Ninus frowned at the servant. "Thy water has been poisoned within the last few hours, when thine kitchen lay still and abandoned." he told him. "If it was not thine hand, then another has snuck into your home, thoughts of your and your mistress' deaths comforting him. Pray, pour it into the street and burn the barrel. Thou wilt find no comfort in the aqualine embrace of such a foul substance. For my dear friend and neighbor, who sheds merry pink blossoms in the spring and grants children its sweet fruit in the summer, has been kidnapped and used for a hideous purpose. The business of death. His cheerful, light heart is corrupted and damned."
Ninus took Ronan's hand and led him to the table, bidding him to sit. "And my knight, my beautiful noble ser, hath been bitten by such a possessed mad friend." he said sadly. "Nay, not enough to kill. Ser, your next few hours will be but hell and hellfire, and there is little I can do. My mad friend, my dear merry creature, gallops through your veins. One can do nothing but let him extinguish his madness. One can cure the rage of a mother for an injured child, as poor Turan knew, but my friend hath lost his senses. He would not listen to me, not now, and even the gifts of the fire will not comfort thee in this moment."
He knew now that the poisoner was onto them, or at least seeking to kill off his witnesses. He looked at the servant. "I apologize for having accused thee in my thoughtlessness. Watch over your water and food, eat nor drink nothing which thou hast not watched over with a careful eye. Look toward the locks of thine home, for that is what has betrayed thine poor, ill-fated master. I promise this household I will end this farce, but my knight threatens to fall down the same mountain as thy master." he told him.
Ninus looked at Ronan with worry. A few sips, and the mysterious enemy had put enough in to make the taste tangible. He wanted the mistress and her servants dead, and with the same violent fire. But this time his patience had run thin and he had put too much in, wanting a swifter end, and had tipped Ninus off to its existence. "My knight, we will head toward mine home." Ninus said. "In the den of rats I must watch thee and provide thee with fresh water, for the sun will not set upon thee this day. Nay, fire will be in your thoughts until morning, sleep will not find you, and though sweat may coat you it will seem like boiling oil." He put the back of his hand to Ronan's forehead. It was already growing warm.
He knew what had happened to the master then. It wasn't the rain barrel, or the servant and mistress would be dead by now. It would have had to have been something else...he eyed a silver pitcher. "Servant, pray tell me, what didst thou use to take the water up to thine master?" he asked. The poison could have been routinely coated on a pitcher or cup. If a household expected illness, usually quarantine was the rule, and no one else would use that pitcher or cup. He silently applauded the poisoner for his clever wits.