The Sculpture And The Sculpted

Chapter 16

The scattered papers were slowly gathered by Will until Beverly and Margot discovered what he was doing and forced him back to bed while promising to gather everything they could find.

Margot's grip on him was solid, but not harsh. Just enough to help get the idea into his head that he shouldn't have been out of his room. He found it difficult to walk upright when every time he coughed sent him doubling over, but Margot was patient with the slow pace.

Her hand was gentle as it rubbed his back.

"What were you doing out there in your condition?" Margot asked just loud enough to be heard over his fit.

"The... papers were important." Will gasped, tears in his eyes. He did his best not to lean against Margot, but his knees grew weaker the longer he stood on them.

"I can't believe your guards let you out. I thought they were-"

"Chocolate."

Her little "Oh," told Will she understood. Will did his best to straighten up and continue back to his room. Margot kept in time with his slow steps, something soothing in her touches. "They'll be alright. I'll make sure that they're taken care of."

"What does he do with it?"

They finally came to the hallway with his chamber in it and Will could see where James and Brian were still lying on the floor. Will had done his best to adjust them so they were leaning up against the walls instead of slumping over, but their chainmail had added significant weight to his task.

"Rumors. They're only rumors."

"What rumors?"

Margot didn't reply. She simply helped Will back into his room and got him in bed before making sure he had drunk a full cup of water. Once she was satisfied and the pitcher and cup were set aside, she sat in the chair beside Will's bed.

"They say he gives the chocolate to his favorite stable boy or chamberlain. We go through them enough that I don't doubt the stories that my father keeps hidden."

"And what does he do with them?" Was it an answer he wanted? Something deep inside of his gut was telling him no.

"Something far worse than pushing you into a fountain or chaining me up in the tower," Margot said. The use of her simplified explanations left only more questions as to what Mason did to his sister and Will took her hand as a faraway look captured her eyes. "My father pays good money to make the accusations go away. Sometimes I'm curious how much of our treasury goes to keeping parents in silence."

"They are young then," Will reasoned hesitantly.

"Yes." The word was sad. Will's hand received a squeeze before Margot rose back to her feet. "I will make sure that your friends are cared for, new guards are placed outside your room with explicit instructions about my brother and then I will help Beverly retrieve the rest of those papers from the courtyard."

"Thank you, Margot."

She nodded. "And in return, I would like to know what about these papers was so important that my brother felt the need to torture you with them."

Will waited in silence after she had left, his mind racing. It ran through the new information to file under Mason Verger and then what exactly he was meant to inform Margot of. How much did he let her in? How much could he let her know? How badly would Margot suffer if she had a full understanding?

Will didn't have a full understanding. Not yet. Maybe by reading all the manuscripts that were currently being rounded up he could gain a glimmer of what was happening. Hannibal had obviously found something within them and had been trying to tell Will.