“Sebastianwas my guard,” I answered flatly, sharing the minimal amount of information in a refusal to grant her any potential ammunition.
She waved a scolding finger. “Tsk, tsk, Sebby. You should know better than to sleep with anyone below your rank.”
“You were below his rank,” Kohen pitched with a bite in his tone. “You aren’t a head soldier. At least you weren’t at the time.”
Kohen, have I ever said that I love you? Because I do. You sweet, soft-spoken soul.
“I’m notjustsleeping with her,” Sebastian answered at last, the seconds of silence being pure torture. “We aretogether,and I am in love with her to the depths of my soul.”
I saw the glimmer fade from Samara’s eyes at his honesty, but she was killer at holding her own. “Aw, isn’t that sweet? I wish the best for you both, while it lasts.”
Did I mention that I fucking hate her?
“Anyways—” Azain ran a hand through his hair then cleared his throat. “Where have you guys been holding up since the attack? In your family’s cottage?” he directed the question to Sebastian, who shook his head in denial.
“No. I’m sure that’s where my father ran off to, so I don’t dare go there,” he replied.
Azain raised a brow. “More family trouble?”
“Like always.” Sebastian sipped his drink casually. “He pushed me over the edge one too many times over the past year. It would be a blessing to never see the man again.”
“Mister Hawthorne, is that anyway to speak of royalty?” a voice foreign to me filled the dining room.
I followed the others who rose to their feet at King Franlow’s arrival. He held tightly to his wife’s hand, directing her to her chair before taking his own.
“I speak the truth and nothing but the truth, your highness,” Sebastian commented, bending into a subtle bow before taking his own seat back.
King Franlow scooted his chair in, pushing his golden crown up higher on his completely bald head. I imagined it was hard to keep something so slippery on a skull so…shiny.
“Such a shame. I always liked Aldous. Although you know as well as I do that what goes on behind closed doors can change one’s opinion when discovered,” Franlow expressed, pinching the end of his silver beard.
“If you only knew, sir,” Sebastian hinted.
“So what brings you here?” Franlow asked, scanning his deep-set eyes around the room. “I know it is strictly business, so let’s cut to the chase.”
Doing exactly that, Kade spoke before anyone else could. “A pleasure to meet you, Your Highness. My name is Kade Lyrise, I’m a friend of Sebastian.”
I nearly spit out my wine.Friendwas a stretch.
“Speaking ofbehind closed doors, I’m not sure if you are aware of what's going on in Draemor, but we are here to inform you of such,” Kade continued.
King Franlow cocked his head. “Last I heard, Beaumont had taken over Caelestis. He ruined the castle, and more recently destroyed the villages and Crattera if I’m correct?”
“Yes,” Kade confirmed. “But Mealioria is in danger too, along with the rest of the continent. We have an idea of how to save it, but we don’t have the force to be successful.”
Franlow nodded slowly. “So you are here for what? My troops?” He shook his head without so much as a moment's hesitation. “No.”
“Please, let me explain further.” Sebastian shot Kade a look that told him toshut the fuck up.“Have you ever heard of a Hykah?”
The queen scoffed from her seat, her feathery blonde bob shaking in tune with her head. “A what?”
“A Hykah. It's a creature created from the flesh of a mortal, turned into a monster by the addition of excess magic and the loss of a soul. Cyprian Beaumont has an army of these things. From what we have seen, they each hold multiple kinds of godly power, and they are incredibly hard to kill, which I can elaborate on later.” All eyes were settled on Sebastian as he ran with his explanation without faltering. Now if that were me, I would have been stuttering up a storm and on the verge of passing out.
Franlow interrupted by raising a gold-heavy hand, his various rings and jewels clanking against each other. “Sebastian, surely you must understand that this all sounds insane.”
“I know, Your Highness. Trust me,I know.” Sebastian pushed up from the table to begin pacing, as he often did when a serious conversation was unfolding. “Beaumont plans to use the Hykahs to take over the empire, but he also plans to turn Maeve into one, should he get her in his grasp. I refuse to let that happen, but if it did, the Hykah she would turn into would be even more detrimental to the mortal race than the others.”
“How so?” The King arched a greying brow at Sebastian, as if no one besides the two of them were a part of the conversation.
