"He won't be the same," Zarek added, studying Boarstaff's reaction with clinical interest. "The Sebastian you knew, the flawed, degraded version, will be gone. Replaced by something far more efficient. Far more perfect." His damaged jaw produced a sound like grinding metal as he smiled. "Father's designing completely new regulatory systems. Ones that can't be corrupted by primitive magic. Ones that will ensure Sebastian never strays again."
Another scream echoed through the chamber, raw and desperate in a way that cut through Boarstaff's practiced control. This wasn't the controlled vampire noble he'd first met. This was the Sebastian who had begun to feel without regulation, to experience emotions without mechanical constraint. The Sebastian who had lain in his arms in the darkness, whose body had trembled against his own in the quiet hours of night when no one else could see who they truly were to each other.
"Lady Elisandra is particularly excited to witness the process," Zarek continued, moving to adjust something on a nearby panel. "She rarely attends reconditioning sessions, but this one holds special interest for her. Something about a human child, I believe." He glanced at Boarstaff. "A gift that was stolen. A plaything she's quite eager to recover."
Sarah. Boarstaff's hands clenched involuntarily, the restraints tightening in response. The child they had rescued from the citadel. The girl who still woke screaming about brass being put inside her.
"Such a visceral reaction," Zarek observed. "You primitives are so transparent in your responses. It's almost charming in its simplicity."
The door slid open with a soft hiss, admitting a tall, elegant figure. Boarstaff recognized her immediately from Sebastian's descriptions, Lady Elisandra, her movements too fluid to be natural, brass components gleaming at her temples and throat. Her eyes whirred softly as they adjusted to the room's lighting, focusing on Boarstaff with predatory intensity.
"So, this is the warchief." Her voice carried musical undertones that seemed designed to both soothe and unsettle. "The one who corrupted our Sebastian." She approached the table, brass-tipped fingers hovering just above Boarstaff's chest without touching him. "I expected something more... impressive."
"Primitives often appear unremarkable," Zarek replied. "Their true value lies in research potential rather than aesthetic appeal."
Elisandra's laugh held no genuine humor; just precisely calibrated notes arranged in perfect sequence. "Quite. Though this one seems to have had unusual influence over Sebastian." Her fingers finally made contact, tracing a line from Boarstaff's chest to his throat with clinical precision. "I wonder what youfather would discover if we opened him up. What primitive secrets might explain his effect on our heir."
Sebastian's scream came again, longer this time, containing notes of desperation that made something twist in Boarstaff's chest. Lady Elisandra tilted her head, listening with apparent pleasure.
"Such exquisite sounds," she murmured. "So raw. So unregulated. We rarely hear Sebastian express himself so... honestly." Her brass-rimmed eyes fixed on Boarstaff. "Before his reconditioning is complete, I must remember to thank him for recovering my property. The child should have been delivered to me months ago."
"Sarah is not property," Boarstaff said, the words emerging with quiet intensity. "She's a child."
Elisandra's expression shifted to something resembling amusement. "How charmingly primitive. Viewing children as people rather than resources." She leaned closer, her voice dropping to a whisper. "I had such plans for her. Still do. Preliminary improvements designed specifically for her small form. Beautiful brass components that would have grown with her, shaped her into something truly extraordinary."
The thought of Sarah, with her gap-toothed smile and stubborn determination, being "improved" like Sebastian had been made Boarstaff's stomach clench with revulsion.
"We'll never let you take her," he said, meeting Elisandra's mechanical gaze without flinching.
"Let?" Elisandra's laugh tinkled like breaking glass. "As if you have any choice in the matter. Your settlement is already being surrounded as we speak. With their warchief captured and their vampire ally..." She glanced toward the display where Sebastian's body convulsed against his restraints, "...otherwise occupied, your people will offer minimal resistance."
"You underestimate us," Boarstaff replied, thinking of Thornmaker's spear, of Rockbreaker's war hammer, of warriors who had fought vampires for generations. "We've held our borders against your kind for centuries."
"Against our scouts and hunting parties, perhaps," Zarek interjected. "Not against a full mobilization of House de la Sang. Father has committed our entire force to this campaign. The allied houses have pledged support as well." His damaged jaw produced a sound like grinding metal as he smiled. "Your settlement will be reduced to ash within days."
Before Boarstaff could respond, the door slid open again. A technician entered, his movements precise and efficient, his expression hidden behind a brass mask.
"Lord Zarek, Lady Elisandra," he said, bowing slightly. "Lord Cornelius requests your presence for the final phase of his heir's reconditioning."
Elisandra's eyes lit with anticipation. "The emotional regulator installation? Excellent. I wouldn't miss that for anything." She turned to Boarstaff, brass-tipped fingers trailing across his cheek in a mockery of tenderness. "You should feel honored, primitive. Your presence has motivated Sebastian to submit to the most extensive reconditioning in House de la Sang's history. He chose this agony to preserve your miserable life."
The revelation struck Boarstaff. Sebastian had submitted to torture to protect him. Had surrendered himself to reconditioning to save Boarstaff's life.
"Don't look so surprised." Zarek walked toward the door. "Did you think his return to us was voluntary? Father simply provided the proper motivation." His damaged jaw produced something that might have been a laugh. "Sebastian may be compromised, but he still makes calculated decisions. Your life for his compliance was an easy equation."
Elisandra followed Zarek to the door, pausing for one final glance at Boarstaff. "We'll return once the procedure is complete. I'm quite looking forward to introducing you to the improved Sebastian." Her smile held nothing of humanity. "I don't believe you'll recognize him at all."
The door slid closed behind them, leaving Boarstaff alone with the distant sound of Sebastian's screams and the terrible knowledge of what his capture had cost. Of what Sebastian had sacrificed to keep him alive.
He tested the restraints again, straining against them with all his strength despite the pain as they tightened in response. The metal cut into his wrists, drawing blood that ran in thin rivulets down his arms. Still, he pulled, driven by the sounds of Sebastian's agony echoing through the walls.
He had to get free. Had to stop this. Had to find Sebastian before the reconditioning was complete, before everything the Heart Tree had awakened in him was buried again beneath brass and regulation.
Before the Sebastian he knew was gone forever.
Chapter Sixteen
Boarstaff lost track of time in the windowless chamber, marking hours only by the dimming of Sebastian's screams. Eventually, even those had fallen silent, leaving him alone with the mechanical hum of the citadel and the cold bite of restraints against his skin.
