14: Agzella's revenge

The crowd hung about the edges of the drawing room, too polite to stare but unwilling to leave. Elzbieta Dyess was making a spectacle of herself, flirting outrageously with one of the musicians. "…ever so handsome," she cooed, hanging on him. Prince-Imperial Sozen, grim-faced and humiliated, tried to remove his wife discreetly, but failed. Her voice rose to a screech as she hurled her drink at him. The scene would be the talk of the nobility for weeks.

Princess Agzella had already departed, vial safely stowed in her reticule. Even a petty revenge was better than seething alone, she reasoned.