Page 111 of Bloom
Jaime suppressed a sigh. Once Lord Monet left, there would be a litany of nasty words to endure.
Aleric folded his arms once Jaime got in on the other side and made sure there was plenty of space between their bodies.
“Since you both need to make this work, being close will help,” said Lord Monet. “You can’t think of him like an aid that sleeps on your couch. Try to be friends, and the love will follow.”
Damn it. Jaime wanted to make it work, and now he was being forced into Aleric’s bed.
“Whatever.” Aleric lay back against his pillows.
“It feels like just yesterday Pearl was telling me she was pregnant, and I was so happy.” Father came over to tuck the blanket around his son.
“I’m not five.”
“Let an old man be happy with his memories. You and Zacherie grew up so fast.”
Aleric let him kiss his forehead. Lord Monet said goodnight to Jaime and shut the door.
For a moment, the silence was beyond uncomfortable as Aleric stared ahead. Once Jaime was sure he heard the sitting room door close, he immediately got out of bed.
“I’ll go back to the couch,” he said.
Aleric hesitated. “You-you can stay. Lock the doors first.”
Jaime paused. “I already know you don’t want me here. I’m not going to get mad because you’d prefer I stay in the sitting room. The couch is fine.”
“If he comes back another night because he wants to check on me, he’ll notice and get annoyed that I’m treating you like a servant. When the servants come in and notice your blanket or whatever on the couch, they might gossip because everyone is going to know what’s going on soon. Father will get annoyed and think I’m being mean to you. Stay so we can avoid more shit. You better keep to your side of the bed.” The last bit came with an edge.
“Okay. Are you sure? Would you prefer I sleep on the floor?”
Aleric paused. “No. You’re not a dog.”
“I don’t want you lying there in fear every night. I could even go to the privy room and put more space between us if that makes you feel better. The servant won’t find me.”
“I’m not making you sleep on the privy room floor. It’s cold tile, and you’ll end up with a bad back. Get in the bed, and stop whining.”
“All right. I’ll lock the doors.”
Once he was in bed, Aleric rolled away with the blankets pulled up to his neck, and he tapped the crystal lantern on his bedside table. The crystals grew brighter, and another tap made them go out. Jaime made himself comfortable, although it was rather awkward since it was pretty obvious Aleric wasn’t comfortable.
After several minutes, his breathing hadn’t evened out in the way of a sleeping person. Maybe the silence wasn’t helping, so Jaime whispered. “Aleric?”
“What?”
“Do you want to hear something funny?”
The blanket rustled as he shifted. “All right.”
Guilt nagged Jaime because he’d have to change the story. He couldn’t say the whole truth without revealing other shit. He should tell Aleric the truth without waiting too much longer. Fuck. He hadn’t even thought about it earlier.
“I was running around the village one afternoon when I was little and playing by myself. There was an old house on the edge of the village that had been abandoned for a while, and I went behind it. I found a couple. They were married to other people, but they had their clothes partially off, and they were against each other.”
There had been an abandoned house, but the couple he was talking about had been in a storage room in his parent’s Castle.
“They yelled at me to go away, and I didn’t understand what they’d been doing. I ran away because they were angry. While Iwas playing elsewhere, the guy found me later. He said I couldn’t tell anyone what I saw, gave me honey sticks, and said if I stayed quiet, I’d get more later, and I could eat them in secret. I figured I had a free supply of honey sticks for life, although I didn’t get why I had to keep my mouth shut. The guy gave me more over a few weeks, and he eventually stopped.”
With his supply of sweets seemingly gone, Jaime hadn’t been pleased. The man and his wife had been talking to Mother one afternoon, and Jaime had asked the man, quite loudly, where were the honey sticks he was supposed to get. Mother had interrupted by asking why was Jaime supposed to receive sweets, and he said it was because he’d found him naked with a lady, and he hadn't told anyone.
The bed quivered slightly like Aleric was holding back a laugh.
