August 7, 1185
A summer illness had been make its rounds in Armionshire, and the duke and duchess had both caught a bought of it. It wasn't anything life-threatening, but it had kept them both in bed the better part of the week, and Aldhein had taken the opportunity to observe and guide as young Ricky took the reins for a while. As such, Armion had been somewhat out of the loop for the month so far, so Lord Severin had ridden out to brief them on the situation with the brothel. Falidor had known this, anticipating that he'd have to pass Florian's news Nora instead.But he hadn't expected Alsina to be there as well. Not that he didn't trust his youngest sister to keep her mouth shut if asked, but the health alert would be issued in two days' time--the day after Master Maesflein's arrest, assuming no problems with the warrant--and the baron had requested that the situation be kept hush-hush until Maesflein was locked away, not wanting any widespread panic to provoke any reckless decisions on the man's part.
"Falidor!"
Alsina greeted him with a smile and a small wave. Nora, though, faced him with a knowing look. She was well aware of what sort of news he had, and she wanted it now. She saw no reason to ask Alsina to leave.So, he wouldn't. "Alsina. Nora, I just spoke with Florian."
"And?"
"He's spoken with some of the women at the brothel. The baron has offered them compensation for the duration of the closure, as well as free consultations with healers or doctors of their choosing.""Good." That would probably be the last time he heard her say that word for a while. "What of the owner?"
"Unrepentant as we could have guessed. He doesn't realize what trouble he's in; he's still in his house, though the baron has undercover guards in the area just in case."
"And the arrest will be tomorrow."
"Yes." Though not soon enough, he thought. His sister's eyes looked to agree. "How fares Ilvina?""Not any better." Nora sighed. "Xeta and Roddie are with her now. She seems most at ease with them, and Aerina says all we can do is keep her comfortable."
Damn. He'd feared as much. "Poor kid."
"Tell me about it." His sister cracked her knuckles, scowling all the while. And once upon a time, he'd thought the angry looks she'd reserved for Ceidrid and Rifden where fearsome enough. "I swear, if it's a soft jury, I'll hang Grayer Maesflein myself."
"Grayer... M-maesflein?"
It was Alsina. Knowing, dreading... fearful? "The b-butcher?"Despite the summer heat, the air turned to ice. Something was wrong. Falidor never knew what to do with 'wrong'.
Thank God Nora did. "You don't mean..."NEXT CHAPTER:
