Exton

A buzz of wings startles both Fae.

"Escusi. You are forgetting us?"

Gareth and Monty look up at the crowd buzzing over their heads. The speaker hovered near fists on his hips.

"Lord Blackthorn, the Dealg Drubh... He enlisted us to fight against the Unseelie Witch. We are bored! Besides, who better to detect poison. We know poisons in the most basic forms. We know poisons in their created forms."

A small fae with crumpled wings watches from a tabletop. The hovering fae points at her.

"Weebit... she knows poisons from the Unformed Plains. What would take you hours will take us..."

His hand flutters in a dismissive gesture.

"The shadow is gone. It knows not what we do now." A smile creases the small features, dark eyes shining. "Open the storeroom doors for us Marrmurr. We have work to do."

The minute Monty opens the door to the store room, a cloud of demifae disappear inside. Their small forms hover over the foodstuff. Weebit stands next to the basket for Star and screeches. She points to several pieces of fruit. A cluster of seedless grapes has started to turn black around what looks like a bad spot on the stem.

A similar cry rises from a sack of potatoes, another from jarred salsa. Even a few cans have been tampered with, not by poison itself, but by dusted spells. When the cans were opened, the contents would be tainted by the spell.

"Gloves! Wear gloves Master Fae! Do not touch or move things without them!"

A shrill screech comes from the bar. Several bottles behind the bars are glowing a sickly green. All are new, none of the previously opened have been tampered with. Two are raspberry wine, another dark rum. A clatter in the kitchen is followed by a thump against the swinging door. A little fae crawls through the gap at the bottom of the door.

"Sea salt! They have a lot of sea salt! Wash the screw top bottles. Dowse the wine, Corks have been punctured!"

This goes on for almost and hour. Nothing has been cleansed, over the very loud protests of the demifae. Monty finally shouts, yelling for silence.

"Mortuis has been called, and if Inari is still here, she should take a look as well! Rowan too! Now back OFF!"