The Chaos Curse (Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond #3) - Sayantani DasGupta Page 0,44
pulled out of his hat two goblets as well as a pitcher of cola. Waving his hands, he made two little tree stumps appear on either side of the thick root he had been using as a table. He gestured like I should sit down. With my arms and legs still tied up in tree roots, it wasn’t that easy, but I perched myself on the edge of the stump.
“Okay, now pour the soda,” I said.
Nidhoggr grinned, obviously excited by the challenge. “I think I see where this is going!” He poured the liquid from the pitcher into the two goblets. “Now what?”
“Now I’ll need you to get something pretty hard to get,” I said, hoping that Nidhoggr could do it. “It’s called Bhuvanprash. It’s a special … uh … poisonous paste from the Kingdom Beyond. Oh, and I’ll need a spoon too.”
“Hard to get?” Nidhoggr waved his hands and produced a container of the paste from his hat, along with a spoon. “Maybe for other magical beings, but not for me.”
I smiled in what I hoped was a mysterious way. The familiar gloppy black goo was of course not poison at all, but something Ma had made me take as a vitamin supplement (along with my gummy chewables) for years! My entire plan rested on the assumption that Norse dragons’ moms didn’t make them take Bhuvanprash too.
“You’ll have to undo my hands for the next part,” I said. The dragon gave me a skeptical look and first moved my bow and arrow way out of my reach. Then, with a wave of his hands, he had the roots binding my hands wrap around my chest and shoulders instead.
“Great, so much more comfortable,” I muttered. My arms were free, but the pressure of the root across my body was so great I couldn’t even take a deep breath. “Not.”
“What did you say?” snapped Nidhoggr. “You know, I don’t have to play along with this. I just am because of your snaky heritage. And also, I can’t pass up the chance to show Sesha that I beat his daughter.”
I tried to keep my face blank even though I was cheering on the inside. It was working! I had him by the vanity. Thank goodness Ned was so overproud of being smart and clever.
I picked up the container of Bhuvanprash and opened it. Then I dipped the spoon in, making a big show of being careful, as if the substance inside was super dangerous. “When I mix the paste into the Thumpuchi, it will become odorless and undetectable!”
“Now you’re talking my poison! I mean, poison is my poison! Get it? I mean, I really dig poison! Buah hah hah!” Nidhoggr said in what I supposed he thought was a dastardly-villain-type voice. I wondered for a second if I wasn’t the only one acting here.
“It’s a deadly poison, I suppose?” he added as I turned around as best I could and fiddled with the Bhuvanprash and two goblets.
“We’ll see, won’t we?” When I turned back around, I made a big show of switching the goblets in front of us a couple times. “I’ve put the poison in one of the goblets only. And now begins the test. Where is the poison?” I cleared my throat, trying to remember the line from the movie. “Our contest ends when you decide which one to drink from, and we will see who is right … and who is dead!”
“Well, this is simple enough.” Nidhoggr gave me a skeptical look with his narrow eyes. He licked his thin lips with a pointed tongue. “All I have to do is figure out what kind of a person you are. Are you the kind of sixth grader who would put the poison in her own cup or her enemy’s?”
I nodded, willing myself not to give anything away, willing myself not to look at one cup or the other.
“Now, only a total ding-dong would reach for what they’re given. So I can’t drink the goblet in front of me.” Nidhoggr tapped his finger on his lips. “But you would have known I wasn’t a complete ding-dong, and so I obviously can’t choose the soda in front of you.”
“So you know which cup you’re drinking from?” My heart was hammering in my chest. Would my plan work?
“Not even! You know that I’m a dragon, and you probably know the stories about us being suspicious creatures, and so I obviously can’t choose the soda in front of me.”