Quill of Thieves

Chapter 19

So, this was how he was going to die.

Sebastian glanced around the space Astrid had summoned him to with an irrational sense of apprehension. Although, to be fair, he wondered if he wasn't being quite apprehensive enough. Especially in the aftermath of Queen Davina's royal proclamation and the fact that her own daughter—the princess of Rainier—had ordered him brought here. Matthias pulled Sebastian to a rough halt beneath an overhang that gave way to an outdoor militaristic arena. Cold air bit into Sebastian's exposed cheeks as he stared around at the enclosed, mountainous walls.

Walls that were covered in lethally sharp weapons.

He recognized bows of various designs and sizes, which hung from pegs that jutted from the stone. They gleamed metallically in ways that Abel's own, wooden weapon of choice did not. Sleek, quivers of arrows sparked beneath the sparse sun rays that managed to escape from behind the clouds. Swords, daggers, and every variation of pointed blades stood upright on iron racks that lined the stone enclosure. A shadow even swung eerily back and forth above Sebastian's head. When he looked up, he saw a bludgeon hanging from the portico directly above his head.

Amidst it all stood Astrid, clad in tight, form-fitting armor that shone beneath the whiteness of the clouds. It nearly hurt to look at her. And though she had seemed intimidating clothed in regality at the queen's assembly, it had been nothing compared to her now, dressed as if ready for battle, her arms crossed across her bound chest and her expression predatorial from where she watched him.

She no longer looked much like a princess.

Sebastian swallowed dryly. It would be laughably simple for Astrid to get rid of him in a place such as this one where a mace could fall from the roof and clobber him to death. Though he very much doubted that Astrid would need help from a precariously hanging weapon to maim him.

Since her mother's announcement on that balcony, she hadn't so much as spoken a word to him. Perhaps she didn't wish to share the spotlight. Sebastian didn't know how to tell her that she could have it, no fight necessary, without coming across as a complete wuss.

"Would she really kill me?"

He hadn't realized he'd spoken aloud until he heard Matthias grunt. "She certainly could."

Well, that wasn't at all reassuring. It was made even worse when Astrid said with more calm than Sebastian imagined the situation warranted, "Get over here, fisherboy."

He turned to regard Matthias as if to seek permission, which was such an idiotic thing to do that Sebastian felt a frustrated flush heat the back of his neck. Matthias must have agreed because his jaw ticked in annoyance before he shoved Sebastian in the shoulder. "You are hers to command. Go to her."

Sebastian clasped his nervous hands behind his back and stepped out from beneath the portico. It felt wrong to say that the sun was bright against his eyes since the sun hardly shone on Halum Mountain, but Sebastian's gaze squinted all the same as he stood before Astrid, crowned princess of the kingdom that seemed hellbent on keeping him hostage and thrusting him into a saviour's role he was certain he wasn't qualified for.

She examined the careful space he had left between them with a smirk. "Curse the skies, Seabass. Relax, won't you?" She looked over his shoulder and called out, "Leave us be, Captain Soiree."

"You know I cannot."

She shared a conspiratorial roll of her eyes with Sebastian, who didn't quite get the joke. "Well, then, go stand in that far corner if you must." When she seemed sufficiently satisfied that Matthias had followed her orders, she turned her attention back to Sebastian. Her hair was much messier than it had been the day before when it had been held in place by the weight of the tiara that had graced her head. Blonde strands of it swayed across her cheeks as the brisk wind whistled through the encampment.