I enter the room wearing the plain uniform of the attendant assigned to accompany her north. Officially, we have never met, and the guards believe I was selected only because I have medical training. The woman I knew would recognise me immediately, but she looks at me without giving our usual signal. I hide my reaction and begin checking the breakfast tray beside her bed. A thin layer of powder has settled beneath the lid of the tea pot. Someone inside the household is already testing whether the first poisoning truly failed. I replace the lid before the servant outside can see what I found. “Do not drink anything until I have checked who prepared it.”