Chapter 41
Chapter
Forty-One
When I woke up the next morning, those two idiots were still sitting around the dying fire.
“Seriously?” I stomped over to them. “You had all night, and you couldn’t talk it out?”
Sebastian released a groan as he cracked his neck. “There’s nothing to talk about. But as soon as you release us from your compulsion, I’m going to kick his ass.”
“Can’t wait to see you try,” Sawyer sneered.
I rolled my eyes. I had expected holding onto a command while I slept to be trying, but with my power ever growing, it was easier than I’d predicted. “Unfortunately I’m going to have to release you guys so we can continue on, but that doesn’t mean this is over.”
“Why are you so insistent that we work things out?” Sebastian rose to his feet the second I dropped my command. “Maybe this is just how things are going to be from now on.”
“How? You wanting to rip his throat out?”
He shrugged. “Yeah.”
“No. I won’t tolerate it. You guys are best friends.” I turned to Sawyer. “You’re my best friend. And I can’t live with knowing that I’m the reason you both hate each other.”
“I don’t hate him,” Sawyer said simply.
“No, you envy me. You want to be me so you can have my girl.” Sebastian approached Sawyer, and I think my heart ceased to beat. “You may have kissed her, but you’ll never know what she sounds like when she—”
“Enough!” I yelled, waking the others up no doubt.
“Sebastian, stop it right now! Both of you just stop. There is enough to worry about without having to deal with the two of you acting like toddlers fighting over a toy.” I marched forward, putting myself between them.
“I am not your toy,” I put a finger up to silence Sebastian's incoming dirty comment, “so knock it off, pack your shit up, and get on your damn horses.”
They didn’t argue with me. Instead, they brushed past each other, Sawyer shouldering Sebastian in the process.
The rest of our ride was silent except for Kohen’s teasing comments to Sawyer about Stella, and Sawyer’s snide remarks back. I was fine with the quiet. The peace I got from the rocky terrain we passed helped ease my mind, almost being enough to fully silence it.
Mealioria’s castle crept into view, glinting through the horizon, tinted red from the rising orb in the sky.
“It’s smaller than I expected,” I said to Sebastian, tightening my grip on him as Honey picked up speed.
“That’s because we're still far away,” he bantered, and I pinched his side in response.
“You said you have been here a few times. When?”
I could hear his jaw grinding. “I came once or twice with my father. A few times with Sawyer, once with Kohen, and some other times in between by myself.”
By himself? My brain did not like that. “What were you doing when you came here alone?”
He jerked Honey’s reins to the left, taking us up the elongated dirt pathway that would take us to the fortress. He cleared his throat. “I—”
Kade interrupted his explanation. “Hawthorne, are these guards going to try to kill us when we approach?”
Sebastian dug his heel into the side of our mare. She picked up speed, slowing when we led the pack. “We’ll go first. They’ll recognize me.”
My pulse raced. They would recognize him?
A set of Mealiorian guards stopped us upon our arrival, swords drawn and blocking our entrance through the black iron gates.
“Stay here and don’t say anything,” Sebastian instructed me before jumping out of the saddle and approaching one of the guards in their silver armor like he had no fear.
Who was I kidding? He didn’t. Fear wasn’t something that Sebastian Hawthorne felt often, unless it was in regard to my life.
My breath hitched as I watched from afar. One of the guards removed his helmet, revealing creamy olive skin and a toothy smile before pulling Sebastian into a one-armed hug.
What the fuck?
I whispered to Sawyer who had pulled his horse up next to me. “They seem to know him well?” I said the fact as a question.
Sawyer removed his eyes from Sebastian, who was chatting up the guard like they were brothers. “This is not something I’m diving into with you, Willawood.”
I frowned, dropping my gaze to the dirt path under me.
Sebastian startled me when he returned, climbing back on Honey and grabbing hold of the reins.
“We’re good to go. Head straight for the stables; they will mend our horses for us while we meet with the king,” he informed the others, then clicked his tongue, prompting our mare into a trot.
“Did you know that guard?” I asked, tightening my grip around Sebastian’s waist to avoid falling off.
“Azain? Yeah. Haven’t seen him in a couple of years, though.”
“How did you meet?”
Sebastian cleared his throat. “I…Um…I was seeing his sister.”
I regretted asking.
When I didn’t say anything, Sebastian continued. “I ended it almost two years ago. You have nothing to worry about.”
“I’m not worried.” But if she looked anything resembling her brother, then she was drop dead gorgeous. “She was one of the soldiers that studied in Caelestis?”
“Yeah. Samara and Azain studied with us. They’re twins. Both are gifted by Emrys.”
Samara. Pretty name—of course.
Honey slowed to a walk as we approached the barn, the dark-wooden stable doors swinging open at our arrival.
“How long did you date her?” I asked Sebastian as he swung his legs off of our horse and jumped to the ground.
He held a hand out for me, assisting my landing. “I didn’t date her,” he said simply.
My eyebrow arched. “Oh?”
Ohhh.
One of the stable hands greeted us and collected our reins, bringing our mare to an empty stall.
Once the others were settled, Azain met us in the field surrounding the barn. He pulled Sawyer into a hug, then Kohen. “Hey, lads. Long time no see.”
“Last time I saw you, you didn’t look like you could kick my ass—but I’m not going to mess with you now,” Sawyer commented, patting the pure muscle that was Azain’s upper arm.
“Been spending a lot of time training after I heard about Caelestis.” Azain turned to Kohen. “Finally got yourself a girl?” He held a hand out for Pia to shake.
She took it gingerly and gave him her formal name. “Piper Hawthorne. Nice to meet you.”
Azain gave Kade—who leaned against the barn looking entirely unapproachable—a nod, then he maneuvered towards me. “I know who you are by the jewels on your face. Nice to meet you, Maeve.” He took my hand, planting a kiss to it and receiving a low growl from Sebastian.
“Don’t even think about it. She’s mine.” Sebastian shot Azain a look of warning.
“Oh shit. Are you guys serious or just, you know?” Azain winked.
Sebastian intertwined his fingers with mine. “We’re serious.”
Azain ran a hand through his silky, black hair.
“Don’t worry, I’ll let Samara figure it out for herself—although I doubt she’ll take it well no matter how she finds out.
I don’t think she’s moved on yet. I keep telling her that she can do better, but she’s stuck on you, Hawthorne.
” Azain chuckled, but his tone confused me.
“Ignore him,” Sebastian instructed as we started down a red-dirt pathway that led back to the castle.
“What does he mean by that?” I asked, subtle anxiety mixed with inferiority threatening to swallow me.
“Samara wanted to get serious with me, but I didn’t feel the same,” he answered plainly.
“So you and her were what? Just fuck buddies?” The words came out harsher and louder than I’d intended, granting me a wide-eyed look from Kohen.
Sebastian ticked his jaw, then leaned down to speak into my ear. “We were friends-with-benefits, I guess you could say. Then she got feelings, and when I didn’t feel the same, I broke it off.”
I wanted to puke right then and there at the idea of him doing what we did with someone else. And suddenly, I understood firsthand why Sawyer and me kissing had bothered him so much.
“How long were you two…you know?” I spluttered.
He held his gaze steady upon me as he said, “Two years just about.”
Jealousy kept me silent for the rest of our walk.
The stone steps of the castle's entrance required high knees and long strides. Whoever designed this fortress must have had giants in mind, because the doors were at least double my height. When we stepped inside, the cathedral ceilings allowed for a view of all the floors.
Azain stopped in the grand foyer, turning to address us all. “I imagine you’ll be staying for at least the night, so I’ll have one of the handmaidens secure some rooms for you. King Franlow usually prefers meeting his guests over dinner, if that works for all of you?”
Sebastian stepped forward, taking Azain's hand and shaking it. “That’s perfect. Thanks.”
“Sure thing. I gotta run and meet a friend quickly, but make yourselves at home. The archives are on the second floor if you're interested.” Azain gave Sebastian another wink before wandering off down the corridor behind him.
“He seems awfully comfortable in the castle,” Pia said at his departure.
“The king is close friends with his stepfather, so he kind of has special privileges, hence why he and Samara live in the castle,” Kohen replied.
I turned to Sebastian. “Do you want to check out the archives while we wait? Oh, actually, you’ve probably seen them before.”
He sucked his lower lip in as he drew a deep breath. “I have. But we can still go check it out. You’ll like the—”
“Sebastian?”