Dawn gestured slowly hoping Cree would understand her and as if he was interpreting, he repeated her words as she told him what the cleric, supposedly Lucerne’s father, had told her.
Cree shook his head.
Sloan and Torr joined them halfway through and Sloan was quick to say when she finished, “So the other culprit is…”
“One of two women or both of them and I believe that your father has the answer,” Cree said turning to Torr.
That had Dawn recalling the vial in the cleric’s hand and with no time to explain, and ignoring the stinging pain in her knee, she ran for the stairs.
Chapter Thirty-five
An arm snaked around her waist before her foot hit the first step. Cree swung her up and around, planting her on her feet in front of him. “Nothing is more important than seeing to your wound.”
She shook her head, pointed toward Torr who approached them along with Sloan, and then she pointed upstairs and tugged at his arm.
Torr rushed forward. “Is she saying that my father is in danger?”
Dawn nodded.
Torr flew up the stairs, Sloan behind him and Cree once again scooped her up, though this time he flung her over his shoulder, the staircase too narrow for him to carry her in his arms.
Once in the hall he set her down and as soon as he did she ran to catch up with Torr and Sloan. Cree shook his head as he chased after her.
Dawn entered the room to find Torr staring down at his still unconscious father and Sloan glancing about, though no one else was there. Dawn pushed Torr out of the way and dropped down to her knees, though winced when her wounded knee hit the floor.
Cree mumbled and reached down for her, but she brushed his hands away and dropped her head down to search under the bed, having last seen the vial on the floor by the bed. She didn’t find it and she feared the culprit may have already given the poison to Kirk.
She looked up at Cree with worried eyes and he slipped his hands beneath her arms and eased her up on her feet.
“What do you look for?” he asked.
She held two fingers not far from each other and with two more fingers from her other hand, she demonstrated the width.
“A vial?” Torr asked.
She nodded and gestured how she saw it in the cleric’s hand and how he dropped it when he held a dagger to her stomach.
Cree’s face turned red with fury. “He held a dagger to your stomach?”
Dawn nodded and also gestured how the cleric threatened to slice Elwin’s throat.
Several oaths slipped from Cree’s mouth before he said, “The bastard is lucky he’s dead or he would have been begging for mercy that I would have never granted him.”
Torr bent over his father and felt his lips. “They are dry, but it has been some time since Dawn was here.”
“Look around,” Cree ordered. “A servant may have come in since then, and perhaps didn’t see it and accidentally hit it with her foot or placed it somewhere. Not you,” Cree commanded sharply when Dawn turned to help. You have been through enough and you have suffered an injury that needs tending.”
Dawn tried to protest, wanting to help.
“Don’t bother arguing. Sit and rest until Elsa gets here to tend your wound.”
Dawn raised her hand but the warning look Cree shot her made her think twice and so she sat on the chair near the hearth while the men searched. She turned to the side for privacy to raise her skirt and have a look at her wound, since a twinge of pain had remained with her, when something sparkled from where the stone met the wood plank floor. She peered down and there snug in the groove was the vial. She picked it up and held it high as she turned around.
Cree took it from her. “We’re going to use this as bait.”
And they all listened as Cree laid out his plan.
~~~
Lady Ann patted Lucerne’s hand offering comfort as they sat beside each other on the dais, the Great Hall filling for supper. “Do not worry, my dear, all will be well.”
Lucerne did not respond; she rubbed at her aching temples.
Cree and Sloan joined them as did Torr.
“Has Kirk improved?” Lady Ann asked of Torr.
Torr smiled. “He has stirred and his eyes have fluttered, as if he fights to open them. Elsa feels he will wake soon.”
Cree reached out and placed the vial next to his tankard. “Kirk was lucky. We found this poison the imposter cleric intended for him.”
Lady Ann gasped. “How awful. Thank God Kirk is safe.”
Lucerne stared wide-eyed at the vial and shook her head, then turned away.
“Yes,” Torr kept his smile firm. “Father should wake soon and will tell us exactly what happened in the stable.”