After Nillian has looked around for a bit a nurse enters. At first she is entirely intent on checking his vitals, and walks over to his bed without looking up. But when she notices that he is awake, she quickly rushes out to get the doctor.
Moments later she returns with the doctor in tow. The doctor walks over and Nillian can take a good look at him. He is wearing a long white lab coat, with a stethoscope around his neck. He has short black hair and wears glasses, which balance on the middle of his nose. The doctor walks over till he standing besides Nillian, then takes a seat on his bed.
"Welcome back, sir. How are you feeling?"
"He... Hello. Ehm, I have a splitting headache, and the light is quite bright. But for the rest I am alright, I think."
Nillian checks himself, and feels that all his limbs react, without any additional pains.
After he is sure his body is still working he turns back to the doctor.
"What happened to me? The last thing I remember was a dark alleyway ... and there was someone asking something ..."
"As far as we have been able to ascertain you were hit over the head, in an alleyway as you said. You were then robbed and left behind. A pedestrian found you this morning and alerted the Watch. Who took you here, you are in the St. Helena's Hospital."
Nillian looks around him in confusion.
"I am back in Kataras? How can that be, I was in Stokes ..."
"No, no, you are in Stokes. You are in the St. Helena's Hospital in Stokes, not the one in Kataras. We apparently have the same name."
Nillian loses his confusion, and gives a weak smile.
"Oooh, right. You had me confused for a moment there."
The doctor does some tests, checking Nillian’s pupils and reactions. He then makes some notes on his chart, and turns back to Nillian.
"It seems sir, that you were quite lucky. If the person had hit just a bit harder you might not have woken up. As it stands you will have a large swelling at the back of your head. Your headache and some dizzy spells might continue for a few days, if they do continue to bother you longer than that you should visit your personal physician."
"When will I be able to leave the hospital again?"
"You will have to stay here for today, to keep you under observation. In case there was more damage than we could ascertain. So tomorrow you can go back home. Now, if you will excuse me, I have my rounds to continue. If you need anything, a nurse will be close by at all times, do not hesitate to shout."
"Thank you very much doctor."
The doctor leaves, and soon after the nurse comes back, asking if he needs anything. After a quick journey to the toilet Nillian rests back on his bed, and dozes off for some time.
He is wakened by his own stomach rumbling, and after asking the nurse she returns with some porridge and tea. Because Nillian is not sure how he is going to spend a day in bed without going mad from boredom he asks the nurse for a newspaper or something else to read. She replies that she will see what she can do, and goes off.
She returns a few minutes later, with some newspapers under her arm.
"I am afraid that these are a few days old, but I am afraid we don't have any new ones at the moment."
"Oh, that is alright, I haven't had the time to read any newspapers for the last few days, so that is excellent. Thank you very much!"
Nillian takes the top newspaper, and begins to read while sipping his tea. The front article mentions all kind of repercussions of a scandal, the day before. He frowns. Again a mention of a scandal, what was that about? He reaches for the other newspapers, and finds an earlier one. There on the front page, he finds what he is looking for.
"Great Scandal: Räan Mayor Accused of Crimes"
Underneath the title a large picture is depicted, showing a man led away by watchmen. The man is handcuffed, and is standing with his back to the photo. But he has turned his head, as if he is looking over his shoulder, right into Nillian’s eyes.
He recognises the face immediately, it was the man that Lyxia was having dinner with, a few days ago in Räan! What was his name? Norbert Giles(*), mayor of Räan! Nillian quickly turns the page, and reads the whole story.
It seems that there were for a while some rumours about nightly escapades of the mayor. The people were a bit concerned, but there was no real proof of anything happening. Then, on the day before the festival, a large file was anonymously delivered at the Watch office, addressed to the chief commissioner. It contained a list with all the various crimes Mr. Giles had committed, detailing every wrongdoing.
The list included blackmailing other politicians so that he could become mayor, paying off criminals to smuggle certain items into Räan, ordering several people to be killed and some counts of attacking and torturing unarmed people himself. It seemed his whole persona was fabricated, and he was actually a small-time crook who was elevated by several influential persons in Räan, so they could have more say in the workings of the city council. But eventually they were betrayed and Mr. Giles went to work for himself.
The file also included some small proof about some of the crimes that he had committed, and the information on how to get the rest of the proof. So the watchmen raided the city hall and Mr. Giles's house, confiscating certain documents and ledgers, finding all the proof they needed.
Mr. Giles was arrested the following day by a full squad of watchmen. That was also where the picture was made. But while he was transferred to the county prison he was sprung by some of his friends, and he has been on the run ever since.
After Nillian has finished reading the article he stares into nothing, shocked by everything that he has red. That someone who was elected Mayor could have done such things! It was just inconceivable.
And that was not the worse part. Lyxia was involved with him. She had dinner with him, back in Räan, and it looked like they knew each other. Was she involved with his crimes? Was she perhaps even an accomplice? After scanning the article again he finds no mention of her or someone like her. But then ... it could explain why she felt the need to join the Order of Joshua(*).
His mind reeling with the implications Nillian spends the morning in a daze, unsure what to think or do.
No comments:
Post a Comment