The Dangerous Flower

Edmonds smiled at the doctor and said, "Good evening, Lady Connaissance and Princess Teslaimia are eagerly awaiting you in the main hall, is there anything you require? I took the liberty of preparing hot water and clean dry towels."

The doctor looked slightly surprised, "Thank you, that's just what I'll need."

He walked into the room and noticed the flowers on the table, he slightly scolded, "You shouldn't keep plants in your house if you are unsure of their origins."

The two women looked at each other and then at Edmonds, "Isn't the doctor the one who brought them?"

Edmonds raised an eyebrow, "Lady Connaissance, I went to visit you at the hospital many times, how could I not know what Doctor Tennant looks like?" He shook his head even as he smiled. "He was a man I wasn't familiar with although I think recall seeing someone who looked like him recently, I just can't put my finger on where I saw him before."

The doctor pointed at the flowers, "They are rare flowers, I can't believe someone managed to grow them here in the city. They come from an area west of the Holy Chadtom Empire. To get here they would need to travel for some months and would never survive the trip in this condition. The important thing to know is that the white flower is benign but the pink flower is malignant. It caries a highly toxic poison that acts on the senses numbing them." He turned and then said, "I apologize, flowers are a hobby of mine. Well then, shall we get started? He turned to Edmonds, "If you don't mind, we'll need a little privacy. We will call you if more is needed, is that alright Walter?"

Edmonds smiled and nodded he bowed to the ladies and then went back to his own room. The doctor walked over and checked the water first and then removed his jacket rolling up his sleeves, "Princess if you could please, I'll need access to the wound and I wouldn't want to soil your clothing. just hold a towel over yourself. I will warn you in advance, there may be a small amount of blood."

Princess Teslaimia removed her blouse and covered her chest, "Is this alright?" The doctor nodded and pulled out a tiny pair of scissors and tweezers.

He looked at her and said, "I'm going to remove the first of them if you can tolerate the pain, I'll continue. If the pain is too much, let me know and I can stop and apply a numbing agent. Alright?"

Emily watched closely as the doctor worked on the stitches. In no time at all, they were all removed. After cleaning the area with alcohol and applying a fresh bandage he said to her, "Tomorrow will be the last time you should need a fresh bandage. I want you to continue to rest and let it heal for two more weeks. Everything looks good right now, I saw no swelling and the wound has closed up completely."

The doctor then turned to Emily he beckoned her closer with his finger just as the doorbell rang.

*****

The two guards outside the door heard the Duhan Lift and decided to go over and investigate one of the guards smiled and called out, "Hey, what are you doing here mate? Come to see the ladies?"

A rock hard fist slammed into the guard's stomach knocking the wind out of him. The other guard started to pull his sword but was too close to the wall causing his sword to only make it halfway out of its sheath. He cried out as the rock hard fist smashed into his face caving his face in. The first guard started to stand trying for his sword only to have his head grabbed and his neck quickly broken. A large muscular man in all black clothing took the bodies of the two guards to a hallway closet and stuffed them inside before walking down the hallway and pressing the doorbell for Emily's residence.

The door opened and Edmonds the Butler smiled, "Ah, you're back sir, the ladies were just asking about you. Would you like to come in?" The man in black walked in and ss Edmonds started to close the door behind an iron grip latched onto both sides of his head instantly snapping his neck like a dried twig. The man in black gently closed the door and slumped the body of the murdered butler against the door. He walked into the main living room and saw Princess Teslaimia putting her blouse on as the doctor was holding on to Emily as if he was about to kiss her causing the man to breathe heavily in jealousy.

The doctor noticed the man and smiled, "Oh, I know you, you are the one who brought Lady Connaissance to my medical clinic."

Teslaimia looked over her eyes slightly going wide, "Smitty? You're Smitty right?"

Emily looked over with a smile, "Smitty? Is everything alright?"

Smitty balled up his fists and said in a threatening tone, "When the cat is away, the mouse will play, is that it?"

All three of them looked confused, "Smitty?" Emily asked.

"I thought you loved me, that's what you said when I rescued you." Smitty started to look more and more like he was ready to kill, "Yet here I find you with another man and that dyke that's always sniffing around."

The doctor started to back away from Emily reaching for his black bag.

Teslaimia shouted, "Smitty? What in the great goat's pen are you talking about, she was unconscious!"

The doctor said softly, "Princess, Lady Connaissance, I believe this man is having a psychotic episode. Try to remain calm. Don't make any sudden movements or argue with him."

*****

At precinct fourteen some three blocks away Captain Alexander and Chief Inspector Fredrick were looking through the evidence when one of Captain Alexander's men burst into the office, "Captain, we found something. Something important." He dropped a logbook down on the desk and pointed a few entries. "Here, here, and here. Do you see it? These murder dates match up exactly with times the CCAS Zealous returned from her duty missions. These dates here, here and here are within two days of the other predicted murder dates." He looked at both men's faces as they thought things through and then quickly added, "Sir, I happened to see Captain Gibbs at a bar we all frequent and asked him which man on his crew he thought was best with a knife. He gave me a name sir... James Smith."

Captain Alexander half chuckled, "The man who just got that medal of valor? That James Smith?"

The soldier nodded and said, "We went over to ask him a few questions and his bunkmate said that he went out on a date with his girlfriend. "

Captain Alexander nodded and said, "That sounds normal, why do you suspect him then?"

"Sir, he told his bunkmate that his girlfriend was Lady Connaissance." The soldier replied.

Captain Alexander didn't say a word and instead raced out of the office in a dead run. All of the others quickly followed after, the Chief Inspector called out, "Boyton, you and Cottington come with me, we have a lead!"

*****

Smitty slowly walked toward the doctor chuckling louder the closer he came, "You know, fella, a man shouldn't want to touch a lady he knows belongs to another man. There is a code among men, the brother code. Isn't there a fine looking lady just right over there? I'm sure she'd like it if you touched her with those hands. But now, see, you went and broke the brother code so you'll have to face the righteous wrath of the pissed off." He shook his head.

Emily stepped between them, "Smitty look at me. Smitty."

Smitty stopped walking and looked down at Emily, "Trying to save your lover now? Don't worry, after I finish him off, I'm going to take you into that bedroom right over there and make sure you remember who's woman you are." He looked at the Princess and sneered, "We'll take the little princess in there with us to spice up the mix." He reached down and pushed Emily aside. He was close enough to grab the doctor who reached out and stuck him with a syringe."Morphine huh? I use this stuff for fun and you think it's going to knock me out?"

He reached for the doctor who easily dodged his hand the doctor spoke steadily, "Princess, Lady Connaissance, please go lock yourselves in the bedroom."

Emily started to argue, "Doctor, he's too strong, you can't fight him."

The doctor said in the same steady voice, "Go now, quickly."

The doctor struck out with a lightning-quick strike that landed on Smitty's neck. The big man frowned and wobbled, "Oh? Looks like you might know a little something about fighting after all." Emily wanted to stay but Teslaimia pulled her arm, half dragging her to the bedroom.

"You aren't helping!" Teslaimia cried out.

The doctor moved around Smitty making several strikes at key points on the big man's vitals. Just as Teslaimia managed to get Emily in the door she looked over and saw the big man fire a vicious uppercut into the doctor's chin lifting him off the ground it hit so hard. Teslaimia slammed the door shut locking it and grabbing furniture to block the door further. She shouted, "Help me, Emmy!"

Smitty stood over the moaning half-conscious doctor. He lifted his foot and smashed it down on the doctor's rib cage, before picking the wheezing man up from the ground. Smitty looked into his eyes and said, "At least you fought like a man. I'll give you a man's death, even though you touched my woman." Smitty pulled a long vicious-looking knife from a sheath on his back and slowly cut along the doctor's face. "It really bothers me that you are handsome... What's wrong with my face? Why wasn't I good enough for her? That's the kind of thoughts you get when you find your woman with another man, but you wouldn't know that, would you?"

Smitty held the knife's blade under the doctor's nose, and snorted, "Already dead? Guess I was too rough." He dropped the doctor's body and then slowly walked over to the bedroom door. He put the knife back into its sheath and lightly knocked on the door, "Ladies, if I have to break this door down, it's gonna hurt you a lot more than if you open the door and let me in. If you make me happy, I'll be gentle. If you turn this into a fight, well... Let's just say that I can make it hurt a lot." He started whistling a popular tune as he gently tapped his fingers on the door. A few minutes later he heard the sounds of furniture being moved. A smile slowly spread over his face as he said, "Why don't you two put on some of those sexy see-through clothes the princess sells at her store? I'd like to unwrap you."

Inside the room Tesliamia was whispering, "Are you crazy? We should just keep it closed and hope the guards come."

Emily stared at her and said in a cold voice, "He wouldn't be in here if the guards were still alive. We need to do anything we can right now to stay living."

From the other side of the door, they heard him say, "I didn't really care for the Princess at first, but the idea of seeing you two going at it stirs my fires up something fierce."

*****

Jon exploded through the front entrance of Emily's building he noticed the two guards were missing and his whole world started to slow down. He raced over to the Duhan lift and found that it was still on the tenth floor meaning the operator was likely dead as well. He turned and called out, "Use the stairs!"

Jon raced up the stairs taking two at a time in some cases. He could only think of all the gruesome details he had been reading about the murders. He thought of all the smiles and laughs he had shared with Emily and Teslaimia, all the times they embarrassed him or teased him. The times he had hurt them and been hurt by them. His heart began to hurt fearing that he was already too late. Before he knew it he was blasting through Emily's door at a dead run momentarily tripping over the dead body of Edmonds her butler. Seeing the dead body his nostrils flared and pulled his dagger flying into the room. Smitty was already there waiting for him with a sick grin on his face.

Jon easily parried the knife attack and started to fight as he had been trained. A knight fighting a man who was a very good fighter. Smitty attacking viciously in his street fighting style going after vitals and vulnerable joints. Jon was a knight trained and honed for years on the battlefield. Smitty was powerful and vicious, but he slowly started taking increasingly severe injuries until Jon managed to slip his dagger under the big man's chin nearly decapitating him.

Smitty lay in a pool of his own blood trying to breathe until he finally stopped dead.

Jon looked from room to room until he got to the bedroom, tears came to his eyes as he turned the knob half expecting to find the worst. As the door opened he saw Teslaimia in lingerie laying on the bed looking incredibly sexy. Teslaimia called out, "Wait it's..."

Whack! Jon took a hard strike to the top of his head.

Emily gasped, "Jon!"