did the -- miss susu, get sick?
nazli questioned @Tavina softly from a pile of furs, as she tended to them. preening at them and folding some, arranging others with every ounce of effort her little body could muster. it was tedious work but the little fellahin was learning to mimic the others.
nazli knew the palace was in mourning, that strangers came, that there were whisperings, and then they'd left. the full weight of what was lost did not sit with nazli. she was too young to understand. her tutelage took all of her focus.
a small pelt, left damp for too long, sported fresh mould. this nazli placed aside as she was taught.
was the lady... nice?
"someone gave her something that made her very sick. that's how she died." tavina watched quietly as nazli separated the tainted skin. she took part of the stack and began to arrange them.
"she was kind. queens can be very mean. satsu was a little cool sometimes but she was not cruel. i can't think of who would want to harm her."
someone... hurt her? on purpose? nazli's work continued but her focus was pulled away from it. she weighed this knowledge against the rest that she'd collected so far (which was not much, and even so it was tainted by the misfortune throughout her life) and found herself satisfied.
maybe she was too nice.
such a foolish observation from a child, but spoken with sincerity. akashingo was not a place where only the bad people hurt. nazli knew that much.
"it's possible, though it's more likely that someone else was too mean." she smoothed down the pelts underpaw and turned to grab a bundle of something.
poppyseeds. she unwrapped them for nazli to look at. "this is the deadliest poison i have. if you eat too much, you will die, even if it is an accident." she was somber. "i want you to really look at them. never touch these without me being present. never touch them at all, really."
it felt like the topic of the queen was finished. nazli had many thoughts about it but not the words, so she let it go. the pile of pelts she had arranged then went to tavina, and the girl settled in to another task mindlessly.
that was cut short when tavina drew her attention. the woman had a pile of black dots, which looked almost like flies with their wings plucked off, and she said not to touch them.
nazli's eyes went a little wider as she studied these, and then she nodded sagely. was this what made the lady so sick?
tavina shook her head. "the way these kill you is by making you sleep. your heart stops and you never wake up. but the queen was alive for a while before she died. and she suffered."
her gut clenched.
"whatever killed her is called a spasmodic. it causes spasms and shaking, the tightening of muscles in the body."
spasmodic.
it sounded dreadful.
nazli had no more questions; but she continued to study the little grains of poppy seed, wondering the entire time what sort of person it took to spoil food. maybe the queen hadn't been the target? food could go anywhere.
it was a dangerous line of thinking that threatened to darken her mind, so nazli shook her head as if it were an etch-a-sketch, unwilling to imagine further.
her work was complete. she patted the last of the bedfurs and looked to tavina.
may i... go?
she wanted to check on her brother. that always came after her chores.
"you may." while their days were filled with cleaning and lessons, tavina was careful not to work either of the children too harshly. once they were assigned to the royal heirs, they would learn such a life soon enough. as such, the sesh ensured they received the proper meals and rest and quiet time conducive to their well-being.
"send your brother to me later. we need to have a little talk about his work ethic," tavina joked, smiling at the girl.
as soon as permission was granted, nazli was on her way.
she was often in a rush; this was no different, though she was mindful of the little joke passed by tavina and called to the woman as she rushed off, i'll tell him!
followed by a trailing giggle.