Page 80 of House of Blood and Roses: Vol. 2
"I haven't been able to get anything out of him, I was hoping you would when I asked you to take him out of the room."
"Oh." I'm not sure how I feel about that. I suppose it's a good thing that he believes I am capable of finding that kind of thing out, especially as he seems to think that I don't need explicit instructions.
"Did he tell you anything?" He gestures for me to sit, and I do, while Linc retakes the seat he was in before.
I clear my throat. "He said that he was scared of an assassination attempt, and that he had no idea it was Thomas until he returned with you to find Bella there."
Linc makes a strange noise, but I ignore him.
"An assassination attempt?" Lord Fallmartin echoes. He sits back in his chair. "Did he say who he thought might be interested in assassinating him?"
I shake my head. "But I guess it does make sense to try tonight if someone wanted to. A lot of attention was on our wedding, not on Bastian."
"It is immaterial," Lord Fallmartin says. "It was not an assassination attempt. What else did he say?"
"He just told me about what happened. He was surprised there were no servants here, and he was going to kitchens to get some blood because he was thirsty. He heard someone, drew his knife, and called out to them, but they ignored him. After that, he said that Thomas attacked him, and he didn't remember the knife until he pulled it out, and it was covered in blood."
Linc's gaze strays to Thomas' covered body. I swallow hard. There's a difference between accidentally stabbing someone once, and whatever happened to Thomas. I'm not even sure that I have a word for what Bastian's done, but it's confusing in a way that I don't like, and more importantly, that I don't know what to do with.
"Is that everything?" Lord Fallmartin asks me.
I nod. "He said he wanted to be alone and was going to go to bed shortly after that. He doesn't seem in a good way."
My father nods. "I'll speak with him tomorrow to see if he can shed more light on the situation."
I have no idea if Lord Fallmartin is going to be able to get more out of Bastian than I did. Or if there's anything else to get out of him. Often, the simplest explanation is the right one, and that's to take Bastian at face value and believe that he's scared of assassination attempts and that's why this happened. But something isn't sitting right with me, I just can't put my finger on what it is.
"I'm going to ask you to keep this to yourselves for now," Lord Fallmartin says. "I need to know precisely what happened and if anyone else is involved before we make the announcement that Lord Vermouten is dead. And we should keep Bastian's name out of it."
"Even though he killed him?"
"Especially because he killed him. Our enemies could use it to believe that House Rothorne is divided and at odds with one another. That weakens our position as a House, but also yours as part of the royal family. No one must know that Bastian is scared of assassination."
I nod.
"I know this is a new situation for you to be in, but we must deal with this properly, Beatrice."
"I understand." But I don't like it, especially when Thomas is dead, and Bella is devastated.
"We have a lot to do this week," Lord Fallmartin says. "So your focus is going to be needed on those things."
"Because of Thomas' death?" I ask. Despite being at court for a few months, I haven't had much experience with what happens when the head of a House dies, so I'm not entirely sure what needs to happen now that Thomas is dead.
"You have a full week of wedding events ahead of you," Lord Fallmartin says. "Those are going to require your attention.
"We're already married."
He gives me a withering look. "Did you really think that a royal wedding would be over just because you've been bitten and bedded?"
I clear my throat, slightly uncomfortable with his insinuation. I know that he knows that Linc and I have been together, especially when there were several times in the lead-up to the wedding where he made it absolutely clear that's what I was expected to do.
I look over at Linc, but he just shrugs, clearly not knowing any of what's in store for us.
"You should go back to your rooms and rest," my father instructs. "We shall talk of your itinerary and anything else that is required of you in the morning."
I know a dismissal when I hear one, and rise to my feet. Lord Fallmartin nods at me once, in what seems like respect, before allowing us to leave the room. I'm not sure I feel relief now that I know what we're dealing with, because the situation is somehow much worse than anything I imagined possible.
FOUR
