Page 89 of Bloom
Aleric grabbed his arm. “No! You can’t-”
“You’ve had me talking to this piece of shit who raped you, and you didn’t tell me?”
“He didn’t rape me! He beat me with his belt.”
“Like that’s so much better!”
“Nobody else can know. Father didn’t believe me.”
Jaime tried to pull his arm away. “I’ll find him and make him see. He fucking left his sons to a rat!”
“No, he didn’t!”
“You expect me to believe he didn't think twice about his son getting the shit beat out of him or why you two suddenly weren’t together!”
“He didn’t know we were together!” Aleric practically shouted. “We didn’t tell anyone, and I didn’t say anything later until my brother was with Gautier. He’s open with Zacharie because it's his last chance, and Zacharie can’t keep his mouth shut for five minutes. It’s not the same, and he’s been much more careful with my little brother because if they break up, there are no more brothers for him to go to! If you go out there and try to kill him or say anything, you’ll ruin everything, and I might as well fucking leave. Father will think you’re crazy, and I put you up to it. I don’t want to leave my home or try to convince Father that I didn’t get you to murder Gautier. He didn’t know, and he still doesn’t. Zacharie fucking twisted it, and I had no proof by the time I said anything!”
Jaime’s chest heaved, and veins stood out on his forearm. “Damn it.”
Aleric let go of him. Jaime looked to be on the verge of snapping until he rubbed his face.
“That piece of shit is still walking around, and he’s got another young guy-stop looking at me like that.”
“Don't tell me how to look when you're mad.”
“I swear I’m not angry at you. I will never hit you. I’m sorry, Aleric. For fuck’s sake. No wonder you think I’m going to abuse you. Nobody should go through that. And you expect me to go? If you think I’m going to stroll out while you’re stuck living with…him. No. Fuck that. If I have to go anywhere, I’m throwing you over my shoulder and taking you with me.”
“No, you’re not.”
Jaime pointed at him. “Watch me. I’ll carry you to the Windswept Isles before I leave you in the same vicinity with that sack of shit trying to kill you. He broke your nose not long ago.”
None of this was going the way Aleric had imagined. Where were the denial and claims that Aleric was a liar or crazy? What lord’s son was abused by another lord even if he was an exiled one who’d lost his position?
Any second, Jaime was going to say it didn’t add up, and how did he know if Aleric was lying when he’d held so much back?
“Can you explain to me what happened?” asked Jaime.
Part of Aleric wanted to pour it out, but he remembered Father’s expression. His own flesh and blood shaking his head. Zacharie hadn’t run his mouth to Jaime, but still…
Jaime pinched the bridge of his nose. “How did he keep this a secret?”
Aleric paused. He’d told chunks of the truth while skirting around the past, and Jaime had believed him. “How do I know if Zacharie is going to blab? Or if you go behind my back and talk to Father-”
“I don’t care what your Father has to say. Apparently, he doesn’t know shit. I’m not your Father, Zacharie, or Gautier. I’m asking you. I need to know what’s going on instead of you dribbling bits of information to me. Did I think you were a liar before when you talked to me?”
“You had proof before,” said Aleric. “Someone had tried to kill me, and you saw me with an arrow and a spear sticking out of my back. It’d be pretty hard to make that up. How do I know if you’re going to say something completely different in a day or even an hour?”
“I’m not-”
“It took Gautier two years before he turned on me.” Aleric held up two fingers. “He played a damn long game, and I thought he loved me. You barely even know me. My own Father thinks I’m lying because Zacharie said I tried to break them up and lied about Gautier beating me. He said I’m jealous, and if anyone went and asked him, he’d say the same thing. He believedZacharie over me. You have no proof. Only my word, and if that means shit to Father-”
Jaime spread his arms. “I have proof of this.”
“You weren’t even here back then!”
Jaime tilted his head. “You won’t reciprocate anything sexual. You said you only top, and nothing ever goes up your ass. That obviously wasn’t true. You looked like you were ready to kick me right off the bed because I was going to kiss you. I’ll admit I thought you were a pillow prince and a cold prick, but the way you act makes a lot of sense. You think if anything goes further, I’ll be beating you up in three days. You might be all right with going to a whorehouse and topping someone, but after today, I think you’re terrified to bottom or do anything that leaves you vulnerable and puts the other in total control.”
Aleric hadn’t thought about certain aspects of his behavior being like proof to anyone. He hadn’t been that close to anyone, and even Clementine hadn’t guessed since he’d put on an act to hide everything from her.
