Jaime kissed his cheek. “What do you want?”
I could go for bread with a little cacao spread afterward. The cook often keeps some on hand. Or if you don’t want to get it-”
“I’ll get it for you while you’re washing.” Jaime got off the bed to dress.
Aleric didn’t feel like taking a full bath, so he simply stood in the sunken tub and put his head under the tap to start with. He was pretty sure he had a little cum in his hair. He’d barely finished when a knock on the privy door made him jump.
“Hey.” Jaime opened the door to peek in. “If there’s no spread, what else do you want?”
Aleric brushed his wet hair out of his face. “A little honey is fine. Not too much of either. Thank you, Jaime.”
“You’re welcome.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Jaime hurried down the stairs. Going around in his sleep clothes and a cloak wasn’t proper if one lived in a Castle. Mostly everyone would be in their rooms by that point even if they weren’t asleep, so he didn’t care.
When he entered the kitchen, the fire gave everything a warm light, and a lantern had been left on dim to one side. The cook had likely left it on to see since she’d be up early, but wouldn’t she bank the fire? A familiar figure stood by the main work counter, and he caught a familiar smell. He hadn’t drunk warm milk with melted cacao in years.
The figure jumped, and he realized it was Zacharie who quickly slipped something into the pocket of his sleep pants. Or had Jaime imagined it in the dim light?
“Hi,” Jaime said neutrally as he headed right for the larder. The last thing he felt like was dealing with Zacharie.
Instead of running his mouth, Zacharie must have remembered the threat about his teeth being punched in. He said nothing and merely gave him a dirty look before he grabbed the two mugs. Each had a cinnamon stick, and he hurried out.
What the fuck had he been doing? Jaime paused by the larder door and listened to his footsteps fade. He was pretty sure he’d seen Zacharie put something in his pocket. A jar of cacao nibs had been left on the work counter next to another with cinnamon sticks. On the hearth lay a pot, and he peered in to find a little milk in the bottom.
Most lords and their children can’t cook, but warming a liquid isn’t hard, and neither is adding cacao to melt. It only requires mixing and for the milk to not be overboiled. It was normally a drink for cool or cold weather. Perhaps Zacharie hada craving for the rich taste. The cook would likely huff to find the unwashed pot with a wooden spoon forgotten by it.
What if Zacharie hadn’t been simply making a late-night drink for himself and Gautier?
Jaime thought for a second and hurried out. He couldn’t leave things to chance. Zacharie was already gone, and at the bottom of the stairs, he peered up and thought he heard a faint noise from above, although he couldn’t see the younger brother. Aleric wasn’t sure if Zacharie was in on things or simply Gautier’s pawn.
If he was a part of the plot, what if he was going to try and play nice with his Father to make up? Lord Monet would accept the sweet drink and not think twice. He might be willing to poison his Father with the Earldom on the line, although killing him first wasn’t a good idea since they still needed to get rid of Aleric.
Jaime crept up the stairs as swiftly and quietly as possible. What floor was Zacharie on? He couldn’t remember if Aleric had ever told him.
After he unlocked the sitting room door, he called out so Aleric would know it was him. When he came into the bedroom, Aleric was in his sleep clothes and rubbing at his hair with a drying sheet. He frowned when he saw Jaime had no food.
“Did we run out of bread?”
“I need you to go check on your Father. Make up something. Say you have a question or-”
Aleric tossed the drying sheet on the foot of the bed. “Why?”
“If Zacharie’s in there with a drink, don’t let your Father have it. I just saw him in the kitchen making hot cacao, and I think he put something in his pocket. It might be poisoned. I’m not sure where he went.”
Aleric ran to grab his cloak from its hook on the wall. “I have a book I was supposed to give him. I’ll use that as an excuse to go in.”
“I’ll stay in the hall unless I hear something, okay?”
Aleric snatched a book from his sitting room shelf and rushed out with Jaime.
By his Father’s door, he took a deep breath and knocked as he clutched the book. Jaime stayed to the side to listen.
“Come in,” called Lord Monet.
Aleric entered and left the door cracked.
