Aristocrat | ✓

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

     I choked on the sobs that left me when I heard Lord Evenus' voice. He had come looking for me.

     "Manfred, we have to get you out of here. I brought my horse, but I had to leave it a distance away," he said as he came into my view. He was in breeches and a shirt that was hidden under a coat. His gun was attached to a sling holder that he had strapped across his chest.

     I tried to say something, but I could only heave and cry. He dropped his lap on the floor, kneeling beside me before pressing a hand to my face.

     "You're cold," he said, before looking over at the snow stained with blood that I hadn't been able to see in the darkness. "You're bleeding."

     "We have to get you out of here," he muttered, walking to my side before lifting me in his hands. He managed to get me balanced on one arm, before bending to grab the lamp.

     The walk to the horse was slow and quiet aside from the sound of the wind and Evenus' boats crunching the snow under their soles.

     "Why did you run away?" Lord Evenus asked suddenly. My head was numb, and my lips felt too heavy to lift, so I didn't say anything in response. "I was already having a hard time since you found Sawyer, and you go to do this? I can't lose the both of you," Lord Evenus said, continuing the one-sided conversation with himself.

     When we got to Lord Evenus' horse, he tried to sit me upright, but I let out a cry, so he found a way to hold me still until he could climb up with me. He cradled me to his chest, taking the reins and riding as fast as he could in the direction of the castle. Troy ran beside the horse, barking and panting as we moved. Some of raising ground on the road made the horse bump, which sent waves of pain through me, but I knew what Evenus was doing. The longer I was out in the cold, the more likely I would catch something.

     When we reached the gates, I heard people murmuring, and when the Lord brought his horse to a stop at the stables, I could hear a servant in the distance.

"Should I send a message to Axminster castle?"

"Yes, make a request for Fredrick," Lord Evenus said, cradling me to his chest. I could hear his heart beating, and the warmth from his coat was warming up my face.

     My eyes fluttered shut after that, and the next time I woke up I was laying in one of the guest room beds in a white nightshirt. I squinted, feeling odd to be in a room flooded in candlelight when I had been in pitch darkness for at least a few hours. I strained my ears when I picked up Marie's voice from outside the door.

     "I hope the boy is not hurt?"

     "He has a deep wound on his leg, and has been out in the cold for hours," Lord Evenus said. "I wish I had checked for him earlier. I went to look to see if he was in his room, and that's when I noticed he was gone," he added.

     He came to look for me. I frowned a bit, wondering what he had wanted to talk about as my eyes blurred. I winched, feeling my head pound with pain.

     The door creaked open when my eyes were shut. I opened them just in time to see Evenus closed it behind him. He looked exhausted. His hair was a mess, and his eyes were tired and droopy.

     He gave me a small smile when he noticed I was awake before walking over to stand beside the bed. He pulled a stool, taking a seat beside me. For the next few minutes, he stared down at me, observing as my eyes would flutter open and close.

     "I called Fredrick," he said, resting his elbows on his knees before folding his hands and resting his head on them. "He should be here in the next day or two, so hold on," he muttered, reaching out to brush hair out of my face.

     "Manfred," he started, taking his hand away. He sighed, looking past me and towards the wall. "When we started getting close, I started thinking that maybe one day I'd be able to bury Sawyer..." he trailed, and I watched as a mix of emotions pulled in his eyes.

"It's been over a decade, and for the first time I was considering it..." he mumbled, looking down at my face before reaching to touch my lip. "I needed time to make that decision and felt that I would tell you when I was closer to doing that instead of making you wait on me."

     My eyes clouded with tears, and I blinked, feeling it trickle down my cheek.

     "I didn't know that being in the dark hurt you so much. I should have known," he said, reaching to hold on to my free hand.

     "It's still going to take a while for me to bury Sawyer," Lord Evenus said. "So, if I can be a bit selfish, would you wait?"

     I croaked, "yes." I heaved, feeling how slushy my chest was. I think I might have gotten a cold, or pneumonia if I was unlucky.

     "Thank you," Lord Evenus said, squeezing my hand. We sat in silence for a while.

     "Evenus," I muttered, and he hummed, rubbing my knuckles with the base of his thumb. My head buzzed with sentences I wanted to say, but I only managed the ones I had told him in the drawing-room. "I'm sorry."

     He smiled, leaning forward to press a kiss to my temple. "It's okay."

     With his words, I felt comfortable enough to sleep, my mind still swimming with memories from that night.