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

Chapter Fifty Six: Flesh and Bone

Flesh and Bone - Black Math

I'd never given much thought to being creative and trying my hand at painting and art. Yet when I found Sebastian, I wished I could capture him in a portrait. He was absolutely breathtaking against the snow as he leaned against a fir tree, but looked so out of place with his dark attire and the shadows that oozed off of him. He looked deadly beneath the canopy of fir and snow.

Much like a predator that was too powerful to be bothered with blending in.

I had originally asked him to meet me in the Room of Requirement. I wanted a few more moments alone with him before I walked into the Court. I didn't know what lay ahead for me there. Or if we would have known the same privacy we had been enjoying lately. I wanted to soak in every second of the feeling of his touch and his lips against mine.

The snow whipped around me as I approached Sebastian, causing me to clutch my winter coat a little more closely. Sebastian remained stoic as he leaned his head back against the wood. It was then I noticed how... exhausted he looked.

Sebastian's face might have been indifferent but the dark circles beneath his eyes gave him away. It didn't seem like he'd been sleeping well and I wondered what kind of nightmares plagued my poor shadow.

'I love you.'

I hated to think that perhaps my admission was what haunted him. Maybe it had done more harm than good. We were already on such a precarious slope. Our relationship had now entered a new state and the rules had been completely changed.

It was up to us to rewrite those rules but I had no idea where to begin. Our relationship had always been tumultuous at best, but now we were on the verge of becoming something more stable.

Well, as stable as a shadow and snake could be.

The first rule, I decided, was that I would not push Sebastian about how he felt. He could tell me when he was ready. It wouldn't have been fair for me to expect the same confession from Sebastian when I had been so scared to say mine aloud.

Maybe even God was afraid of something too.

When he looked so damned tired, maybe it was best to wait it out. I'd let him come down from the heavens when he felt the time was right for divine intervention.

No matter how long it took, I would wait for Sebastian.

Everything that laid ahead of me would surely be a hellish mixture of trials and tribulations. I was walking into the Court blindly but it would be worth it. Damning myself and selling my soul would always be worth it for Sebastian.

Whether he hated me for the choice I was making or for the love in my heart, I didn't care.

The only thing I cared about was saving Sebastian - even if it was from himself.

Sebastian sighed as I trudged through the snow to meet him. His breath plumed in a hot puff above his head before he looked down at me and the rather large luggage trunk I was pulling.

"I told you already that you didn't need to bring anything." He said as I rolled my eyes at him before setting the trunk down in the snow.

"And I told you I needed some of my things." I huffed. "If you think I'm going to submit myself to Court fashion, you're madder than I thought. Have you seen the gaudy things Belilah wears?"

I had brought along a few of my most well-loved items - clothes, a blanket, and a few books. I felt I needed to bring a piece of home with me, despite Sebastian's warnings. I didn't see any harm in avoiding having to wear the same frilly yet sensual clothes I'd seen Belilah in.