Chapter 36: That’s a lot of blood
It was only a few moments after Cass had settled down at the desk that there came a soft knock on his office door. Glancing up, having a feeling he knew who it was, Cass sighed.
"You may enter." He called, and the door slowly opened. In peered a rather solemn looking Sam, along with a solemn looking Byron.
"My Lord, the meal is ready. We’ve already informed Lady Fiona and she is on her way to the dining room." Sam told him and Cass nodded, adjusting the fabric at his throat before he got to his feet. He made sure his jacket was buttoned up before he glanced briefly over at the wet spot on the rug that only he could notice in the fabric. He forced his shoulders to relax before he moved towards the two men.
"Shall we head down ourselves then?" He asked, a slight smile on his lips. Sam swallowed.
"I know that I already prepared the food, but are you sure, my Lord?" Cass knew that Sam was desperate that he didn’t go through with this. Cass had no idea why he was so insistent about it. It wasn’t like Cass was going to die, and if he did, that was partially on the ’gods’. They were purposefully withholding information from him that would keep him alive.
He wasn’t afraid to die again. Especially if it was to prove a point.
"I am sure, Sam. What is the worst that could happen? I’ve already spit up quite a bit of blood already, and been heavily injured. So what if the next step is death? I’ve already told them my dietary restrictions, but they are the ones not listening." Cass told him as he adjusted his jacket again. Sam looked horrified and Cass scoffed. "What? Worried that your job security will be gone? Don’t worry. I’m sure they’ll put in a good word for you." Sam went white.
"I-I-...It never even crossed my mind, my Lord. That’s not why I am-" Sam bit his lip, shutting his mouth and looking very upset. Cass stared at him for a moment, wondering what had made him upset, before he turned and headed for the main doors out of his chambers.
"It’s alright if it did Sam. I won’t blame you, or even get mad at you." Cass told him, not giving Sam any time to respond to his words as he made his way briskly out of his chambers and out into the hall. He nodded to the guards posted outside, Sir Forysthe not there since he was supposed to have a break today.
Cass had looked over the rotation of his guards, and how many guards he had and had decided that it was time to make a change. He’d actually done that with all of his servants and maids. He’d hired more so that the ones working for him could actually take breaks, and was working on trying to hire someone who could take Sam’s place when he needed time off since Byron wasn’t the fit.
He had different plans for Byron. He wanted to twist the man into the perfect spymaster. It would take a lot of work, and currently he was just working as a gopher for him, but he planned to start it soon.
Especially since he was narrowing down what part of the main story they were in.
Cass, now that he was mostly healed from his first injury caused by Draken, was far quicker on his feet then he had given Lord Blackburn credit for. He was agile, even if he was weak. It was clear that while Lord Blackburn had not trained his muscles, he had trained his speed. That was a good thing for a mage, and he was appreciative of his tenacity.
It meant that even if Lady Fiona had been summoned before him and Sam had to go and retrieve him, he arrived in the dining room shortly after her. She wasn’t alone, like he had anticipated, and Lady Ava, Lord Vespertine, Draken, and Lord Ridgewood were already around the dinner table.
Lady Ava was bent over the covered dishes, her hands clasped and a glowing white power flowing out of her. To his surprise, and everyone else’s, Sam pushed past Cass and stormed towards Lady Ava, shoving her away from the dishes.
"What are you doing?" He screeched, fire in his eyes and Cass stared at his outrage in pure shock. So did everyone else.
"Now listen here," Lord Vespertine started, his tone grim and Sam didn’t flinch.
"No, you listen here! What gives you the right to treat my Lord with such disrespect, hmm? Who in their right mind would do that to someone else’s food without consent? Did we even ask you to do so?" Sam asked, fury in every inch of his body. Cass realising that he needed to step in for Sam in the face of the very powerful heroes, rushed to his side.
"While I don’t agree with Sam shoving Lady Ava, his words are correct. It was rude of you to assume that I would want that." Cass told them.
Lady Ava, who had been caught by her lady love, stared at Sam and Cass in shock. She looked as if she was shaking.
"N-No one has ever had any problems with my prayers before." She whispered. Sam sighed loudly, and Cas realised that this was rather out of character for the other man. Sam was normally quiet, reserved unless he needed to not be. This anger felt...personal. Did he hate Lady Ava? Why?
"That’s great that until now no one has ever countered your kindness, but kindness without consent is force. After all, you’re the reason-" He cut off, his mouth forming into a thin, angry line. "Either way, do not do that ever again. Lord Blackburn does not need, nor want your blessings, Lady Glendale. I have been entrusted with the Lord’s meals, so I would appreciate it if you let me do my job." It felt like his soft, chatty Sam had turned into a hissing, spitting cat.
It was kind of cute, if he was honest. Especially since he got to see the shocked expressions on everyone’s faces. Including Lord Ridgewood. Cass covered up his need to laugh with a cough into his hand, before he glanced around.
"Well, now that that is all cleared up, shall I take a seat?" Cass asked the room and watched as Lady Fiona hardened. She placed Lady Ava in a chair between her and Lord Vespertine before she settled down herself. Cass didn’t hide the slight smile on his lips as he sat down in the seat that all of the platters were in front of. Byron reached across to take the silver lids off of the platters.
The platters were filled with familiar foods. They were things that Cass had been eating ever since he got here, but for some reason, his whole body froze. He knew he shouldn’t eat it. Something was telling him inside of him that he shouldn’t. It wasn’t quite...fear, but it was close to it.
He couldn’t put a finger on it, but it was very uncomfortable. Sam worried to the right of him, away from Lady Fiona.
"I-If you don’t want to-"
"Enough, Sam." Cass cut him off, sighing and placing the napkin in his lap like the regal gentlemen that Lord Blackburn was meant to be. He picked up his fork and knife in his hands, staring at the three platters that had been placed before him. The first was chicken breast with boiled, plain potatoes. The second platter was a salad with fresh veggies. The tomatoes looked particularly good, as well as the seed crumbled on top. The third dish was something he’d never seen. Roast beef drizzled with gravy and mashed potatoes.
Cass turned to his right, giving Sam a quizzical look. He knew that wasn’t in his repertoire of things he was allowed to eat and Sam sighed.
"They were...insistent." Sam muttered quietly and Cass snorted. So they truly wanted to test if he was lying. What a bunch of fake people. So many smiles to his face just to stab him in the back. At least the men were honest with the fact that they didn’t like him.
"I see." Cass responded before he glanced around the table. Everyone was staring at him expectantly, except Lady Ava. It made sense. She’d just been scolded by a servant, and the man who had said servant had agreed with her actions. No doubt they would harass him about it after this test of theirs.
Cass stared at the food before him, his hands practically shaking as he fought his own instincts and reached for the salad first. He stabbed one of the cherry tomatoes on top, plopping it into his mouth and chewed.
Everyone stared at him like something terrible was going to happen right away, including Sam, but Cass had seen food allergies before. Sometimes it was instant, like peanuts, while others took a few minutes to cook in the body. Cass stabbed a few more pieces of lettuce on that plate before moving onto the next, cutting a decent size piece off of the chicken before scooping up some of the rice and shoving that politely into his mouth. He then took a bite of the roast beef, gravy and mashed potatoes. After that, he set down his cutlery and wiped his mouth.
Everyone was waiting, clearly anticipating something. Hell, even Cass was expecting something. Outwardly, it looked like nothing was happening, but a cold sweat broke out on Cass’ brow. As the seconds ticked on, and Cass didn’t start coughing or something, Draken gave a sigh in frustration.
"Oh come on! You made it out to be this big deal, yet nothing is happening." He complained and Cass chuckled. He wouldn’t say nothing was happening.
Cass felt like he was on fire. His whole body itched, ached, and he almost doubled over in pain. He let out a low groan, so quiet he hoped that no one heard him, but he wasn’t so lucky. Draken, who had looked annoyed before, suddenly got to his feet.
"Whoa, I’ll take it back! You look awful, Lord Blackburn!" What a smooth man, Cass thought, as it felt like his intestines were shredding themselves.
Cass couldn’t help himself as he hiccupped into his hand, and stared as blood dripped out of his mouth and splattered onto the pure white tablecloth and all over the plates as another cough wracked his body.
"Lord Cassian!" The two women cried but Sam and Byron crowded him, protecting him from the others.
"No! We don’t need your help, you’ve done enough!" Sam spat towards the others, and they froze as the pure vitriol in Sam’s tone. "My Lord, Byron is making the tonic as we speak. It’ll be alright. Spit it up. I have a bucket right here." Sam’s voice was soothing as a wooden bucket was shoved into Cass’ arms and he couldn’t help but laugh in between his bouts of severe pain.
"Did you know?" Cass asked each horrible retch and cough of blood. It was honestly a rather concerning amount, and he knew that was the reason the others hadn’t left. There couldn’t be another reason. Sam’s face was grim as he looked over his Lord.
"I worried I would be right." He told him and Cass shook his head before a hand shoved the black, thick liquid into his vision. Cass couldn’t help the face he made, and Sam’s expression grew grim. "You aren’t going to be able to keep much of it down." He muttered thoughtfully and Cass coughed into the bucket.
"A little at a time." He croaked out, his throat already feeling hoarse. Sam’s expression hardened, and he locked eyes with Byron before the two of them forced Cass to drink half of the glass. Cass was coughing and sputtering when they were finished, and couldn’t help but notice the pure horror on everyone else’s faces. He couldn’t stop the smile from splitting his face. "What? Never seen something like this before?" He teased and watched as Lady Ava practically fainted.
He didn’t feel sympathy, but he was slightly grateful. Now he knew how severe his allergies were.