Chapter 31
Chapter
Thirty-One
When I had collected myself, Sebastian and I packed up our belongings. The early hours of the morning had crept in, and to no surprise, I felt like I could sleep again.
Sebastian took my hand and guided me down the staircase.
We made it to the second floor when he suddenly froze.
He held his finger to his mouth, shushing me as he pulled us off of the staircase.
I followed his pose and ducked alongside the balcony, keeping quiet to try and make out the hushed conversation below us.
“And what should I report back to King Beaumont in regard to the girl, sir?” a male voice asked his counterpart.
“Please inform Cyprian that last I've been told, Aldous has received his final offer. I believe he plans to decline, but we won't be certain until he does.”
My breathing quieted even more. They were talking about me.
“While we wait for his response, tell Cyprian to prepare the Draemornian troops to move in on Craterra. Should Aldous be a fool and reject the offer, we don't want to waste any time,” the same voice informed the first.
“As you wish.” The man paused, reducing his tone even lower. “And what of the prophecy?”
My heart stopped.
They know of the prophecy? I mouthed to Sebastian, who just held his finger up to his lips again.
“The prophecy is not common knowledge to most. As long as we get to the girl before the sacrifice is complete, there should be no complications.”
The voices trailed off, and we watched from the balcony as the cloaked figures came into view briefly before exiting the archives.
Nausea struck me viciously. I turned to Sebastian, my eyes wide and full of fear. He stroked my hair in silent affirmation that everything would be okay, and once we were sure they were gone, we stood from our crouch.
“Those must be the insiders giving information to Draemor,” Sebastian huffed, rubbing his forehead.
“Do you have any idea who they were?”
“No. Everything echoes in here, I couldn't recognize the voices.”
“How do they know about the sacrifice?” I asked him while I tried to ignore the sinking feeling in my stomach.
“I mean, it's possible they read the book of Blythe before you ripped the page out, but it's doubtful. I have no idea.” He took my hand again and I followed him down the rest of the staircase.
We reached the doors of the archives and he cracked one side open, peering out to make sure no one was in the corridor before we made our exit.
He didn't let go of my hand. He used it to practically drag me through the hall, bringing me back towards my room.
“What do we do?” I asked him, my nerves starting to take control.
“We don't do anything,” he said, turning a sharp corner and picking up his pace. “I’m bringing you back to your room, then going to inform my father of what I heard.”
I. Not we. He didn't plan to tell his father that I was with him.
We hurried through the darkness. “I want to help.” This was partly my fault, after all.
He didn't look back at me. “You can help by keeping yourself safe. Don't go anywhere alone, stick to our plan.” The protectiveness in his tone threatened me to not argue with him, though I wanted to.
Sebastian threw open the door to the soldiers' corridors and we burst through. He slowed his pace a little when we were in the safety of the corridor, but I could tell his nerves were still in control.
We reached the staircase that led to our floor. Sebastian began climbing, but I stopped in front of the steps as I was met with an unwelcome thought.
“What if King Hawthorne decides to just hand me over when you tell him?” It wasn't an unreasonable question. “If giving me to Draemor prevents Craterra from being attacked, it would be in the best interest of our kingdom.”
Sebastian climbed back down, stopping in front of me. “That will not happen.” He gripped my face with his hands. “I will not let that happen. I promise you.” The assertiveness of his voice almost reassured me.
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because I know my father. I know his tactics. And we have the upper hand here. Beaumont doesn't know that we know his plan. We can make it to Craterra before his army gets there,” he explained.
I gulped and nodded, but another worry appeared. If he told his father about the prophecy, that could change things drastically. If King Hawthorne knew that I may die, he still might choose to follow through with Beaumont’s request.
Sebastian sensed my concern before I voiced it, and eased my nerves without me even having to ask. “I'm not going to tell him about anything more than the attack on Craterra. The prophecy stays between us.”
I nodded again and stepped onto the staircase after him. He unlocked my door for me, ushering me inside of my room. “Stay here. Keep the door locked. Don't open it for anyone unless it's me or Sawyer. Understand?”
“There must be something I can do besides sitting here. Please let me help,” I begged, though I already knew the answer.
He pulled me into an embrace, shaking his head. “No. I’m sorry.”
I sighed and wrapped my arms around him, allowing the scent of him to absorb into my clothes. He kissed the top of my head.
“I'll see you in the morning then?” I looked up from his chest.
Sebastian smiled sadly. “Goodnight, Maeve.” He put his lips on mine in a much too brief kiss before shutting the door behind him.
Displeased with his quick exit, I couldn't help but feel like this was not a goodnight, but instead was a goodbye.
The first thing I did when morning arrived was disregard the promise I made to Sebastian.
I would only go down the hall to his room. I just needed to know how it went with his father.
As soon as I stepped into the hall, I was met by Sawyer, lounging against the wall across from me.
“What are you doing?” I gave him a sideways glance.
“He’s not there.” He gestured his head at Sebastian's room.
My mouth dried up as Sawyer stepped towards me. He observed me, so much being said between us without needing a single word.
“How long?” I asked.
He raised a brow.
I don't think he realized that this news didn't shock me. “How long will he be gone?” I clarified.
Sawyer looked down at his feet, exhaling a breath of remorse. “I don't know.”
I bit my lip and nodded in denial, fighting a battle with the dampness in my eyes.
Sawyer reached into his pocket, grabbing his handkerchief and holding it out towards me. I waved his hand away. I wasn't going to cry. I wouldn't let myself.
“About one-hundred troops, including half of Caelestis’ head soldiers, were sent to Craterra early this morning,” he informed me, stuffing the handkerchief back in his pocket.
“You're still here, so who else went?”
“Jocelyn went, Kohen stayed.” He named a few others, but I didn't care to listen.
I sighed in relief, looking back at the wall. Good. Pia would be a mess if Kohen had to go. I sensed the sadness in Sawyer’s voice when he said Jocelyn's name. I wanted to tell him that she’d be okay, but I didn't like to promise things that only the gods had a say in.
My cheeks filled with air, holding it for a while before I blew it out with an unplanned laugh. What were the damn odds? Sebastian and I finally were together, and then he got sent on a combat assignment with no indication of when he’d be back. Better yet, the reason he even went was because of me.
I wondered how much Sawyer really knew. “Did you see him? Before he left?”
“Yeah. He came knocking on my door after he dropped you off. Filled me in quickly before doing the same to Kohen and then went off to see his father.” Sawyer turned his torso towards me, looking me in the eyes all too seriously as his voice dropped to a whisper.
“He told us about your powers, how harnessing them too much makes you sick. And about the plan you two had in place so that we can continue it.”
My body froze, but my eyes widened. Why would he do that?
For over two months he let me train with Sawyer without so much of a word of my weakness to him.
Granted, Sebastian was still around to keep an eye on me, but why did he decide to tell him now?
My gut churned. Unless he thought he would be gone for an unforeseeable amount of time…
or that he wouldn't be coming back. Oh gods.
Sawyer recognized my shock and waved his hands dismissively. “It's okay, we’re not going to tell anyone. Seb just wanted me to know so that I didn't train you so hard that you get sick…er.” His eyes were apologetic as they roamed the frailness of my figure, caused by his training.
He raised his attention back to my face. “Anyways, King Hawthorne called us all to the throne room at three in the morning. Told us how Seb overheard a conversation from some of the traitors, and that he needed half of us to volunteer to go to Craterra.”
My heart fell out of my chest and rolled across the floor. It bled through the cement, the heavy weight of it burying into the dirt underneath.
Sebastian volunteered?
Why would he do that? I knew it was my insecurities talking, but I couldn't help but think he just wanted to get away from me, especially after what we did in the archives.
Was it too much for him? Maybe this was his sick way of trying to push me away again—because he realized he couldn't handle it.
Sawyer's eyes widened as he realized what I was thinking. “Gods, Maeve, no.” He put a hand on my shoulder in comfort. “He did this to protect you. I promise.”
“How can you protect someone if you aren't here?” My question did not warrant an answer. I dropped my head to my feet, watching my toes as they wiggled in my socks.
I sniffled, and this time, I accepted the handkerchief when Sawyer tried to pass it to me.
“Why didn't you volunteer?” I asked through shuddered breathing.
“Seb asked me not to. Asked me to stay and watch after you. He wanted to make sure that no one else was responsible for training you so that you don't get sick again.”
“He could have stayed and did that himself,” I complained, the words coming out ruder than I meant them to. “I'm sorry, I—”
“It's fine. You have a right to be angry, hurt, sad…whatever you're feeling.”
There were a few moments of silence before Sawyer asked, “Why didn't you say anything?”
Knowing immediately what he referred to, I shrugged as my response. My reasoning didn't seem good enough anymore.
“How bad was it? Full transparency, right now.”
“Sawyer, that doesn't matter now. Everything is okay—”
“Tell me,” he demanded in a tone I had never heard from him. And that was saying something, considering our introduction.
I sighed in defeat. As much as I didn't want to divulge this information, he deserved the truth.
“I passed out more than I’d like to admit.
Got sick almost every night after we trained.
I couldn't eat because it was just more for me to throw up later on. The pain I got in my head when I wielded too hard was unbearable, yet somehow I pushed through it night after night.”
His eyebrows furrowed in dismay, his freckled cheeks sinking into his skull. “I had no idea.”
“I’m good at hiding things I don't want people to know. I could have just as easily told you what was going on, but I didn't. And the only person to blame for that is myself.”
“If I had known how bad it was…Fuck. I would have stepped in. I—”
“Can we not talk about this anymore, please?” I fiddled with the handkerchief between my fingers. “Did he tell you…about us?” Sebastian and I were so new that I hadn't even told Pia about us yet. I'd been soaking it all in, enjoying having this secret between him and I.
“He didn't need to.”
“That obvious, huh?” I forced a chuckle.
Sawyer draped his arm over my shoulder, pulling me into a one-armed hug against the wall. “For some reason, your sarcastic ass really does something to him.”
I gave him the side eye.
He continued, “You can get through to him—break open the barriers that Kohen and I have never been able to. It doesn't take a genius to know that there's something special between the two of you.”
“Then why did he leave?” My voice quaked.
Sawyer pulled me in a little tighter and I laid my head on his shoulder. “Because you make sacrifices to protect the people you love.”
Love.
“Didn't you want to go so that you could be with Jocelyn? Why didn't you argue with Sebastian when he asked you to stay?”
Sawyer sucked his lips in, releasing a sigh before he said under his breath, “Love.”