Sebastian looked at the offered hand, then at the gathering beyond. After a moment's consideration, he accepted Boarstaff's help, though he hardly needed it to stand.
"As you wish, Warchief," he said, but there was no mockery in his tone, only a quiet acceptance that surprised them both.
Together they walked toward the fires, Sebastian acutely aware of heads turning to track their approach, conversations briefly pausing before resuming. Not with hostility, but with cautious curiosity.
It was, Sebastian reflected, an entirely new experience, to be seen as something other than a weapon or a noble or a monster. To be seen, perhaps, simply as himself. Whatever that might mean.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Sebastian watched as dawn light crept across the eastern horizon. He had spent the night resting against a tree at the edge of the settlement's central gathering area, not quite within the community, not fully apart from it. He hadn't slept; vampires had no need for sleep. Instead, he had maintained a quiet vigil, observing the settlement's nocturnal rhythms, the changing of guards, the whispered conversations of worried parents.
He had declined Boarstaff's wordless invitation to follow him to his quarters, aware of too many watching eyes. The warchief had nodded once in understanding before leaving him, their fingers brushing briefly in the darkness.
As first light illuminated the settlement, activity was already in frantic motion. Scouts had returned shortly after midnight with news that chilled even Sebastian's blood: vampire forces had mobilized and would reach the settlement shortly after nightfall. Not just a scouting party or small advance force, but Cornelius's entire army.
The reports detailed mechanical siege engines being assembled at the forest's edge. Allied vampire houses had contributed fighters equipped with weapons specifically designed to counter orc and dwarf defenses. Worst of all, the scouts had witnessed Cornelius himself overseeing preparations, his brass components gleaming in the moonlight as he issued commands.
The attack that had been brewing for weeks was mere hours away. The theoretical threat had become devastatingly real.
Sebastian rose in one fluid motion, his body requiring no adjustment after hours of stillness. He watched the settlement transform before his eyes. What had been a gathering of three allies was a fortress preparing for siege. Warriors checked weapons, desert riders prepared their mounts, dwarves helped the orcs reinforced weak points in the settlement's walls. But beneath the practical preparations ran an undercurrent of desperate fear that Sebastian could sense as clearly as he could smell blood.
Families were separating. Children clung to parents who might not return. Elders pressed treasured possessions into younger hands, passing down legacies in case they didn't survive to do so properly. They would hide with the dwarves in their caves, taken as quickly as possible through the orc territories to get there safely.
Sebastian observed it all with the detached precision he had cultivated over centuries. His vampire senses cataloged details others might miss, the tremor in a warrior's hand as she kissed her child goodbye, the deliberate steadiness in an elder's voice as he explained evacuation procedures, the too-tight grip of friends embracing one last time. His mind calculated odds and trajectories, strategies and vulnerabilities. The assessment was grim.
Many would die. Perhaps most.
"They're afraid."
Sebastian turned at the small voice. Sarah stood beside him, her dark eyes solemn as she watched the activity around them. She had grown slightly in the weeks since her rescue from the citadel, her cheeks fuller, her frame stronger. The settlement had been good for her. If they failed in the battle, she might lose it all again.
"Yes." Sebastian did not see the point in lying to her. "They are."
Sarah nodded, accepting this truth with the direct simplicity of a child who had already seen too much. "Ochrehand says I have to go with the other children. To the dwarf caves."
"She's right," Sebastian said. "It's safer there."
"What about you?" Sarah looked up at him. "Are you going with the warriors?"
Sebastian hesitated, unsure how to answer. Before he could formulate a response, one of the evacuation coordinators spotted Sarah.
"There you are!" the orc woman called. "We've been looking for you. Your group is preparing to leave."
Sarah ignored her, still focused on Sebastian. "They say your father is coming. That he wants to take you back."
"He will try," Sebastian confirmed, kneeling to meet her at eye level.
Without warning, Sarah launched herself forward, small arms wrapping around his neck with surprising strength. Sebastian froze, unused to such contact, especially from a child. After a moment's hesitation, his arms came around her awkwardly, holding her slight frame.
"You have to be safe," she said fiercely against his shoulder. "Promise me."
"I'll do my best," Sebastian replied, the words feeling inadequate even as he spoke them.
Sarah pulled back, fixing him with a glare that seemed far older than her years. "That's not good enough." Tears began to well in her eyes. "You have to promise to come back. Like you did when you helped the orcs save me."
Before Sebastian could respond, the coordinator reached them, gently taking Sarah's arm. "It's time to go, child. The others are waiting."
Sarah resisted, clinging to Sebastian. "Promise," she demanded again.
