Dalliance

Chapter Sixty

Dawson stared ahead to the cabin in his line of sight. Surrounded by green grass and several types of animals from pigs to chickens, he descended off his horse, tying her to a post, and then knocking politely on the door. Hearing footsteps on the other end, the man opened it as his face turned pale.

"Healer..."

"I made my peace-I have not-"

"I am not here to harm you." Dawson said calmly as he looked dead in the eyes of the man who nearly killed Holly several months prior. "I do realize now that you owe me an explanation-if nothing else."

"If she finds out-"

"Holly is dead. Vera is holding the crown-and I am King...so as my subject, I am demanding that you speak me-only in truth. Or this WILL be the last hour of your life."

"Come in, your highness..."

He bowed as Dawson entered, standing directly in the room, watching the man's every move. The healer immediately moved towards the kitchen area and began making something as Dawson crossed his arms and leaned on a wall near the fireplace.

"Why is it Vera went to you to kill Holly? What is it she wanted?"

"She had desired only to scare her...that is what I obtained from it."

"The dose you gave her, the amount of times you had done it...and you expected it to only scare her-yet you gave her the prognosis of having a miscarriage...what was the reason?"

"Vera wanted a false sense of hope for Holly...only to break it. She came to me on the eve of your coronation and asked to for the drug-"

"Wait...she was not present during the coronation...but she was in the castle?"

"Yes..."

The healer offered Dawson a tea as he rejected it.

"I examined her and found she was ill and watched her during your crowning...upon returning she offered me several items-this land being one of them." He sat down at the table, keeping a steady gaze on Dawson-shifting only to drink his own tea.

"Ill?"

"Yes...she was with child-"

Dawson leaned forward. "She was pregnant BEFORE coming to the castle? Which means I had not done anything...I knew it was not true! She planned it that way, did she not? To make her sick, to make me weak, to wake up beside her...only to make me believe the child was hers...but then...her own loss of the child..."

"She lost the child while on a ride of her beloved horse. She asked her guards to bring her here and I aided her until she was well."

"She told me she went to a convent."

"I suppose she did...you would have discovered the truth then..."

"What else are you keeping?"

"Nothing."

"There is something...isn't there?"

He let out a deep breath.

Dawson showed the end of his blade as the man became petrified. "Alright...she had me dose her with slight amounts of nightshade and Wubley Root-a hallucinogenic agent that shows ones consciousness and subconsciousness in the forms of apparitions or..ghosts."

"You MADE her think she was sick?"

He nodded. "I was given a chance to live from all of this. The politics of the crown and the secrets that you do not know are whispered behind you. I was thinking of my neck only, and I do regret such an act. But I beg that you show mercy to me."

"I will speak to you only this once. If Vera returns-for ANY drug, any plant, anything deadly-or even aid-you will send for me via falcon...or I will be sure that you are executed for all to see in the most gruesome method that I can conjure, are we clear?"

The man slowly nodded, looking continuously down at the tea he had previously offered Dawson.

"And if you ever try to poison me again, I will have you killed for that too."

"How-"

Dawson rode back to the castle, arriving late at night to find a storm had been set high overhead. Thunder and lightning hit back and forth as Dawson had eventually made it inside. Storming through the corridors, ignoring the servants requesting him, he moved directly to Nicholas's chambers.

Preparing to knock, he heard voices inside and lingered to eavesdrop.

"What do you desire?" Nicholas asked an unknown person as the sound of the bed was heard.

"You." Dawson's eyes jarred open as he pushed open the door and proved his suspicions. "Vera...."

She threw the covers over her body as Nicholas did the same, only-not as though he was caught, but just surprised. He then lounged back with one arm behind his head.

"Dawson-"

"You tell me first that Vera will be killed unless I marry you...then you nearly have her killed-then lie about that child being mine."

"It was-"

"You were with a child BEFORE we even met! You were here the night of my coronation-except you looked different...tired, and not such ruby colored hair-I am simply guessing. You conjure a plan to force me to marry you-but why?"

With his blade pointed at her, Nicholas was staring at the bottom of the bed, realizing he was a fool.

"I would never-"

"Save your lies! I have heard enough of you! I am the acting King and therefore banish you."

"Banish-You must prove it to a court-"

"And I will, I will do everything and even behead you if necessary. For now, you are going to be tortured until you cannot move, and then, when you beg for death, I will force you to walk from one corner to another of this world; in agony from step after step. And that, my dear Vera...is the easy way."

He turned as guards took her into custody and Nicholas rose from the bed. "I was unaware-"

"I know. If you desire to have any status in this Kingdom, you will be sure she stays in seclusion. If ANYTHING goes wrong, I WILL not hesitate to end you both."

"I understand." Nicholas bowed, now dressed, and left Dawson alone.

Moving to the dungeon, Dawson ran with excitement to look for Holly, but found she was nowhere in sight. Her cage was open, and her shackle unchained-but she was absent. Becoming angry, he went to his chambers, going to the balcony and seeing her blindfolded and bound, moving towards the river. Guards rode behind her on horses, and Dawson knew...she was going to be executed.