Chapter 26: A clear bill of health
Nothing was going his way.
Cass knew that he had dreams and visions for how this new life was going to go, but he didn’t think it would go this poorly. The first week of living in this new world and new body was difficult. He’d still get headaches, and the occasional nosebleed, but that wasn’t the worst of it.
The worst of it was the fact that since he’d pissed off Lady Fiona, an army of food had been sent to him. All of it within the strict diet that Sam had been forced to tell her, but with one problem. Sam had a way to test the food, and every time, he’d have to shake his head and give it away.
The food, for some reason, still wasn’t safe for Cass to eat.
It wasn’t as if he didn’t trust Sam, but he’d had to watch him test the food several times before he believed him. He’d wanted to eat some of it, to officially taste if there was something wrong with him, but Sam and Sir Forsythe nearly had heart attacks when they heard him say that.
He felt bad, but there was nothing he could do. He was worried Sam was going to have a heart attack. The maids and guards who were under his ’section’ of the castle were eating relatively well since Cass didn’t want to notify Lady Fiona that her gifts weren’t helpful.
That only caused a bunch of other problems. Cass, because he had spoken harshly to them, hadn’t been invited back for breakfast. He’d tried not to take that to heart, but also understood why. He was the one who discovered that he needed to keep his distance for his ’quest’ as Lady Ava had put it. It would only hurt more if they got closer and then he left. Besides, he didn’t even know how to have friends. He’d probably do something weird and freak them out even more.
He’d also had a Doctor hounding his door for the whole week that Sam had forced him to remain in his chambers to recover.
Cass, who didn’t like Doctors, shared that similarity with Lord Blackburn, so without Cass needing to say anything, Sir Forsythe had turned the Doctor away. He already had enough with Sam being a constant, uh, caregiver by his side, he didn’t need another person added to the mess.
That being said, it was nice that he had Byron at his disposal now. He acted as Cass’ arms and ears within the castle since he was constantly going between his rooms and the library. Cass was trying to absorb as much information as he could about the country he was in, the lands he was in, the different types of creatures that lived here, everything.
He was the studying type, so this was easy for him. Plus, there wasn’t a test at the end of all of the information gathering, so he was having a great time. Honestly, because Cass was having such a fun time researching, he barely noticed that he was basically confined to his rooms to recover, or that he hadn’t seen anyone besides Sam, Sir Forsythe or Byron for a week.
But eventually, he was done with the dreary colour scheme of his rooms and needed a change of pace. He needed to go outside. Touch grass. Feel the wind in his hair. And it was the morning of the 8th day since he’d awoken here when Sam gave him the all clear to leave his rooms.
So, after a hearty breakfast of the plainest, blandest food ever conceived, he was given a glass of the sewer fluid, and finally, Sam’s approval. Cass was then layered in a warm outfit of mostly black with a little bit of silver before he headed for the doors out of his chambers. Unassisted, his wound on his head mostly healed, his gait normal, Cass felt confident that he could at least make it to a garden.
He’d had time to look over the blueprints of the castle. At least the basics. He didn’t think they would have stored the layout of everyone’s chambers in the library, which he thought was reasonable. That being said, he could at least navigate on his own now, and that was exciting to him. He’d explored his chambers by himself after the fourth day when he finally felt strong enough that he could walk more than from his bedroom to his office.
When he opened the door to his rooms, Sir Forsythe seemed surprised to see him.
"My Lord." He greeted, and Cass grinned at him. It caught all the others who were passing his doors by surprise.
"I’ve been given the all clear. I’m going to the gardens today." He told him and Sir Forsythe’s lips turned up slightly. He glanced at the other guard who was standing at the door. Evidently, it was not the same guard that Cass had taken with him to the temple before. He was surprised to see the happy expression on Cass’ face. Or maybe, surprised wasn’t the right word.
He looked...horrified? That was embarrassing. Was Lord Blackburn that bad of a guy?
"That’s wonderful news, my Lord. Did you want us to accompany you?" He asked politely and Cass shook his head.
"No. I’ll be taking Sam with me, but Byron is still on some errands for me. Let him into the rooms while I’m not there." Sir Forsythe’s gaze sharpened and Cass wanted to roll his eyes. He didn’t say anything and Sir Forsythe nodded finally.
"Understood. We shall see you when you return." He told him and Cass nodded. Sam stepped out from behind Cass, but Cass stopped him by gently tapping his shoulder.
"I’ll take the lead today." He told him and watched as Sam’s eyes widened.
"Do you...do you remember the way?" He asked and Cass chuckled.
"Even if I hadn’t regained those memories, I have been studying the blueprints, just in case. I won’t have myself being a burden to you forever, Sam." Sam’s expression tightened before he sighed. He turned away from Cass, hiding his lips from Cass’ view. He fell into step just slightly behind Cass, so Cass knew that the words he muttered weren’t meant for his ears.
"My Lord, you pay me very well to let you be a burden to me." He muttered quietly. "And you aren’t even a burden." Cass had to hold it together otherwise he would have laughed at Sam’s supposed to be silent words. He was sure that Sam didn’t know that Cass could hear him.
Cass was actually quite surprised to find out that his hearing was better in this life compared to his last. Cass had had glasses in his old body, so his hearing had been just a little bit better because he’d been so blind. Here, his eyesight was better, his hearing was better, and despite being weak, his reflexes were also better.
He’d caught Sam when he’d tripped a few days ago, but then almost dropped him because he couldn’t support his full weight. It was one of the reasons he was trying to get up and move. If he remained cooped up in his rooms he was going to turn into twigs. That wasn’t going to help anyone, and especially wasn’t going to help him.
The other was he was going stir crazy. He had been a homebody, but he’d also had plants that he had taken care of, and a park nearby that he could go to and watch people with their dogs. He normally would take a book with him, read and listen to nature around him. He was barely allowed to have the window open since medicine hadn’t advanced as far during this world compared to his own.
And why would they advance? They had healing magic. That solved pretty much everything. Unless you were someone like Cass who couldn’t be healed. Cass still hadn’t found out anything about that as well. It felt like it was an open secret that everyone had theories on, but no one would say what they were to him. Maybe they were afraid of how he would react, or they had already said it and Lord Blackburn had lost his shit.
Either way, it felt like everyone knew why he was reacting poorly, and why he couldn’t eat certain food, but no one was going to tell him why. He was getting frustrated with the lack of knowledge on his part,
So, the clearance meant he could go for a walk.
Happy inside, Cass ignored Sam’s words and made his way towards the gardens that his rooms overlooked. He had stopped by his office to make sure that no one was down below before he made his way out, and was pleasantly surprised that his brief check had been correct.
The access point to the gardens was on the main floor but in the opposite direction of the temple. It was through a set of double doors and the gardens were beautifully laid out. Several trees dotted the landscape, and one of them was a giant weeping willow.
Flowerbeds full of annuals and bushes filled the area, and Cass could tell that they had several gardeners on staff if this garden looked like this. A fountain sat slightly off center in the layout of the garden, and it was a beautiful bubbling stone structure. Near the end of the garden, near where the forest began to claim the land back, was a gazebo, but Cass found himself pulled towards the fountain.
The centerpiece was a trio of little cherubs pouring from jugs. It was cute, and when Cass sat down on the edge of the fountain, he felt a wave of familiarity. It appeared that Lord Blackburn also liked to sit here.
Cass understood why.
He couldn’t be seen by most windows where he was sitting, the area was quiet, and Sam had taken his quiet cue and had remained near the door of the gardens. It was a nice, quiet moment where he could hear the birdsong, he could hear the rustling of the leaves, and feel like the world he had entered wasn’t a complete stranger.
All birds liked to sing, all trees rustled, and all water gurgled.
It was a small moment of unity in a world he was feeling overwhelmed by. A small moment of peace.
Then he heard the crunching of gravel and stone under foot and the moment was shattered. Even more so when the person who had been approaching overshadowed him, stealing the sunlight that had been shining down on his face.
"Well well well. If it isn’t Lord Blackburn. I thought you only came out at night like a vampire since I haven’t seen a fucking hair from you for a week."
Cass’ mood soured immediately.