The Fae Princess' Hidden Fate

11.

In shocking silence, I crept back into my room and sat slowly on the bed. I could hear a faint buzzing in my head, and it was as if I had dunked my head in a barrel of water and stayed there for a while.

If someone told me that what I witnessed was real, I still wouldn't have believed them. How could it be possible? Sebastian couldn't possibly have done that, could he?

But I had witnessed it. And the fact that I almost didn't see it was what terrified me. If he was truly like that, then I had completely misjudged him. There was more to him that meets the eye, and what I had just seen was only a glimpse of what he truly was.

I could still hear his words ringing in my ear, telling Antonio that I belonged to him. How was that even possible? I hadn't even known him for a whole week, so how could he have arrived at that conclusion?

The questions went on in my head, round and round until I didn't know what to do anymore. I fell back on the bed, and stared at the canopy until my eyes began to get heavy and I drifted off into a disturbing sleep.

Sebastian never mentioned anything about the incident however when he saw me in the morning. It was like nothing of that sort had happened. He smiled at me when we ran into each other in the hallway, and he bowed slowly with the smile still on his face.

But the secret remained with me, and I had no idea how to go about discussing it with him. So I kept my distance, and pretended I hadn't seen anything.

Antonio, however, stopped coming to the palace entirely. For that, I was a little bit grateful. Being the prime minister's son, he had always been afforded the freedom to come and go as he pleased ever since we were young. But now, after his confrontation with Sebastian, he didn't come around anymore.

Maybe there was something good from this whole incident after all.

*

Five days later, I ran into Sebastian in the hallway, and he bowed immediately.

"Your majesty," he said, flashing me a brilliant smile. "I wasn't expecting to see you awake so early."

I couldn't even find the right words to use. He was just too unbelievable, and I stared at him like I had never seen him before. Now that he had been cleaned up and he had gotten some time to recuperate, he was beginning to look less like a man on the brink of death and more like what he really was. He was somewhat good looking, if I could be bothered to point it out.

But still, the darkness I had seen in him was the only thing I could think of. I couldn't shake off the image of him pinning Antonio to the wall, and I tried to see him the way he had been at that moment, but it was a sharp contrast to the man who was standing in front of me right now.

"Your Highness?" he whispered, furrowing his brows as a concerned look crossed his face. I shook my head immediately, dispelling the memory from my thoughts. Whatever happened between him and Antonio was between the two of them.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I was asked to retrieve some scrolls from the royal library for reference," he explained.

"Oh," I replied simply, looking him all over. He seemed well enough, even though he still limped as he was leaning heavily on his cane. "How are the horses coming along?"

"They still hate me," he said dejectedly. "I have tried to get close to them, but they always run away and I can't seem to figure out why."

"Maybe it's because they know you're not like us," I pointed out. He seemed offended by my words, but that was the truth. And if he couldn't take it, then surely he was just deceiving himself.

"I don't understand the need to point out how different I am from you each time we see each other," he said in a clipped tone. "I am well aware of our differences, actually. You don't need to remind me every time."

"I was merely making a statement," I said, my temper flaring instantaneously. How did he have this impeccable power of making me so angry within seconds? I just couldn't understand him, and the way he looked at me like I was a creature who needed his help. If anyone needed the other's help, then surely it would be him.

"It was an unnecessary statement," he said, avoiding my gaze.

Wow. That was incredibly rude. And he seemed to realise it as well, because he looked up apologetically and he shook his head quickly.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I don't even know why I'm saying all this. It's just that sometimes, it's difficult to talk around you while keeping my wits about me."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean I get tongue-tied whenever I'm around you," he said. "And I can't seem to figure out why."

I was about to reply when the sound of footsteps from behind interrupted me. I turned around to find one of father's personal guards making his way towards us with a serious look on his face.

"Your Highness," he greeted with a bow. "The King has asked to see you and your human in his study immediately."

"He has a name, you know," I snapped at him. "And for the record, he is not my human."

"Well, he's more yours than anyone else's," he grumbled loud enough for me to hear. Which I’m sure was the goal. "After all, doesn't that law you invoked bound the two of you for the rest of eternity?"

"That's none of your concern," I said.

"What does he want?" Sebastian asked.

"You can ask him that when you see him," the guard said before turning around and walking away.

Sebastian looked like he wanted to punch a brick wall. It was clear to see that the guard's comments were making him irritable, and he had obviously intended to rile him up. They usually did that, just to remind him that he was not one of us.

"Come along, Bastian," I said, ignoring the cold look on his face before we proceeded down the hallway. I could tell he was itching to say something, but I did not give him that opportunity. I was far too curious as to why father wanted to see me than anything else. Could it be something about Cornia? Or perhaps it was something about the betrothal to Prince Blaze, and now I would have to deal with him as well.

Truth be told, I hadn't given him much thought ever since the announcement was made on my birthday that I would marry him. He had been pushed to the back of my mind, so much that I hadn't given him a single thought ever since.

But if it was about Blaze, then why would he ask for Sebastian as well? Surely that meant it had something to do with him as well. Had they found something about him? Was it something to do with the spell?

He didn't say anything as we stepped into the study. And even when father looked up at him, he remained as calm and collected as he had always been.

But what surprised me however was the sight of Cassia standing beside father with a cynical smile on her face. What in the name of Danu was she doing here?

"Your Majesty," Sebastian greeted with a sinking bow. From the look on father's face, I could tell that he wasn't amused at all.

“Your Highness,” Cassia curtsied towards me as though she was being forced to do that. I really do not like her one bit.

"You called for us, father?" I asked instead, refusing to acknowledge her greetings. He was standing on the other side of the table, and he fixed his hardest gaze on both of us, shifting constantly from one to the other. I was well aware that this meant he was displeased with something, and both of us were surely in serious trouble. Cassia had folded her arms across her chest, obviously enjoying what was about to come.

“How was your night, Princess.”

“Lovely as yours, Father.”

“That wasn’t the case with mine,” he said softly before turning his gaze to Sebastian.

"Step forward, Sebastian," he ordered.

Sebastian did as he was told without arguing, even though he looked very concerned by the sharpness of father's tone.

"Have you been completely honest with us ever since you arrived in Nibiru?" he asked calmly.

Both Sebastian and I blinked, not quite understanding where he was going with this. Had a lie been discovered about his story?

"I have done nothing but told you the truth, Your Majesty," he said. "I would never lie about anything."

"And you swear that you don't remember anything about your past?" father continued.

"The last thing I remember is waking up and finding myself in that treehouse."

A long and silent minute passed, and I kept shifting my gaze between Sebastian, father and back to Sebastian once again. The two were locked in a heated staring contest, and they were both watching the other in anticipation of what would happen next.

"Perhaps it is in their nature to lie, Your Majesty," Cassia said. "After all, they are vile and wicked creatures."

Sebastian balled his hands into fists once again, and I could have sworn that he moved forward slightly. He would never hit a female however, would he? Maybe the rules were different for humans, and they were free to do whatever they wanted. But for faes, it was seen as a great crime to raise your hand to a female and strike her. Cassia knew this very well, and it was what she had used to be so successful during fights. Whenever she was facing off against someone, there would always be a slight moment of hesitation where they wouldn't want to strike a female. And that was when she would capitalise on it and attack them.

Right now, Sebastian looked like he didn't care about that rule. His hands remained balled into fists, and it was quite clear that he wouldn't have hesitated to hit her if she were a man. But I supposed the rule must apply to humans in some degree as well.

"What exactly is going on?" I asked, deciding to break the silence and finally uncover what this was all about.

Father wordlessly reached under his table, and he pulled out an old and dirty bag. He dropped it on the table, watching Sebastian's reaction to see if he would react to it. But Sebastian said nothing and simply stared.

"What is this?" he asked.

"I should be asking you the same question," father replied. "I was informed of a very strange behaviour ever since you arrived a few days ago, and it has lead me to believe that there is something seriously wrong somewhere. Your companions in the stables reported you sneaking off each night into the forest, and you don't come back until very early in the morning. So, I had some guards track your movements and see where you were going to. Apparently, you keep going back to the spot where Layla supposedly found you, and you do nothing but sit there and stare at nothing for hours. My men recovered this bag, and I find the items inside quite interesting."

He proceeded to pull the items out, and the first one I saw sent a chill down my spine.

It was an old map, rolled up and tied with a small string. When father unrolled it, I immediately recognised it as a map of the kingdom.

"Now tell me, why would a human who doesn't remember anything about himself possess a map of Nibiru, which he has supposedly never heard of? What's more, this map has been stolen from the royal archives, so how exactly did it get to you?"

I couldn't believe what I was looking at. Even though it was right in front of me, I just couldn't wrap my head around it. I couldn't even look up at Sebastian, because I was afraid of what I would see when I did.

"And then there is this," father continued, pulling out a short but sharp looking dagger. The blade was slightly curved, and there were some markings along the hilt of the blade which I could not recognise on first glance.

"A narzul blade," father said in a cold voice. "Capable of killing a fae and drawing their life force. This is a very dangerous weapon, and nearly all of them have been destroyed right underneath this palace. So how did it end up in your hands?"

"I swear on my life, I do not remember any of these," Sebastian said, the confused look on his face almost too real. Almost. "I don't even know what you're talking about. I can't remember sneaking off to anywhere at night. You must be mistaken. Why would I go to the forest and just sit there for hours? It doesn't make any sense, Your Majesty.”

"That's not everything," father said. "There is also a lock of enchanted hair which I am certain belongs to someone in this palace. There is a goblet which holds poison etched into it, some vials which contain all sorts of potions, and a scroll with elder writing on it. A human cannot have access to all of these."

"I have no explanation for this," Sebastian argued. "Please, you have to believe me."

"I have an explanation for it," Cassia said bitingly. "You are nothing but a spy, sent here to destroy our way of life and cause havoc wherever you go. Whoever sent you here no doubt wanted you to harm us, but we will not allow you to fulfil your mission.

Father turned to me then, and he said, "We have let a spy and an evil person into our midst. If we leave him like this, there is no telling what he could do. We must contain him until we know what he is truly after."

The two guards standing by the door stepped forward, but I found myself raising a hand to stop them. I didn't know what I was doing, and it was as if I was stuck in a trance, unable to see or even understand what I was doing. My lips were moving of their own accord, and I found myself saying, "I know what he's after."

Father blinked confusedly, and Sebastian turned to look at me with a wild look in his eyes.

"You do?" they both asked.

"Yes," I said. "He's here for me."

***

A/N;

Oh well, things are beginning to get a lot more interesting ??