Page 127 of Bloom
Jaime thought Mother was much prettier. Tiny diamonds had been sewn all over her pink dress, and they twinkled with every movement. She’d used a diamond clip shaped like a rose in her hair, which she’d twisted up.
Even though he was supposed to sit nicely, he slid out of his chair to hug her waist and press his ear to the big bump where his little brother or sister was growing. He had to wait another three months to see the baby.
Mother continued speaking to Father while she patted Jaime’s back. He wished the baby would speak inside her stomach so he could hear it and know whether to expect a brother or sister. How was he supposed to wait a whole three months to find out?
Sometimes, the baby moved, and he’d felt it before. It didn’t tell him anything. He hoped it was a brother because he wantedto take him outside and show him how to fight with a wooden sword.
To one side, the entrance leading to side halls, the back passages, and the kitchen was covered by a screen. He could have sworn he heard a faint scream from that direction, and he lifted his head just as Jed, the Master Steward, yelled from somewhere in the Hall.
The second scream was much closer. Over the edge of the High Table, he saw one of the friends of the groom yank his sword from a man’s body. The room exploded with noise as Jaime struggled to comprehend what he’d just seen. The bride got up to run, and several other men were drawing their swords. A young woman shrieked as her Father was struck down.
As Father stood, a man swung at Nonno’s back.
Mother snatched Jaime up. Five men were hurrying to block the entrance to the Hall. A ball of fire flew across the room, and a table was knocked over as two men fought. Glass shattered, and shards of broken plates skittered across the floor. A woman screamed as a man grabbed her arm and sent his lightning magic through her.
Mother ran for the screen, and the last thing Jaime saw in the confusion was Mémé lying facedown on the floor.
Mother struggled to hold him up and ran down the hall. Jaime still couldn’t understand what exactly was happening or where they were going. Why had they been fighting?
Mother set him on the floor. “Don’t let go of my hand.”
“We have to get Mémé and-”
“We can’t. I can’t carry you the whole way either.”
But Mémé had fallen, and her knees often ached. What about Nonno? Mother often wore a decorative dagger tucked in her belt, and he’d never seen the actual blade before. His parents said he wasn’t to ever touch it. The long, wicked dagger gleamed in the light of the lanterns hanging from the ceiling when shedrew it from its sheath. She pulled him along, and he heard a crash from the direction of the kitchens.
Someone was lying on the floor farther down. When Mother tugged him by, he recognized one of the servants. Her throat had been cut, and her eyes stared at the lantern overhead. One of her tattered sleeves was burned. Not far down, one of the kitchen boys lay unmoving on his side in a pool of red.
She took him right and through a narrow corridor. He had often run through various back passages while playing but never while crying. He’d also never seen any of the servants lying in their blood. How could they be dead? The bad men were in the Hall.
Mother grabbed a lantern from the ceiling and let go of his hand to push on a blank stretch of wall. A click came from it, and he noticed a crack on one side. She pushed harder, and it swung open to reveal a dark space.
“Get in.” Her voice shook.
Somehow, Mother’s shaking voice scared him worse. She followed him in and closed the wall. Another click made him jump as he tried to see ahead. The rough walls had a few hanging cobwebs, and she made him go ahead while holding onto his shoulder. In the secret passage, he couldn’t hear anything except his low sobs and Mother’s heavy breathing.
“Where’s Father?”
“He’s coming. It’ll be alright. You have to be a big boy and stay quiet, okay?”
The passage ended with a small, metal ladder he had to climb. It only went up about seven feet and led to yet another hall. Since he’d never seen that part, he wasn’t exactly sure where he was. He had to get on his knees and reach down for the crystal lantern. She was barely able to manage the small ladder with her belly sticking out. Once she was up, she took a hold of his arm.
“There’s another ahead. We’re over some of the back rooms.”
After about fifteen feet, another ladder led down. The next section was shorter, and she stopped him at the end. He stared at her face in the lantern light as she stood with one ear against the wall. Her dark hair had come loose from its twist, the rose clip was gone, and she was sickly pale in the light from the crystals. He wanted to start crying again because he’d never seen her look like that, and everything was wrong.
After a minute, she pushed on the wall until it clicked. That one slid aside instead and led into a back sitting room. It was quiet, the fire was out, and a single lantern set on low gave them light from its spot on a side table.
“I’m going to show you a stone, and you have to use all your strength when I tell you to push on it,” she whispered as she set her lantern on the floor by the fireplace with a shaking hand.
Boots thumped down the hallway, and a faint yell came from somewhere. She didn’t get to speak to him again as two men burst into the sitting room. One rushed Mother with his sword raised. Lightning crackled around the blade, and she summoned fire to her free hand.
She got him with a fireball right to the face. The man missed with his sword and snarled as he swiped at his scorched face. Mother lunged with her dagger, and the soft flesh of his throat slit under the force of her weapon as she stabbed him.
Jaime froze where he was standing as blood sprayed out. Mother jerked the dagger away, and the man stumbled back. He fell, and the other swore.
Earlier, the other man had patted Jaime’s head, said he was a cute kid, and showed him a trick with a coin he’d made vanish before pulling it from behind Jaime’s ear.
