The Princess's Servant

112. Rescue

Sybil's first thought was to confirm Holden's fears that Cara was all a lie. When he had believed that not a few days back, he'd been ready to distance himself from her forever. However, she'd clearly sewn enough doubt into him to cause him to want to rescue her... Or had she? It was possible that Holden only wanted her back because of his issues with his father and not because of any care he felt... If that were the case, then her job would be easy. He would free her and then never speak to her again: But the fact that Warrick seemed concerned at all hinted to her that this was probably not the case.

In any event, she needed a plan. And so deciding to stick by her word to neither hurt him, nor lie, Sybil determined she'd continue with the truth.

*****

Holden stood outside the door to Sybil's guesthouse. He had been with Sebastian not half an hour earlier when his supposed sister ambushed them at the maddening room. She dropped down from the ceiling and kicked Sebastian's head on the way down. He, in turn, grabbed her leg and spun her enough to send her flying into the stretching rack. When they both started trying to wrestle the other into the Iron Maiden, Holden interceded. He asked what the hell she was doing, trying to kill Sebs, and she replied that she wasn't trying to kill him, per se. She'd just been ordered to bring Holden to Sybil. He replied that he thought she was trying to hide Sybil from him, and she said the Warrick changed his mind. Frustrated and already over the events of the day, Holden ordered Morrigan to take him to her immediately, but she protested she didn't want him (AKA Sebastian) to know where Sybil was. Sebs replied that since he still technically out-ranked her (being a man) that she'd have to tell him if he commanded her, but that he wouldn't command her since he didn't care. Morrigan replied that he didn't outrank her and that anyways, he did care and that he was lying, at which point Holden stepped in again to say that Sebs probably needed to check in with Thomas anyways and that she should take him to see Sybil.

And so that's how he ended up outside of the guesthouse door. Morrigan had disappeared as soon as she'd arrived, leaving him alone in the blustering wind.

Holden braced himself. He had no idea what horrors his father and his sister had inflicted on Sybil in his absence — he needed to be prepared. He placed his hand on the doorknob and was surprised to find it was unlocked. Parting the door Holden found....

A well lit room with a table in the center. Sybil sat in a velvet with her ankles crossed and her teacup in hand. She appeared unscathed and wore her usual powder blue Lailoyan dress. A porcelain tea set was situated across from her on a low table, with one tea pot and two teacups. Across from her was an unoccupied seat.

"Prince Holden," Sybil greeted. She did not stand. "A pleasure to see you. Come. Sit."

Holden took a sidelong glance at the her and he neared the chair. He stood over it. "Sybil. What the hell is going on?"

She took a long sip of her drink. "Sit and I will explain it to you."

Holden eyed the seat again for any sign of a trap, not just from her necessarily, but from his family. When he did not see any poison tacks on the cushion, he very slowly sat down.

"Tea?" She asked.

"No thank you."

Sybil refilled her cup. She sipped from it and set it back down. "You probably expected to find me bleeding or bled-out. But unfortunately for you, I am neither. Morrigan and Warrick have treated me quite well in your absence, though it pains me to admit it."

Holden glanced around while Sybil took another sip. "Where are those two, anyways? Did they put you up to this?"

Sybil nearly choked on her drink. She'd meant the compliment to put him at ease with his family but clearly she'd overdone it. "No one's put me up to anything," she said when she recovered. "Quite the opposite. When Morrigan initially confronted me, I allowed her to win our fight so she could physically harm me. I figured that if you found me beaten within an inch of my life, it would prove some measure of my sincerity, like you wanted."