The physician directs two attendants, two young human men in plain gray tunics, sturdy and clean-shaven, with short brown hair to lift the elder prince onto a shuttered litter. They carry him through the iron gate toward a secured chamber adjoining the menagerie, preserving the fresh dressing.
The Physician
Slowly. Keep the binding level, and do not let his left side strike the frame. He must remain still until I have examined the wound properly.
Katarina stays beside the litter, one hand steadying the prince's shoulder while the physician walks close behind. Guards seal the passage, and the green-sleeved courtier remains outside with them.
Katarina
Kaelen is family and a witness. Admit him under guard, but no one else enters unless the physician calls for them.
The chamber is narrow, whitewashed, and lit by two smoking lamps. Kaelen is allowed inside beneath a guard's watch as attendants settle the elder prince onto a trestle bed.
The Elder Prince
The dark sleeve was not merely wool. At the cuff, I saw a strip of crimson thread, stitched beneath the fold. The attacker approached as though summoned.
Katarina
A summoned man crosses guarded ground more easily than a stranger. Someone opened the way, or made the prince expect him.