The Black Rose
Briar passed a week in misery as she realized that Sebastian had taken her foolish words to heart and did not intend to see her again. She grew a bit thinner as she lost interest in eating and if Dragon saw the tear tracks on her cheeks at night he didn't comment on them.
The quill rested between the pages of her book marking her song for the contest but she read through the words again and shook her head. There was no possible way for her to sing a song of love found now. The way she felt she'd never do it justice.
Taking up her quill and dipping it in the inkpot she set it to the page and the words began to flow from her onto the page. It was so easy to write what she was feeling, the sense of loss and confusion, and wonder. Leaving the book open to let the ink dry she resolved to begin practice immediately the next day. She would have to work very hard to be ready in time for the contest. She had only a week left.
Sebastian knelt at Briar's bedside and mentally told himself that he should be put to the sword for putting Briar through such pain. The increased fragility of her body and the tears just drying on her face spoke to him eloquently of how hard she was taking this situation.
Unable to help himself he stroked a hand lightly over her hair, fingertips gently brushing her soft cheek. Growing bolder he swept his lips over her forehead and then her cheekbone and finally, the softest caress yet, his mouth brushed over hers. A sigh escaped her in sleep and in the faintest of voices she murmured. "Sebastian, please…"
His heart nearly broke at the pain and longing in her voice even as hope flared hot within him that she missed him and desired his company. "I love you Briar." He did barely more than mouth the words and rose to leave before he lost control and betrayed his presence completely.
As he looked back at her from the window though he noticed the faintest of smiles on her lips and an answering smile tugged at his mouth.
A few minutes after the window shut behind him Dragon's eyes opened and he scowled as he sat up and looked around the room. He's suspected that Sebastian was watching Briar, and he'd just had it confirmed. But why on earth was he keeping his visits a secret from Briar? Dragon shook his head. One way or another he would find out.
Briar flexed and curled her fingers nervously as she waited her turn to perform. She was trembling she knew, and it wasn't fear of the crowd or the judgment of her performance. She didn't know if Sebastian would attend the performance but the way rumors and news flew through the city, word of her music today would reach him. The tantalizing hope that he would hear of the content of her song today and perhaps understand that it was meant for him, and perhaps he would come to see her again had her nerves more on edge than any amount of stage fright could.
Dragon watched his friend and his gaze roamed over the crowd. Consideringly he returned his eyes to the nondescript man who sat on the steps nearby Briar. The warrior had seen that man before, in the street across from their inn and in various places around the city, all places that Briar visited. As he watched, the man looked up and saw him, and then looked down again. Dragon shifted his position and looked again, and the man was gone.
Sebastian watched from his place by a pillar. The brown dye that darkened his skin and hair lent a muddy tone to his distinctive eyes and his posture was painfully incorrect. But most importantly, he could see Briar and hear her perform, and no one would know it was he. He watched as she shifted her stance slightly and hoped she wasn't nervous about singing before so many people. She was more than capable of such a performance.
He heard her name called and inwardly cheered as a small murmur of anticipation swept through the crowd. Those who were not bards were excited about getting a free performance because of the contest and they seemed especially pleased to be hearing Briar.
Briar walked to the stage and prayed that Sebastian would hear something of her music today. Nodding to the judges and dipping a small curtsey to the crowd she waited for the head of the judges to announce the title of her piece.
"An original piece, lyrics and music composed by The Black Rose, entitled 'Small Consolation'." The man announced loudly and clearly, showing that he too had some small bardic talent.
She ran her fingers over her harp and drew forth a spartan melody. It seemed to resound with longing and made Sebastian's heart ache.
"I told you to go
Fool that I was, I didn't see
How much you meant to me.
Even if I had understood
How could I know?
::
You are everywhere I look
I see you, in every face
In a crowd, I still find a trace
Of your eyes and your smile,
A chance word a stranger spoke
::
I am missing you
How can an innocent heart ache
So terribly? What did you take
From me, to cause such pain?
Are the tales of love really true?
::
How do I say I was wrong?
That all I care for is missing
There's no solace in wishing
Hopelessly. And all I have
To show for this sorrow is a song.
It's small consolation."
::
As her voice died away and the music faded slowly afterward there was absolute silence. The longing of her music had been completely eclipsed by the aching pain in her voice. Briar stood for a moment and regarded the crowd with eyes that seemed black with emotion, and then dipped another curtsey.
As she moved applause erupted like thunder and the shock of the sudden noise nearly made the bard flinch. Her slow sweet smile spread over her face, tinged with sorrow and she moved to leave the stage.
Sebastian stood frozen with the shock of hearing aloud what he had read on her face and then broke from his daze to make his way back home, carefully keeping to his guise until he reached the servants entrance of the palace.
Briar listened as her name was read for the finalists in the contest. The faintest hint of a smile touched her lips and then was gone. That Malachi's name was also read she noticed but gave the fact no particular attention.
Looking around she saw it was almost sundown. On a whim she made her way to the edge of the city where she could see the fiery reflection of the sunset in the river and the mist of the falls. Perhaps the beauty would enable her to forget the troubles of her heart, at least for a time.
When at last the skies were nearly purple and only the faintest hint of pink glowed on the horizon Briar turned away from the sunset. Making her way back to the inn she failed to note that she was being followed by two men. One of them was the protector which Sebastian had insisted be assigned to his lady. The other was not.
The knife that came slicing down towards her back was avoided by the merest chance. A woman with a hat in extraordinarily bad taste passed the bard and she turned sharply for a second look. The blade ripped at her flowing sleeve and left a stinging line of pain along her arm.
A cry of shock erupted from her throat and she turned drawing her blades as she did so. The dark cloaked man who wielded the knife glared at her from behind a scarf tugged over his face and attacked again. Angrily Briar defended herself and it was obvious from the suddenly widening eyes of the man that he had not been aware of her skill with a blade.
He parried her rapier with his knife and with a skill that made her eyes narrow drew a short sword from his belt. Steel clashed with a loud ring as the two fought. They both heard footsteps running towards them at the same time and Briar grimly wished she could spare a glance to see if it was an ally or another opponent who was arriving. The blade that disarmed her enemy of his knife was held by an average appearing man with thinning brown hair and a grim look in his eye.
The enemy, outnumbered, in a burst of strength pushed past Briar, shoving her aside to stagger and regain her balance after a stunned moment. In the failing light she lost sight of him as he ran down the street and into the safe obscurity of the shadows. Turning to her unexpected ally she thanked him. "That was very well done of you." She said taking a deep breath.
"It was my pleasure Lady." The man bowed lower than her lack of rank required.
"Please allow me to buy you a meal and a drink at least, in thanks." She offered gesturing to the direction of The Lark In the Morning.
"No lady, I thank you, but I must continue on." He shook his head and offered a shy smile. "That you live to make more music for the city is enough. If his Highness enjoys your music then you are extraordinary indeed." He ducked his head and pulled a cap over his sparse locks. "I will escort you to your dwelling though if I may, to ensure your safety."
Briar nodded and smiled her thanks. "It is not very far. And I have had no trouble here ever." She commented as they proceeded at a quick pace. "How did you know that Prince Sebastian likes my music?" She turned to ask as they arrived in the inn's courtyard.
His grin was so wide that Briar could see where one tooth was missing even in the dim light of the inn's torches. "I work in the palace kitchens my lady." He replied. "His Highness is talked of often there, and it's said that after he hears your music he hums your tunes and talks of you for days." With another bow he turned and disappeared into the shadows.
Dragon had finally had enough. It was one thing for Briar to lose sleep and shed a few tears over Sebastian. It didn't harm her in small amounts and might just help her understand that she loved the prince. But she was losing weight she couldn't afford to lose, crying herself to sleep and now she'd been physically attacked on her way home. After making sure she was resting safely in their room and enlisting the innkeeper's aid in preventing anyone from disturbing her he cast a spell to ward the room from anyone but he or Sebastian entering.
Then Dragon went on the warpath. The jeweled hilt of his father's sword gleamed over his shoulder enticingly. The expression however on his scarred wicked looking face must have given any would be thieves second thoughts for he was not attacked as he walked with long angry strides over the bridge that led to the palace.
He was stopped at the gate however by guards who were not visibly impressed by his wrath or face. They did allow him to enter when he said he brought a message from the Black Rose for Prince Sebastian.
That ruse allowed him entry into the palace itself though several guards check his sword to make sure it was bound by the intricate knots called peace bonds. He was left cooling his heels in an antechamber and when the door opened finally he turned ready to bellow at Sebastian only to find the delicate face of the Princess Lorelei regarding him thoughtfully.
With an effort Dragon kept his voice lowered. "I need to speak to your brother." He ground the words out.
"Well I'm sorry but you can't." Lorelei said simply.
"Don't tell me what I can or can't do, little girl." Dragon growled in his macabre voice. "I've had it up to my eyebrows with your brother and the pain he's inflicting on an innocent girl. And I won't have you running interference for him. He'll come out and listen while I explain why he's going to make sure Briar understands what's happening, on the pain of his pretty face being scarred worse than mine, or I'll blast my way through this lovely assemblage of marble until I find him and then I'll explain things to him."
"How dare you!" Lorelei hissed. "How dare you barge in here on pretext of carrying a message from the girl who's tormenting my brother endlessly, when your only intention is to do bodily injury to him and threaten more of the same."
"How dare you interfere!" Dragon shouted. "If you'd come out into the real world once in a while Your Highness, you might notice that someone tried to kill my sister tonight and it's because of your precious baby brother!"
"Would the two of you mind lowering your voices to a volume decent for evening hours?" A new voice inquired in rich masculine and slightly irritated tones.
The two combatants turned at the sound and their faces were for a moment identical in chagrin.
"Daddy!" Lorelei cried and rushed to embrace her father. "I'm sorry." She said penitently. "But Dragon makes me very angry." She glared at Dragon as if the entire situation was his fault.
Dragon who had bowed automatically, straightened with a glare at Lorelei. "Don't push your luck little girl." He growled. Looking at the king he inclined his head. "I apologize for disturbing you."
Amon looked at his daughter and then at the scarred yet still noble visage of the warrior who stood across from them both. "No one was disturbed." He said mildly, "Yet," An edge of menace crept into his voice. "I would ask that this be resolved though, or postponed until the morning."
"I'm sorry sire." Dragon said in resolute tones. "It will be resolved as soon as I am able to speak with your younger son." His deep raw edged voice was slightly menacing as he spoke of Sebastian.
"Well, this entire incident could have been avoided if someone had told you earlier that Sebastian isn't here." Amon said a trace of amusement threading through his voice. "He disappeared earlier this evening. His mother said he was going off to see someone."
An expression of extreme frustration crossed Dragon's face. "Sweet gods." He muttered. Rolling his eyes towards the heavens as if pleading for patience he sighed.
"May I inquire as to who you are?" Amon's voice hadn't completely lost its edge.
Dragon's mouth jerked in a rueful grin. "My apologies your Majesty." He bowed. "I am brother to the Black Rose. Nwyfan Reisolnt Draco." He slanted a glance at Lorelei. "Most find it easier to say Dragon."
Amon nodded and glanced at his daughter whose expression had frozen into something a bit colder than ice. "Well Dragon, if you wouldn't mind waiting until tomorrow a message will be left for Sebastian that you would like to speak with him."
"I thank you." Dragon nodded at Lorelei and bowed to the king again and turned walking with graceful anger from the room and eventually from the palace.
Amon turned and looked more closely at his daughter, noting the angry snapping of her amber eyes. "Was there something you wanted to tell me Lorelei?" He asked attempting a stern tone and failing utterly as he looked on the daughter he adored shamelessly.
"About Daddy?" She tilted her head in a coquettish manner and smiled up at him.
"About the very angry young man who just left, who seems to address you so familiarly." Amon returned not willing to be teased into forgetting about the incident that had just occurred, at least not yet.
"He is the brother of Sebastian's…" Lorelei paused as she tried to determine a way to phrase Briar's status delicately. "Sebastian's new friend Briar."
"He seemed a tad angrier than someone whose sister is only a 'friend' to Sebastian." Amon said thoughtfully. "And he seems to know you fairly well." He looked at his daughter with a gleam in his eye that made Lorelei shift uneasily.
"Friend is Briar's word for her position not Sebastian's." Lorelei said in a tone of voice that made her father think Lorelei wasn't entirely happy with the lady in question. "I met Dragon," her voice hardened, "when I met Briar."
"That doesn't explain how he knows you well enough to address you by name." Amon's expression led his daughter to think that it wasn't Dragon's familiarity with her name that Amon was annoyed about.
"We've spoken on a couple occasions." Lorelei shrugged carelessly. "Dragon is strange, he seems to get to know people very quickly if he intends to know them at all, otherwise he ignores folk for the most part."
"But he feels free enough with you to storm into a royal palace and make demands?" Amon inquired in a deceptively mild tone.
"No." Lorelei rolled her eyes. "He is just that angry with Sebastian." She frowned slightly. "Though if someone tried to hurt Briar because of Sebastian I don't know that I'd blame him. Normally though he doesn't raise his voice. Nothing seems to really upset him." She looked up at her father. "Did mother say when Sebastian would be back?"
"In a day or two I think." Amon answered the question absently as he studied his daughter. "You don't mind his familiarity?" He asked curiously.
"Dragon's?" Lorelei made a face. "You might as well ask if I mind the roaring of the waterfalls." She said wryly. "Dragon isn't someone you explain or change or reason with, he just is."
"So you know him this well but you didn't know his name until tonight?" Amon deduced shrewdly.
Lorelei's pretty face darkened with irritation. "He only ever offered the name of Dragon." She returned. "He is a good man but at first glance forbidding enough that people simply believe that is his name. And I suppose it is in a way, since Draco is elven for Dragon."
Amon nodded. He wasn't sure he liked the fact that Lorelei knew this man so well and apparently didn't mind his arrogance or lack of formality. He sighed. Sometimes he wasn't sure which position provided more headaches, being a king or being a father. And that reminded him, he'd best apprise Sabine of the latest developments with Sebastian's lady love. Something told him his wife would be extremely interested in the events of the evening.
Briar groaned as she lay back on her bed. The last part of the contest had been announced two and a half weeks ago. The finalists would have a month to submit two traditional songs to the judges then they would have a week to practice the songs before performing both of them. One of the pieces was to determine how well a bard performed traditional material in the style in which the song was written. The other piece was to see how well the bard adapted the song to his own style. Briar had finally determined after a great deal of discussion and worry, the two songs she would sing.
She covered her face with her hands and shook her head. Her greatest worry was that she would appear maudlin. Thankfully a chance suggestion of Dragon's had kept her from making that mistake.
Sitting up she took her harp from where it stood on the table. Tightening the strings and tuning it carefully a faint smile touched her lips. The only time she reached a measure of peace these days was when she was immersed in her music. Her strong slim fingers moved over the strings and pulled forth one of the two melodies she would perform. As the music concluded a faint sigh escaped her.
From the hallway someone listened to the music from the shadows. Dark eyes were darker with unreadable emotion as that person remembered an occurrence of a few days before.
Sabine had finally determined that Sebastian was not going to ask his parents for help with the situation he'd found himself in. Reportedly his brother and sisters were worried about him, and with good reason. The queen had gone to Raden and the master of spies had confirmed her suspicions as to what was happening.
From Raden's office, she had proceeded directly to Sebastian's rooms to await her son's arrival. More than five hours later, her patience was rewarded with a sight she would never forget. A grime-darkened hand pushed open the window and her son's face appeared over the ledge.
He was not moving with his customary grace however and nearly fell from his high perch back down the castle wall. Sabine moved quickly and pulled him inside to tumble ignominiously to the floor with a groan of pain.
Kneeling quickly beside him Sabine saw a dark stain spreading over the shoulder of his dusty grey tunic. At that moment Amon entered the room in search of his absent wife. Sabine's eyes jerked up to him and she ordered. "Get a healer, one from the temple of Night." Her tone did not brook any argument and her husband hurried to follow her instruction, his face set with concern.
When he returned it was to see his wife cutting away the tunic his youngest son wore. "Help me get this off and put him up on the bed." She said quietly. As Amon set his son down gently Sebastian's eyes opened and he looked at his parents and uttered a weary curse. "Precisely." Sabine agreed with a hiss in her voice. "You will be pleased to explain this to me after your wound is healed."
The arrival of the cleric prevented any further speech. Efficiently and with little speech the man bathed and then healed the wound. Sabine left for a moment to reward the man for his efforts and returned with a grim smile on her face.
"Now Sebastian." She said coldly. "Your explanation for this…this extremely foolhardy course of action." Amon folded his arms and glared down at his son.
"I could hardly let anyone see me returning to the palace wounded." Sebastian said reasonably, as he carefully pushed himself up to a sitting position. Amon shot a glance at his wife that she could easily read as meaning 'this is your son'.
"And what were you doing that you became wounded?" Sabine asked without expression on her face or in her voice. Sebastian felt a twinge of concern go through him realizing that his mother was either extremely hurt or very angry, most likely both.
"Putting paid to the enemy that has been attempting to kill Briar." Sebastian said wearily. "He managed to get in a parting shot with his dagger but he is dead."
"And why has someone been trying to kill Briar?" Sabine queried wanting the entire story not just the quick version of events.
"Because I care for her, in order to hurt me, they will kill her." Her son said in a guilty tone. "Now, I can only wait to be certain there are no others." He leant back and sighed.
"And if there are?" Amon asked in a low voice. His eyes, the same eyes that stared back at him from a masculine version of Sabine's face, were intensely worried for this young man who was so like his wife and so very important to him.
"I have someone watching Briar. He was able to intervene the last time." Sebastian pushed his hands through his hair. "He stays closer than ever now, and Briar is skilled with a blade, and Dragon a capable mage and great warrior." He sounded more as if he were trying to convince himself than his father. "I never expected this you know." He remarked seemingly out of the blue. His parents regarded him curiously. He shrugged with a slight wince. "I knew what I was going to be, and I hadn't fallen in love with anyone, I thought that might be a good thing. But Briar…she took me by surprise and I love her, and now I don't know what I'd do if something happened to her."
His mother smiled sympathetically. "If you must, tell Raden we wish her to be protected as well, if someone is still targeting her." Her husband nodded his support of that plan.
"And make sure no one is putting a target on you Sebastian." His father cautioned. His wife nodded her agreement, seeing the wisdom in Amon's words. Sabine leant down to kiss her son on the cheek, a tender motherly salute, while Amon simply gripped the shoulder than hadn't been injured and gave it a warm squeeze. The two of them left their son to his thoughts.
Dark eyes focused sharply back on the present as the music began again. From within the room the voice of the harp and of the singer almost seemed as one. The purity of the voice was of the caliber of someone who had dedicated her life to music.
"Something about the way you look at me
As if you're seeing what no one else can see
Something about the light in your eyes
Fills me with wonder and terror and surprise
There's something there.
::
And I can't explain how it makes me feel
So glad but so afraid this isn't real
And I know I sound like a fool
When I look at you I could break all the rules.
Why do I care?
::
You smile like you have a way of knowing
Before I can hide it, my heart is showing
And I think you're someone I can trust
When you're the one I should fear the most.
There's something there.
Oh there's something here."
Briar looked up from the harp and realized that she'd stopped playing. Sliding her fingers along the strings again she bowed her head. Songs like that one came to her more and more easily. It was as if she was discovering another part of herself. She touched her cheek where Sebastian had kissed her once and wondered if he would ever kiss her again. The harp strings chimed as she thought of him and their friendship. Part of her was afraid to want more from her relationship with Sebastian, since there was always a chance it would come to nothing. Another part of her wanted him and to love him more than anything else. She wasn't sure which was more frightening. Finally she set her harp aside and reached for her flute. As she did her hands froze in midair and she stared at the shadows of her doorway.
A woman stood there. A woman easily her own height with a coronet of pale golden braids around her elegant head. White skin and deep purple eyes somehow gave the impression of amethysts, alabaster and gold. She wore dark grey, the color of granite in suede leathers and a linen shirt in icy violet.
Briar took a gasping breath and watched as the woman moved further out of the shadows and the details of her face became more apparent. The tips of her ears were delicately pointed, and her face was a lovely stern visage, the image of Sebastian's only made feminine, exquisitely female. Briar's face contorted in dismay and she threw herself from the bed to kneel on the floor. "Your Majesty." She breathed.
"Please do not." The low voice seemed to flow like honey spiced with cinnamon. "I have never been able to properly appreciate folk kneeling before me due to the title I bear." She came further into the room and shut the door behind her.
Briar simply looked up at her in amazement at her presence. With a slow smile that made her entire face glow Sabine moved towards the shocked girl and helped her to rise. When she was standing the two women were equal in height. A low chuckle burst from Sabine's mouth and quirked her mouth wryly. "I bet you considered yourself a tall woman until you met my son?" She asked.
Briar smiled in spite of herself. "Actually your Majesty, all of my family is taller than I, but for a woman with more elven blood than human, I was considered extremely tall."
Sabine nodded. "So it was with myself." She took a long look at the girl before her and liked what she saw. Taking a seat mostly so Briar would feel free to sit down again she gestured towards the bed inviting the bard to relax. "I came to see you primarily because I wished to determine what sort of a woman my son felt was important enough to risk his life for." Though her tone was subtle her words were direct in a manner she'd learned from her husbands family could be extremely effective if not overused. The result was worth it as Briar's face paled.
"Is Seb-, His Highness all right?" Dark green eyes were wide with shock and the bards mouth trembled.
"Sebastian is fine now." Sabine told her. "I am aware that he has given you permission to bypass titles and rank and address him by name. I urge you to do so with his entire family, including his father and myself." She tilted her head consideringly. "Though I surmise it will take you fully as long to do so as it did for myself." Briar nodded and Sabine smiled. "Sebastian told me about you. Now I would like to hear what is going on from you. I am worried about my son. Since our return to the city he has not been well."
Briar looked at Sebastian's elegant mother and shook her head in amazement. It was so difficult to believe that this woman had been, according to her son, an assassin. Then the bard reconsidered. Most rulers when faced with a problem of this nature would summon the girl in question to the palace and speak with her there, where she would be bound to feel overwhelmed and somewhat out of place. Sebastian's mother instead donned plain clothing and discarded all her trappings of rank to come and visit her son's friend at the friend's temporary home. This was an extremely unusual lady. "I am sorry." Briar spoke after a moment more of contemplation. "I'm not sure what you want to hear from me, or even what you mean."
Sabine's mouth twisted wryly. "It doesn't matter what I wish to hear, I asked for the truth of what is going on. What is between you and my son? Why is he risking his life in dangerous games that he could cheerfully otherwise ignore?"
"Friendship, my lady." Briar returned in a controlled voice. "That is what is between us. I do not know why he risks his life, only that it is his nature to play such games, and I know he has a talent for intrigue. He told me once that his nature was much like yours, my lady." In comparison to her reaction when told Sebastian was hurt, the bard was calm and sat on the edge of her bed with her hands folded neatly in her lap.
"And he was correct." Sabine frowned. "My name is Sabine." She said after a moment. "I would that you please address me by it." Her voice was gentle though her words emerged formally. "You are also correct in saying Sebastian has a talent for intrigue and masks. You appear to have some talent in that area yourself, as a bard no doubt it is useful. But there is more between you and my son than friendship, simple friendship anyway." Deep purple eyes scanned Briars lovely face speculatively.
Briar made a face and shrugged. "I wear the persona of a bard, The Black Rose, like most women wear a favorite piece of jewelry." She touched the pendent at her throat with her fingertips. "People adore The Black Rose, but she is only one aspect of myself. Sebastian…" She paused a moment. "Sebastian was fascinated with my music at first, but unlike the others, he wished to know where the music came from I think. Perhaps that is why he sought out my friendship. But there is nothing more."
Sabine's gaze sharpened and her mouth tightened imperceptibly. "It is a strange sort of nothing that provokes my son into defying his parent's orders and trying to leave Suzail beforetime. It is an extremely odd version of nothing that has him pursuing his enemies with the persistence of a hunting cat whose temper is roused. It is not nothing that causes him to lose sleep or treasure above all other possessions the letters you have written to him."
Briar stared at her queen and shook her head. "I cannot do anything about the way he acts. He has ever overridden my objections to his attentions and interest in me."
"Then you did object at first?" Sabine asked slowly, a gleam in her eyes.
"For all the good it did me." Briar's tone was tinged with exasperation. "He would not listen, he refused to cease writing to me, watching me sing, he intensified his flood of invitations to dine or walk or shop." She flung her hands upward and let them fall. "He insisted on becoming my friend until I enjoyed his friendship and now…" she sighed. "Now, he tells me that in order to protect me, he must stay away. And he told me before he left that he felt more than friendship, that he'd always wanted more. But nothing has happened." Her last words were uttered almost frantically as if she was trying to convince Sabine that she hadn't done anything to further a relationship that the queen could only object to should Sebastian try to make it permanent.
"Why has nothing happened?" Sabine asked gently. "Did you not wish for your friendship with him to continue and deepen?"
"Friendship yes." Briar returned. "But in spite of his assurances I know that I am not the type of person Sebastian should take an interest in. My social rank is nonexistent." She rolled her eyes. "He overrode that objection as well. And I managed to convince myself that all I wanted was his friendship. He keeps telling me he wants more and I keep putting him off. Apparently I don't fool him, since he says I should at least stop lying to myself. But he must finally have decided that I am right for he hasn't even come to visit me secretly to talk lately. Before he would do that, I'd give him a private concert since he couldn't come to the public ones, and we would just talk. It was good to be with him."
"But he hasn't come lately?" Sabine took in all of Briar's words and repeated that phrase hoping Briar would elaborate.
"I…I heard a rumor and I wrote, challenging him with it. Unfortunately after I sent the letter I realized another possibility, but it was too late. He hasn't spoken to me since, so he apparently took me at my word and cut his losses." Briar said quietly.
"Ah, that would most likely be the rumor about the bet?" Sabine inquired delicately. "In your place that would have made me angry too." She shook her head. "Sebastian is usually more subtle, not being able to see you must be making him desperate and thus a bit obvious." She looked at Briar and smiled. "Your brother showed up at the palace one evening after you had been attacked. He left a message for Sebastian, after having a rather loud conversation with Lorelei and meeting my husband. Shortly after that Sebastian was rarely home, and I went to his rooms one night to visit, only I found him wounded and climbing in through the window. He told his father and I that he had an enemy who was trying to kill you, in order to see if he would react. A shot in the dark so to speak."
Briar blinked at the thought that someone was trying to kill her but said nothing in reaction to it. Her gaze never left Sabine as the woman continued to speak.
"He believed that if he stayed away from you, that you would be safer. He refuses to do anything that will endanger you." Sabine said softly. "He says he can only wait and see if there is anyone else involved in the plot, since he is not sure. I believe he intends to stay away from you until then. But have no doubt, he wishes more than anything to see you."
Briar took a deep breath. "And does he expect this to be over soon?" She asked distractedly. "Or will it be half a year or more before he can safely renew his interest in me." Her mouth twisted. "Or will he simply lose interest and begin to pursue in earnest one of the ladies he now only courts for show?"
Sabine glanced at her sharply. "You do him a disservice when you speak thusly and yourself as well." She said with an icy edge to her sultry voice. "I know my son, and he and I are much alike. He will never lose interest in you Briar. He might lose hope though if you do not admit at least to him, that you love him."
"It is not appropriate for me to admit any such thing." Briar said tightly. "If he cannot see that his position demands more then I must bear the burden of that knowledge."
"There was someone else who tried to tell me once that he knew what was appropriate in dealing with royalty." Sabine said in a reminiscent voice. "He didn't know what he was talking about either." She looked at Briar. "He was a bastard too. Like I was considered at the time. He also thought I was just a pretty toy of my husbands."
Briar blinked. "Sebastian's rank-" She began.
"Is not as great as Amon's was when he met me." Sabine interrupted ruthlessly. "My husband, was at the time, the Crown Prince, Heir to the Throne. We both knew he could not marry where he chose." She smiled slightly. "We were wrong. He decided that we were wrong and that he would marry me, regardless of my birth or station or lack thereof." With an elegant shrug, her slim shoulders rose and fell. "He proposed to me before the queen approved, married me before my birth and parentage were completely known, and later on, we discovered that I was not so lowborn as everyone had thought me. But to the one person whose opinion meant the most to me, my birth had never mattered. My profession hadn't mattered either. Nothing mattered to him except that he loved me, and I loved him, and he knew that his country would not suffer with me as its queen."
"I am not you though." Briar said softly. "Sebastian told me a bit of all this. You are unique, so very special." Her awe and love for her queen was in her eyes. "It is easy to see why his Majesty insisted on making you his wife. I am nothing compared to you."
"Briar, comparisons are odious." Sabine said in a fervent whisper. "I am nothing compared to you." She smiled at the dumfounded look on the girls face. "My son loves you. And in spite of your words of denial, I know you love him. Nothing else matters." Leaning forward she took Briar's hands in her own. "I don't know the fates in store for the rest of my children, though I have an idea about one or two. But I know where Sebastian is going, what he is going to be. And he needs someone who loves him and trusts him, to stand by his side. He needs you Briar." The queens grasp on the bards hands was gentle but very firm. "I know of your history. I am not without sources of my own. You are strong and wise and you are his friend. That is what is important. Not your birth, or rank or who your parents are. Who you are."
Briar's hands trembled in Sabine's. "I…I don't know if what I am will be enough." She said softly. "I am not good enough." She looked down at their two sets of hands, strong slim fingers, and delicate skin, alike enough in their elven blood to be sisters. "He hasn't even come to see me secretly lately. He doesn't even know how I've done in the contest." Her words were bewildered and seemingly inconsequential but Sabine nodded in understanding.
"Don't worry." The violet-eyed woman said soothingly. "It will all come out all right."
"How will it?" It was nearly a wail of confusion.
"It's a mystery." Sabine smiled.
TBC
