MASTER SEBASTIAN

Chapter 22

I came back to my rooms to meet Ysmay sprawled on the wide settee. Her face lit up. "I heard you made a cock of yourself on the fields today!"

Irritation climbed my throat and I ignored her, bending to take off my boots. I hadn't sat on the bed before my doors went flying open. In walked my father and an entourage of guards.

"Eleanor!" he called, eyes frantic.

"Fath--" I'd started to say before he bounded forward, his retinue doing so too. His large paw of a hand came down on my forehead gently, checking my temperature.

He straightened and snapped out orders, "Get the royal physician. Order the cooks to prepare tonics and a wealth of desserts. Have the stable hands for today taken to the tower"---he inhaled through his nose--"I suspect a sabotage."

An old man from his Court came to his side, saying quietly, "You do not think, your highness, that her accident had to do with her inexperience on a h--"

"You dare imply a daughter of mine is inexperienced?"

The man shrunk away, swallowing, "No, Your Highness."

He nodded sharply. Then he took off his mantle, dropping it into the hands of a servant carelessly. It was righted with reverence, the boy struggling with the heavy weight of the coat even as he stared up at the king in worship.

He sat at the foot of my bed, putting down his crown. His head suddenly looked bare, the creases on his face becoming apparent. A surge of affection filled me. Which should have felt odd. I'd only known him for half a day, but somehow, I felt like I always have...

Another man from his Court interrupted, "Your Highness." He sounded surprised to see the king seated. He put in cryptically, "The esteemed men from the North."

"Cancel my plans."

"Your Highne--"

"Now," he said, then snapped, "And leave. All of you."

The room was empty in a matter of seconds. When I looked around, I noticed Ysmay had gone with the men as well. But I hadn't seen her leave...

Alone, the king took my hands in his. "What would have happened if Sebastian wasn't there?" he wondered aloud quietly.

I tried to summon a smile. "Nothing, I'm sure. The horse would have... stopped eventually."

He didn't seem to hear me, just looked at me with a distant expression on his open face. A shadow of sadness eclipsed his features and he turned away. "I was broken when your mother left me."

A sharp inhale. He was talking to me about my mother. How long I've waited to hear my father's side of the story. How long I thought I never will.

He continued, "It is...frowned upon to have a human for a spouse. As a king, it is forbidden." He chuckled, his eyes humorless. "But I never adhere to rules... I loved her," he professed silently and I was rocked by the desperation in his tired eyes.

He gave my hand a light squeeze. "But she could never accept me, my kingdom, or my people. We went against everything she believed in and for her, it was unacceptable." He scrubbed a hand over his face and it was quiet but I still caught on to it when he said, "I was unacceptable..."