Chapter 303: A trust I don’t want to break
"Sam, Cass just bought some new clothes but they haven’t been organised to the level that he would probably like. Could you do that while I help him get ready for bed?" Edgar asked and Cass gave the man an incredulous look while Sam glanced between them.
"My Lord? Is that what you would like me to do?" Sam asked and Cass found himself caught in a strange place. He hesitated, before he sighed.
"No. After. I need to speak to you first. Edgar, out of the room with Byron." Edgar, for his part, didn’t flinch at the words. He just shrugged, smiled, and stayed near the door of his room. Cass narrowed his gaze. "Further. You are not allowed to overhear it. That’s why Byron is going with you, to make sure you don’t." His expression soured as Byron’s lit up. He gave Cass a nod before he followed Edgar down the stairs while the man muttered angrily.
Sam and Cass entered into his bedroom, and Cass watched as Sam took in the new layout. Cass closed the door behind them, locking it for privacy reasons, and waited. When Sam finally turned back to him after scanning the main area, he had a complicated look on his face.
"It’s...rather boring, isn’t it?" He said carefully and Cass had a realisation that maybe the reason the renovations were taking so long in the manor was because...Sam was stalling it. It was a strange realisation, that Sam was keeping things from him.
Cass didn’t like it.
"It’s not boring. It’s outdated, and just needs some updating." Cass let out a small chuckle. "You probably will like the bathroom. Edgar and Lucian had a hand in changing it." Sam glanced at Cass, and Cass could tell that Sam was trying to get a read on him. Cass wasn’t sure why, but he could feel him scanning him.
"What did they do to the bathroom?" He asked carefully, and Cass gave a soft chuckle and turned, moving towards the bathroom. He led Sam towards the bathroom and held open the door for him as Sam took in the space.
The soft, slow exhale from Sam told him everything that he needed to know, and Cass couldn’t help but smile as he stared at the distraught look on Sam’s face. Cass bent, laughing and Sam turned to look at him, gesturing to the tub.
"W-What have they done? Are those...dragons? Did you want this?" Sam asked and Cass let out a soft sigh. It was nice to have Sam around again.
"No, but the reasoning behind it was relatively fair, so I tempered my anger. Lucian changed it in preparation for my...horrible week. He wanted to be able to help bathe me." Cass said carefully, slowly, watching Sam’s reaction.
Sam, like Cass worried, narrowed his gaze and his jaw tightened. His hands were clenched into fists, and his eyes were full of an emotion that Cass watched develop.
"He...expects that he will be with you during your next monthlies? In a few days? When he isn’t even here right now?" Cass knew that he had heard Cass earlier. Sam wasn’t an idiot. He’d heard what Lucian was doing, but he was pretty sure that he was just processing everything.
"Sam, he’s probably almost back in the city. Hopefully." Cass said softly and Sam closed his eyes, taking a shaky breath, before he nodded.
"You’re right. I’m sorry, my Lord. I’m just...shocked, I guess. I didn’t think that you would bend to his suggestion." Sam admitted, and Cass felt the words like a blow. Bend to his suggestion? He guessed that Sam was right. Lucian had made the suggestion, more of a demand at the time, in front of him before.
Cass had been half dead at the time, so he wasn’t really in a place to say yes or no to it. Now, Cass was thinking about doing something crazy, and it was fair that Sam was voicing his opinions on the situation.
Cass released the bathroom door to lean against the wall with a heavy sigh.
"Ah fuck. I can see what you mean by that." Cass muttered, running a hand over his face. That’s right. When he had last seen Sam, he still didn’t have full use of his hands. He hadn’t realised that it had been that long, but it had. Cass groaned. "I’m not...bending to his will. Lucian has actually had to do some rather serious groveling to get to this point. And show that he meant it." Cass muttered, peaking out from between his fingers to see Sam’s reaction.
Sam didn’t look that impressed, if he was honest.
"And Lord Vespertine? What of him?" It didn’t seem Sam was mad at him for being involved with men. It seemed that he was more upset about who the men were. Cass winced at that.
"Edgar...has been through a lot." Cass started and Sam scoffed.
"So have you, my Lord. Why should I feel sympathy for a man who abandoned you in the face of his sister who was throwing a tantrum?" Sam’s words stung. It wasn’t like Cass to forget something so serious, but at the same time...maybe he did need the reminder.
Cass let out a slow, measured sigh.
"I can’t tell you to feel anything for them. I know that their behaviour at the estate was abysmal. Anyone could tell you that. I will say...things have changed since the dungeon. A lot of things got revealed, and I can’t say that I enjoyed them, but I think it had a good result?" Cass chuckled. "Well, Lord Ridgewood did try to have me killed, but...who hasn’t, at this point?" Cass joked.
When he met Sam’s gaze, his brown eyes were hard.
"I haven’t. I would never do such a thing." Sam said it with such clarity that Cass felt his heart shake. He was being so serious, like he meant every word. But at the same time...the pills he’d been given burned in his mind.
"Do you mean that?" Cass asked, trying to keep his voice steady. Sam swallowed, not breaking eye contact.
"My Lord, you could kill me for less, and I would believe I deserved it." Sam told him. Cass didn’t know what to say to that. He didn’t want to have this conversation about his loyalty. It wasn’t something that he wanted to do.
Given what he had on his plate, he decided that he wasn’t going to. It was weak. It made him a wimp, but Sam was the first person to have his back the whole time he’d been here. Even if it was in strange ways, he was always looking out for him. Cass wasn’t going to ruin that right now.
He wanted to trust him for a bit longer.
"Alright, if that’s the case, I need to know if you brought the stuff I asked of you." Cass said and watched as Sam stood up straighter.
"The extra things the Doctor got ready for you? Yes, I grabbed them. We had to turn back, which is why we were delayed slightly. Byron...shifted so that we could get here faster." Sam pulled off a bag he had on that Cass had somehow missed, before he rifled through and found what he was looking for.
It looked like it wasn’t a box that held a sex toy. Instead, it looked like it held a really expensive and large pen. Cass sighed. He gestured for him to put it on the counter in the bathroom.
"Good. I’m planning to attempt something rather insane over the next few days because I cannot miss the events of this ball." Cass told him and Sam watched him, worried.
"What, my Lord, are you planning to do if I may be so bold to ask? How can I help?" Sam’s earnest question and the way he was looking at him had Cass tightening his hands into fists. This was the Sam he wanted to see. The Sam that was considerate, and would stand with him no matter what.
"I am going to need Lucian’s help. I won’t be able to stave it off on my own. Not if I still want use of my hands." Cass told him and watched as Sam’s eyes went wide, before they went sad.
"Can I not help you?" He asked and Cass shook his head.
"Absolutely not. This is so far beyond your duties. You aren’t a servant who helps me in bed, are you?" Cass confirmed and Sam’s face flushed. He seemed to understand what Cass was implying, as both of them stood red faced in the dragon themed bathroom.
"I-I see. Forgive me for asking too many questions." Sam seemed a little embarrassed and shy because of his questions. Cass shook his head, his face warm.
"No. I think I’ve been dancing around what’s been happening for too long. It’s...too late. Lucian already knows, and I bet it’s only a matter of time before Edgar does. The two are a tag team against me now. Plotting every damn moment of the day." Cass muttered, frustrated. "It’s getting annoying." Cass muttered. "I’m going to need your help once Lucian gets back. I’m planning...to try to trick it." Cass said and met Sam’s gaze.
Sam seemed shocked. He was staring at him in confusion, and a little bit of...admiration?
"You want to...trick...it? What even is...it?" He asked carefully and Cass gave a humourless shrug.
"I...don’t fully know that, Sam. Just that I know that there is something strange about my body, and that this happens every month. So, I’m tired of letting this control my life, and I’m going to take my life back." Cass declared, not just for him, but for Lord Blackburn. Sam’s eyes warmed as Cass felt something heavy and weighty fall off of his shoulders. "And sadly, for that, I am going to need Lucian. I need your help to draft the rules that this needs to play by, and I’ll need your help to manage it. I can’t trust Edgar. Not yet." Cass said and Sam stood up straighter.
"You can count on me, my Lord. I will have no problems pulling that dragon off of you if he doesn’t respect you." Sam declared, and Cass swore he saw a sliver of pleasure in his gaze. It seemed that Lucian had done enough things to piss Sam off, and Sam wasn’t going to just let bygones be bygones.
Cass smiled.
"Thank you, Sam. Now, let’s go over the finer details."