MASTER SEBASTIAN

Chapter 19

SEBASTIAN

_

I had just grabbed the reins of my horse when a messenger came running over.

"My Lord," he breathed when he skidded to a halt in front of me. He bowed. "The king has requested an audience."

My already foul mood worsened. The boy, thinking it was directed at him, shrunk away. I dropped the reins and let him lead the way to another part of the castle.

Whispers of 'sasech' followed me as I strode through the grounds. Abberdian slur for 'vampire.' Gazes filled with hate and fear flitted to me, people skittering away as I walked forward. My boots soon thudded over carpeted floors, elaborate torches blazing a path down the unending corridor. I came across a receiving room. Draped over the chairs were women of Queen Belladonna's court. Their gazes trailed me as I walked past, feathered fans coyly waving below blood-red lips.

On the messenger's heels, I went up a curving staircase then was led into what looked liked a cabinet room.

All around the large space, world maps had been pasted on walls. A model globe of Abberdin sat at a wide table in the centre of the room. Around it seated countless chairs.

I was overlooking the tall windows when next the door came open. King Rolfe walked in.

"I am pleased you decided to honour my request," he began.

I said nothing, waiting for him to state his reason for summoning me. To a select few, king Rolfe was benevolent, kind even, and hearty. But to a greater population, he was shrewd, cutthroat, and ruling with a cruel expertise that made certain his kingdom never turned destitute or caved under attack.

He picked up the globe, twirled it once, then placed it back. Silence tauted the air. He cleared his throat. "Now I can't pretend to know everything that happens in my kingdom. Between you and I, I'd rather not. Sometimes... I find that ignorance is bliss."

When he said nothing more, I put in plainly, "A wise sentiment."

"Yes, it is." He leaned against the table, stroking carrot red beard. "It would, to say the least, disturb me greatly to know that a trusted friend--how do the humans say it?--wasn't all that. But enough about me." He looked at me directly. "I need your help."

Finally, we were getting somewhere. "With what, Your Highness?"

He suddenly sighed, looking every bit his centuries old age. "Nothing frightens me as much as a man who has nothing to lose."

Now, that was a sentiment we both shared. In fact, I dared say he knew I'll be calling in a request as well, if not now, then later. I didn't do favours for free.

Did a man 'frighten' him? Would he be needing me to assassinate them? I mentally palmed my sword, feeling my fangs lengthen.

'How do you kill so readily, Sebastian?' Nonna had asked, a morbid fascination I'd only caught on to late glinting in her eyes. 'How do you bear to watch the life seep out of someone's eyes?'

With a grimness unusual for a vampire so young, I'd said, 'The knowledge that they'd like to watch the life seep out of mine as well.'

She pulled the sheets over her ample chest. 'Would you... would you do me a favour?'

For her, I would have done anything...