The Wrong Idea About Men
Title: The Wrong Idea About Men
Fandom: Gundam Wing AU
Characters/Pairings: Sébastien, Lucre, Sally, Sylvia, Wufei, Zechs, Halyna, Omri, Nichol, Trowa
Word Count: 2800
Summary: Fantasy AU. Not unlike his father, Sébastien has found someone important.
A/N: aquatinted. watch out: OCs everywhere. And a different POV for this part. Experimenting. Not done with the outline yet...
Part Thirteen. Sequel to The Heritage of Stray Lines.
***
Even though he could hear Sally singing in the next room, Sébastien knew instinctively that they were not at sea. The salt on the breeze was not enough. The stillness of the bed. The bed. How long would they stay ashore gathering supplies? No one would answer his questions, which was never a good sign. But Sébastien was learning how to get his own information.
He sat up and pushed back his hair from where it fell loose around his face. He refused to let them cut it and took the time to tie it back into a thick tail.
Slipping his feet into shoes, he stepped out to the open walkway and stretched. Sally’s voice came from the next room, but he turned away toward the daylight. Leaning against the railing, he could see the shore, the water and the Peacemillion. Squinting, he could almost make out the effort to make repairs. She was an old boat. Older than Sébastien.
“What are you doing up?” he asked without turning. He could smell her, the fragrance of a colony-raised girl.
“You might be a Noventa, but you certainly have the instincts of the islands.” She leaned next to him with a twinkle in her eyes.
Sébastien twisted so that he could see her upturned lips. She was a few years younger than him, just a couple, but girls made things complicated much faster. He didn’t react when she said, “Lucre would have kissed me by now.”
“Then go waste his time.” Sébastien glanced back at the boat. The fifth colony was the closest to the mainland. Sally had to keep Peacemillion and Sylvia on the sea to respect her exile under Queen Halyna, but Wufei’s friendship let them linger longer even if it wasn’t necessary. Wufei mostly ignored Sébastien, even though he had approved the engagement.
She leaned against her arms, lifting up on her toes. Sébastien noticed she wasn’t taller than him any longer. “He was gone from my rooms in the morning.”
“Don’t be crude,” Sébastien grumbled. “The fifth colony has enough bodyguards on you as it is. No one sneaks into your rooms.”
“Well, I’d rather it was him. He’s nicer than you are.”
“We don’t get to pick our families,” Sébastien said quietly. “When the time comes, what we’ll be given is a responsibility.”
“Which I’ll do better than Queen Halyna. How old is she now?”
“You don’t know her,” Sébastien scolded. “Don’t talk like you do.” Looking for food, the gulls noisily came closer to the pair of watchers. He was half Noventa and half from the third colony. Likewise, he’d spent half his life on the mainland and almost that again at sea--not truly able to escape either, but part of neither place completely enough to call it home.
“Sébastien?” His mother’s voice. She came toward them and smiled when she saw their guest. “I didn’t expect to see you so early, my dear.”
“I was overly excited by your arrival. I couldn’t sleep, ma’am,” she replied. Her red hair had recently been cut above her shoulders. Sébastien had to admit it made her look more like a woman. She was nearly the age Sylvia had been when the Noventas had been cut from the throne all those years ago.
Sébastien fought back a hysterical laughter from watching them exchange pleasantries. His mother had arranged for him to marry the daughter of the man who had killed Noventa. Oh, it made sense in every effort to create the ideal heir to the kingdom. When they married, a child would become a descendant of the colonies, Noventa and Treize Kushrenada.
Sylvia offered, “Would you like to spend the morning with me, Mariemaia?”
***
“So you did come to this place.” Sébastien held the branches away so he could better climb up the hill just outside the city where Wufei entertained guests. “Has it been awful?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Lucre rested in a small clearing. He stretched, long and lean, with his arms behind his head. The long branches still blocked most of the sun, but patches of light scattered warmth around them. Sébastien sat next to his friend and pulled at the grass.
“Being grounded here with that girl,” Sébastien clarified. “While your father is off doing whatever... do we know what yet?”
Lucre smiled without opening his eyes. “You think too much, ‘Bastien. Have you tried kissing her yet? She’s getting very good with her tongue.” Sébastien sighed heavily enough that Lucre did open one eye. The older man said, “You should move more quickly. How old are you now? Fourteen? Your Mariemaia has not the patience. And she does complain if she catches me sneaking around to avoid her. I’m not her betrothed!”
“Mother says that Mari did not grow up well before they found her,” Sébastien commented. “You shouldn’t tease her. It gives her the wrong idea about men.”
“She already had the wrong idea.” Lucre sat up. “I’m simply showing her men can sometimes be sweet as well. Nothing else. Which, I remind you, should be your duty.”
Sébastien didn’t care. He spared no thought for Mari when they were at sea, but he did miss Lucre somewhat. “It’s not the same on the boat without you,” he started. Lucre didn’t reply and watched with raised eyebrows. “I spend a lot of time in the ropes pretending I cannot hear mother calling me for more studies.”
“Yes, I don’t miss her studies.” Lucre rested his arms over his knees.
“You were coddled as a child,” Sébastien grumbled. “Don’t talk about my mother that way.”
Lucre laughed, “And what were you yourself doing just now?” They sat quietly. The space had been discovered by the two of them when Sylvia had allowed the boys to go exploring during one of their annual meetings with the fifth colony. Then their play area became a battleground after Milliardo Peacecraft yielded Lucre’s right to the throne in favor of marrying Treize’s daughter to Sébastien. The heat had been unbearable that day when Lucre had pinned Sébastien onto his stomach, arms twisted behind his back and the sweat dripping along his forehead mingled with Lucre’s tears.
”I hate you, and I’m glad it’s not me,” Lucre had whispered.
Sébastien glanced at Lucre who continued to stare into the distance. His dark-haired companion had changed after that incident. He became more friendly with Sébastien and briefly married one of the island girls which took him away from the Peacemillion. She had died in childbirth. Lucre didn’t talk about her or the strangled, nameless infant.
“I hear that Halyna is pregnant again.” Sébastien noticed he did not tell Lucre something surprising. “But they have not celebrated the news publicly...” No point when one after another aborted too soon. The Queen had married her Maganac merchant against the wishes of her council. Sébastien knew that her kingdom would splinter with a simple tap if someone chose to strike at it.
“Just as well that it wasn’t your father, eh?” Lucre’s smile was bittersweet. “Then you’d be losing siblings.”
^^^
Lucre was absent from the noon meal, so Sébastien endured listening to Mariemaia’s account of the Peacecraft heir’s sky-blue eyes and midnight curls. Sébastien ate his fish and wished for potatoes. The island soil was no good for them and the roots he chewed instead were too textured for his liking.
Wufei had spoiled the girl according to Sally who watched them from across the hall. Sébastien had a seat at the main table, a significant move from the low table where’s he’d sat in the mainland palace. The older woman pierced him with her eyes and Sebastian wiped at his mouth as if he might have something on his face to draw her attention. He realized that his own mother would have spoiled him as well if Sally hadn’t balanced the relationship.
“You remind me of Tomas,” he had accused her not long after he’d found his new home on Sally’s boat. “You act like my friend until you want me to change my behavior. Then it’s all rules all the time.”
“We won’t be talking about Nichol.” She had given him an important rule then, one that Sébastien had broken once and not again afterward. His gentle mother had gone quite pale and refused to see him for several days after he’d asked for Nichol.
He spent the afternoon meditating in the temple. The colorful architecture surrounded by ferns, palm trees and native parrots had been dedicated to the fifth colony gods. The temple also included rooms where Mariemaia could not follow him. Then with no appetite he returned to pick at dinner. Lucre’s seat remained empty.
“You don’t know either? Maybe he went to visit his father?” Mariemaia noticed Sébastien’s long staring at the vacant spot. Then her tone teased, “I thought he told you everything.”
^^^
Several days later, Sally found Sébastien by the boats. He had sat so his feet were just under the water. “I remember when you didn’t know how to swim,” Sally said joining him.
“Back then I could barely imagine a body of water larger than my bath.” Sébastien smiled at the recollection. The faces of the people in the palace slowly lost their definition or were replaced with others better known on the island. “I thought I was being swallowed.”
“The colonists call it being reborn.” Sally wiped her brow. She still wore her hair in braids, but the texture was like the ropes of her boat and the color nearly gone. He watched her through squinted eyes as the water reflected the sun across his sight.
“Did it happen to you too, Sal?” he asked.
“A long time ago,” Sally nodded.
“I’m worried about Lucre,” Sébastien admitted. He didn’t mind confiding as much with her. Sally gave Lucre compassion more readily than most other adults who spent time with the youngest Peacecraft.
“Have you told your mother?” Sally took his silence for the no that it was. “You are becoming a man with your secrets, aren’t you?”
Sébastien put a hand over his heart. “I can feel something is wrong. And I know that he left for the mainland.”
“How do you know that?” Sally quickly took back her question. “Another secret, I see. Don’t have too many of those without someone to share them with. I want someone to watch out for you.”
“Who, Sal? Mariemaia?” Sébastien enjoyed a brief sneer. Then he recited, “I know... I shouldn’t judge her too harshly. She’ll be a better queen with me to watch over her.”
“But she has a lot of growing up to do before that happens,” Sally conceded. “What are you going to do, my boy?” My boy, echoed the voice Sébastien believed to be his father.
“I want to get him back.”
“He’s not sworn to you,” Sally reminded.
“Then that was my mistake,” reasoned Sébastien. “I should have realized this long before now.”
Sally nodded slowly. “I wonder from which parent you get this possessiveness...”
^^^
They picked out a small, sturdy craft that could take Sébastien the distance to the mainland. Reviewing the map, Sally pointed out the currents which might lead him astray and how to reach his best designated landing place.
“Thank you.” Sébastien glanced at her through the candle light during the last evening of their conspiracy. “I don’t understand exactly why you’re helping me, but I appreciate it.”
“Better to help you do what you’ve a mind to do than lock you away in a room,” Sally shrugged. “Sylvia wouldn’t understand, but she is your mother and loves you too much.”
“I thought she was more cunning than to let emotions overrule her plans to repair the kingdom.” Sébastien knew Sally’s answer before he heard it.
“In all things except you, my boy...”
^^^
Sébastien learned a few more details before traversing the channel of ocean to the mainland. Lucre had not gone alone. And he’d sought out information regarding a man called Trant Clark, who had once served under Heero Yuy and Hilde Schbeiker until the brilliant tactician and soldier revealed himself to be a traitor.
He had plenty of time to think about those details while on his journey, but, as his feet stepped onto the mainland shore and he hauled the boat into a hiding place, Sébastien’s mind swam with memories of his father.
“Too dangerous to go see him,” Sébastien challenged himself to be reasonable. “Find Lucre and then return to the Peacemillion to wait. Wait...”
He looked up at the sound of a strange bird. Was it alarmed by Sébastien or someone else? Or had it moved on it’s own, unconcerned? Not wanting to take a risk, Sébastien pressed himself against a tree until boredom drove him to quietly travel inland. He checked the map and periodically fidgeted with his belongings as he made his way to a small village to inquire.
“Two blonde men in as many weeks!” The innkeeper exclaimed before Sébastien could get in a word. “You’re about to tell me that you’re related, I knew it!”
Sébastien began again, but instead a bulging arm hustled the boy into the dining room. An empty bowl dropped onto a table where Sébastien had been forced to sit. Then a buxom girl came around to toss the garden mix.
“Been a good year for the crops.” She stared at him while precariously serving the meal. “You have eyes as green as the ocean,” she murmured.
“I don’t know what ocean you mean,” he spoke from embarrassment, but she didn’t take insult--laughing instead. So much for going unnoticed. He quietly apologized to Sally while eating the food. He couldn’t enjoy the taste as he spent more time wondering how much he should pay them. No one had told him a cost. Too much or too little would make a story Sébastien didn’t want to leave behind.
“Do you want an empty room or one that is occupied?” The inn keeper came by again. Sébastien must have looked as confused as he felt, so the older man leaned down to indicate a partner for Sébastien’s bed.
“Ah, no thanks.” Sébastien hated the sharp pitch in his voice.
“She may give you a discount,” the innkeeper persisted.
“The boy declined.”
Sébastien flinched at the second voice as another figure came close. He knew that voice. It crept into his nightmares even after he’d met the man behind the mask.
“So he is your kin. Welcome back, sir.”
Milliardo Peacecraft glanced at Sébastien then smiled at the business man. “Some privacy please.”
^^^
“No one recognizes you,” Sébastien said dumbly as Milliardo steered the younger boy into the room they’d purchased.
“People see what they want to see,” Milliardo corrected. “And these doors are not free of eavesdropping, so mind your speech.”
Sébastien seemed unable to remain standing and dropped to the bed. Lucre’s father watched as if he’d willed the action and nodded once.
“I was surprised when Sally explained your determination to come here,” Milliardo said. “After all that we had done to keep you safely away from your enemies. To have saved your life, at great risk, only to have you rush back premature...”
“Is Lucre with you?” Sébastien asked, eager and terrified. He knew that Milliardo could hurt him, but the man had supported Sylvia’s contingencies.
“Ah, friendship...” Milliardo lifted his chin to analyze Sébastien from another angle. “Lucre became impatient. He has managed to get himself captured and faces execution.”
The tone of delivery was so disconnected from the grim message Sébastien’s reaction delayed over the puzzle. “What? When?” His fingers squeezed the material covering the bed.
Milliardo sat on the floor. He seemed to age even more under the pull of gravity. “Someone took his mother from me. And now, they take him as well.”
“Is he with Halyna? Perhaps my father could stop them,” Sébastien worried.
“Yes, fathers can fix everything,” mocked Milliardo. Then his eyes changed. They were narrow, unlike Lucre’s petty tempers the thought behind that glare was as sharp as any sword. “Did you expect Lucre to be with me?”
Sébastien kept to a slow nod. “He didn’t leave alone. And he meant to find someone here. A soldier from the south called Clark.”
“Halyna allows no visitors to my son. You have no right to speak with Lucre, but you will find a way,” Milliardo planned. “Find what he knows. For this purpose, I will guide you safely to your father.”
Fandom: Gundam Wing AU
Characters/Pairings: Sébastien, Lucre, Sally, Sylvia, Wufei, Zechs, Halyna, Omri, Nichol, Trowa
Word Count: 2800
Summary: Fantasy AU. Not unlike his father, Sébastien has found someone important.
A/N: aquatinted. watch out: OCs everywhere. And a different POV for this part. Experimenting. Not done with the outline yet...
Part Thirteen. Sequel to The Heritage of Stray Lines.
***
Even though he could hear Sally singing in the next room, Sébastien knew instinctively that they were not at sea. The salt on the breeze was not enough. The stillness of the bed. The bed. How long would they stay ashore gathering supplies? No one would answer his questions, which was never a good sign. But Sébastien was learning how to get his own information.
He sat up and pushed back his hair from where it fell loose around his face. He refused to let them cut it and took the time to tie it back into a thick tail.
Slipping his feet into shoes, he stepped out to the open walkway and stretched. Sally’s voice came from the next room, but he turned away toward the daylight. Leaning against the railing, he could see the shore, the water and the Peacemillion. Squinting, he could almost make out the effort to make repairs. She was an old boat. Older than Sébastien.
“What are you doing up?” he asked without turning. He could smell her, the fragrance of a colony-raised girl.
“You might be a Noventa, but you certainly have the instincts of the islands.” She leaned next to him with a twinkle in her eyes.
Sébastien twisted so that he could see her upturned lips. She was a few years younger than him, just a couple, but girls made things complicated much faster. He didn’t react when she said, “Lucre would have kissed me by now.”
“Then go waste his time.” Sébastien glanced back at the boat. The fifth colony was the closest to the mainland. Sally had to keep Peacemillion and Sylvia on the sea to respect her exile under Queen Halyna, but Wufei’s friendship let them linger longer even if it wasn’t necessary. Wufei mostly ignored Sébastien, even though he had approved the engagement.
She leaned against her arms, lifting up on her toes. Sébastien noticed she wasn’t taller than him any longer. “He was gone from my rooms in the morning.”
“Don’t be crude,” Sébastien grumbled. “The fifth colony has enough bodyguards on you as it is. No one sneaks into your rooms.”
“Well, I’d rather it was him. He’s nicer than you are.”
“We don’t get to pick our families,” Sébastien said quietly. “When the time comes, what we’ll be given is a responsibility.”
“Which I’ll do better than Queen Halyna. How old is she now?”
“You don’t know her,” Sébastien scolded. “Don’t talk like you do.” Looking for food, the gulls noisily came closer to the pair of watchers. He was half Noventa and half from the third colony. Likewise, he’d spent half his life on the mainland and almost that again at sea--not truly able to escape either, but part of neither place completely enough to call it home.
“Sébastien?” His mother’s voice. She came toward them and smiled when she saw their guest. “I didn’t expect to see you so early, my dear.”
“I was overly excited by your arrival. I couldn’t sleep, ma’am,” she replied. Her red hair had recently been cut above her shoulders. Sébastien had to admit it made her look more like a woman. She was nearly the age Sylvia had been when the Noventas had been cut from the throne all those years ago.
Sébastien fought back a hysterical laughter from watching them exchange pleasantries. His mother had arranged for him to marry the daughter of the man who had killed Noventa. Oh, it made sense in every effort to create the ideal heir to the kingdom. When they married, a child would become a descendant of the colonies, Noventa and Treize Kushrenada.
Sylvia offered, “Would you like to spend the morning with me, Mariemaia?”
***
“So you did come to this place.” Sébastien held the branches away so he could better climb up the hill just outside the city where Wufei entertained guests. “Has it been awful?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Lucre rested in a small clearing. He stretched, long and lean, with his arms behind his head. The long branches still blocked most of the sun, but patches of light scattered warmth around them. Sébastien sat next to his friend and pulled at the grass.
“Being grounded here with that girl,” Sébastien clarified. “While your father is off doing whatever... do we know what yet?”
Lucre smiled without opening his eyes. “You think too much, ‘Bastien. Have you tried kissing her yet? She’s getting very good with her tongue.” Sébastien sighed heavily enough that Lucre did open one eye. The older man said, “You should move more quickly. How old are you now? Fourteen? Your Mariemaia has not the patience. And she does complain if she catches me sneaking around to avoid her. I’m not her betrothed!”
“Mother says that Mari did not grow up well before they found her,” Sébastien commented. “You shouldn’t tease her. It gives her the wrong idea about men.”
“She already had the wrong idea.” Lucre sat up. “I’m simply showing her men can sometimes be sweet as well. Nothing else. Which, I remind you, should be your duty.”
Sébastien didn’t care. He spared no thought for Mari when they were at sea, but he did miss Lucre somewhat. “It’s not the same on the boat without you,” he started. Lucre didn’t reply and watched with raised eyebrows. “I spend a lot of time in the ropes pretending I cannot hear mother calling me for more studies.”
“Yes, I don’t miss her studies.” Lucre rested his arms over his knees.
“You were coddled as a child,” Sébastien grumbled. “Don’t talk about my mother that way.”
Lucre laughed, “And what were you yourself doing just now?” They sat quietly. The space had been discovered by the two of them when Sylvia had allowed the boys to go exploring during one of their annual meetings with the fifth colony. Then their play area became a battleground after Milliardo Peacecraft yielded Lucre’s right to the throne in favor of marrying Treize’s daughter to Sébastien. The heat had been unbearable that day when Lucre had pinned Sébastien onto his stomach, arms twisted behind his back and the sweat dripping along his forehead mingled with Lucre’s tears.
”I hate you, and I’m glad it’s not me,” Lucre had whispered.
Sébastien glanced at Lucre who continued to stare into the distance. His dark-haired companion had changed after that incident. He became more friendly with Sébastien and briefly married one of the island girls which took him away from the Peacemillion. She had died in childbirth. Lucre didn’t talk about her or the strangled, nameless infant.
“I hear that Halyna is pregnant again.” Sébastien noticed he did not tell Lucre something surprising. “But they have not celebrated the news publicly...” No point when one after another aborted too soon. The Queen had married her Maganac merchant against the wishes of her council. Sébastien knew that her kingdom would splinter with a simple tap if someone chose to strike at it.
“Just as well that it wasn’t your father, eh?” Lucre’s smile was bittersweet. “Then you’d be losing siblings.”
^^^
Lucre was absent from the noon meal, so Sébastien endured listening to Mariemaia’s account of the Peacecraft heir’s sky-blue eyes and midnight curls. Sébastien ate his fish and wished for potatoes. The island soil was no good for them and the roots he chewed instead were too textured for his liking.
Wufei had spoiled the girl according to Sally who watched them from across the hall. Sébastien had a seat at the main table, a significant move from the low table where’s he’d sat in the mainland palace. The older woman pierced him with her eyes and Sebastian wiped at his mouth as if he might have something on his face to draw her attention. He realized that his own mother would have spoiled him as well if Sally hadn’t balanced the relationship.
“You remind me of Tomas,” he had accused her not long after he’d found his new home on Sally’s boat. “You act like my friend until you want me to change my behavior. Then it’s all rules all the time.”
“We won’t be talking about Nichol.” She had given him an important rule then, one that Sébastien had broken once and not again afterward. His gentle mother had gone quite pale and refused to see him for several days after he’d asked for Nichol.
He spent the afternoon meditating in the temple. The colorful architecture surrounded by ferns, palm trees and native parrots had been dedicated to the fifth colony gods. The temple also included rooms where Mariemaia could not follow him. Then with no appetite he returned to pick at dinner. Lucre’s seat remained empty.
“You don’t know either? Maybe he went to visit his father?” Mariemaia noticed Sébastien’s long staring at the vacant spot. Then her tone teased, “I thought he told you everything.”
^^^
Several days later, Sally found Sébastien by the boats. He had sat so his feet were just under the water. “I remember when you didn’t know how to swim,” Sally said joining him.
“Back then I could barely imagine a body of water larger than my bath.” Sébastien smiled at the recollection. The faces of the people in the palace slowly lost their definition or were replaced with others better known on the island. “I thought I was being swallowed.”
“The colonists call it being reborn.” Sally wiped her brow. She still wore her hair in braids, but the texture was like the ropes of her boat and the color nearly gone. He watched her through squinted eyes as the water reflected the sun across his sight.
“Did it happen to you too, Sal?” he asked.
“A long time ago,” Sally nodded.
“I’m worried about Lucre,” Sébastien admitted. He didn’t mind confiding as much with her. Sally gave Lucre compassion more readily than most other adults who spent time with the youngest Peacecraft.
“Have you told your mother?” Sally took his silence for the no that it was. “You are becoming a man with your secrets, aren’t you?”
Sébastien put a hand over his heart. “I can feel something is wrong. And I know that he left for the mainland.”
“How do you know that?” Sally quickly took back her question. “Another secret, I see. Don’t have too many of those without someone to share them with. I want someone to watch out for you.”
“Who, Sal? Mariemaia?” Sébastien enjoyed a brief sneer. Then he recited, “I know... I shouldn’t judge her too harshly. She’ll be a better queen with me to watch over her.”
“But she has a lot of growing up to do before that happens,” Sally conceded. “What are you going to do, my boy?” My boy, echoed the voice Sébastien believed to be his father.
“I want to get him back.”
“He’s not sworn to you,” Sally reminded.
“Then that was my mistake,” reasoned Sébastien. “I should have realized this long before now.”
Sally nodded slowly. “I wonder from which parent you get this possessiveness...”
^^^
They picked out a small, sturdy craft that could take Sébastien the distance to the mainland. Reviewing the map, Sally pointed out the currents which might lead him astray and how to reach his best designated landing place.
“Thank you.” Sébastien glanced at her through the candle light during the last evening of their conspiracy. “I don’t understand exactly why you’re helping me, but I appreciate it.”
“Better to help you do what you’ve a mind to do than lock you away in a room,” Sally shrugged. “Sylvia wouldn’t understand, but she is your mother and loves you too much.”
“I thought she was more cunning than to let emotions overrule her plans to repair the kingdom.” Sébastien knew Sally’s answer before he heard it.
“In all things except you, my boy...”
^^^
Sébastien learned a few more details before traversing the channel of ocean to the mainland. Lucre had not gone alone. And he’d sought out information regarding a man called Trant Clark, who had once served under Heero Yuy and Hilde Schbeiker until the brilliant tactician and soldier revealed himself to be a traitor.
He had plenty of time to think about those details while on his journey, but, as his feet stepped onto the mainland shore and he hauled the boat into a hiding place, Sébastien’s mind swam with memories of his father.
“Too dangerous to go see him,” Sébastien challenged himself to be reasonable. “Find Lucre and then return to the Peacemillion to wait. Wait...”
He looked up at the sound of a strange bird. Was it alarmed by Sébastien or someone else? Or had it moved on it’s own, unconcerned? Not wanting to take a risk, Sébastien pressed himself against a tree until boredom drove him to quietly travel inland. He checked the map and periodically fidgeted with his belongings as he made his way to a small village to inquire.
“Two blonde men in as many weeks!” The innkeeper exclaimed before Sébastien could get in a word. “You’re about to tell me that you’re related, I knew it!”
Sébastien began again, but instead a bulging arm hustled the boy into the dining room. An empty bowl dropped onto a table where Sébastien had been forced to sit. Then a buxom girl came around to toss the garden mix.
“Been a good year for the crops.” She stared at him while precariously serving the meal. “You have eyes as green as the ocean,” she murmured.
“I don’t know what ocean you mean,” he spoke from embarrassment, but she didn’t take insult--laughing instead. So much for going unnoticed. He quietly apologized to Sally while eating the food. He couldn’t enjoy the taste as he spent more time wondering how much he should pay them. No one had told him a cost. Too much or too little would make a story Sébastien didn’t want to leave behind.
“Do you want an empty room or one that is occupied?” The inn keeper came by again. Sébastien must have looked as confused as he felt, so the older man leaned down to indicate a partner for Sébastien’s bed.
“Ah, no thanks.” Sébastien hated the sharp pitch in his voice.
“She may give you a discount,” the innkeeper persisted.
“The boy declined.”
Sébastien flinched at the second voice as another figure came close. He knew that voice. It crept into his nightmares even after he’d met the man behind the mask.
“So he is your kin. Welcome back, sir.”
Milliardo Peacecraft glanced at Sébastien then smiled at the business man. “Some privacy please.”
^^^
“No one recognizes you,” Sébastien said dumbly as Milliardo steered the younger boy into the room they’d purchased.
“People see what they want to see,” Milliardo corrected. “And these doors are not free of eavesdropping, so mind your speech.”
Sébastien seemed unable to remain standing and dropped to the bed. Lucre’s father watched as if he’d willed the action and nodded once.
“I was surprised when Sally explained your determination to come here,” Milliardo said. “After all that we had done to keep you safely away from your enemies. To have saved your life, at great risk, only to have you rush back premature...”
“Is Lucre with you?” Sébastien asked, eager and terrified. He knew that Milliardo could hurt him, but the man had supported Sylvia’s contingencies.
“Ah, friendship...” Milliardo lifted his chin to analyze Sébastien from another angle. “Lucre became impatient. He has managed to get himself captured and faces execution.”
The tone of delivery was so disconnected from the grim message Sébastien’s reaction delayed over the puzzle. “What? When?” His fingers squeezed the material covering the bed.
Milliardo sat on the floor. He seemed to age even more under the pull of gravity. “Someone took his mother from me. And now, they take him as well.”
“Is he with Halyna? Perhaps my father could stop them,” Sébastien worried.
“Yes, fathers can fix everything,” mocked Milliardo. Then his eyes changed. They were narrow, unlike Lucre’s petty tempers the thought behind that glare was as sharp as any sword. “Did you expect Lucre to be with me?”
Sébastien kept to a slow nod. “He didn’t leave alone. And he meant to find someone here. A soldier from the south called Clark.”
“Halyna allows no visitors to my son. You have no right to speak with Lucre, but you will find a way,” Milliardo planned. “Find what he knows. For this purpose, I will guide you safely to your father.”