by Devyn Jayse
"Attacked," Ragum said brusquely.
"Is this her only injury?"
"I think so. Dare?" He looked down at me and waited for me to answer.
I nodded. "Yes."
"We'll take her for a full look over." The woman pulled me away from Ragum's grasp, and he let go. "Emily, go find Nurse Nell and have her meet us in the sick room."
The girl jumped up from where she was seated on the ground and ran off at once.
"It's just my cheek," I protested as we walked down the hall.
The others in the main room looked after us curiously.
The woman tutted. "Sometimes, your organs are injured, but you don't feel them. It's best to have Nurse Nell look you over properly just in case."
She guided me to a small room and instructed me to take off my cape, shirt, belt and scabbard, and boots. Ragum stayed outside the room. A woman in a green robe entered the sick room and came straight toward me. From the determined look on her face, I gathered she was Nurse Nell.
She instantly began giving orders. "Let's look at that cut. Okay, it's not so deep. It's already stopped bleeding. We'll clean it up, and hopefully it will heal. Now, I'm going to touch you, and I want you to tell me if you feel any pain. Do you understand me?"
I nodded once.
She put her hand on my throat, and I swallowed hard.
She frowned. "What happened here?"
I told her about the man grabbing me.
"Tell me the rest of the incident," she ordered.
As I detailed my full encounter, her hand went down my right shoulder. I winced. Yesterday's soreness combined with today's incident had made the area more tender. Her hand did the same for my left shoulder, then she brushed down my chest and stomach and down my legs.
"Except for your cheek, you don't seem to have any serious injuries. You should expect soreness and bruising. I would recommend a hot soak for three days and rest. Don't exert yourself, or your shoulder is going to give you some wicked pain."
"Thank you," I replied.
She dabbed my cheek with something that smelled nice. "Don't mention it. Keep your cheek clean, and it should heal nicely. It's not a deep cut, and it shouldn't leave a scar." Nurse Nell asked, "Do you have any injuries that you don't think I've covered?
I shook my head.
"All right, you should be good to go."
"Thank you," I said once again, pulling on my boots.
After I put my shirt back on along with my belt, Nurse Nell opened the door and called Ragum in.
"Hallo, Nell. You raced past me so quickly earlier you forgot to greet your old friend," Ragum said.
"Ragum." She gave him a smile that transformed her features. "You know how I am when it comes to sick people."
"Aye, your mind goes to the sick before it acknowledges the healthy. How's Dare doing?"
"She hasn't been affected by any bodily injury. She may have a case of the shakes for a few days, natural after an attack. I've told her to take a hot soak for three days for the soreness. Some bruising is to be expected. If she has pain, you can ask the apothecary for the usual pain remedy. Make sure she has company."
Nurse Nell turned to me. "And remember young lady, don't go playing with that wound on your cheek, or it won't heal nicely. Hands off. Don't touch it other than for washing your face."
I picked up my cape, and we made our way to the bench outside.
"Penny shouldn't be much longer. We'll walk her back to the inn, and then you and I can discuss what happened," Ragum said.
I nodded in unspoken agreement. Penny shouldn't hear about this.
Penny came out, looking cheerful, and the two of us got to our feet.
Her expression changed when she spotted me with Ragum, her eyebrows meeting in a frown. "Dare? What's happened to your face? Ragum, what are you doing here?"
"I'm here to walk you and Dare home," Ragum said, his hands in his pockets.
"What's happened to your face?" Penny asked me again. She wasn't fooled by Ragum's casual stance.
"Got cut by mistake." I forced a smile onto my face and winced when it hurt. "Keep away from sharp objects."
Penny looked back and forth between the two of us but realized nothing more was forthcoming. She tried to keep up a chatter on the way back, but Ragum was not an engaging partner, and I kept quiet for the most part. My cheek hurt when I talked.
She gave me one last glance as we stood outside the Rebel Hare. "Are you really all right?"
"Yes, don't worry about me." I gave her a lopsided smile. That didn't hurt as much. "I'll see you soon."
"I will," she promised as she waved goodbye. At some signal from Ragum, the two men who regularly followed her home stepped up to flank her. I was sure she would be protected the entire way.
Since she was gone, I looked at Ragum and asked, "How did you know to come for me?" Before he had time to answer, I asked another question. "How were you there so quickly?"
Ragum kept quiet for a few heartbeats. Then he gestured toward the bench by the door. I sat down and waited expectantly.
"I told the younger ones to keep watch on you."
"What? Why?"
"I suspected, sooner or later, you'd draw the attention of the attacker, and it would help if you didn't fall down dead on us."
I frowned. "Did Blaze tell you to do that?"
"No, he doesn't know." Ragum gave me a hard look. "I told you not to go looking into it."
"Someone is killing women. I'm not going to stand by and do nothing about it. Especially if I could be the one murdered next."
"You nearly were, in case you've forgotten," Ragum muttered.
I glared at him. "Why are you so against my help?"
"I don't think you can adequately protect yourself. And if anything happens to you, Penny will be upset."
"You don't want me to help, to avoid Penny being upset?" I frowned.
"Yes," he replied brusquely.
"Okay." I wasn't sure if I should be insulted or not that he wasn't interested in my well-being.
"How were you there so quickly?" I repeated.
He raised a hand to his shaved head. I couldn't identify the expression on his face. Embarrassment?
"I've been following you," he said.
"What?"
"I've been following you." His voice was stronger.
"You got children to keep an eye out on me, and you've been following me?" I was checking to make sure I understood him correctly.
He gave me a curt nod.
"Why?" I stared at him, confused.
He shook his head. "I told you. I thought you'd draw the attention of the attacker. And I believe you did."
"I'm not sure it was the killer," I lied.
His lips met in a thin line. "I suspect, if he had a few more minutes, he would have butchered you the way he did with other women."
"How do you know he wasn't just another person after my purse?"
"The children said his face was covered. Most people in the Blights don't go around masked. They'll rob you to your face."
"He had a regular dagger. I didn't see any fancy tools that we think he used on the other women."
"They could have been on his person. Did you have time to see everything that was on him?"
"No, I was too busy fighting for my life."
"That's another thing. A Blights thief would not kill you for your purse. They'd kill you for other reasons, but killing complicates a simple thieving job."
I had to admit that made sense. Then I frowned as I realized I was missing an important thing. "The attacker was not after me."
Ragum's attention sharpened. "What do you mean?"
"He didn't follow me and decide to attack me. He was already there. I randomly chose to explore the neighborhood behind Penny's shelter. I didn't have any idea where I was going. He couldn't set up a trap for me. I heard a sound, and again I made a choice to enter that alley without any provocation."
Ragum frowned. "You're saying he was already
there? Before you chose to go there?"
"Yes." A sinking feeling washed through me. "Have you had anyone search that alley?"
"No," Ragum replied.
"I think there might be another body."
25
I was right, Ragum told me later. Another woman had been discovered farther down the alley. He had returned to the inn to let me know.
Instead of going to the tavern, I had chosen to stay in and have my midday meal in peace. I didn't want to face Blaze's recriminations and orders to keep away from the investigation, especially since I had realized the killer had developed a taste for taking life and enjoyed it.
And since I had a sneaking suspicion of who it was.
"What's happened to you?" Those were Oscar's first words when I walked into The Fortune the next day. He stared intently at the cut on my face.
"Went into the wrong alley."
Oscar came around the counter to face me. "Are you all right?"
"Better than I was. I hate to say it, but Wendell was right. I haven't been going around the Blights with the right mindset. I should be expecting danger to jump out from anywhere."
"He'll be glad to hear that though sorry to learn the reason why it's been said. He never tires of hearing he's right." Oscar's lips twisted. "So I take it you can come to terms with his unconventional methods?"
"Yes, I'll have to." I rolled my shoulders. They still ached, though not enough for me to seek out an apothecary.
"You could have sent a message to me, you know," Oscar continued.
"For what?"
"To tell me you weren't coming in."
"Why wouldn't I?" I asked, confused.
"You should be resting. I'm sure it's not only your face that's seen better days."
"That's true, but I would go crazy staying in my room at the inn, doing nothing. I can never bear to be in one place too long."
"Well, I won't be sending you out on deliveries in this state," Oscar declared.
I didn't argue with him. If anyone had attacked me at the moment, I didn't think I could even raise my sword.
"I actually came to ask you a question," I said.
"What's that?"
"Have you ever come across a thin, curved blade about this length?" I gestured, holding my two hands apart. "It looks like a dagger, but it's not. It looks more like one of the doctor's tools that Morris and I saw."
"It might be one of them. I received a lot of tools like that, and they all looked different, but they were usually thin blades."
My brows knitted together. If Oscar had received several of those tools, then anyone could be the killer and not the man I suspected.
"Are those blades sold anywhere else?"
"No, they're fairly sophisticated, as you've seen. They're created for a specific purpose. Anyone else would create a knife, dagger, or blade. No one would create that type of tool for the sake of it. I believe I would be the only one selling them unless Morris happened to keep some himself and sold them on," Oscar mused.
I hadn't thought of that possibility. "Do you keep track of the items you send out for deliveries?"
"Of course." He looked at me as though that was the inanest question. I realized belatedly that it was. I'd seen him time and again filling out his ledger. All the inventory he had went into that meticulous book.
"When was the first time you got a shipment of those long tools, the ones Morris and I pored over?"
Oscar frowned. "The ones for physicians?"
"Yes, those."
"Well, I had never received any items like that before, so the first time was a few moons ago." Oscar pulled out his ledger from beneath the counter.
My heart sank. That fit the timeline Blaze had given for when the killings commenced. They had started before I had come to the Blights.
"I believe three of them were included in one of your first deliveries." He leafed through the pages, searching for the dates.
Oh. I hadn't delivered to Doctor Reddington's town residence in my first deliveries. It wasn't him. A sense of relief washed over me, leaving confusion in its wake. My sister's personal physician was not the Blights killer. He couldn't be. I wasn't any closer to finding out who it was.
Oscar studied the ledger. "My mistake. The first delivery of the tools wasn't done by you. It was before you started working here."
"What about the other two? Did I deliver them?"
Oscar went through the pages. "Yes, you did. They were delivered to the same residence."
I frowned. I had only delivered to Doctor Reddington's once, and that was after the killings had taken place. My theory didn't work. He wasn't the murderer. I had been so certain it was, that the knowledge left me feeling a little bereft. Maybe it was one of the other people who had received those tools, though.
"Who bought the first tools?" I asked.
"Doctor Reddington," Oscar said, his finger pointing at an entry.
I licked my lips, my throat suddenly dry. "And the others?"
"Also Doctor Reddington."
"How? I only delivered to his residence once." I frowned.
"He requested the two other purchases be delivered to other residences. He knew there were people going to the castle and wanted them as soon as possible."
All the tools had gone to Doctor Reddington.
He was the Blights killer.
I tried to swallow through the lump of fear in my throat.
My sister's physician was killing women in the Blights.
Oscar studied my face intently. "Is there something you want to share with me?"
"No, nothing." My voice came out normal despite the all-encompassing fear I felt.
I had been right. It was Doctor Reddington.
Now what am I going to do?
26
I left Oscar's after telling him that my encounter the day before had left me more tired than I had expected. He seemed concerned but allowed me to leave without much trouble. I was half expecting him to order me to sit until he could get someone to walk me back to the inn.
As I hurried back to the Rebel Hare, I thought about everything I had just discovered. I knew the identity of the Blights killer. He was my sister's physician, the king's own physician, Doctor Rufus Reddington. He was the one slicing up the women and pulling out their innards.
I shuddered, thinking of Gwen in his care.
That reminded me of my dilemma. All my options seemed to have views conflicting with my own.
If I told Blaze, I was certain he would kill the man, and I was sure he would have him killed in the same manner as the women had been murdered, in long strips with his innards pulled out. I cringed at the thought.
If I told Garren, then first Blaze would get angry with me for entrusting the fate of the Blights killer to a King's Guard. But he was the king's physician. It should be Garren that I told about Doctor Reddington.
Should I tell Ragum? I shook my head. That was no different than telling Blaze. I wondered if he was still busy with the discovery of the latest body. I could imagine him standing over the body and the frustration he would be feeling at another death.
By the time I made it to the Rebel Hare, I realized that I wanted to talk to Doctor Reddington and get some answers. The families of the victims deserved them. I also wanted to give him a chance to do the right thing and confess to his crimes. He could go to the king and come clean about all he had done.
Some doubts remained, though, that I was making the wrong choice.
I decided I would have to go and talk to him myself. I was better prepared, knowing what he was capable of. I made my way to my room and got out my daggers, making sure to put them in my cape in the little pockets that gave me easy access.
I looked around my room for ink and a quill. I wrote the doctor's name on it, in case anything happened to me, though I was certain Oscar would be able to figure it out if I happened to go missing or wind up dead after the conversation we'd just had.
I picked up my sword and looped in my
sword belt.
When I was ready, I made my way downstairs.
I was going to visit Doctor Rufus Reddington and confront him.
If he didn't choose to do the right thing, I would call the Watch and have them take him away in chains.
27
As I made my way to leave, the innkeeper called after me, "Dare!"
I turned around. "Yes?"
"There's a man, been waiting for you in the dining room. I told him we could send you a message, but he said he'd wait until you made out to leave."
I frowned, wondering if Ragum had returned to check up on me.
"Who is it?" I asked.
"Don't know. First time I lay eyes on him. He looks like he's castle folk."
Oh. Garren was back for another visit. I debated whether I should walk out the door and go to Doctor Reddington's residence without seeing him.
Then common sense kicked in. Since he was there, I should just tell him what I had discovered, and we could go together to the doctor's residence, but I couldn't risk anyone overhearing our conversation.
"Anyone else in there?" I asked.
"No, it's just him. It's too early for meals yet." The innkeeper replied.
"Great, do me a favor and make sure we're not disturbed until we leave."
"All right, I'll tell Kate to keep away," he said with a smile.
"Thanks." I gave him a nod in appreciation.
I walked to the dining room and almost stumbled as I saw who was seated there.
Doctor Rufus Reddington.
He smiled at me as I gaped at him, a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.
"What are you doing here?" I couldn't help but say.
"Good afternoon, Lady Darelynn," he replied. He rose from his chair. "Would you kindly join me?"
"What are you doing here?" I repeated. Although I had been ready to go confront him at his residence, I was still taken aback at his presence there at the inn.
"I've come to visit you."
"Why?"
He gave me an elegant shrug. "I wanted to apologize for earlier today. I didn't know it was you in the alley. I'm afraid I got carried away and didn't mean to cause you injury. Though it appears that I haven't done much harm." His eyes lingered on the cut on my cheek.
