Nightshade Guide

Isolde looked at him and saw not a traitor, but a desperate animal. She agreed to help him, but warned him of the cost. To fake a death convincingly enough to fool the King's hounds, Julian would have to take a tincture of Atropa belladonna —the Deadly Nightshade.

It would widen his pupils until his eyes were as black as obsidian. He would see the world through a terrifying, beautiful haze.

Hours later, the King's riders hammered on Isolde's door. They burst inside, their swords drawn, demanding the traitor. Isolde simply pointed to the cold body lying on the stone floor. The captain of the guard knelt, pressed two fingers to Julian's neck, and peeled back his eyelid. Seeing only a vast, empty black void and feeling no pulse, the captain spat on the floor and declared him dead.

💡 The story of the Nightshade family is never about pure evil or pure good; it is about the dual nature of power. The exact same plant that can blind or kill can also be used by a skilled hand to heal or save.

"They say you can make a person forget," Julian whispered, his hands trembling against the iron latch. "They say you can give a man a new face."

She explained the three stages of the poison to him as she prepared the vial: