Page 73 of Bloom
“I’m going.”
“You shouldn’t have been out of bed yesterday, and you certainly shouldn’t be riding today.” Lord Monet had just returned from a morning ride, and the stablehand was leading his horse away to care for. “I bet your blood isn’t fully replenished, and you can’t simply jump back into activities like nothing ever happened.”
Aleric mounted a horse intended for anyone to borrow. Jaime had practically pushed aside the stablehand and saddled it for him. At least they wouldn’t have to worry about one of the stablemen being paid off to loosen it. “Father, I’ve been inside for quite a few days now-”
“We still don’t know who is responsible for attacking you. I’ve received nothing from the guards who are out. Even though I want to put those responsible in a noose, we have no idea who started it or where those men are.”
They wouldn’t find anything, and nobody was about to be in a noose anytime soon. Lord Monet wouldn’t listen to that either, and Aleric shifted the horse a little. “I doubt an assassin will be hiding by a shop or a home in Côte in the hopes I ride by so he can jump out and attack. I want a little sunshine, and we’re only taking an easy ride around the streets. Maybe…we’ll go to the docks and look at the water. If I feel too tired at any point, we can turn around.”
“Fine.”
Like Father could truly stop him anyway. Aleric led the way since Jaime didn’t know where the wise woman was.
They had to leave the city, go past a few farms, and enter into the woods on one side. A footpath became visible, and they followed it for a couple of minutes.
“What’s that?” Jaime asked after rustling came from the branches above.
Aleric shrugged without bothering to look up. “A woodland critter. Nothing big.” The trees were smaller, and he doubted a panther would be lurking that close to civilization on branches too skinny to support its weight.
Jaime swore when something furry jumped on Aleric from above, and he jerked the reins. The horse snorted and danced sideways as he swiped at the animal clinging to his shoulder.
“What the fuck?”
Jaime suddenly laughed. “For Elira’s sake. That little thing nearly made me shit myself.”
“Get it off!” Aleric couldn’t even tell what it was, and it was pulling on his hair to one side.
“It’s just a minky!”
“Get the damn minky off!”
The minky shifted so he was hugging Aleric around the neck with his face about two inches away. Black surrounded his eyes like a mask. Aleric managed to stop his horse.
“Aww, he likes you,” said Jaime.
Aleric grunted as he tried to pry off its little fingers. For an animal that was only a foot high and not built very big, he had strong little hands. The horse stamped, and Jaime’s snorted as if amused.
“Don’t they usually stay away from people?”
“I think so.”
They had small bodies with long arms, legs, and tails. They were good at climbing and were usually found around the NovaKingdom, not Soleil. Aleric had only seen drawings of them in books. With its cat-like face and pointy ears swiveling around, it was quite cute.
“What is your problem?” Aleric demanded.
“I don’t think he’s going to answer you.”
Clinging to his coat, the minky slid down, wrapped his arms around Aleric’s middle, and patted his stomach as it made a faint noise between a purr and a chirp.
“You’re his Mummy now,” said Jaime.
The last thing Aleric wanted was a pet minky. They climbed all over the place, and he could imagine it running around the Castle and trying to hide under a lady’s skirt. Or running about the Hall to steal food.
“He shouldn’t even be around here,” Aleric pushed on it. It only clung tighter to his coat. “I can’t take you home.”
Jaime put out a hand. “Come here, little guy. You can ride with me.”
“He can go back to Nova.”
