A True Prince

Chapter Two

Sebastian quietly closed the hatch to the loft and joined Aslynn by the un-shuttered window. He could almost laugh at his foster mother's ideas. He and Aslynn in love?

She was his best friend.

The rain falling outside the loft window made a continuous rattle on the tile rooftops, not the usual soothing charm of a fall storm. He could see his dog, Artemis, standing outside the kennel's shelter, looking up at them in the window. He wished Mother Bette would let him bring the mastiff inside, if only during poor weather.

"It's a good storm," Aslynn said, turning to look at Sebastian. "What were they talking about?"

He shrugged. There was no reason not to tell her. "Mother wondered if you and I would fall in love, and Father told her it wouldn't matter. We could never marry, because I'm nobody."

She frowned at him; he suspected more for the last words he spoke than the first. "That really bothers you, doesn't it? Not knowing where you're from."

Sebastian nodded morosely. "I always thought that someday someone would step up and say, 'Hello, I'm your father'. And he would have some fantastic reason why I was on that slaver ship, like I was stolen by pirates, and it has taken all this while to track me down. But it's been fifteen years. Even if my parents haven't given up hope, I'm about to."

"Oh, 'Bastian." Aslynn opened her arms, and he scooted closer to accept her hug, resting his head against hers. "If it's any help at all, I'll make you a promise. You have been my best friend for as long as I can remember, and I will move heaven and earth to help you find your parents. I'll think of some way to do it, if you promise to never leave me alone here, with my awful stepmother and her awful, awful son."

"I promise," Sebastian whispered into her ear.

"As for falling in love with you...well, that would be like...," she fumbled, at a loss for words. Sebastian released her and smiled down at her.

"Like falling in love with your brother?"

"Exactly. I love you, 'Bastian, but I don't think I could ever be in love with you, if you take my meaning. You're too much of a good friend to ruin it by falling in love."

"Amen," he said, thinking he couldn't have said it better himself.

She sighed and shifted so that she rested against him as they gazed out at the storm. "This is the place I love best to be," she said candidly. "Away from the Great Hall and my stepmother. Away from Edward and Katrona. Away from people who expect me to be simple-minded and biddable. I love it here, sitting with you."

Sebastian smiled to himself, gratified that she felt she could say anything to him. "I love having you here."

Outside, the storm continued to rage.

"What's this?" Adam said, popping his head over the sill of the window as he lifted the glass pane up and out of his way. "Getting cozy?"

Aslynn laughed as they scooted back to give him room to climb in. "Took you long enough, Adam."

"Long enough to decide if I really wanted to go out in this rain," Adam said, hauling himself into the room and shaking the rain out of his short, blond hair. "I really should have gone to bed. The course is going to be even more difficult after tonight's storm."

Sebastian knew what he meant. The equestrian training course Master Jabari had designed, with its swinging targets, varied jumps, and changing obstacles, was hard enough even in ideal conditions. But Adam had confessed to Sebastian that he found it very hard to resist even the slightest invitation Aslynn gave him, however lacking in etiquette the invitation might be.