Squire (Male x Male) (Wattys Shortlist 2021 & 2022)

Chapter 22 - The Affair

Warning: This chapter contains a conversation about suicide. Reader discretion is advised.

An hour later, I washed my hands and applied the treatment in the same way that Daniel had. Sebastian looked no better. If anything, he looked paler than before.

As I washed the elixir from my hands and started to dry them, there was another knock at the door. The second I opened it, Tristan flew past me to the bed, leaving Annabelle in the corridor.

"What happened?" he asked, clearly agitated as he removed his outdoor coat and flung it over the nearby chair.

"Poison, apparently," I replied sadly. "Come in, Annabelle," I said, turning to the abandoned girl who was clearly wondering whether she could enter the room. As a close friend of Sebastian's, I assumed she would probably like to see him.

"Thank you, sir," she curtseyed as she followed in a more dignified manner than her predecessor.

"An apothecary from Garrow has visited and provided an elixir that I hope will help him," I motioned to the jar on the dresser.

"Hope?" asked Tristan, touching Sebastian's forehead with a concerned expression on his face.

"Sebastian ingested enough that he may not recover," I said, attempting to remain calm and measured in my delivery, while falling to pieces inside. I noticed Annabelle wince at my words.

"How did this even happen?" Tristan asked, clearly shocked.

"I found him clutching the bottle," I replied, lifting the brown vessel from the dresser to show him. "There was another identical bottle in his jacket pocket."

"Why would he ...? That does not sound like Sebastian," said Tristan, shaking his head, and then his stomach growled hungrily.

"Have you not eaten?" I asked him.

"Not since lunchtime," he confessed. "I came here immediately when this young lady told me the news she carried."

"There is soup in the kitchen, left over from earlier today," said Annabelle. "It seems we may have good use for it."

Tristan nodded to her.

"If it would be no trouble," he said.

"I will fetch what I can," she replied, curtseying as she left.

"She is a sweet girl," Tristan nodded his head in the direction of the door as he faced me.

"She is," I replied, sitting on the bed with him and looking at Sebastian affectionately. "Sebastian considers her a good friend."

I reached out to touch Sebastian's cheek and it was then that Tristan seemed to realise I was more upset than I had been prepared to demonstrate in Annabelle's presence.

"You care about him a great deal," noted Tristan quietly. "He has been a good confidant I assume."

"Yes," I acknowledged, turning to Tristan. "And more."

"More?"

"I am in love with him, Tristan," I admitted, needing somebody I could confide in about this entire situation. Tristan already knew more than most, although we had never discussed it openly before.

"I see," Tristan responded compassionately. "Do you know whether he reciprocates your feelings?"

"He does," I told him. "Even after admitting it to me, for a long time he still resisted my advances."