How long would it take Devlan to get here?
A tiny, snaking brook runs underneath the wall, and as we get closer, I see where the stone has crumbled into the water, creating a passage. My heart leaps. I glance at Sebastian nervously. He’s revealing a way out. An escape route—my escape route. Is he aware of what he’s doing?
Sebastian pushes the overgrowth aside, revealing the passage fully. It’s larger than it first appeared. We step along the stones jutting from the top of the brook as we pass through the jagged opening. As I clear the hole, I note that it would be only slightly difficult to bring a horse through, but not impossible.
On the other side of the wall, the forest is thick and bathed in light from the high sun, creating an enchanted feel. The brook widens into a stream as it stretches deeper into the forest. Birds tweet in the braches above, adding a hollow, sharp echo that cracks against the thick pines.
“I used to come here as a boy,” Sebastian says, breaking the secluded spell. “It’s my favorite place in all of Karm.”
It is beautiful. The sun splinters through the treetops, scattering sparkles over the tiny stream, and large, dark boulders decorate its bank. As we continue to walk along the edge of the water, a small clearing opens up around us. Two logs are seated near each other, turned up to use as seats.
Why has he shown me the hole in the wall? Is he so confident in himself, so assured in his charms, that he doesn’t even question whether I’d run? Then I remember the Eyes. This place must be monitored. He wouldn’t give away a secret like this.
I stare at the empty seats, my curiosity piqued. “Who comes here with you?”
Sebastian picks up a rock and settles on a log. “No one,” he says. “Not now.” He chucks the rock into the stream.
I widen my eyes, suddenly interested. Smoothing the back of my tunic, I sit next to him on the other log. “All right,” I say. “Who used to come here with you?”
He doesn’t answer right away. Instead, he stares out over the water, his eyes far away. Then he says, “Devlan.”
“Devlan?” My voice rises in surprise. “Your first knight?”
“When we were just kids.” He smiles, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “We used to fish and wander the woods. At least until my father declared it time for me to accept my princely duties and learn how to rule Karm.”
“So how then…” I shake my head. “I’m lost, Sebastian. Did you make Devlan the knight commander because he was your closest childhood friend?” If so, that explains how Devlan reached a high-ranking station at such a young age, and why he seems to be able to do things another knight would be punished for. Like yanking a prince off his betrothed, when no other would think twice about his prince’s actions.
“Not quite.” He blows air through his lips heavily. “Devlan lost—” He breaks off, looking around as if someone might be listening. He lowers his voice. “His parents were taken by the Virus when he was very young, just as my mother was taken from me. He was going to live in an orphanage, and I spo
tted him while members of the Force were putting him away in the prison carriage. Just a boy, like me, and I pleaded with my father to let him live in the castle.”
He looks back toward the stream. “I didn’t have any siblings and was not permitted to attend public classes, and he had no one else, either.” He shrugs. “We became fast friends. He worked in the stable and slept in the servants’ quarters. I was tutored early in the day and stayed in the opposite wing of the castle. But we were like brothers the rest of the time.” He smiles. “We tended to get into trouble quite often.”
I follow his gaze, wondering if he truly felt bad for Devlan, or simply wanted a playmate, and why he’s chosen to bring me here now. Regardless, I can’t help wanting to know more about the quiet, brooding knight.
After a moment, Sebastian continues. “When we were sixteen, my father professed that I had to start my ascension toward becoming king, and that it was time for Devlan to find employment beyond the castle.” He looks at his hands, runs his finger over the crest of his ring. “My father feels relationships weaken a king.” His eyes find mine. “So, honoring my father’s wishes, I sent Devlan away and treated him like a servant whenever we crossed paths. I have to become King. There’s no other person to take my father’s place. I don’t have another option.” He looks away from me, back to the water. “This is my duty.”
Duty. That word again. I’m starting to wonder if it means the same to men as it does to women. “Then how did he become your first knight?”
He shrugs one shoulder. “After a few years, he came back, training to become a knight.” He laughs. “He was so determined. I remember watching him, wondering how he’d come to the decision. It was never anything he talked about when he was younger.” He stands and walks toward the bank. “We didn’t speak. Our falling out has obviously put a rift between us that’s impossible to mend. But it proved to my father I could make hard decisions. And when I chose Devlan as my commander, my father only questioned me slightly.”
“Why did you choose him?”
He turns and looks at me. “I’d like to say it was because he was the best knight. I mean, he is good, though his age is against him. But, I believe there’s a part of me that’s still weak. Wanting to repair the damage I’d caused between us, and…” He folds his arms over his chest. “Mayhap to have my friend back.”
I stand and join him near the water. The river rushes past the rocks, and the spray bounces off them. The mist chills my skin. “But he’s not your friend, though,” I say quietly, questioningly. “Not anymore.”
“No.” He dips his head quickly, then looks at me again. “Not in the same sense. At the time I advanced Devlan’s rank, my father told me I’d regret my choice. That I was foolish and needed to sever the side of me that makes me weak.” He laughs hollowly. His face darkens, and his brows pull together. “But, do our emotions and our feelings for others truly weaken us? Can’t they make us stronger?”
I look away from him, unable to answer this for him as I don’t have the answer for myself. “I don’t know,” I admit. “I was not raised to be a queen, nor do I know what it takes to rule, Sebastian.”
“I wonder this about myself some days.” He sighs. “Whether I have what it takes.” He steps closer, and my eyes find his again. “When you ran into the arcade and I saw the flame in your eyes—your action roused questions I buried long ago.”
My breath slips past my lips. “What questions?”
“Whether or not I can rule this realm more efficiently than my father without instilling fear. Can I change how it’s governed…and if I don’t, will I lose that which makes me human?” He bows his head, but not before I see his golden eyes darken.
After his admission, we’re both quiet. The trickle of the stream echoes around us, and the crickets have faded into a low hum, distant and haunting. “Why have you revealed all this to me?”