Sebastian e-1

by Anne Bishop

  Gasping from the pain and unable to stand, he cowered by the door, watching the females as they moved toward him.

  “Harland!” he shouted. “Harland! I can still help you!”

  But Harland and the other males were gone.

  As he felt something brush against the edges of his mind, as he realized he was going to die in this pit and the violation these creatures did to his heart would eclipse anything they did to his body, he accepted a painful truth.

  Sebastian had been right. Belladonna was Ephemera’s only hope.

  Swallowing down the sick churning in his stomach, Dalton raised his head and opened his eyes.

  Dark.

  Guardians of the Light and Guides of the Heart, where were they?

  He was still in the wagon, still holding his wife’s arm. “Aldys?”

  “D-Dalton?”

  “Lally? Dale?” He touched his children. “Anyone hurt?”

  “Hey-a!” a voice called.

  A lantern, bobbing to the rhythm of a fast walk, came down the road toward them.

  Releasing his family, Dalton’s left hand closed around the sheath of his sword. His right hand curled around the hilt.

  “You folks all right?” the man asked.

  “We’re fine,” Dalton replied warily. He relaxed a little when the man got closer and raised the lantern high enough so they could see his face. A good face. Older. Strong body and arms that came from solid work.

  “Where did you folks come from?”

  “Wizard City.” Seeing the man’s friendly expression fade, he added, “Heart’s Justice sent us here.” Wherever “here” was. “Is this one of Belladonna’s landscapes?”

  “Do you want it to be?”

  “Yes.”

  The man relaxed. “Well, Glorianna is never wrong about a heart.”

  “So this is one of Belladonna’s landscapes?”

  “Well, it is and it isn’t. Glorianna’s mother, Nadia, looks after this landscape. Village of Aurora is just down the road a ways, but the house is closer.” The man looked up at the sky. “It’ll be dawn in another hour or so. Easier to find your way to the village once the sun comes up. You follow me up to the house. I reckon the youngsters could use some warm milk, and you folks could use a bite to eat.”

  “We don’t want to intrude,” Aldys said nervously.

  “Never you mind that,” the man said with a smile. “Things are plenty stirred up tonight, so Nadia’s already in the kitchen.” He started to turn away, then turned back. “I’m Jeb, by the way.”

  Relief that they had found a safe place made Dalton light-headed, but as he untied the reins and released the brake, something occurred to him.

  “Jeb? Why are you out on the road this time of night?”

  “Was keeping watch for someone we’re expecting. They haven’t shown up yet, but they will. They will.”

  A good man, Dalton thought as they followed Jeb back to the Landscaper’s house. Caring people.

  He hoped whoever they were watching for made it back to them.

  The Eater of the World screamed in rage and fear. The True Enemy had taken the Dark Guides and their city out of the world, so far out of reach It couldn’t feel any resonance. Even when It had been caged, It had been able to feel the resonance of the Dark Guides. How could she control a place that held so much of their Dark power? How?

  And how could she defeat the Dark Guides? There were so many of them in that city! If she was powerful enough to cage all of them…

  It had to hide. It had to find a place far from these landscapes, a place where she wouldn’t look for It.

  As It fled back to the school, It considered all the landscapes It could reach through the gardens. But she would know about those places.

  The sea. It could hide in the sea. Hunt in the sea. Until It figured out a way to destroy the True Enemy.

  It moved through the gardens, flowing beneath the paths that were now cracked and growing noxious weeds until It came to the garden where it had left the stones it had taken from a stream that was, and wasn’t, in the four-footed demons’ landscape.

  It had recognized the resonance of a wizard, and the dark feelings in that heart had left the land around a bridge vulnerable to Its influence. So It had taken the stones to make an access point.

  Now It flowed over those stones, into those stones…and out into the stream. For a moment It lay at the bottom of the stream, blacker than the darkest shadow. Then It flowed up the bank and under the land, sensing the currents of Light and Dark—and a power, a strength of will and heart that resonated with those currents. But it wasn’t her.

  Rising to the surface, It changed shape.

  A well-dressed, middle-aged man walked down the road toward the village of Dunberry.

  “Daylight,” Teaser said, pushing back his chair.

  “What is it?” Yoshani asked, looking around.

  “Visitors. And not the kind we welcome around here.”

  “Teaser—”

  But he was already out of Philo’s courtyard and stepping into the street to block the two men riding toward him.

  “Evening,” the older man said, reining in before his horse reached Teaser.

  Teaser studied the two men. No badges, but he knew a guard’s jacket when he saw one. “Go back to where you came from.”

  “Can’t. And wouldn’t want to if we could.” He looked around and gave Teaser a smile that was sad and hopeful. “Looks like a nice place.”

  “This is the Den of Iniquity.”

  “The…” Both men looked startled. The older one whistled softly. “One of Belladonna’s landscapes.”

  Teaser bristled. The last thing anyone here needed was guards who were interested in Belladonna. “You’re not wel—”

  A strong hand on his shoulder stopped him. He looked at Yoshani, who was studying the guards.

  “Heart’s Justice?” Yoshani asked softly.

  The older man nodded. “I’m Addison. This is Henley.”

  “Teaser,” Yoshani said, “if this is where they ended up, this is where they belong. At least at this stage of their journey.”

  “They could be lying.”

  “No heart can lie to Glorianna Belladonna.”

  He felt stubborn. He felt scared. The hours since he’d brought Yoshani to the Den had been endless.

  “All right,” he said. “We’ll find a place for you to stay until the Justice Maker gets back. When he does, he’ll decide if you stay or go.”

  The guards looked uneasy. “You have a wizard here?”

  “A Justice Maker.”

  “Gentlemen,” Yoshani said. “Why don’t you take a seat in the courtyard and have something to eat?”

  While the guards tied up their horses and found seats in the courtyard, Teaser stared at the street, at the people going in and out of the taverns and gambling houses.

  “He’ll come back,” he said, softly but fiercely. “Sebastian will come back.”

  “And that, my friend, is why Belladonna wanted you here. Needed you here,” Yoshani said gently. “Because you believe he’ll come back. You believe it with all your heart.”

  Teaser felt the truth of those words settle inside him. “Yeah. I guess I do.”

  Glorianna woke up groaning. “I’m too old to sleep on the ground.”

  “You’re not ancient; you’re thirty,” Lee replied. “And you’re not on the ground; you’re on a blanket.”

  “Doesn’t make the ground any softer.” She pushed herself up. Her eyes felt gritty, her mouth tasted foul, and she was pretty sure she was the smell that made her nose wrinkle. But the other smell…Her eyes opened all the way. “Koffee?”

  “And some food.” Lee tipped one hand toward the basket beside him. The other hand held a mug of koffee.

  “Why didn’t you wake me so we could sleep in the guesthouse?” she grumbled, pushing her tangled hair off her face.

  “I banged a stone against an empty pot long enough and loud enough to wake
up everyone in the guesthouse. You didn’t even twitch. Had to roll you onto the blanket.” He set down his mug, got another from the basket, and filled it with koffee from a jug. “So stop whining.”

  “I’m not whining.”

  “Are too.”

  “Am…not.” She stared at him. “Are you going to give me that koffee?”

  “Are you going to keep whining?”

  “I’m—Just give me that.”

  Grinning, he handed her the mug, took a sip of his own, then dug into the basket and put out a plate of bread, cheese, and grapes.

  They ate in companionable silence, listening to birdsong and the trickle of the fountain.

  “So,” Lee said, dividing the rest of the koffee equally between them. “The Dark Guides are locked out of reach of the world.”

  “There are others who weren’t in the city,” Glorianna said.

  “But their true faces are revealed. They can no longer pretend to be humans with magic.”

  “No, they can’t. But there are also wizards who have enough human blood that their appearance won’t change.”

  “Then they have a choice, don’t they? With the others exposed as Dark Guides, they can choose to continue following the Dark currents nurtured by the Wizards’ Council or they can become Justice Makers in the true sense.”

  She nodded. “The Landscapers who survived the attack on the school, if there are any, will have to make choices, too. I can help them, if they’ll let me. I’m not sure they will.”

  “Can they help you?”

  She shook her head. That’s something she already knew with certainty. “They don’t have inside them what is needed to fight the Eater of the World.”

  “You can’t fight It alone, Glorianna.”

  I don’t think that’s going to be a choice. “We’ll see.”

  He hesitated, then asked softly, “What about Sebastian?”

  “I know where to find Sebastian.” Then she added just as softly, “If he followed his heart.”

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  The sound of waves rolling into shore. A steady sound. Familiar. Comforting.

  Sebastian rolled onto his back and opened his eyes. Dark. He hadn’t expected anything else. Not really. And yet, some small part of him, right before Heart’s Justice had swept him away, had hoped—

  Lynnea!

  His body jolted into a sitting position. He twisted to his left when he heard a soft groan. Patting the ground, he found her hand, her arm.

  Shifting to his knees, he gently explored, his hands roaming over her body. No jagged pieces of bone. No wet spots that would indicate she was bleeding.

  She groaned again, then said hesitantly, “Sebastian?”

  “Lie still, sweetheart.” His hands went to her shoulders to hold her down. “Are you hurt? Is there any pain?” Her neck. What if she hurt her neck? “Can you move?”

  “I could if you weren’t holding me down. Let me up. There’s a stone digging into my butt.”

  He helped her sit up, then pulled her into his arms and hung on, choking on the sobs that were going to explode out of him at any moment.

  “You foolish woman,” he said, his voice breaking. “Why did you do that? I asked Glorianna to let you have your heart’s desire. I asked her, heart-to-heart. And she would have given it to you, because I asked. Heart’s Justice or not, she would have done it.”

  “And she did,” Lynnea said, reaching up to rest a hand against his face. “She did give me my heart’s desire. I wanted to be with you.”

  He cried. He couldn’t stop it, couldn’t hold the tears back. “I love you, Lynnea. I love you.”

  “And I love you, Sebastian. With all my heart.”

  He sniffed, brushed away the tears. Tried to regain some control. “We’ll make a good life. Somehow we’ll make a good life.”

  “Yes, we will. Together. But…”

  He felt her head move as she looked around. No, he saw her head move.

  It wasn’t quite as dark as it had been a few minutes ago.

  “Where are we?” Lynnea asked.

  He looked around—and felt a jolt deep in his gut. It couldn’t be. Could it?

  The lake. The line of tall bushes that had been planted as a windbreak. The trees. And there. The long break in the trees that gave him a clear view of the lake…and the moonlight.

  “I think I know where we are,” he said, pulling Lynnea to her feet. “Come on.” Taking her hand, he led her through the trees until they reached a dirt lane.

  “It’s your cottage,” Lynnea whispered.

  “Our cottage.”

  He approached it slowly, studying it in the strange gray light. It was definitely his cottage, but it wasn’t the same landscape. There was something very odd about this moonlight.

  He frowned at the cottage. The shutters needed painting.

  “Sebastian?”

  The moonlight had never made that apparent before.

  “Sebastian.”

  He turned, felt a fizz of panic when he realized Lynnea had wandered a little way away and was staring at the break in the trees. When she started heading toward the cliff and the lake, he hurried after her.

  “Lynnea, wait. We don’t know anything about this landscape. We don’t—” He stopped. Stared.

  “Oh,” Lynnea said, laughing and crying. “Oh, Sebastian.” She flung her arms around him. “Isn’t it beautiful?”

  He couldn’t speak. He just stared, blinking back tears. He hadn’t seen one in fifteen years. He wanted to see every moment of this one.

  With his arms wrapped around Lynnea, he watched the sun rise.

  Thank you, Glorianna Belladonna.

  In sunlight, they walked back to the cottage and heard someone calling, “Hey-a, the house!”

  Hurrying around the cottage, they saw Jeb standing near the trees, holding a basket. Relief swept over the other man’s face when he saw them.

  “How…?” Sebastian said.

  “Glorianna came by yesterday and told us about your being taken to Wizard City. She said if you followed your heart, this is where we’d find you come morning.” Jeb grinned at Lynnea. “And here you are.” Then he sobered. Looking at Sebastian, he added, “I think she’s been waiting these past few years for you to be ready to walk in the Light again. Guess you finally found a reason to try.”

  “Guess I have,” Sebastian said, his voice thick with too many feelings. The heart had no secrets from Glorianna Belladonna.

  “But…where are we?”

  Jeb scratched the back of his neck. “Well, I’m not a Landscaper, so I can’t tell you for certain, but from what I gathered, the Den is still down the lane that way. And if you follow the lane the other way, you’ll come to the main road that leads into Aurora.”

  “Then the cottage must belong to somebody.” Sebastian felt a pang of regret. While the cottage had been lost in a dark landscape, whoever owned it wouldn’t want it, even if the person could have found it. Now…

  “Your auntie owns the cottage and the land around it. She and Glorianna…Well, you’ll have to ask them how they worked things out between them.” Jeb studied the back of the cottage. “Shutters could use a coat of paint. I can give you a hand with that, if you like.”

  “Thank you.”

  “It’s a kindness. Oh. Your auntie sent this basket.” Jeb put the basket down beside Lynnea. “Figured you wouldn’t have anything to eat here. She said you’re welcome to come by for dinner tonight.”

  “I need to check on the Den tonight. I want to make sure everyone is all right.”

  “Well, tomorrow then. Glorianna and Lee will be coming for dinner. Reckon you’ll need to talk to Lee about what bridges might be needed now that the landscape has altered.”

  “Oh!” Lynnea said. “Is the bridge to Nadia’s house still in the woods?”

  Jeb chuckled. “No need for a bridge anymore. You’re in the same landscape. Just follow the path. That’s where it’s always led.” He shifted his feet. Studie
d the cottage’s roof.

  “Was there something else?” Sebastian asked.

  “Coupla things, actually. First…” Jeb dug into his pocket. “Your auntie wasn’t sure either of you would have a key on you, so she sent this one along. Second…” Now he looked uncomfortable. “I know folks in the Den might see things differently than in other landscapes, and I know you’re both straddling a line here, but you’re going to be spending time in Aurora, too, shopping and whatnot. The thing is, if you don’t want some folks saying things they’ve got no business saying, you should marry the girl.”

  Sebastian tipped his head. “I could say the same to you.”

  Jeb looked sheepish. “I did ask her.”

  “And?” He drawled the word.

  Jeb squared his shoulders. “Your auntie said she’d marry me a week to the day after you become a husband.”

  Sebastian gave Jeb a wolfish smile. “Tell Aunt Nadia her wedding is two weeks from today.” Then he realized he’d missed a step when Lynnea just cocked her head and looked at him. “If you wouldn’t mind getting married a week from today. And…if you’re willing to marry me.”

  “Is that a proposal?” Lynnea asked, sounding puzzled enough to make him sweat.

  “A fumbled one,” Jeb said sourly, “but it sounded like a proposal to me.”

  Lynnea threw her arms around Sebastian’s neck. “No, I don’t mind, and yes, I’ll marry you!”

  Wrapping his arms around her, he swung her in a circle. When he set her down, he lowered his head to give her a kiss that would make the air sizzle. Before his lips touched hers, Jeb cleared his throat.

  Sebastian rested his forehead against Lynnea’s. “Are you still here?”

  “One other thing your auntie wanted me to mention.”

  His auntie was a bundle of messages.

  “A mated pair of keets hatched three babies a few weeks ago. Nadia thought maybe you’d—”

  “A baby Sparky?” Lynnea’s eyes shone with excitement.

  Seeing that look in her eyes, Sebastian stifled a groan. He could learn to live with a little featherhead.

  “You can take a look at them when you come to dinner.” Lifting two fingers in a salute, Jeb finally turned and walked back into the woods.