Page 170 of Maksym
“But not by Madelyn.”
“No.”
“Did she seem fully alert to you?”
“She seemed... happy.”
“That was not my question.”
The witness’s eyes flicked to the dais.
I waited.
“No,” she said finally. “Not fully. She seemed dreamy. Loose. Like she had drunk too much.”
“Had she drunk too much?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you know whether anything had been placed in the wine?”
“No.”
“Did you ask?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
Her voice lowered. “It was not my place.”
That answer moved through the chamber with more force than she knew. Not my place had buried more women than malice alone ever managed.
I glanced down at my notes, then back.
“You also spoke with Madelyn about Nikolay.”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“While we were fixing her hair.”
“What did you say?”
“I said she looked like a bride.”
Maddie’s chair creaked behind me.
Nikolay did not move, but I felt the room change around his stillness.
“What did Madelyn say?”
“She laughed.”
The spell tightened.
The witness shut her eyes briefly. “She laughed, but not like it was funny. She said she was nobody’s bride.”
