In front of John was a woman, Apurva, who was potentially the individual that had tried to poison John and Astrid. Lochan had dragged the disciple over to display to John and Jayendra, with no announcement of any investigation. Indeed, John hadn't even mentioned the poisoning incident.

"What has she done?" John asked.

Lochan stood ready over Apurva's shoulder. "We have reason to believe that she was planning to poison you and your wife."

It was a little late for that, since she'd already done it. However, the difference between planning to and has already attempted were important. It indicated a certain lack of knowledge which was bad for the Great Eye Sect's security but good for their innocence. But if they were in on it they would have known the plot failed and John was keeping it secret, so it wasn't a perfect distinction.

"How did you learn of this?" John asked.

"We have various sources ensuring internal security," Lochan commented.

In short, he didn't want to share how. It was both reasonable and inconvenient for John's purposes. It could be anything from nothing at all if Apurva was being set up to someone randomly noticing something strange to a whole internal force John hadn't been aware of.

For the moment, John decided to simply go along with things. "Why did you do it?" he asked Apurva. His calm tone clashed with the aura of menace around him. John really was ready to slaughter whoever was responsible… it just might not be her.

Apurva remained tight-lipped, which was quite a pain. She didn't try to deny that it was her, but that didn't settle much. Still, on the surface her posture supported what Lochan was saying- she looked like she was upset about being caught more than resigned to be a scapegoat.

Jayendra stroked his chin. "What would you like done with her?" he asked. "We certainly can't allow one of our disciples to be a threat to our visitors. I'm quite disappointed to hear there was a plot to begin with."

John considered it. "For the moment, it would be best to keep her locked up, at least until it can be determined if there are any others in her conspiracy. I wasn't planning to interrogate someone in an orchard so I have no further thoughts at the moment."

Lochan nodded. The son spoke seriously. "You will have access to her cell as necessary. I'll let the guards know."

With that, he carried her off once more. The incident had significantly dampened John's interest in exotic fruit. He wasn't even sure that the woman herself was involved, but it was hard to keep his tailored emotions. Then again, he no longer needed to hide his concern.

John turned to Jayendra. "I must ask, do you have any enemies that might wish to cause your people harm?"

Jayendra nodded. "But of course, we have a few. Of those that we would frequently encounter… either the Drowning Deep, the Silver Mirror, or the Glorious Veil. I'm just guessing, based on proximity, history, and influence."

"Thank you. Please let me know if you find out anything more. For the moment, I am going to retreat to my chambers."

"Of course," the sect head nodded. "I apologize for our exchange being marred."

-----

John wished there was something he could do, but mostly he could wait. And his waiting bore fruit, of a more immediately practical kind than the food outside in the orchards. With the focus away from Astrid, it seemed she had managed to discover a few things.

"I started by asking around in the kitchens," Astrid explained. "Naturally, it all began when Sect Head Jayendra asked for a fruit plate to be sent over."

"Naturally," John agreed.

Astrid grinned. "The kitchens decided that might be insufficient for a proper meal, thus we ended up with the board of snacks that arrived."

John nodded. "At that point, one would presume someone in the kitchens was responsible. Presumably the head chef or whoever gave the orders." It was the meat that had been poisoned after all, at least some of it. "But I have the feeling things didn't end there."

"They did not. I asked about the server, and then I asked him about everyone he passed on the way to meet us. Especially anyone who stopped to chat for a few moments. Ultimately, that led to me spying in the chambers of a few individuals, and…" Astrid produced a feather, dipped in some sort of substance, "I found an interesting bottle as well as a token." Astrid revealed a sketch. "I left the original. I'm not entirely certain that this substance is the same, since I didn't interact much with the initial poison." She held out the feather for John to inspect.

John took it. Just the slightest scent made him recoil. He couldn't say what was so unpleasant about it, but his body naturally recoiled. "I recognize it," he confirmed. Just to be doubly certain, he used his spiritual energy senses to analyze it. It felt just the same as what had been inside him. Even the small drop felt quite potent. "This must be it. When did you find this place?"

"Earlier this afternoon. Why?"

"That unfortunately doesn't reveal as much as we might like. I'll explain when you're done. Is there any more?"

"Not much," Astrid shook her head. "I found both things hidden beneath her floorboards, in a very clever compartment infused with dirt. So that there are no strange air gaps for senses to pick up."

John thought for a moment. "Is it likely anyone will notice the disturbance?"

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Astrid shook her head. "It seems to have been frequently disturbed."

"Frequently or just recently?"

Astrid closed her eyes as she tried to remember details. "The floorboards had signs of rubbing up against each other as they moved. The compartment should have been there for a while."

"Great. Might I hear the name of this person you were investigating?"

"Her name was Apurva."

"I thought it might be. Are you aware she was arrested earlier this afternoon?"

Astrid shook her head. "I didn't hear anything about that. What do you think it means?"

John shrugged. "Either Lochan is a good investigator or she's being set up. Potentially both, but that specific combination doesn't matter. It's good to hear about the hidden compartment, though."

John explained what he knew, which was technically somewhat less. But it did include a number of suspicions. Unfortunately, it was difficult to rule anything out. Perhaps if Astrid had checked Apurva's room first and had a reason to do so earlier, they might have been able to confirm nothing had been planted.

Astrid did have something helpful to say, "The aura of light and fire wasn't that strong. Perhaps you can see for yourself."

"Wouldn't they have searched her room already?" John asked.

Astrid shrugged. "It was pretty well hidden. I wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't been around a sneaky darkness cultivator so frequently."

John raised an eyebrow. "Have you been hanging out with my daughter behind my back?"

She hadn't. Or rather, Astrid kept John quite aware of where she went. She had spent time with each of the triplets even without him. It was good that they were getting along. She couldn't replace their mother, but she really didn't need to. They were all independent and had been for quite some time before her arrival.

But of course the sneaky individual in question was probably him. He'd encouraged her to look at the world in different ways, which included increasing her ability to sense diverse spiritual elements.

"Let's go find Lochan," John suggested. "He was taking on practical aspects of the investigation."

Finding the man himself wasn't terribly difficult. There were only two presences of comparable power locally, and there were subtle differences in flow and power between Lochan and his father. Once the two of them got close, Lochan actually came to them. The two of them were probably more obvious, as they were not members of the sect. Astrid's elements had to match, but even she felt quite different. And as both were Ascending Soul Phase cultivators they were like beacons unless they specifically hid themselves. During some of Astrid's snooping she had gradually toned down her presence.

"Were you looking for me?" Lochan asked as he approached.

"Indeed," John nodded. "I came to ask if you had checked Apurva's quarters for any clues." John would have said 'we', but he was minimizing Astrid's presence intentionally. Not with spiritual energy, but simply by treating her as merely coming along rather than actively participating. She might be in a better position to notice something that way.

"I have already," Lochan confirmed. "I found nothing of note, but we can investigate together if you wish."

It would be easier if John could just confirm the Great Eye Sect had it out for him. So far, everything they did was perfectly reasonable yet still slightly suspicious. It was quite troublesome.

"That would be excellent," John said. "I have a different set of sensory elements, so I might find something. Please, lead the way." When Lochan unlocked the room, after they stepped inside, John asked, "Why was it not guarded?"

"We didn't want to give anything away. There are a few guards watching the entrance, though."

"Since when?" John asked.

"About the time I came to you with Apurva," Lochan explained.

John managed to catch Astrid's eye and she looked away guiltily. Perhaps she hadn't noticed them. John had, though he would have asked the question regardless.

They began to look around the room, senses sweeping. Astrid gave no indication of where she'd found the floorboard, but John paid attention to everything. Including the walls and the furniture. Everything seemed balanced. There wasn't anything unusual under the floor where he stood.

But there was on Lochan's side of the room. John sensed it just about the time that Lochan passed it. It took him another minute to wander back that way, then he suddenly looked down.

"Ah, it appears I missed something on the previous inspection. Come, look at this," he waved over John. "There's something in the floor." He bent down.

Lochan wasn't expressive enough for John to read him. His voice sounded genuine enough, though. John was wondering how Lochan confirmed Apurva's plot… especially without observing the poison.

Lochan's energy played around the board and then ripped it out- levering it the wrong way and snapping the board. Astrid winced. John's senses were locked on the things buried below. He'd have to take a good hard look at Apurva's energy, but the lingering traces seemed to match her quite well. Of course, even if she was the one who had done everything it didn't remove the possibility that the sect set things up. She could have been a willing sacrifice for whatever reason.

Lochan rooted around in the dirt, pulling up two things. He rubbed the dirt off the token and frowned. "The Glorious Veil!" he turned it over a few times. "But not enchanted." He flexed the metallic token lightly. "How odd."

"May I see it?" John asked.

"Certainly," Lochan handed it over as he held up the vial in his other hand. "We'll have to check this against the syringe I found."

That was the first John had heard of it. Injecting poison into the meat certainly could have been done with that method, though John would have probably used pure spiritual energy. Then again, most people weren't confident in erasing their own traces- and light users weren't good at concealing things in that way. Less concealment, more overwhelming people.

Even now, the token was slightly charged with Lochan's energy. If he'd touched it before, he had been very careful. Of course, subordinates could have done the dirty work. As for the token itself, it matched Astrid's sketch. A strange symbol that didn't have any clear form in John's mind. Just two shapes. One was somewhat like an island.

"Where did you find a syringe?" John asked.

"In Apurva's storage bag," Lochan said simply. "I believe she was on her way to dispose of it."

That still didn't explain how he suspected her in the first place. John was going to have to probe more. If he was being paranoid… at least it was good practice. Besides, someone had literally just tried- and technically succeeded- to poison him. Properly confirming the origin was important. Also probably enhancing his level of Pure Blood, when he had time.

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