“What poison did they use if it wasn’t in the food?”

“I think it was in their clothing, maybe.” Silvie mused. “Like a powder or something?”

“Then how come those other three guests died, and Francis?” Terez replied.

Bri looked between the two of them. “Who’s Francis?” She already knew the answer but wanted to see if they would tell the same story or if she would catch them in a lie.

“He’s one of the servers. He set the table for the dinner—the candelabras and place settings.” Silvie rested a splayed-out hand on her chest. “He was gone before the guests arrived. We found him dead in the kitchens before the fighting broke out.”

“You found him?”

“Well, not us, but we saw him,” Silvie said with a shudder. “His blood was black, dripping from his ears and eyes. It was awful. He was stuffed into a cabinet . . .”

Bri leaned in further. “Who put him in there?”

Terez shrugged. “We don’t know. We heard one of the kitchen witches scream and came running.”

Bri flagged down a barmaid, signaling to her to bring more drinks. “The other attackers, what did they look like?”

“Who knows.” Terez wrung her restless hands together. “We locked ourselves in the pantry when we heard the screams from the dining hall. People say they wore golden masks to hide their faces.”

“Golden masks?” Bri echoed. “So they must have been recognizable, then.”

“People have been mad at Queen Thorne for years.” Terez leaned her head so that it rested on Bri’s forearm along the backrest. “Her list of enemies is a mile long.”

Bri grinned at Terez’s little flirting gesture. “So who do you think did it?”

“It’s the witch hunters, just as everyone says.” Silvie shrugged. “They’re cutthroat bastards and they had the motivation. Their witch-killing business ended with the death of Hennen Vostemur. Now they’re assassins for hire. It makes sense.”

“And who do you think hired them to kill the Queen?”

“Augustus Norwood, obviously,” Terez said. “The people are saying that little prick has been trying to reclaim his father’s throne.”

“They say he’s got violet witches,” Silvie added.

“They seem to be saying a lot of things.” Bri chuckled. “Who is this they?”

“You’ve clearly never worked in the kitchens.” Terez laughed, playfully sliding her hand up Bri’s shoulder. “There isn’t a topic in the world that one of the kitchen staff hasn’t heard a rumor about.”

“But how many of these rumors are true?” Bri asked, quirking her eyebrow at Terez in a way that made her bite her lip.

“It doesn’t matter,” Terez said. “We gossip plenty at work. That’s not why we came here tonight.”

“No?” Bri’s voice dropped an octave.

“No.” Terez grabbed Bri’s glass of clear liquid and drank it in one gulp. She screwed up her face against the potent drink and stood, twisting and pulling Bri to stand. “We came here to have some fun.”

Standing, Bri chuckled as her hand settled on Terez’s hip to keep her from falling. Her scent wafted off her dark hair, smelling of freshly baked bread and soap.