“Then why attack you? He pretty much got himself kicked out.”
Aleric narrowed his eyes. “I don’t think he imagined Father would go that far even if I asked. Remember, I don’t know if he’s a part of Gautier’s plan or clueless and simply being nasty because he can. If Gautier died right this second, we still wouldn’t get along. Either way, what if he’s decided to poison his lover because he’s afraid to go away with him? When they’re alone and far away from home, Zacharie might know that things could change. If he knows about Gautier’s kink and hasn’t been allowing it…I wouldn’t even let you in my rooms if you were into that shit.”
Jaime leaned against the work counter. “You might be right. Gautier doesn’t want to hurt his ticket, but if Zacharie doesn’t know what he’s planning, he might be thinking that he’ll be forced into something he doesn’t want once they’re away and alone. He nagged you quite a bit, right?”
“Yeah. He can’t risk a second rape accusation, but he’ll do the next best thing. Even though he originally intended to use me to get the position of lord, he couldn’t help but pressure me for it.” Aleric made a face and went to sit on the stool.
Jaime didn’t want to think about the mind of a man who likes control that much. “You could try to talk to Zacharie tomorrow. If Gautier’s pressuring him…”
Aleric shook his head. “He’s not going to open up to me. If Zacharie is trying to poison Gautier, he had the perfect opportunity to get several poisons. Father sold Olivier’scollection to an apothecary in the city. They only took the labeled things.”
“What happened to the rest?”
“I guess a servant dumped it. I didn’t think, but Zacharie could have snuck in and taken a few things before. Even though he’s not the sharpest tool, he could have learned a few things about poison. Before Olivier died, he also could have snuck in and found something labeled. Maybe Gautier won’t wake up in the morning.”
“Let’s hope.”
“I can’t see my main problem going away that easily.”
Jaime sat on a stool by him. He couldn’t see it either, but it was nice to imagine. OIivier had croaked from a heart attack. “Perhaps your brother will unwittingly help you, and you’ll be free of him.”
“I don’t want him to be hung for murder.” Aleric glanced at Jaime. “I can’t make myself go up there with any excuse to find a way to stop it either. Gautier has to die. It’s him or us.”
Aleric’s Father was also in danger, and if Gautier could be gone in the morning, Jaime wasn’t saying anything. He’d pick Aleric and their baby over Gautier any day of the week. “Lord Monet won’t suspect him. Come on. Zacharie? He’ll verbally jab at you all day if he feels like it, but he doesn’t seem like a killer. He also hates sick people, remember?”
“Or you might have seen him put something innocent in his pocket, and he jumped because you simply startled him. He doesn’t like you, so he left, and Gautier will be alive tomorrow.”
“True. We’ll see if Gautier is at breakfast.”
“And maybe Gautier hasn’t done a single thing to Zacharie.” Aleric stared into space. “I wish I could honestly talk to him and find out what Gautier has been like in the past two years. He might not have ever mentioned his kink. If Zacharie ends things, that’s it. Gautier couldn’t kill us and get the position. Theposition would pass to a cousin if Father and his sons died. If he killed everyone, the Regent would assign a new person to his hold. Gautier has no special relationship with Regent Corentin, so I don’t see him worming his way to the top like that. He has no real home now either, so where would he go?”
“He’s been to the Royal Court.”
“It was only for a little while when I was sixteen, and I don’t think he was close to the Regent. Well, he wasn’t the Regent just yet. He was Prince Corentin since King Jean was still alive. He told Regis he didn’t like it and never wanted to go back. I think he liked it and just didn’t want to say so.”
“Why?”
“Most of the courtiers there have slaves.”
“Oh, yeah. Your Father hates slavery.”
“With the Princes being under eighteen, the slaves had to be fully dressed, and nothing sexual could be openly done. In private, I’m sure you can imagine the debauchery that went on.”
“Prince Sébastien is an adult now, so I imagine it’s worse.”
“It is. The Regent allows the court to do whatever they want to their slaves. They’re forced to do sexual things in the open, and sometimes they have to perform with each other. Whatever their owner says, they have to do it.”
Those activities could be done in private, and who knew what sort of “fun” Gautier had engaged in while visiting? A slave that can’t say no and is shared by his owner might have been enough to fulfill Gautier’s sick desires. Jaime made a face. He’d heard horror stories, and it was disgusting that a person enslaved for petty thievery might be raped or forced to endure public humiliation. The Regent’s court sounded like a midden.
Once the Crown Prince became the King, he needed to put a stop to that. Unfortunately, he might think like his Father and Uncle, and nothing would change.
“I’m sure Gautier would enjoy watching or participating in that sort of thing, but he couldn’t say so to Father,” said Aleric. “Besides his one visit, I don’t think he has any real relationship with the Regent, and he’s a Morian who was sacked and banished. The Regent might not be inclined to raise up someone like that. A man with an unquestionably clean past would be the better option.”
“Okay.” He hadn’t been back, and he didn’t claim to be friends with anyone there. Gautier needed to marry Zacharie since he had no other way to rise. “We’ll see.”
It made Jaime feel odd, and he guessed Aleric had felt the same when Olivier died. But if fate dropped the chance, they couldn’t reject it. Gautier’s death would bring untold relief.
“Er, do you still want a snack?”
