thought I'd give you a chance to show off for your girlfriend," Dorian quipped with a grin.

[cannibal cookbook]

"Right. A lot of good it does me then if she isn't even here. Now I suggest if you don't want to haul your a** all the way back to the God-forsaken swamp you came from, then you'll stay out of my way," Tariq growled mockingly. That was about all he had to say on the subject matter. He decided he wouldn't confirm or deny the 'girlfriend' aspect just to escape further arguments and ridicule. He didn't have the time nor the patience for it, or this man in general. He was soon finding that it was better just to ignore him, much like a buzzing fly. Just what was it about this guy that Callias liked so much, anyways?

At that time, those that Irene had called for earlier entered the room to cart away the body. That left Tariq with the task of tracking down where the poison came from and who had put it there, exactly. A daunting task, to say the least, but he was going to do it nonetheless.

[Sick Salacious X]

Dorian raised an eyebrow at Tariq, "You're going to find out who did this...how? You've got a broken bottle, and a dead body that can't tell you where the bottle even came from. Whooptie do if it's a special bottle."

[cannibal cookbook]

There was more than enough words to be said, however Tariq spared none. He simply walked past the gardener without so much as a glance and went on his own way, passing Irene in the process.

She was on her way back to the scene to inquire to Dorian as to where Syrcie might have hidden herself, because she couldn't find the girl anywhere. She had been more than surprised that Tariq didn't even spare a glance at her, either. To be honest, she was a bit vexed by the occurrence.

"Dorian?" she asked as she walked in. "What's going on..?"

[Sick Salacious X]

Dorian looked at the maid and shrugged, "I haven't any idea, looks like Tariq might though. He's more apt at deductive reasoning than I."

His eyes danced over the broken fragments of glass as he hummed to himself, it was a common enough poison for anyone to get possession of, one could easily purchase it for the sake of killing rodents. Dorian scratched his head, it looked to be a high quality wine, certainly it had been intended for the prince or at least someone of a higher rank. He supposed he could ask Callius if the wine had been intended for his father, it wouldn't be the first time a royal offed a parental figure but Dorian didn't honestly believe that the target was anyone other than Callius.