Chapter 15
Sebastian: Replicating the Spells
Sebastian watched Lucy leave, shocked at her outburst. Or, rather, shocked by the confession. Why would telling him the truth put people she loved in danger? It made no sense. He needed to get the prince alone, get the answers she was unwilling to give.
He scowled at the thought of going behind her back. Before they’d separated, he and Lucy had shared everything. Well…almost everything. She hadn’t told him that her father had forbidden her to marry outside the pack.
Still, he needed answers. He’d been perfectly truthful when he’d promised to protect Lucy, and he couldn’t protect her from something she’d refused to tell him about.
Their conversation had left a bitter taste in his mouth.
There was truth in what she’d said. He sensed she hadn’t been lying about painting the “terrors of the world,” as she’d put it.
But he was certain she had been lying about telling him about it after the competition. Why, though?
Sebastian shook his head. He didn’t have time to worry about this. He needed to finish the clothes and cast the protection spell.
As the thought went through his head, his gaze landed on the enchanted locket.
He’d given it to Lucy a month after he’d met, choosing the strongest metal he could find so that when she eventually transformed into a werewolf, the chain wouldn’t break.
The spell he’d cast on the locket itself was still intact, thankfully.
Someone or something, however, had broken the chain.
Anything that could break that metal was very strong indeed.
Still, he shoved the thought aside and focused on the locket.
He could feel the magic simmering just beneath the surface, twisting and coiling its way around inside.
He closed his eyes and held his hands above the locket, mouthing words he knew innately.
A tiny section of the magic split itself away from the rest and rose in the air just beneath his fingertips.
It pulsed in a friendly way, causing Sebastian to smile.
He let the warmth of the magic envelop him before he opened his eyes and turned his attention to the clothes he and Lucy had created.
He concentrated on what he wanted the magic to do, and, after a few seconds, the spell expanded itself into a thin layer and settled itself into the fabric.
Once Sebastian was certain that the magic was properly in place, he released his hold on the spell. The sudden loss of warmth was almost painful, but he tried not to focus on it. Instead, he gave each part of the outfit a once over, making sure that he had missed nothing important.
Somewhere overhead, a bell clanged, and he heard Lady Soto call, “Time’s up! Everyone, out of the workspaces.”
Sebastian grabbed Lucy’s locket and hurried into the hall, where he found the other competitors doing the same thing. Aiako shot him a flirty smile when she caught sight of him. “Hello, Sebastian. Did your little friend run off and leave you to do all the work yourself?”
A surge of dislike coursed through Sebastian’s body.
He remembered the nasty things he’d overheard the woman say to Lucy in the hall earlier and despised the insinuation that Lucy had run off to have a good time.
“Not at all,” he said, keeping his voice measured and calm.
“She just stepped out to get some air. She actually did the artwork on the robe.” He motioned for the Umberian designer to look into his workspace.
To his great satisfaction, Aiako’s jaw nearly hit the floor when she saw their creation. “You…you and Red did that?” she murmured. “But how? I thought you were just another designer, trying to get your feet in the door.”
Sebastian shrugged. “I can’t take all the credit. Lucy was the one that had the idea.” Curiosity got the better of him. “What did you make? I’m sure it’s lovely.”
Aiako frowned, but stepped back so that Sebastian could peer into their workspace.
Inside, a traditional Umberian kamishimo hung, gleaming with bold, bright colors and abstract designs.
It was nice, Sebastian reflected, but in his opinion, it didn’t stand out as much as Lucy’s paintings did.
A fair number of Umberians still wore kamishimos to celebrations, and, if he had to guess, Mai and Aiako had designed many of them.
The vestments he and Lucy had created were sure to be one-of-a-kind, designed to make the wearer stand out in the crowd.
Still, he was determined to be polite. “Very nice,” he said, stepping back. He glanced at the two designers from Feldgrau, who were eying him in a way he would describe as decidedly unfriendly. Still, he offered what he hoped was a friendly smile. “What about you? What have you created?”
The two sniffed at him and turned away. If he hadn’t grown up with Oliver, watching others avoid him after the fire, he’d surely have felt snubbed.
Instead, he simply shrugged and craned his neck to see into their room.
Their work was, as he suspected, a plain white tunic and a red robe, obviously meant to symbolize the empire’s national colors.
It was good work, he knew, but it lacked personality.
He forced himself to keep a straight face at the thought, remembering Lucy’s initial complaints about his designs.
He felt a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t mind them,” Aiako purred. “They’ve never been the most friendly sort. I don’t think they even speak anything other than Feldgraun.”
Sebastian shrugged. “It’s not a problem.
At school, my…friend often faced similar attitudes.
We learned to ignore them together.” He felt Tomas and Emilio watching him, but when he turned, they tried to appear as though they’d been looking at anything else.
“What about you, my good sirs? What have you created?”
Tomas studied him warily. “What’s it to you?” he asked.
Sebastian kept his face neutral. “Just a humble designer’s curiosity,” he said with a shrug. “No matter. I’m sure we’ll all see what we’ve done in the morning.”
Tomas nodded and clapped his partner on the shoulder. “Another good day’s work, my friend. I’d say we’ve earned a drink, wouldn’t you?”
Emilio’s eyes lit up. “Now you’re speaking my language,” he said, before turning and walking down the hall. His friend strolled along behind him.
“Well, I’m going to see if I can find a good cup of tea, then I’m off to bed,” Aiako said. Her eyes glittered. “Would you care to join me?”
Sebastian shook his head. “Another time. I should go find Lucy.”
“Oh, come now,” Aiako wheedled, stepping closer to him and running her hand down his chest. “We could have a good time together, you and I.”
Sebastian firmly removed her hand. “I’m sorry, but the answer is still no. Good night, madame.”
Aiako rolled her eyes. “You’ll be sorry about this later. The little red-head won’t be able to satisfy you. Not like I can.”
“Good night,” Sebastian repeated, clenching his teeth so much he wouldn’t have been surprised if they cracked.
He turned and was about to make his way to his quarters when a flash of Lincoln green caught his eye. He jogged to catch up with the wearer. “Prince Robert!”
The man turned at the sound of his name, and he smiled when he saw the speaker. “Ah, Mr. Doyle. I’d hoped we’d get to speak again. Tell me, are you happy with the end results of your designs?”
“I am.” Sebastian gave a half smile. “I couldn’t have done it without Lucy, though.”
“Yes, Red Riding Hood seems to have a number of hidden talents,” the prince mused.
An unfamiliar feeling surged through Sebastian, and he had to think for a moment to name it: jealousy.
He frowned at the realization, then pushed it back, as he noted something the prince had said.
“Red Riding Hood?” he repeated. “Curious. I don’t know that I’ve heard that name before.
” But he had, he realized. The day before, when the bandits had attacked their cart. But the prince couldn’t have—
“Ah, yes.” Prince Robert shifted uncomfortably. “Well, that’s how a man in my employ introduced her to me. I understand, however, this is not a widely known nickname.”
“It is not,” Sebastian agreed. “In fact—”
“Oh, I almost forgot.” The prince produced a dagger.
Sebastian instinctively stepped back, his own hand reaching for the sword that usually hung at his side.
Prince Robert’s eyes widened, but he merely raised his free hand, signaling that he meant no harm.
“My apologies. I merely meant to return this to Lady Lucy. Would you be so kind as to give it to her?”
Sebastian nodded wordlessly, as he took the proffered knife from the prince and examined it.
His stomach flipped as he recognized it as another gift he’d given Lucy back when they’d first met.
He’d wanted to give her a way to protect herself, if he couldn’t be there to do it himself.
He glanced back up at the prince. “How did you—”
“If you’ll pardon me, Mr. Doyle, I need to be getting back to the emperor so we can begin judging. I will see you again soon.” The prince nodded, before he fairly fled down the hall, not looking back.
“Well, that was odd,” Sebastian murmured to himself as he sheathed the knife and tucked it into his belt. He looked around; the hallway had miraculously emptied. There was nothing to do now but to go find Lady Soto to get directions to their quarters.
However, before he could do so, something on the ground caught his eye.
He leaned down and picked up a small glass vial filled to the brim with gleaming green liquid.
He unstoppered it and had to take a step back when an acrid scent assaulted his nose.
Quickly, he restoppered it, looking around to ensure that there was truly no one there.
Sebastian mentally ran through the people who could have dropped the vial in his mind.
He was fairly certain it hadn’t been there before the bell had clanged to stop their work, so that left the groups of designers and the mysterious young prince.
As far as he could tell, the two Feldgraun designers couldn’t have dropped it; they were down at the far end of the hall and they hadn’t deigned to speak with him or the other designers.
Aiako might have dropped it; it was close to where she had been standing when she’d attempted to proposition him.
In turn, either Emilio or Tomas might have dropped the vial. They hadn’t been standing that far off.
And the prince? Sebastian frowned. He supposed that the prince could have dropped it. Again, he hadn’t been far from where the vial had dropped. But, going over their interaction in his head, Sebastian was unsure whether the prince would have had the opportunity to drop it.
Still, the prince’s actions left him suspicious.
How did he know Lucy? And, more importantly, what was he really doing in Umber?
From what little he knew of the crown prince, Christopher wouldn’t have shirked his duty unless there was something at play.
The Hopkan prince was a consummate diplomat, to the point that even Oliver had commented on his manners on the occasion of his last visit.
Sebastian shook his head and slipped the vial into his pocket. First thing was first: he needed to figure out what was in the vial.
No, he amended. The first thing was to find Lucy and find out what he’d done to make her run from him. In all the time he’d known her, she’d never fled from him like that before, and watching her go had been one of the worst things he remembered ever going through.
On impulse, he reached into the pocket and touched the locket. As he did, a scene took over his mind.
∞∞∞
“Let me go!” The fear in Lucy’s voice was clear. He wasn’t sure of the cause, but he desperately wanted to protect her.
“Don’t fight me, little defect,” a threatening growl came from the darkness.
“You’ll make it so much easier on yourself.
” Sharp claws reached out from the darkness, but before they could touch her pale skin, they hit a hard, invisible surface.
The threatening snout of a werewolf emerged from the shadows. “What’s this?”
Lucy didn’t answer, her hands flying to the necklace. Her last connection to him after he’d let her go.
“Oh, it’s like that, is it?” the werewolf growled. “No piece of metal is going to keep you from me.” He reached through the bubble of protection and gave a firm yank. The chain snapped in two, accompanied by Lucy’s sharp cry. Then—
∞∞∞
Suddenly, he felt a soft, gentle hand on his shoulder. “Sebastian?” The quiet voice of the locket’s owner ripped him from the terrifying vision.