Chapter 99 - A Visit To The Infirmary

After talking to Lorelei, Yvonne followed the second thing on her schedule.

With her hair flowing like flames behind her and her yellow dress just adding to the effect, she strode through the palace corridors in search of the Royal Infirmary. Luckily, she knew where it was from the last time she visited it with Physician Eldar, which had not been too long ago.

Yvonne slowed down as she approached the two large doors with immensely gorgeous carvings on the front and reached for the handle.

"Excuse me," someone with an extremely strict and sharp voice said. "State your name and business."

Yvonne turned around with a jolt and there stood a short girl with spectacles and freckles on her nose. She looked as if she was around her late twenties but with her slick back ponytail and crisp uniform, she could have been anything above. Yvonne sweeped a furtive eye over her uniform and concluded she was a head maid similar to Stace. But who's could it be?

"I'm sure you already know me," Yvonne said kindly and patiently..

The spectacled head maid raised a sharp eyebrow. "But I'd like to ask once more. Just in case."

Yvonne sighed. "I am Lady Yvonne Sumner, here to pay Lady Neredras a visit."

The maid's stern demeanor remained unchanged. "Lady Neredras isn't accepting any visitors." 

Yvonne frowned. "Could you tell her it's me? I'm sure she'll let me in."

Another chiseled eyebrow shot up. "I'm afraid not. When she clearly said 'all visitors', she meant 'all visitors'. I hope you understand. Now if you could just move out of my way, it's Lady Neredras' time for medicine."

Discreetly, the maid rushed around Yvonne in a blink of her eye. Yvonne turned around to face her as she tried to slip inside, but was quickly stopped by Yvonne.

"If you don't tell her it's me, then I'll come in myself. Don't think I won't," Yvonne warned as she squeezed the head maid's arm.

The maid narrowed her eyes as she stared at Yvonne but eventually sighed.

"Alright, wait here. I'll ask her about a Lady Sumner."

Yvonne smiled kindly. "Thank you. I mean it. What was your name again?"

"I never said my name before."

"No reason not to say it now."

The maid frowned. "My name is Garnet Schafer, head maid to Lady Enya Neredras. You may address me as Garnet or 'head maid', but Garnet would suffice. Now wait here, if you please."

Garnet vanished inside and Yvonne stood just by it, swinging patiently on the heels of her foot, looking for a way to pass time.

Several moments passed by and Garnet was still not in sight. Just as Yvonne was about to reach for the handle, the door clicked open again and Garnet's face appeared in the crack.

"You may come in," she whispered. 

Yvonne smiled awkwardly and followed Garnet inside. The Infirmary was darker than she remembered. There was a strong, pungent stench wafting around her face that she failed to recognize, but wondered if it was an antidote. 

Yvonne followed Garnet beyond the heavy red curtains and stopped in her tracks when she saw that the infirmary hall was barely lit. 

"Why are all the windows draped?" she said into the darkness.

"Shh, please refrain from talking," came Garnet's reply. She seemed a whole yard away when Yvonne could have sworn that she had been right by her side. 

"Wait, where do I go?" Yvonne whispered as she bumped into a few infirmary beds that were apparently unoccupied. 

She heard a clacking of feet and then a hand reached for her arm. Immediately, she was whisked away. Yvonne knew just by the cold, stony touch of it that this was Garnet's palm. 

A few seconds of walking led them to what seemed like the end of the infirmary hall. Someone- another maid- opened a window near the front of the room. As partial light flooded over the infirmary beds, Yvonne recognized a weak body lying on one at the very end of the long row of beds. 

"Eny- Lady Neredras?" she whispered worriedly.

Garnet went ahead and sat right next to Enya's face and poured out a spoonful of something that seemed like medicine. 

"Get up, Your Highness," Garnet said kindly, her voice softening just for her lady.

With immense difficulty, Enya supported herself on her arms and sat up against the headboard. She was then given the medicine at which she spluttered.

"It's alright, that was the last of the bitter ones," Garnet hushed her as she patted Enya on her head. "You'll be just fine. Look who's here to see you."

Slowly, Enya raised her eyes and locked gazes with Yvonne, who stood there in shock at her state.

"What happened?" Yvonne asked as she put her hands to her mouth. "Why do you look so weak?"

Enya opened her mouth to answer but no sound came out. Then she burst in a fir of coughs.

"Ahh, are you okay? Have some water!" Garnet fussed over her. "You see," she turned to Yvonne as Enya calmed down, "she's very weak after what happened."

Yvonne bit her lips. "I heard she was-"

"Yes," Garnet answered firmly. 

Yvonne pursed her mouth, her worried eyes on Enya as she struggled to stay upright. Honestly, she looked like a skeleton draped over with skin. Her cheeks were sunked and she had huge eye bags under her bags.

"Has she not been eating well?" Yvonne asked Garnet.

She nodded. "After she was admitted, her food intake has been limited. I try to force her to swallow a few morsels, but then she vomits them right out. She's gotten very weak just because of that."

"Could you both please stop talking as if I'm not even here." Enya's sudden croak of a voice startled Yvonne and Garnet alike. She looked offended. But then her face softened as she laid her head back against the cool headboard. "Good morning, Lady Sumner."

"Please, just call me Yvonne."

Enya smiled. "Alright. So I guess you heard?"

Yvonne nodded. "What she did was a terrible thing."

Enya's face clouded with puzzlement. "Who?"

"Lady Obsilia, of course."

Enya looked beyond Yvonne into the distance, her eyes unfocused. "So that's what they're saying." 

Yvonne frowned. "Wait, is that not true?"

Enya shrugged. "Considering the fact that it had been Elora's maid that had delivered the basket of apples to me, I guess it is true. I just can't fathom that she would hurt me like this, not when I had done nothing to trigger her temper."

Yvonne went to sit on the bed opposite to Enya's because her feet had started to hurt from standing. Enya let her. Yvonne asked, "Her maids had delivered the apples?"

"Yes." Enya nodded weakly. "We suspect it was some poison. But since I'm not dead yet," she winced at her words, "it could have just been a bad apple."

Yvonne made a face. "Is a rotten apple enough to drive you to this state?"

Enya exchanged uncertain glances with Garnet. 

"I think so," she answered hesitantly. "My body is weak to bacteria, you see. So I get sick really easily."

Yvonne nodded. "I see. Has this happened before?"

Enya shook her head. "Not to this extent, no."

Yvonne looked at the floor as her thoughts ran wild. Could there be a possibility that she had indeed become sick due to a rotten apple and not poison? Could Elora really be innocent in all this? No, but one could tell just by a glance at Enya that this was not the work of just a bad apple. 

"Do you hate her? Elora, I mean."

Yvonne's sudden question made Enya flinch. "Um..."

Yvonne put her hands up in surrender. "It's alright if you don't want to answer."

Enya shook her head. "It's okay. Yes, I think I do hate her to some extent."

"Why?"

Enya shrugged. "She hits her maids. That's enough reason for anyone to hate her. But I can't understand why she would try to poison me. I can't. I've never gotten in ehr way..."

Yvonne thought for a moment.

"I think I know," she said. Enya's eyes raised to her face in hesitation. "Remember that day you exposed her at our tea table? Do you recall it?"

Slowly, Enya nodded. "Exposed is a bit…" Her voice trailed away. "Yes. I remember." 

"Well, I think she tried to remove you from her path, like one removes thorns from the way, in an attempt to eliminate any threats."

Enya's eyes came to rest on her lap. Yvonne could tell she was thinking, but her grave face said something more. Was she actually shocked at the sudden possibility?

"But how did she come to know?" Enya asked softly as she looked at Yvonne once more. "How did she know?"

Yvonne opened her mouth to answer but no words escaped her lips. How did she come to know? It had just been a conversation between the mistresses except Elora, so how did she know? That's when it hit her: The maids. 

Yvonne put her face in her hands and groaned into them. That day, the maids ahd conflated against the background so professionally that the women had nearly forgotten they were even there. Stace said that the maids told each other everything. Had that been how the news had travelled? A mouth-to-mouth phenomenon? Yvonne groaned again as understanding dawned upon her.

"What happened?" Enya asked, puzzled.

Yvonne sighed as she removed her face from ehr hands. "I believe the maids told her. We hadn't cared about them that day since we were so involved in our own conversation."

Enya gasped. "What…? So that's why Elora tried to kill me?"

Yvonne nodded gravely. "I think she sees you as a threat. And I'm pretty sure she's stubborn: If she fails to get what she wants the first time, she'll surely strike back."

"So that means..."

Yvonne cursed to herself.

"It means that she'll try to kill you again."

Enya gasped. "No..."

Yvonne nodded. This was going to be a wild ride.