The doctor instructed them to carry Reginald into the house and immediately began tending to his wound.
He let them pull the wagon into the barn, and they carried their things into the house. They left Lafalle’s coffin tied down in the wagon in the barn, but Challe stood watch over it, so there was no need to worry.
Stowe’s wound was deep, and he had lost a lot of blood. The doctor stitched up the wound and stopped the bleeding. He told them this first night would be the worst. Reginald had a fever and was drifting in and out of consciousness, so things were touch and go. But the one saving grace was that the cut had not reached any of his internal organs.
Reginald was on the bed in the treatment room. He’d lost consciousness and was sleeping. The room was filled with the smell of disinfectant.
Anne took a seat on a stool near the head of the bed, silently praying.
“Something to drink?”
From behind, someone offered her a fragrant, steaming cup.
The doctor looked at Anne with kind eyes. He resembled one of the saints decorating the Church of Saint Lewiston Bell. Unfortunately, Anne had forgotten that saint’s name.
She accepted the cup and took a sip. The steaming tea, which had a dry astringency to it, tasted like it had several drops of some strong alcohol tipped into it. It was very calming. The doctor pulled a stool over and sat down next to Anne, then looked down at Reginald. He was holding a cup of the same tea.
“Who exactly is this man?” he asked. “With a beautiful fairy and a coffin in tow, you lot are terribly suspicious.”
“I’d like to tell you, but it’s not…something I can talk about yet, I don’t think…”
The doctor took a big swig of tea and shifted his gaze to something near the head of the bed.
“Hmm. Well, it doesn’t change the fact that someone is hurt. By the way, which of you owns that candy statue of the fairy?”
The sugar candy statue Anne had made was sitting by Reginald’s pillow. Anne had placed it there, clinging to the hope that it might help Reginald hang on to life.
“It belongs to him. I made it in the shape of a fairy he knew long ago.”
“Was this fairy called Amy or something like that?”
“Huh?”
“A worker fairy I bought about fifteen years ago looked just like that little statue. The face isn’t filled in, but otherwise, it’s the spitting image of her. How strange.”
Anne stared at him blankly.
The doctor went on, gazing at the statue with its light, gentle coloring. “She wasn’t much help. She couldn’t even cook, and she was bad at cleaning. She was a bit useless, but she was great at one thing: calming kids down. She was a gem whenever I had a crying kid come in as a patient.”
Anne recalled Reginald saying the fairy who had betrayed him was a nursemaid. He’d added that she was stupid and useless.
It can’t be.
“Silver Sugar Viscount. The Earl of Downing summons you.”
Several hours after Keith had sneaked out of the inn, someone called to Hugh through his door.
Hugh stood up, fixed his collar, and quickly checked his appearance in the window glass.
Salim silently approached him and whispered, “Viscount. If you command me to do so, I will get you out of here. I’m confident I can.”
Hugh chuckled softly. “If you do something like that, we’ll be fugitives for sure. Give up on it. We’ll go downstairs, and no matter what happens, you’re not to get involved. That’s an order.”
Hugh started walking toward the door, and Salim followed, prepared for the worst. Kat, who had also been sitting, got up and went to stand next to Hugh.
“What is it, Kat?” asked the Viscount.
“I’m going, too.”
“To do what?”
“That oughtta be obvious. I’m gonna watch you suffer.”
“Then I shall say this to you as well: Don’t get violent. Though I doubt it would amount to much if you did.”
“Who’s getting violent? I’m just gonna see what happens. Dumbass.” Kat stared straight ahead. He sounded angry.
Kat was a good-natured person. He always had been. He hadn’t changed since they’d first met. Hugh put on a wry smile and headed for the dining hall on the first floor, accompanied by Kat and Salim.
There were soldiers standing watch near the windows and doors. Several of them had bandages wound around their arms and heads. They were probably the ones who had attacked Reginald. Based on how beaten they looked and the state of their injuries, Hugh deduced that Reginald had probably managed to escape.
The Earl of Downing, who was sitting on the sofa, received Hugh with an expression of irrepressible rage. He was angrily fidgeting with a horse whip held in both hands.
He sure is angry. He can’t wait to punish me.
Hugh gestured for Kat and Salim to wait near the door. “No matter what happens,” he reminded them, “don’t make a move.”
Then he stepped forward in front of the Earl of Downing.
“You called for me, my lord?”
“A short while ago, I sent several of my soldiers to that church. Stowe was there, preparing to flee, and what’s more, I’m told Halford and Challe Fenn Challe were with him.”
“I suppose they were, my lord. And what became of Stowe?”
“He got away.”
“Glad to hear it.”
The moment Hugh responded, the Earl of Downing stood up.
“So, Mercury, you were the one who dispatched Halford and her fairy and let Stowe escape.”
It wasn’t something Hugh could hide, so he readily admitted it.
“That’s right.”
“Why did you do such a thing?!”
“Because I am the Silver Sugar Viscount. If you kill Stowe, we’ll never be able to negotiate with the fairy dealers ever again. If that happens, the plan to train new silver sugar fairies will fall through. I needed to prevent that.”
Perhaps because he was so angry, the Earl of Downing’s hands trembled as he held the whip. He was probably angrier at Hugh’s betrayal than at Reginald’s escape. He’d always looked after the Viscount.
“My lord. Using force to make your enemies submit doesn’t necessarily help matters. In some cases, the very fact that you had to force obedience can be a source of instability. That’s the way the common people’s minds work. So once again, I’d like to ask you to reconsider.”
“There is no room for reconsideration. Protecting the royal family and preserving the kingdom are my duties. I’ve always taken them very seriously, and in discharging them, my methods have yet to fail me. I simply cannot capitulate to threats from fairy dealers!”
“It wasn’t a threat. The fairy dealers wish to negotiate.”
“Their negotiations and their threats both look the same.”
“You’re wrong.”
“They are the same, I said! I simply cannot see things your way.”
At the earl’s unwavering words, Hugh let out a deep sigh.