Page 36 of Bloom
Lord Monet took Aleric once he was seated on his horse. Considering how deathly ill he looked, Jaime kept expecting Lord Monet to suddenly realize he was dead.
One of the lords led the way, and Lord Monet's horse followed with barely any urging. Someone led Mighty. A lady asked if it was safe. What if someone was waiting to attack them? A man snapped that they had no choice but to return to camp, and if anyone wanted to kill them all, they’d better have an enormous group.
Unfortunately, when they returned, Lord Gautier wasn’t there. Most of the servants panicked at the sight of the lord’s son who appeared dead and was leaning against his Father who was holding him up. Lord Monet got one to say what had happened.
“We thought Andy went into the woods to squat. He didn’t come back, and we noticed he was taking an awfully long ti-”
“He’s gone?!”
The servant quailed. “I guess. Lord Gautier-”
At that moment, Lord Gautier came flying out of the woods opposite the way they’d come, and he’d slowed his horse to go around a tent.
“Where’s Andy?”
Lord Gautier scowled as he walked his horse closer. “He’s gone. A servant said he went that way supposedly to squat. I looked, but there was no trail. No footprints. Nothing. The little shit’s gone, and he’s covered his tracks. He must have spread that…whatever it is. He put it on the horse’s back and left. Someone specifically planned to kill Aleric.”
Silence reigned over the entire camp. Everyone has suspected. To hear the words and know that a suspect had vanished was different. Nobody could wring the truth from Andy. Jaime was sure that by the time they made it back to the Castle, several would already be suspicious of others. Whoever had paid them and Andy might be among them.
Lord Monet sent five men and Lord Gautier into the woods to find Andy. A couple were out and looking for a trail around where Aleric had been. If Andy was on foot, hopefully, he wouldn’t get too far. Jaime was thinking someone might have been waiting on horseback to fetch him. Aleric needed to wake up and tell them who attacked him.
A few of the men searched around the camp in case Andy had left gloves or anything suspicious around. They found nothing. Unfortunately, Andy had been smart.
One of the carts was used for Aleric, and Olivier rode in the back with him. Mighty didn’t fight as she was led along, and they’d tried to wash her back a bit better.
Jaime had never seen a horse look so dejected. Whatever had been used might have been wearing off on its own since she wasn’t panicking. The servants would follow after breaking down the camp since Lord Monet wasn’t waiting for them.
The plan had done enough damage even though it hadn’t fully worked. Aleric wasn’t supposed to have reached them. As Jaime followed the cart on his horse, he kept glancing around although attacking such a large party would be folly unless it was a big group.
Jaime tried to think back. He hadn’t seen one damn thing out of the ordinary earlier. He should have saddled Aleric’s horse and gone with him. They weren’t best pals, but if they’d stuck together, he wouldn’t be near death in the back of the cart.
It was enough to make him feel almost as helpless as the night when he’d been seven.
When they made it back, Aleric was carried upstairs. Whatever Olivier had given him must have been strong since he didn’t twitch when lifted him out of the cart. Lord Monet followed them all of the way upstairs on his stiff knees, and only he accompanied Olivier into the bedroom.
Jaime chased out a couple of courtiers who’d tagged along and sat on the couch since he had nothing else to do. He got up to pace after a few seconds. The lord and physician would likely clean Aleric and dress him in sleep clothes. Questions buzzed around his mind as he waited. After a while, Olivier opened the door.
“If he wakes up and wants an extra blanket, give it to him. Try to keep him calm if he seems frightened or angry. If he says anything odd…just ignore it. People can be quite strange whenthey come around with no memory of how they got there. He might seem off, so don’t worry. It hasn’t been that long.”
“All right.”
“I’ll be back.” Olivier made to leave and quickly poked his head back into the bedroom. “If he wakes, give him water too. He needs liquid to replenish blood.”
Olivier hurried out with barely a look in Jaime’s direction. As soon as the sitting room door closed, Jaime slipped through the partially open bedroom door. Aleric was in bed with the blankets pulled up. An extra clean sheet had been laid underneath him, and his Father sat on the edge of the bed. His shirt was different, so he must have borrowed one of Aleric’s.
Jaime wasn’t sure how a man should look after surviving a bloody wound. If he didn’t know what had happened and walked in, he might have assumed him to be dead.
Lord Monet heard him and glanced over his shoulder. “Do you stay in here?”
“I sleep on the couch. Erm…do you have enemies?”
Lord Monet shifted a little as he came around. “That’s a rather bold question.”
Before, Jaime could have asked a lord any question his young mind thought of, and no one would look at him like he’d overstepped his boundaries. Then again, treason hadn’t been on his mind back then, and he remembered a couple of lords and ladies patting his head with a chuckle after a statement or question.
“You’re so cute. What will you think of next, Jaime?”
Lord Monet shook his head. “If I have any enemies, they’re unknown to me except for a stableboy named Andy and a man who attacked my son. Or a few. If it had been one, Aleric might have managed to kill him. Beyond Andy, I have no names or faces, and no idea who must have paid him. I’ve never made anyreal enemies or had trouble in my court. Killing Aleric because he gets a bit…irritated doesn’t make sense either.
