Page 79 of Bloom
The two ladies rushed upstairs. One gasped at the sight of Olivier.
“He collapsed,” said Aleric. “I tried to ask what was wrong, but I think he’s already dead. He wouldn’t answer.”
The other woman crouched by him and touched his neck. “I think he’s dead.”
Aleric swore in a low voice and stepped around the body as the first woman leaned over the railing and shouted. A male voice came from below.
“I think Olivier is dead!” she shouted down to him.
“What?!”
“Have someone ride into Côte and fetch the physician on Flassoa Street. Olivier must have had a heart attack.”
“I don’t think there’s any hope for him,” said the second. “He’s not breathing. Let’s go downstairs. Are you okay? That must have been such a shock! You should sit down.”
“I’ll be fine,” he muttered. “I want to find Jaime.”
“Someone needs to tell Lord Monet,” said the other woman.
One down as if Elira herself had struck him. Aleric didn’t think much about the Goddess. Maybe she was paying attention to him.
He headed straight for the library. He hoped Gautier hadn’t gone to find Jaime because he needed Jaime and no one else, although he couldn’t even explain why. He didn’t want to be alone or with courtiers dithering everywhere.
He crept along the rows until he spotted a corner where he figured Jaime might like to sit. There he was, and it was just him. Aleric hurried down the row, and Jaime looked up and frowned.
“What’s wrong? You look-”
“Olivier had a heart attack.”
***
Aleric had to change his story when he told a few others. After he’d fainted and come back around, Olivier had collapsed quite suddenly. He certainly wasn’t admitting he’d watched the man die and did absolutely nothing. Some heart attacks were knownto kill instantly. The victim collapsed, and that was it, so no one appeared suspicious.
Nobody had seen him that morning yet, so it was unknown if he’d been sweating or appearing ill.
The fetched physician from the city could do nothing except have the body taken away after he did a check to ensure that, yes, Olivier was definitely dead and nothing could be done.
Jaime insisted the physician check out Aleric because people shouldn’t faint. They also didn’t come back around to see a person die seconds later.
Aleric admitted he hadn’t eaten breakfast. Getting up too fast had made him feel faint. The physician said it was an unfortunate chain of events but easily remedied. Aleric was to eat something small with sugar and take it easy that day since he’d also suffered a dreadful shock. He also shouldn’t skip meals anymore because it caused certain people to not feel well.
“I’m not hungry,” Aleric said from the couch in his sitting room when Jaime returned with a plate of food.
“I know, but you shouldn’t go until lunch with nothing if you blacked out for a few seconds.” Jaime set the plate on the table in front of the couch. “Fainting isn’t normal for you, is it?”
“No. It’s probably just a one-time thing. Dead people aren’t good for the appetite.”
“Try to eat a little. Please? Do you feel bad?”
“No. I’m a bit tired, I guess. Not enough to nap.”
“I mean about Olivier.”
“Kind of, but at the same time, I’m relieved. It seems…wrong in a way. I’m…”
“Unsettled?”
“Yeah.”
