Ghosts of the Past

A few hours later, Briar was wondering if she'd been entirely accurate in her statement. She and Sebastian had entered the dining room arm in arm, and from looking at them it could not be immediately determined who was supporting who.

Lorelei who hadn't seen her little brother gasped as she took in how he was moving and the bruises on his face that had not been healed. In painful confusion she looked at her twin and then at Sebastian again, trying to reconcile the brother she adored with the man who'd done this. Beside her Dragon blinked and his heart gave a painful twist as he saw his sister's face. He could see so easily how much Sebastian's injuries pained her.

Sebastian, his face pale under the black and blue marks on his jaw, and around his eye, bowed courteously to his parents and sisters. His mouth was set grimly and determinedly as he bowed to his older brother as was appropriate.

Andreas returned the bow with the briefest of nods, his eyes cold and took his seat, directing his attention to his water goblet. Anger flared in him all over again as he considered how he had been deceived. Bad enough that everyone considered his younger brother so wonderfully perfect. But now apparently, Sebastian could set a spy as his brother's mistress, to report on everything said in private, and no one would cavil at it.

Briar seated herself beside Sebastian and tried to smile at her brother and Lorelei across from her. She knew, now that sleep had stiffened Sebastian's muscles, how difficult it was for him to move with even a portion of his old grace. His eye and jaw ached, so that eating was also painful, and the salt in the meal stung at his cut lip.

Amon met his wife's gaze and she flicked her eyes over Asrai who was eating her meal with dreamy eyes that showed complete lack of concern for what was happening around her. Faith beside her didn't seem to see anything strange in the princess' behavior but the frown on the dark haired girls face suggested she was concerned with the ongoing quarrel between the two brothers. The king nodded slightly at his wife and a thoughtful frown appeared on his face.

Privately Dragon wondered exactly how long this tension filled meal would go on. While everyone was doing their best to make conversation and pretend the situation was normal, Andreas' stony silence whenever his brother spoke was like a small explosion against a fugue. He was not the only one who found the atmosphere oppressive.

Across from him, Briar's eyes had grown so dark a green they were nearly black. Though she was making an effort to keep her face expressionless, her brother could see that her hands were shaking. When she spoke, her voice was low and slightly thick, as if she was holding back tears. When her silver rattled against her plate as she set it down Dragon knew she'd reached her breaking point. That the mage saw the same awareness in Sebastian's eyes showed just how much the younger prince centered his awareness on his betrothed and not his own condition.

Briar bowed her head and with extreme care set her knife at the edge of her plate. Folding her napkin she placed the linen on the table and rose. "Please excuse me your Majesties…I…" She shook her head helplessly and curtsied, shaking hands holding her skirt to prevent tripping on it. Without another word she left the room.

Sebastian stated quietly. "She is upset." With eyes were hard as the gems they took their color from he pushed himself to his feet. His gaze flicked over his older brother angrily and with an effort he bowed slightly. "If you will excuse me, I must make sure she will be all right."

Sabine nodded her permission for him to leave and Amon said quietly. "Give her a tisane to help her sleep if you must, but make sure she rests. She will need her strength in the next few weeks."

Sebastian nodded and made his way from the room with as much speed as he could muster.

"Oh how delightful court shall be." Dragon muttered under his breath.

"Hey, Andreas!" The prince turned, looking up from the silver locket he held, and nearly smiled at the easy greeting. The dark haired watcher coming towards him was blatantly sexual, blunt to the point of discourtesy on occasion and free with her opinion. She was in short, a breath of fresh air and on more than one occasion Andreas had found he had to check himself mindful of the standing rule when it came to other family member's watchers.

"Lady Faith." He inclined his head respectfully. "Where is your golden shadow." A small smile tilted his lips.

Faith shrugged her unconcern as she walked closer towards him. The balcony overlooked the gardens and she smiled a bit at the sight of the carefully cultivated blooms beneath them. "She's with your mother. I figured she'd be fine there for a few minutes. Your mother won't let her wander off until I come back."

"Yes, of all the people you could have left her with Mother can best protect her." Andreas remarked with a touch of bitterness in his tone.

"Yeah, Raden said she was one of the best. Probably still would be if she'd kept at it." Faith didn't seem terribly interested in might have beens.

"Hmm…" Andreas looked at her. "So what's going on? Sebastian requested that you check up on me? Since I'm not as close to Karse as I was to Darew?" He tilted his head towards his recently recruited Watcher, standing in the far corner of the balcony.

"You know the boss doesn't direct us as much as you seem to think." Faith remarked. "It's more like spreading a net and sifting through what you catch than fishing with a line and a hook."

"Right." Andreas sighed as if bored. "Wonderful analogy for all of us pond scum to be mindful of. Is this going somewhere? Or are you just trying to improve your verbal skills?"

"Yeah, it's going somewhere." Faith rolled her eyes ignoring the insult. "You know, you got lucky the other day, though I have no idea why Selena smiles on you so much. Asrai was too busy arguing with me, and Briar was too busy worrying and pacing, so I'm the only one who heard what you said."

"And exactly what did you 'hear'?" Andreas queried in a cold nasty voice.

"Oh give me a break!" Faith snapped at him her tone scornful. "Andreas you called your own mother a whore!" Mindful of Karse and the way sound carried she kept her voice low.

"I did no such thing!" Andreas retorted in a heated whisper following her own example.

"Really?" Faith drawled mockingly. "Lets see, you said that Maggie was one of Sebastian's whores. Because she slept with you in order to protect you? Well gee Andreas, what does that make me? Or Liselle?" She referred to Morgana's half elven watcher. "Your mother was an assassin, one of the best, and she did her work like a black widow spider. She slept with your father too, while she was protecting him. Being his bard was just a good story to explain her presence. By your definition, that makes us all whores! Why do you think Sebastian got so angry? He actually gives a damn about us whores." She hissed the last word at him.

Andreas shook his head, his stance defensive and his eyes glittering. "How dare you speak so of my mother!" He hurled the words at her like daggers, losing none of their edge in his soft tone of voice.

"It's the truth." Faith returned. "She has never denied it, you just don't want to see what she is. It's easier to believe she's perfect and ignore anything that doesn't fit into your image of her. Tell me Andreas, can you even picture her holding a dagger to your father's throat? Or in battle?"

"You will be silent on this subject." He commanded her in a cold voice so soft it was almost gentle. "It is not for the likes of you, to speak so to me, or of my mother in such a way."

"Oh yeah Andreas, that's right, pull rank again to hide your stupidity." Faith shook her head in amazement. "Lord of Night, you're really working at being the jackass of the year aren't you."

"No my brother currently holds that title. Nervous upon his behalf are you?" Andreas smiled mockingly. "You needn't be, he has more than enough natural talent in that direction."

The dark Watcher regarded the prince with nothing but impatience. "Get over it." She said flatly.

"What?" The prince looked at her with barely concealed irritation.

"Whatever it is that's causin' this Crownsilver-tude." Faith retorted. "Get over it, spank your inner moppet, embrace your deepest…whatever." She shrugged. "Just get over it. Or else you'll completely alienate the last people you have close to you."

She turned to go and then looked at Karse, silent and alone in the darkness, simply watching as he was supposed to do. "Trust me Andreas, you wouldn't like being all alone, in the darkness. The sun can't warm you if your heart hides in the shadows."

"Very wise." Andreas tried to capture his previous mocking tone and didn't quite pull it off. "More of Raden's pearls of wisdom?"

"Nope, actually that one I got from Asrai." Faith grinned wickedly and playfully punched Andreas on the arm. "See ya Andreas, wouldn't want to be ya." She turned and disappeared from his sight, back into the crowd of the court, which he'd purposely separated himself from.

Briar returned to Sebastian's rooms at dusk, a full hour after she'd left the dining room and entered a room filled with shadows. "I thought you'd come back here." Her betrothed's voice said from the corner of the sitting room. "When you had not, I knew you wanted to be alone. I hope I was right in not trying to follow you my Rose?" His voice was concerned, but tired, as if his soul was weary.

Briar nodded and went to sit on the stool at his feet, resting her head on his knees. One strong, long fingered hand slipped into her hair, stroking it and she felt him sigh even as he touched her. "I am sorry my love." He offered. "If I knew a way to end this amicably I would do so."

Briar scowled at the shadows. "You have done nothing wrong that you could make amends. Surely he's had protectors before."

"He has, but none whom I placed with him, and none of whom he did not know." Sebastian told her. "I think he's more angry that Maggie is one of mine than the fact that she's a spy. My brother is very proud."

"Oh I've noticed that in the past years." Briar said ironically. "Is it because you are younger? Or as your father says because he is jealous?"

Sebastian shook his head. "I don't know." He tugged the lock of midnight hair he held. "You need your rest beloved. The wedding is less than two months away."

"I know." She thought of her wedding for the first time without a sense of joy. "I hope you are well enough by then." She rose to her feet and looked at him.

"If I am not I will go back to the priest." Sebastian smiled at her. "Come, let us both get some rest." He rose, slowly and with a care for his sore ribs, and slipped his arm around her.

Briar smiled as he began to lead her towards the bedroom.

The moon was full, slanting shafts of blue white light into the bedroom. Briar rested on her side, Sebastian's arm around her waist and made no move to wipe away her tears. It spoke eloquently of how much pain her love was in, that for the first time since they'd begun spending their nights together, Sebastian hadn't made love to her before they slept.

He'd cuddled her close, and caressed her face and kissed her. His loving smile had told her that he clearly wished to be intimate with her. And his eyes were soft with affection as he looked at her, but they had slowly clouded with pain and sleep as they lay together and when his eyes had drooped shut Briar hadn't woken him.

Instead she lay in the circle of his arms and quietly wept that he had been so terribly hurt by his brother. His heart was bruised more badly than his body she thought, and that was what made him so weary.

A slight smile curved her lips as she studied the beauty of the moonlight. If Sebastian felt more the thing at dawn, she would be woken most delightfully. Closing her eyes she tried to sleep.

Maggie, with the quiet grace that was her hallmark, shut Sebastian's door behind her as she stepped into the hall. She caught herself nearly freezing like prey before the angry gaze of a hawk as she saw Andreas walking down the hallway.

The young Prince stopped and folded his arms looking like an icy statue as he narrowed his gaze at his one-time lover, "Reporting to the spymaster," He practically sneered. "Or were my accusations closer to the truth than Sebastian let on?"

The spy regarded him with a sad calm gaze. "I do not know what accusations you made, or if there was truth in them." She said quietly. "I was simply reporting to my superior that someone else must needs be found to watch you nights because I had been dismissed. Though from the sight of him, I am thankful I was merely dismissed, and not in fear for my life."

"You think I would harm you," He said his eyes boring into her as he closed the distance between them. Folding his arms behind his back, he looked at her with obvious hostility, "Now that the deception is out in the open you no longer are useful apparently?"

Maggie stiffened slightly as he came near, having never seen such a look in his eyes. "You do not love me. I wonder that you did no harm to me your highness, when I know you love your brother and yet you abused him mightily." She folded her arms, not defensively but so that her hands were steadied against them. "I didn't deceive you in anything but my profession. So I go, to Eagle Peake to report that I have failed in my duties."

Andreas looked down as she spoke of Sebastian's injuries and her own fear of him being so angry that he could have hurt her. "I would never harm you," He said almost echoingly although as he said it, he knew that days ago if someone had told him he could have savaged Sebastian, he would have denied it to the death. "It's that simple for you to leave," He snapped out, his mood shifting again. "Is that it all it was to you," He spat. "Simply a job."

She looked at him in shocked dismay. "I thought you knew me better than that." She murmured. "No, I cannot leave as simply as that." She told him. "I do love you Andreas. I know you are not in love with me, which is all to the good. But I believed we were friends." She shook her head. "I cannot protect you if you won't have me near you. It is my honor and my duty to protect you. No, it is not easy to leave you, but you made it clear you have no further wish for my company." She replied gently.

Andreas looked off, staring at the door to his brother's room. "Did he...did he speak of what was said between us?" There is a hesitant tone to his voice.

Maggie shook her head. "Nothing specific." She said in a calm voice. "Only that in anger you spoke truths from that point of view. That you resented my deception and his." She looked down for a moment. "I did not think you wanted to know my profession." She said quietly. "Most men do not want to know that about their mistress."

"You were never just a mistress," Andreas said his hand swinging back and forth almost brushing against her's. "I...I said some things I am not proud of. For that...I do apologize. For the anger that came from the deception I do not. But for the immature actions that came from that anger, I am sorry."

"We were friends." Maggie smiled slightly. "You'll never know how much I valued that your highness. How happy I was in your friendship." She sighed. "I never told you I was a spy and sometime assassin, but every other piece of me, I shared with you. Was my deceit so terrible that it dissolves that friendship?"

Andreas looked down unable to speak. "Why...why didn't you simply say something to me in the beginning? Why didn't he!" He snapped looking at the door. "Am I that much of a child that I need to be coddled?"

Maggie sighed wearily. "Andreas, you never asked." She pointed out. "You are not a child, but you do tend to view the world in black and white, with a closed mind at times. Would you have gone anywhere near me if you knew Raden was my ultimate employer and that your brother was my superior? I was supposed to protect you. That came before every other consideration. Darew could not go everywhere with you. All I wished beyond that was to be your friend, and I apparently failed even in that."

Andreas jaw dropped open when she states his way of viewing the world but closes as she continues the explanation. "If it was more than a job then," He asked her tentatively, "then, why do you have to leave? I do not wish you to go. Does the fact that I now am aware of your profession mean that you must go?"

Maggie's eyes were hurt. "You have always been more than a job to me Your Highness." She said gently. "I do not have to leave, I believed that I should because you couldn't seem to stand the sight of me. You told me as much. I thought I was dismissed. That you know I am more than I appear does not impede my efforts, it simplifies them if anything. But if you don't want me near you, I cannot do my job. And I care about you deeply, protecting you is important to me." She hesitated a moment and then asked softly. "Have I your leave to go Your Highness?"

Andreas steadied himself, realizing he was breathing heavily again and trying to stave off some very deep emotions. "I do not wish you to leave," He stated simply trying to keep his voice from cracking.

Maggie curtsied slightly. "Then I will not leave your highness." She replied quietly.

Andreas rolled his eyes heavenward. "For the love of Selena, will you stop doing that, and stop calling me that?"

She smiled slightly. "What shall I call you then? I am apparently not your friend, and I am no longer your mistress. I must speak formally. You told me not to address you so familiar. You had given me no other choice." She pointed out. "What would you have me do? I have always endeavored to concede to your wishes, finding such delight in them, in your arms. And I am at least able to say you came to no harm in my bed. Should you wish it, I will happily spread word of your prowess with the ladies in aid of your cause. They will be delighted to know that you equal, if not surpass, the stories about your father." Her smile was slightly tender, slightly mischievous.

The prince blushed and realized that because of what had occurred nothing would ever be the same. He wondered how badly he had hurt her, how well she was hiding it. No one would ever regard him the same way again not Maggie, or Faith or anyone in his family. But perhaps that was just as well. And maybe he could mend the damage he'd done to his friendship with Maggie. Andreas looked at her, a spark of the old Prince she knew before this whole incident began in his voice and stance now. "You said we were friends."

Maggie nodded. "I have always tried to be your friend Andreas." She whispered wondering if her friend had indeed risen to the surface of the man again.

"Please do not go." Andreas reached for her hand, his fingers just falling short, as if he didn't want to presume too much.

"Is that a command from my prince?" Maggie asked softly, hardly daring to hope otherwise even though it seemed her friend was again in Andreas' eyes.

"It is a request from your friend." Andreas whispered, his hazel eyes golden with emotion and flickering with hope.

Maggie smiled. "As your friend, I would love to stay." She tilted her head, red hair spilling over her shoulder. "I will be in my rooms, unpacking, should you wish to talk later my friend."

Andreas reached out his hand and this time took her's in his own, "I think I might like that…my friend," He said softly caressing her skin with his fingers.

Maggie's eyes gleamed with a light Andreas knew, to his delight, very well. "And should you wish for more than talk my friend, I would be honored to give you more." She lightly kissed his cheek, and he could smell the strawberry soap she used on her skin. Her fingers slid over his palm in a shy caress and she smiled tentatively at him.

Andreas felt himself almost blushing again much like the first time they became intimate. Everything feels new and different and he realized again that after his own actions the past few days nothing will be the same. However, he could not help but feel that this was right...or at least the beginning of making things right. With a shy nod to her words of more, the prince held her hand for a faint second longer and then let it go watching her move away to unpack.

When he finally turned, Andreas regards his brother's door. He walked slowly to it and raised the same hand that touched Maggie. His hand shook as he contemplated knocking, but then he simply pressed his palm flat against the cool wood surface. Without a sound, showing stealth similar to his brother and mother, Andreas slipped away into the shadows.

Lorelei with a false smile pinned to her face gave her twin a peck on the cheek in greeting as he rose from his bow to her. "Kiss me back." She instructed in a voice that sounded like ground ice. "Now smile." When he rather grudgingly obeyed she looked up at him her smile widening though just as false. "The rumor going around is that you and Sebastian decided to have a no holds barred pugilistic contest." She laughed aloud as if he had made a joke and Dragon grinned briefly, supporting her little show. "What's said is that you are both so proud of yourselves you refuse to heal your bruises and you didn't bother to tape your knuckles."

"And if I refuse to support this charade?" Andreas said through a teeth grinding smile of his own. "Since it is Sebastian who is in the wrong in this, not I?"

Lorelei's amber eyes glittered up at Andreas furiously and her polite appearing grip on his arm tightened so much he knew she'd leave a dark bruise. "Well for one thing, since Sebastian didn't appear last night, the rumor says you won. And for another, I don't care what you think Sebastian did to you, you were wrong to hurt him that badly. I thought you could control your temper better than that. But then I've been wrong about a lot of things lately, how much you trust me for example!" She smiled up at him with saccharine sweetness and kissed his cheek, deliberately stepping on his toe as she turned away.

Andreas took a deep breath and refused to lose what was left of his dignity by hobbling for a chair as courtiers suddenly surrounded him. Lorelei's words more than her actions seemed to cut into him as sharply as one of their mother's daggers.

Sabine, with a firm set to her mouth, ignored the cold looks her two sons were exchanging and studied her youngest daughter. She'd have expected to see Asrai fluttering back and forth, with Faith a dark shadow, between her two brothers, trying to mend what was wrong between them. At the least she'd have believed her curly haired daughter would be frowning and nibbling her bottom lip as she tried to figure out what was wrong with her siblings.

Instead, the day after Andreas had attacked Sebastian, the youngest Obarskyr child was dreamily staring off into space with a little half smile spreading her lips. Her usual energy seemed dampened but not by the mood of her older brothers. Faith stood beside her, not seeming to see anything unusual in Asrai's conduct.

Sabine frowned. There was something extremely wrong with her youngest daughter she decided. According to Lorelei and Briar, both of whom had been reluctant to act the informant, Asrai had been acting like this more and more, ever since her play had been performed.

Sabine made a mental note to send word to Raden that she needed access to a few of his people in the palace, she'd use Sebastian's Echoes if she had no other choice. Reminding herself to discuss this with Amon she smiled as if nothing was wrong and pretended not to notice Asrai and Faith sneaking out of the Hall.

TBC