Page 2 of Bloom
“He crashed into me, so I’ll hear his side first,” said Aleric. “What’s your name?”
“Jaime Meyer. They found money in a secret bottom of the drawer in my bedside table. I didn’t even know it had a false bottom, and I don’t know who put the money in there! I didn’t steal anything. They barged into my room tonight to search it when I was about to get ready to go out since my shift was done. He threatened to have his two other guards kill me, and I had to run. They chased me all through the damn docks.”
Aleric let his gaze scan Jaime’s body before looking at the other three. Guards at The Salty Blower wore green vests, and at least two were on most of the time to discourage troublemakers. If trouble was still made, they’d deal with the maker by tossing him out on his arse.
“Well?” Aleric asked the owner.
“I noticed money was gone from my lockbox. I was a fool to take it out in front ofhimwhen I gave him his starting bonus.” The owner curled his lip at Jaime. “I intended to find a new hiding place, and I forgot. These two wouldn’t know where the key is, and neither would the rest of my employees. We searched his room, and sure enough, the exact amount of money missing from my lockbox was in the drawer. It has a false bottom. He found that pretty quick and thought I wouldn’t know about it.”
“Someone planted it there!” exclaimed Jaime. “One of the whores said Gus might be sacked soon.” He pointed at Gus who had grabbed him earlier. “He wanted to make me look bad so you’d keep him, and I could tell he didn’t like me-”
“Bullshit!” yelled Gus. “I didn’t know where the key was to the lockbox, so how would I even op-”
“Like you couldn’t have found it with a little searching!” yelled Jaime. “You've been there longer.”
The owner squared his shoulders. “That’s why we were chasing him, and we mean no offense to you, m’lord. We want to see him arrested, and we’ll be on our way, knowing that a thief has been dealt with. You could even come to The Salty Blower and have your pick if you like since we’ve interrupted your night. No charge.”
“I’d rather not get the pox for free too,” Aleric snidely replied.
“None of my employees have the pox!”
“Uh-huh. That place is likely creating brand new diseases unknown to fairykind until now.”
“I swear to Elira I didn’t take the money, and I didn’t know about the false bottom,” Jaime said as the owner turned crimson. “Why would I get a job and steal from him three days later?”
“Same reason as anyone else. They think they won’t get caught.” Aleric leaned a shoulder against the wall. “How much was stolen?”
The owner huffed. “Er, about twenty din, twelve kops.”
“About?” Aleric tilted his head. “You said the exact amount was found.”
“It was. I mean, I didn’t exactly get to count it. It looked right, and we were more concerned about Jaime who hauled ass. I’d say that shows his guilt.”
“I ran because you threatened to kill me, and I’m not about to get enslaved either for a crime I didn’t commit!”
Aleric held up a hand without looking at Jaime. “Perhaps he is guilty. Still, it's a bit extreme that you were going to kill him for a few dins and kops.”
“We wasn’t!”
“I seem to recall your lackey saying, ‘I’ll kill you.’”
“He was angry from chasing Jaime so far. We weren’t going to actually kill him!”
“Ah. You can take your lackeys and go. You’ve got your money back, and you’re keeping me from my fun. You’re not hurt, and you don’t need to see him arrested.”
The owner looked ready to argue as Jaime took off his green vest and threw it at him.
“Get out of my sight,” said Aleric. “Now.”
The owner caught the vest, and all three turned to leave. Gus shot Jaime a murderous glare.
“M’lord, I swear I didn’t do it.”
Aleric raised an eyebrow. “Both of you have a point, and with no real evidence, neither of you can prove your guilt or innocence, can you? Words can mean nothing. Or do you have evidence?”
“No,” Jaime grudgingly admitted. In cases like that, the lord would decide which party was guilty. If the case of both parties was too plausible, he might let the accused go free to avoid imprisoning a potentially innocent man. A petty theft wasn’t like a murder or an assault. Or he might pick the side he liked better. The Salty Blower owner had been in business for quite a while. Jaime wasn’t a local and had no friends since he’d been in Côte for barely a week, and his accent was more Morian than Soleilian.
He had lived in Natora for a while which wasn’t far, and stories had reached him since people often love gossiping about higher-ups. The landlady at his last dwelling had been more than happy to talk about anything with everyone even if they didn’t feel like hearing it. Aleric wasn’t known to be particularly kind. Or good. Cold and nasty better described him. He had no real friends, and he used to be friends with the woman he married.
