Return to Caer Lon (6 page)

Sacha
had climbed on her horse and was looking at him, visibly waiting. He sighed.

“Fine. But next time, you
will
wake me up.”
He too could use words to make someone feel small.
“I am serious
Sacha
;
other places will not be as safe as this one.”

She smiled beautifully.
Derek couldn’t help but return it.
Lann Stefan was
e
ast, after all.
Sacha pursed her lips
, satisfied she had won this battle
.

“You snore…”

“I do not!”

The little witch had already kicked her mount into a trot
.
Derek
gritted his teeth and followed, forgetting about breakfast. Option four had its appeal; definitely.

Chapter 6

The
servant put the tray on the table, eyes glued to the floor,
before he
retreated as quickly as he could into a corner.

This one would be gone in a week, he thought
;
ten days at most. Twice as clumsy as the slaves he bought in Londin
i
um, and just as worthless. Those puppets were pitiful. His cup was only half full, and
yet
it was a miracle the wine had not spilled on the food. The man snapped his fingers and the boy yelped in terror, jumping forward to fill his goblet before he fled back to his corner. Their submission was disgusting.

He glanced at the boy’s reflection in the cup and played with it, back and forth, making the image move sideways. A hiccup echoed behind him, nearly a sob, as the meagre body followed the impossible movements the sorcerer gave to its image on the cup, twisting at impossible angles. Finally tired of his game, the man crushed the goblet i
n his massive hand. A
gasp of pain
,
followed by the muffled sound of boneless members hitting the ground answered the man’s impatient grimace. Pitiful puppets. This one had lasted less than a week, after all.

Wolfryth
negligently threw his now useless cup toward the crushed body. He stood up and the room suddenly felt smaller. Standing near the fireplace, the man’s large shoulders almost hid  half of the mantel. His grey hairs were pulled back with a leather bind. His yellow eyes gleamed dangerously under the light from the flames, adding to the impression of savagery. The sorcerer touched the fine line that ran from his left temple to his chin, a present from
William
Pendragon, so many years ago. Yesterday.

The man had been skilled with a sword, and sustained by survival instincts. He had broken him like dried wood nonetheless. No man-made blade could be a match
for
his magi
c.

He laughed and the sound rolled unpleasantly in the empty room. He
had killed one Pendragon and now he n
eeded
one
. How ironic.

Another twist of his hand, and the corpse disappeared, leaving only empty clothes on the floor. He hated to wait. Two days ago, he had used a simple spell of transportation to hurl her cousin back to the Seer, and she was yet to show up. He watched her dreams long enough to know her heart’s desires. And what women wanted… She would come, along with Pendragon’s offspring sniffing after her skirts like a well-trained dog.

The fire roared to mirror his growing irritation. He was the greatest wizard alive. He had mastered Air and Fire. Water obeyed when he commanded. No one for generations had controlled three of the Powers, and he needed a child, barely old to shave, to reach the ultimate
one
!

The man clenched his fist and the flames reduced to the size of a candle flick. Patience… The Seer would bring him the blood of the Dragon soon. Patience…

“Father?”

Wolfryth
released his grasp on the fire and it
burned
normally again.

The young woman stepped swiftly into the room, her blond hair flying around her. Reproach shadowed her angelic face briefly when she noticed the piled clothes in the corner. Her voice transpired nothing but boredom when she approached him.

“You did it again… How can I hope
to bring up
satisfying staff if you dismiss them so often
?
”

“This one was beyond your teaching.”

She
sulked
.

“I suppose.”

Then her smile reappeared. Her golden eyes shone in childish pleasure.

“I have good news, however.
Elwyn
is awake and he will be up very soon. I like him
.
H
e is so cute!”

“I am delighted to hear you like your present. But you have to be careful, my child
.
H
e is very powerful.”

“Oh, he can do me no harm… I gave him citraurantia.”

Wolfryth
laughed again. The plant would block the young man
's
powers. His magic would still be here, sleeping within him, but out of his reach.

“Very well, my crafty little fox. Enjoy his company, but do not hold him too dear; his utili
ty will eventually come to an end
.”

The fire blazed again, and its light accentuated the resemblance between the sorcerer and a wild animal.

oOo

Jeffrey, the Court physician, patted
Sebastian
on the shoulder, probably the only place of his body that was not covered with bandages. It hurt nonetheless. This time, the examination had been less painful, thanks to
Ylianor
’s decoctions, but he was glad it was over.

He felt like he had been trampled by a hoard of furious boars, then thrown into a ravine. Even win
c
ing was painful
, l
et alone breathing. His head
felt
so heavy on his neck he was sure it would
have
fall
en
sideways if the pillows had not maintained it in place.

The young man clenched his jaw to retain a moan and settled for a quick nod to the old man who bowed and exited the room, probably to give his report back to his uncle.

Geraint
had not come back to ask if he remembered something else about the attack or the place he had been taken.
Sebastian
wished he had more to tell him. Truth was, he was not sure he had left the battlefield at all before waking up in his bed. Everything was so confus
ed
…

A light knock on the door pulled him out of his thoughts.

“Come in.”

A young girl he thought he had seen sometimes around
Sacha
came in, holding a tray.

“Lady
Ylianor
said you would be hungry, Sir.”

“Yes, I am.”

He could do with some food, even if the idea of opening his mouth to chew and swallowing was not that appealing, especially after the cold sweat the simple fact of straightening up had brought. Not to mention the ache.

“Thank you... Pardon me I do not remember your name.”

“I am Agnes,
m
y
L
ord. I serv
e
the Lady
Sacha
.”

“Well
Agnes
you will thank my cousin
for
spar
ing
your services so you could bring me some food.”

Her sudden blush surprised him. Generally, servants were at ease with him, because he was easy going and polite; and
to
his limited experience,
maid
girls
did
not blush
that easily
.
Sebastian
pushed up a little more on his cushions
. The effort tore a groan
from
his throat.
The maid instantly put her tray down on the table and rushed to help him up.

“Thank you.”

She smiled and
Sebastian
appreciated her gentleness as she helped him up on the pillows. He equally noticed something more disturbing. He had been in the castle for nearly two days, and no one had visited him except
Geraint
,
Ylianor
, and the physician.

“Agnes, where are my cousin and Prince
Derek
?”

“They are about their business,
m
y
l
ord.”

Jeffrey could be pretty insistent when he wanted his patients to rest, but
Derek
and
Sacha
had never obeyed before.
Sebastian
narrowed his dark eyes on her, and the girl’s
already flushed
sk
in turned a deeper
shade of pink.

“They… They are on a trip.”

A trip? Right after this attack? Not likely.

“Where did they go? I am surprised my uncle authorized them to go anywhere, even with a full cohort of
k
nights to escort them.”

Agnes was fidgeting with the lace of her apron, visibly ill
at
ease.
Sebastian
tried to keep his tone calm
in order
not to scare the girl away. Despite his efforts, worry started to tighten his throat.

“Agnes? I asked you a question. Where did the Lady
Sacha
and Prince
Derek
go?”

“I… I do not know,
m
y
l
ord.
M
y
l
ady did not say. She asked me to prepare their horses and some goods for three days and she went with the prince before dawn right after they found you… Please, My
l
ord, I just followed her orders…”

She was on the verge of crying. No doubt his uncle had questioned her already, and probably less gently.

Sebastian
closed his eyes.
Sacha
and
Derek
had gone to
Elwyn
’s rescue. It could be only that. No wonder
Ylianor
seemed so worried and his uncle looked like he was ready to murder someone.

Oh,
Sacha
, what did you do…
?

It was her plan, of course
it was
.
Derek
could be stubborn but he was not reckless.
Or rather, he would have gone alone, especially if
to leave
in the middle of the night. It had to be
Sacha
, who cornered
Derek
into following her. He wondered if his friend had caught her while she was tiptoeing out, or if she had walked straight into his chambers to harangue him.

Sebastian
could just picture the scene in his mind:
Sacha
stamping her foot and pouting while
Derek
looked at her with that
stern
expression he saved just for her. As if the
p
rince w
ere
going to let her go alone… Maybe she had called him ‘a good little soldier’, ‘a docile sheep’ or another one of her favourite epithets, so he could not
ignore the bait
. He never resisted when she provoked him.

The young man wondered if instead of insulting him,
Sacha
had
tried to charm him.
Derek
would dive after
her
without a second thought if she did. Or he would have run the other way as fast as possible. Whatever the case,
Sebastian
would have paid a fortune to see the scene.

The girl was still fixing him nervously, her ve
lvet eyes widened
in fear
.
Sebastian
offered the best smile he could muster. With a split lip and bruises all over his face, it probably looked like the worst grimace she had ever seen.
Indeed he
had paid
dearly
to have them paired up
.
He sighed.

“What is done is done, isn’t it? Didn’t you say something about food?”

She jumped at the reminder, and quickly put the tray on his lap.
Sebastian
peered at the soup with a
groan
. Knowing both his cousin
's
and his friend
's
usual behaviour around each other, he doubted the greater risk for them came from their enemy, whoever that was.