Apples of Gold (complete)

Part 21 - An Abduction Attempt

Part 21 - An Abduction Attempt ©2018CarolynAnnAish 

A few days into Joseph's fever, the news was brought to the king and advisers by a captain, Shakos, "Two bodies were found floating in the river near Paupers' Place, Sire. We recovered both, one male, one female and they have just been taken to a lower chamber of our castle here where the city's coroners have been summoned to gather and examine them."

"Who found them?"

"The early watch, Sire. They saw them floating close to the bank near the city side. Weights had been attached by long pieces of rope, one on each body, to prevent them from floating away. The male has been identified to be Faidor, Sire, and the other might well prove to be Poisy."

"Murdered?" the king asked.

"Yes, Sire, so we believe, but it needs to be confirmed by the coroners. It appears Faidor was strangled with something that cut into his neck, like a metal cord of some kind. The woman's face was, well, kind of smashed in. We're finding it difficult to gain someone who can identify her for sure. It makes it difficult to discern just who's behind the attempt on your life, Sire. We're all sure that the placement of them in the city river, is a decoy. There's someone, somewhere, with a lot more to lose than Faidor or Poisy if they were discovered. We don't know how or where Faidor met the woman called Poisy, there is no intelligence on this."

"Question the paupers, and offer rewards," the king commanded, "Investigate the matter. Joseph rode somewhere out of the city that day; perhaps it was random that he stopped somewhere where he overheard details of the conspiracy but we need to know his location at that time; it cannot be that far away."

Sir Bradley spoke, "Yes, Sire, the location is most necessary. It must have been an obscure place if Joseph happened there in broad daylight and overheard Poisy and Faidor discuss the placement of the poison without their knowledge. We do know that it was somewhere by a water source..."

"How do you know that, Sir?" Shakos asked.

Pippin answered, "He had been swimming." Turning to the king, Pippin asked, "Did not Joseph say this, and were not his clothes damp?"

"Yes, and his hair, it was disarranged and had been wet," the king replied. "The horse also, it had Joseph's wet tunic where the saddle should have been. If we find the saddle and Joseph's boots, we will know the location."

" It's a mystery," Shakos said. "In the time your son had, Sire, away from the castle, it must be close to the city; perhaps even one of the closer castles, like Chester. We questioned the paupers and offered rewards, Sire, but they maintain they don't know Faidor and that Poisy hasn't been in the city since the execution of her previous cohorts, which was over three years ago. No amount of reward tempted any of them, therefore we believe they've been threatened not to speak. We'll maintain the extra security around the castle and in the city, Sire," the captain affirmed, "And, Sire, we're engaging more city soldiers to join the watch around the areas where the paupers gather to sleep. Some stay at Paupers' Place at nights and others go to the old ruins."

The king nodded and Shakos bowed and backed from the chamber.

***

For almost a week, Joseph's fever had raged and Widow Allison again expressed surprise that it had not abated. He was still only semi-conscious, hallucinating and groaning. Vance and Allison tried to feed him a nourishing broth, but he refused it and begged for water instead.

His diarrhea ended, and the cramps he suffered lessened. But his temperature was still too high, the widow maintained.

The swellings lessened and the skin on his legs and feet began peeling as if they had been burned.