Hemlock & Silver

Minor Spoilers Ahead

Anja is a scholar who specializes in poisons and antidotes. She describes herself as somewhat of a spinster. Anja devoted her life to the study of poisons and the treatment of the ravages they cause upon people. She has focused on her studies and her profession over any other pursuits in life. In her mid-30s, unwed, and with no children, she spends most of her days in a laboratory or traveling around the area treating people who have eaten the wrong plant or found themselves in the throes of addiction.

Our protagonist describes herself as a large woman; both in height and weight. She stands a full head taller than her younger sister, Isobel, who worries over Anja's outward appearance. Anja values her intellect and her status as a renown expert on the symptoms and treatments of a multitude of poisons. She isn't compelled to worry about her appearance or social life, as she is content to be alone.

Anja became obsessed with poisons as a child. When she was 11, Anja's family went to the country to visit relatives. Her cousin Anthony was showing the sisters around the farm and flaunting his knowledge of the local flora. He would point at plant after plant and name them along with their uses or qualities. Anthony picked a small plant from the ground and laughed as neither girl could identify it. He told them it was a carrot and ate it. Anthony was dead by the next morning. He had eaten hemlock, not a carrot.

Anja was discussing things with her tutor, Scand after the events of the family trip. She wanted to know why, if people knew of poisons similar to hemlock, was there no treatment for exposure to it? Rather than giving her the answers, Scand pushed Anja to find reasons on her own.

This form of mentorship and tutoring worked amazingly for Anja. It instilled a lifelong curiosity in her that would allow her to not merely accept knowledge from others without confirming their solutions herself. She relied on the scientific method to gain new information.

One day, while testing a new blend of chime-adder venom powder on herself, she is surprised to have a man interrupt her work inside her lab. This area is designated to be off-limits to the public, and her housemaid knows to keep visitors out. The effects of the venom distract her and cause a delay in her recognition of her own king standing before her.

King Randolph seeks the aid of the famous healer Anja. Anja is hesitant to respond as she is suffering the effects of her recently ingested poison. Randolph assumes her hesitation must be because she has heard the rumors about him.

Randolph tells Anja that the rumors are indeed true. He has slain his lady wife with his own hands. He was forced to take such extreme action against her. Randolph entered his youngest daughter's bedchamber upon hearing a great commotion. He witnessed, to his horror, his wife cutting out the heart of Princess Rose.

Rose had become different in the weeks immediately preceding her death. She had suddenly become extraordinarily clumsy. Staff would find her wandering around the castle, utterly lost. She appeared to have lost the ability to read, among other changes in her intellect and personality.

But these aren't the reasons King Randolph has deigned to visit this daughter of a merchant. His elder daughter, Snow, has now apparently contracted a wasting illness. None of the best physicians bought by money or loyalty can determine the cause of his last living family's disease. There has been a suspicion from a few of them that an unknown form of poison may be affecting Snow.

Arriving at the castle, Anja got to work immediately to set up a temporary lab and begin determining if the princess was being poisoned. Anja had all the princess's food monitored and set to work isolating any form of contact poison she could fathom. Swatches were taken from Snow's clothing to be tested for traces of foul additives. The princess was to be watched constantly to see if she applied any form of makeup, perfume, or other types of cosmetics.

Anja retrieved samples of any material or product that came in contact with Snow and tested them all. Snow was not allowed a single moment of privacy for her own safety. Weeks passed, and Anja could find no evidence of any type of known poison. She considered that the princess's condition might have no physical cause and that she may suffer a form of mental disorder caused by the trauma of her sister and mother passing in the manner they did.

One day while taking a respite in one of the castle's gardens, Anja witnessed Snow and one of her maids entering the same garden. Snow caused a ruckus and demanded the maid go back into the castle and retrieve an umbrella. Seconds after the maid was out of sight, the princess devoured a strange-looking apple that she got from nowhere.

Anja rushed over and wrestled the food away from the princess and had Snow escorted back to her rooms to be observed by her nurse. Anja examined this fruit and found it to be odd in a few ways, but it did not register as any type of poison to any test she tried. As a last experiment, Anja gave a piece of the apple to a rooster to see what effect the fruit might have on it.

Anja's rooster suffered no foul results from its ingestion of the apple. She felt she was running out of time to solve the problem before the princess succumbed to the disease that was causing her to vomit uncontrollably. Anja ate a small piece of the apple herself.

It tasted cold. It had the feeling of being minty without the flavor. She could feel its temperature change slide down her throat as she swallowed. It left her mouth feeling bizarre. Anja waited in her lab for a few hours to see if she felt any change in herself, but everything appeared normal.

Anja felt she had failed King Randolph thoroughly. She retired to her room and began writing a letter to her liege in apology for her failure. The letter proved elusive for Anja to pen, and she discarded her initial draft.

A strange, one-eyed cat absconded with the discarded parchment, and in her attempts to catch the furry thief, Anja tripped and struck her head on an enormous mirror hanging on the wall of her bedroom. She more than hit her head; Anja fell through the mirror and landed in a soundless, gray version of her room.

The cat speaks up and informs Anja that they have gone through the silver mirror and are now on the "Other Side". He himself is a mirror-cat named Grayling. They are both now in the mirror world and shouldn't tarry long. Anja's mind races with the scientific possibilities and.....

If you want to know what becomes of our protagonist and her new feline companion, I suggest you pick up Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher, the pen name of Ursula Vernon. I found this tale to be enjoyable. I am a sucker for any type of Alice in Wonderland story. The setting is unique, and the story is well-told and moves along nicely. I give it a seven out of ten.