Chapter 33
Sebastian: Facing the Werewolf
“What are you thinking about so hard?” Robin’s voice startled Sebastian out of his tumultuous thoughts.
“What?” he asked. He ducked his head. “Sorry, something distracted me.”
“Thinking about Lucy?” Robin asked, arching his eyebrow.
Sebastian's face grew hot with embarassment. “Yes. Well, mostly, yes.” In truth, he was practically going out of his mind with worry. What if they were too late? What if her grandmother really was sick, and she didn’t know how to help her?
Or what if the note was just a lure to help Lucy escape from him?
Or, worse, what if Wilde had already spirited Lucy away, and he wasn’t able to find her again?
The questions whirled around Sebastian’s mind like a tempest. He was fairly certain that Robin could have revealed the secrets of the universe, told him why the last Great Exchange had never happened, or made a declaration of love, and none of it would have penetrated the storm of worry.
Robin clapped him on the shoulder. “Lucy is going to be fine,” he promised. “We’ll make sure of it.”
And if she’s not? Sebastian couldn’t bring himself to say what was rattling around, the undercurrent of all the worries blustering around his brain. What if she’s not, and there’s nothing I can do?
“How long have you served King Alistair?” Robin asked, forcing him out of his thoughts.
Sebastian blinked, trying to come up with a coherent thought.
“Since…I must have been about twelve or thirteen. I came to the palace after the fire killed the Grand Duke’s parents.
My mom was a cook in his household, and she wouldn’t let anyone or anything part us from him after his injury.
” Sebastian swallowed hard, remembering those difficult first days.
“To our surprise, my father was working there too. I was planning to work in the stables or in the kitchen, but he refused. He said I’d be a soldier, ‘like a real man,’ whatever that means.
When I refused, he had one of his buddies conscript me into the royal guard. ”
“Sounds like your dad’s got some issues of his own to work through,” Robin smirked.
“Probably, though he’d make me run drills for twenty-four hours straight if he ever heard me say it.
” Sebastian shook his head, shame welling up in his chest. “My father has a very clear picture of what I should be, and I don’t think I’ll ever measure up.
Which is fine, because I stopped wanting to impress him when I found out about Bridget and Katherine and Joey and—”
“Who are Bridget, Katherine, and Joey?” Robin wondered.
“My half-siblings,” Sebastian admitted. “Bridget is the daughter of the chambermaid that was in charge of his room. Katherine and Joey are twins from a milkmaid at the nearby dairy. There are probably a dozen kids scattered about the palace who share a father with me.”
Robin whistled. “And I thought my mother was a nightmare. You said you found out about them…what did you mean?”
Sebastian shook his head. “He won’t claim them.
” The words were bitter in his mouth. “He sent their mothers away when they were born. Said he didn’t want to be bothered with them.
He only claimed me because I look like the spitting image of him.
Well, except for the wings.” He grimaced. “He hates the wings.”
“And with that, nothing you say from this moment on will ever convince me that the man is not an idiot,” Robin said with a bitter laugh. “My father wasn’t entirely happy that Kit and I took after our mother’s heritage, but he’s never been ashamed to claim us as his own.”
Sebastian shrugged. “Lucy said something similar when we were courting. More than once, she’s threatened to hit him where it’ll really hurt if I think it’ll get through to him.”
“And you haven’t taken her up on her offer?” Robin smirked. “Shame.”
“She’s never actually been in the same room as him,” Sebastian confessed. “Otherwise, I’m not sure I could have held her back.”
“That sounds like Lucy,” Robin agreed. As quickly as it had appeared, his smile vanished. “Do you think that creature is okay?”
“What?” Belatedly, Sebastian realized the prince was speaking of the beast that had saved them. “I’m sure he’s fine. Warg teeth can’t be that sharp, and he has all those tough scales.”
“I’ll take your word for the question of the sharp teeth,” Robin deadpanned. “Do you think that’s why my brother disappeared? Because of someone attacked him?”
“I don’t know.” Sebastian frowned, trying to come up with comforting words and drawing a blank. “What was…is he like?”
Robin shrugged.“He looked a lot like me.” Robin shook his head. “People always thought we were twins when we were growing up.”
“Were the two of you close?” Sebastian asked after a moment’s silence.
“Very,” Robin said, nodding. “He was my best friend. Is my best friend.” He grimaced at the correction.
“He’s only older by less than a year, so, growing up, we did everything together.
But when our father started training him to take over the kingdom, we just naturally grew apart.
And then I went off to Moyar to start the company.
I didn’t realize he was in trouble.” His hands clenched into fists. “I should have known.”
“How? Are you clairvoyant?” Sebastian asked, tilting his head questioningly.
Robin blinked, bemused. “No.”
Sebastian cocked an eyebrow. “Oh, but you can communicate through your thoughts?”
Robin shook his head. “No.”
“Then I can’t see how you could have known your brother was in trouble if he didn’t tell you.
Communication works both ways,” Sebastian finished with a shrug.
“You didn’t know because he didn’t tell you.
Similarly, I’m assuming he didn’t know about your troubles with the company and your’ people’s loyalty? ”
Slowly, Robin nodded. “I didn’t tell him. I didn’t…didn’t want to worry him.”
Sebastian nodded. “There, you see? It seems we all need to work on our communication a little.”
Robin’s face broke into a hesitant smile. “You…you might be right. And once this is all over, I’m going to do just that.”
Sebastian nodded, as if the two of them had just solved all the world’s problems. “Excellent.”
“And you should stand up to your father.”
Now it was the fairy’s turn to blink bemusedly at the prince. “I beg your pardon?”
“From what you’ve told me, you’re only a guard because your father made you be a guard.
But your passion is design and you’re clearly quite good at it.
” Robin shrugged. “It would be a waste to continue working as a guard instead of opening a shop of your own. Whether you win this competition, you’ve proven yourself.
And not just to me and that dandy of an emperor.
I heard whispers around the imperial palace that several lords and ladies of the court wanted to commission designs from you.
You’re already building a reputation, so why not put it to good use? ”
Sebastian stared at him. “You’re mad,” he decided. “I can’t just go against my father like that. He would—”
“You’re a grown man,” Robin interrupted. “You don’t have to be ruled by your father’s wishes anymore.”
Sebastian rolled his eyes. “Of all people, I don’t think you get to lecture me about this.”
Slowly, Robin nodded. “Point taken. But take it from someone who has tried to run from what his parents wanted for him nearly all his adult life: if you don’t figure out what you want from life and do it, life is going to pass you by before you know it.”
Sebastian didn’t answer for a moment. At last, he turned to the prince. “And what if it fails?”
Robin shrugged. “What if it doesn’t? You can play that game forever, but you’ll never know until you try.”
Sebastian felt in his bones that the prince was right, but before he could agree, a small orange streak bounded out of the forest. The fairy’s wings fluttered in anticipation. “Lucy?”
The little fox bowed its head and, within the space of a blink, Sebastian found himself not looking at Lucy but at Lady Quinn. “I’m afraid not, Sir Sebastian,” she said, her voice tight with anxiety. “We have to hurry. Lucy is in trouble.”
The two men shared worried glances. “What happened?” Robin asked, as Lady Quinn turned on her heel and and fairly ran back the way she came. They followed her.
“She was ambushed at the cottage,” Lady Quinn said tightly. “She’d transformed before going into the cottage, so she couldn’t see through the darkness.”
“The darkness?” Sebastian repeated. “Why was the cottage dark? It’s the middle of the day. Even if the door had been closed—”
“I don’t think I can explain it,” Lady Quinn said. “There’s some dark magic around the cottage. I’m not sure what spell the perpetrator used, but it was exceptionally powerful magic. Anyway, Lucy went inside and…” She swallowed hard. “He attacked her.”
“Who?” Robin demanded, his grip tightening on his bow. “Who attacked her?”
“That werewolf that’s been stalking her for the past week,” Lady Quinn said. “I tried to get to her, but I was too late. He swallowed her whole!”
For the first time, genuine fear pierced Sebastian’s heart. “He…he did what?”
“She was in her fox form, so she was smaller than usual. But one minute she was scrambling to get away and the next…” Lady Quinn let out a moan of fear. “It’s my fault. I couldn’t get to her in time.”
“It’s not your fault,” Sebastian said, his wings fluttering anxiously. “The blame falls firmly on Thaddeus Wilde’s shoulders.”
“Who is to blame doesn’t matter in this moment,” Robin said. “Lady Quinn, how far to the cottage?”
“It’s right up here,” Lady Quinn said, pointing.
Even from a distance, Sebastian could see that she was right.
There was some spell around the cottage.
The sunlight streamed through the trees in almost every part of the forest, except for the circumference of the small glade where the cottage was.
That was overcast and almost dark, as if in that one area, the sun was all but hidden.
The grass was dead and yellowed, and, once they stepped inside, the sounds of the forest dissipated like steam.
“This…this is powerful magic,” Sebastian murmured. “Wilde doesn’t have this kind of power.”
“So who does?” Robin wondered.
Sebastian pushed the thought away. “It doesn’t matter right now. We need to get in there and take care of Wilde without injuring Lucy.”
“I’m open to suggestions if you are,” Robin said, drawing an arrow out of his quiver.
Sebastian considered the question before turning to Lady Quinn. “Does the cottage have an entrance to the garden?”
The spy mistress nodded. “I can show you where.”
“Take Robin,” Sebastian instructed. “I’ll enter from the front. Hopefully, we have the element of surprise on our side. Remember, we outnumber him three to one. We have the advantage.”
“Right.” Robin nocked the arrow. “Show me where I’m going, my lady.”
Lady Quinn transformed into a fox, then led the prince around the cottage.
Sebastian forced his heartbeat to slow as he approached the front door.
He wouldn’t do Lucy any good if he was panicking, he knew, but panic had never taken over his entire being so much, not even the night of the fire.
He took a deep breath and kicked open the door.
The little cottage was still bathed in darkness, but he had enough light to see from the doorway and his wings.
His eyes flitted from the prone figure of an elderly werewolf, probably Tala, to the hulking form of Thaddeus Wilde.
He kept his eyes on the werewolf as he demanded, “Where’s Lucy? ” Hatred dripped from every word.
Wilde had doubled over on himself, but he attempted to straighten, still holding his arm over his stomach when he saw the fairy. He chuckled. “Come to play, soldier boy? You’re too late. And I will take great pleasure in killing you, just as I killed the little defective wolf.”
“You’d better hope she’s not dead yet,” Sebastian warned. “Or your end will be more painful than you can imagine.”
Thaddeus smirked and took a step toward him. “I’d like to see you try.” He took another step, but before he could take a third, he stiffened and collapsed to the ground.