Chapter 110: Turncoat Part 1
Cal shivered staring up at the gaslight. Had Bri really been there? If he'd been there, why had he left her alone in the cold and dark? She wanted to sit up, to move, but she barely had the strength to breathe. Her ribs hurt again, so did her face. Crysabel would be so angry at her.
"Captain?" Someone shook her gently. "Captain?"
Cal opened her eyes, but couldn't focus them. Even blurred she knew it was Bundo leaning over her.
"I knew you'd come."
He swept her up and carried her to the coach, laying her on the seat before climbing up to drive.
"Sorry, my lady, but I must see the extent of your injuries." Nyian brushed a featherlight hand across Cal's brow. "Bruises, no cuts." The woman's hand pressed on Cal's stomach as impersonal as the wind. "No bleeding inside." She tilted Cal's face to one side, then the other with a gentle finger. "You will show the marks on your face, but no bones are broken."
"Spitting blood." Cal rasped, trying not to cough.
"Your lip is split." Nyian wrapped Cal in soft fabric.
At the house, Bundo carried her in and straight up the stairs.
"Bath," Cal whispered into his chest.
"Nyian will set the water to heat."
"No reason to wait." Cal closed her eyes. "Use steam to keep water hot all the time. Can even pump it through the house."
"For now, you wait. Tomorrow is soon enough to tear the house apart."
"Remind me," Cal asked. "If I forget tomorrow. Steam to heat water."
"I'll tell you, Captain."
Beth and Nyian came in with buckets to fill the tub and soon there was enough steaming water for Bundo to lower Cal, blanket and all, into the water. He left her with Beth and Nyian.
"I put oils in the water to speed healing." Nyian opened a tiny bottle and poured something into the bath. The scent cut through the fog in Cal's head and eased the aches from her body.
Someone was washing Cal's hair. She relaxed and let herself be spoiled.
"Can you get out on your own?" Crysabel took Cal's hand.
"I think so." Cal hoisted herself up with the help of the other women and stepped out onto a soft rug. Beth wrapped her in a towel, while Nyian stood with a robe ready. They walked Cal to her room and tucked her into bed.
Part of Cal shook with fear. She wanted to clutch at her friends, keep them at her side, but exhaustion sent her to sleep before her hands could move.
***
Light from the window woke Cal. It had to be time, past time, for her to get to work, but her body refused to obey her commands.
"Ah, you're awake," Beth pushed herself out a chair. "My Lady you gave me a scare. Are you able to get up?"
With considerable hissing and a few curses which made Beth blush, Cal got out of bed, into a shift, and then a warm robe. Bundo waited outside the door to guide her down the stairs.
He helped her sit in a chair in the dining room and brought tea over to her.
"Beth will bring in breakfast in a minute." Bundo went to his knee beside her. "I failed you. I should have been there."
"No." Cal put her hand on his shoulder. "I suspected something like this might happen, perhaps worse." She closed her eyes and took stock of the damage. "I know it looks bad, but the prince did more damage saving my life." A grin pained her lip, so Cal kept her face straight. "We move to step two of the plan. You and two other people will be the only ones who can know. The trap is baited, now we wait while our quarry thinks he's hunting us."
"You know who it is."
"I do." Cal winced as the hot tea stung her lip. "I will write up a full report which you will keep safe in case of my death. It might not hang him, but it will force him into the light."
"Who?"
"I trust you with my life." Cal gazed at Bundo over her cup. "But I fear if I tell you, it will influence your actions. He cannot suspect he is prey, and not the predator."
"My captain." Bundo put his hand over his heart. "Command me."
"Very well. I need a message taken to the Shed informing them of the situation and that I will not be present for the rest of the week."
A police officer showed up mid-morning.
"Inspector Beshuin, my Lady." He bowed, then sat across from Cal when she waved him to a seat. "Sorry, my Lady, but I need to take a statement. Baroness Naismith is distraught that a guest was taken from her home. She wishes the perpetrators caught, horsewhipped, hung, then boiled in oil." The man smiled. "The Baroness is not someone whom I'd want angry at me."
"I understand." Cal sighed and winced at the twinge from her ribs. "But I will not be much help. They put a bag over my head so I saw nothing at all. Even after they cut the rope binding my arms and removed the bag, my eyes didn't focus quickly enough to say anything more than a shadow walking away."
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