A Ballad of Snakes and Shadows // A Dark Sebastian Sallow Romance

Chapter One: Devil's Backbone

Devil's Backbone - The Civil Wars

I was afraid this would be the last peaceful moment I would have with him.

The unclear challenges that laid ahead of us were as vast as the ocean in the Vivarium, and I was sure they would drown us. I wouldn't get another chance to sit here on this beach, with his head on my lap. I would never get back the feeling of the cool, salty air that licked our cheeks as I ran my fingers through the soft locks of his hair. It would all become a distant memory, washed out into the sea and forgotten. There would be nothing to cling onto as it sank to the bottom of the ocean.

There would be no choice but to watch as all the good things were crushed beneath the weight of the bad. Under pressure it would all snap in two, and I wasn't sure if I could survive it.

If we could survive it.

It wasn't an easy task - smothering the burning fires of despair and uncertainty.

But I couldn't let it consume me, not yet. I wanted to be present here, forever in this moment with Sebastian. I wanted time to cease, and for all of the chaos and evil things that lurked in the shadows to disappear, like the sand under the waves. I wanted it to dissolve in the water and become so muddled you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between it and the rest of the sea.

Even I could feel the unease in Sebastian's shoulders despite his relaxed composure. It was evident in the slight stiffness that lingered in them, the kind that rolled off of him just as the waves did around us. The idleness in him also betrayed the carefree attitude he so often tried to front for me; I knew too well that his mind often wandered much further than the sea.

I wasn't alone in the creep of despair brought on by the strife outside the castle, though his hit closer to home. I wanted to siphon the worry out of him with every brush of my fingers through his curls. With each simple caress, I wanted to bring him the peace he so desperately needed.

There wasn't anything I wouldn't do to give him exactly what he wanted. The cure for his sister and Ranrok dead where he stood. But there were so many variables taking their seats in an already overcrowded room filled with doubt. How could I save Anne for him without losing a piece of myself?

The Keepers had been keen on making me understand that the magic Isadora had used was dark, unnatural, restricted - wrong... it would damn my soul to tap into it.

When it came to the fates of the Sallow twins, I couldn't help but ask if I would condemn myself if it meant that Anne could be free of her curse, and Sebastian could be free of the one he fought inside of his mind.

"Knut for your thoughts?" He murmured, pulling me out of my spiraling thoughts. I had to be strong for him, I told myself.

I could not waver.

"Do you think there's a spell that could make time stop for as long as we wished?" I whispered, turning my gaze out to the ocean. I didn't want him to know the extent of how much I played with all the options and fears inside my head. They were mine to take on and my problems alone - despite how much he knew of them.

I turned my head to look out onto the ocean that carried my fears in its currents. I wondered how far the Vivarium's sea went and considered if it was just an illusion made up by the Room. I theorized that the doors to the habitats were in fact some kind of portkey or a portal altogether. Perhaps we were much further away from the chaos than we knew. Maybe we were far enough away that we could leave it all behind.

"Perhaps we could consult the Book for something like that, but..." I felt the movement of Sebastian's head and peered down to find him looking up at me. There was a playful smile on those lips of his and my heart hammered a little harder in my chest as he simply stared at me.