(A/N): Well... this chapter went... in a direction. Over 900k words, woot!
Trigger Warnings: Oh, all of them. ALL of the red flags from these two. More specifically, Sebastien is Sebastien- which is to say there's quite a bit of his sadistic inner monologue, including him dehumanising one person in particular as a toy or 'broken doll'. I'd say there's also a hint of abuse of power in there, since he dismisses Bromley without much care, and briefly wonders where Florimond is, then reminds himself that he doesn't care- among other things. References/allusions to child abuse (they talk about how 'menacing' Miasenna won't work to keep her quiet, but don't actually do anything to her considering she's still unconscious, which is a result of their abuse itself), and Anthophilius is mentioned as a possible obstacle to something, because the consequences of him finding out would result in more abuse from him toward Cipicia (his daughter) and Sebastien, and also probably Miasenna and Leonides (if he could find him). Sexual content that is frankly quite unsettling, and Sebastien references Cipicia's abuse of power toward Amelia in a sexual context, as well as telling her he'll 'put her in her place'. The conversation isn't all that graphic, but the words 'fuck me' are used, and the manner in which it will happen is mentioned, so if you feel like skipping that part of it, don't read the last two paragraphs, and if you feel like skipping that whole thing, skip the last four paragraphs (the two above the last two lines are a less graphic 'take me to bed', as well as Cipicia hitting Sebastien with an absolute zinger). Basically, if you want to skip the sex stuff, just stop reading after Sebastien says, 'If I had known that temporarily misplacing a child'.
October 19th, 1967
Sebastien
By the time Bromley returned, Cipicia seemed a bit more herself- or at least, a little less emotionally unstable. Which isn't to say she couldn't be unstable even on a good day, but this was... different. Normally, her volatility took the form of her lashing out in anger- not sorrow, or pain, or fear. That anger, I knew how to deal with- these newfound displays of distress, however? I had no idea how to handle those. So, as much as I liked the concept of a sad, hurt, scared Cipicia, in reality, I was thankful she managed to pull herself together before we were forced to face other people. Or, house-elves. Which wasn't as bad, but was still just as undesirable.
"Bromley and Grimsby have completed their task, Master; the path is clear, and the staff have been warned. Do you require anything else, Master? A drink?" He glanced at the unfinished drinks on the sidebar, and seemed to think better of that offer. "Dinner, perhaps?" I shook my head, and dismissed him with a wave of my hand. Once he apparated away again, I turned my attention back to Cipicia.
"I believe it's time for you to make a decision, darli-"
Her head lifted, and I cut myself off in anticipation of what she was going to say- quite possibly a first, for me. For us. "What if I made the wrong one?" I blinked. At first, I was caught off guard by the thought that Cipicia was so concerned about making a poor decision- and then I realised that she had used the past tense. She wasn't worried about this decision, the one she was about to make, she was still fretting about the way she'd handled Leonides's... situation. "What if- I tried to protect us, but what if we would've been safer-" She seemed to second guess herself, and fell silent.
"We'll get him back," I told her, doing my best to sound more confident than I felt. "We will. He couldn't- wouldn't- have gone far." She didn't look so sure- because she was feeling particularly pessimistic today, or because she knew exactly where she had left him, and it was, indeed, quite far? But... if she knew where he was, then she could fetch him- and if she couldn't, then clearly she didn't... right? "In the meantime, we're going to have to come up with some sort of excuse as to why he won't be seen. You know that Governess of theirs will start asking questions if she doesn't see him for more than a few days."
She glanced at Miasenna thoughtfully, most likely because Leonides was currently unavailable. "Bed rest for the first week or so, I should think." It wasn't necessary, and it certainly wasn't something we would actually allow, but as an excuse I suppose it passed muster. "Beyond that..." She hesitated. "It would be the most believable to say we sent him to convalesce with my mother, but-" But word of that would inevitably get around- get back to Anthophilius, who would discover the lie immediately, and come calling with questions we couldn't answer.
"A last resort," I agreed. "We could say we sent him to stay with Markaisa as punishment," I suggested wryly. "Though whether that's punishment for him, or punishment for her-" She cut me off with a pained glare. "At least your father wouldn't be inclined to double check that one- and even if he did, we could always take the chance to throw my sister under the carriage. It would also please my father to no end to be chosen over yours-"
"Sebastien, do shut up." My mouth clicked shut automatically, though I did feel a bit indignant about it in the aftermath; she was quiet for a moment, which I assume meant she was busy thinking hard. "Miasenna is our biggest issue, at the minute. No amount of menacing on our part can guarantee her silence- and you and I both know that where our loyalty to each other is lacking, our children have an overabundance." I nodded. "She won't take this well." That was an understatement, to say the least. "We'll need to convince her, somehow- tell her that it's better this way. For him... and for us." An odd way to phrase it, but I understood what she meant. I gestured to the girl again.
"There's not point discussing it here," I said. "Either carry her or levitate her, I don't care which; we're leaving for her bedroom now, before any member of staff has the chance to unwittingly stumble into our path." It shouldn't have surprised me at this point when Cipicia scooped our daughter into her arms and held her to her chest, but it did. She turned back toward me, barely seeming to even notice the weight of the five-year-old, and I held a hand out to her. "After you. I'll get the door, of course- but no one other than my wife shall ever get to benefit from my very limited chivalry."
She rolled her eyes at me. "If by 'limited', you mean, 'nonexistent', then yes, I suppose I should feel honored to be on the receiving end of it." Her tone was exceptionally dry, and internally, I rejoiced- a passive, teary-eyed Cipicia wasn't an enjoyable prospect... at least when I wasn't the one to have caused it. I much preferred it when her bark was merely a precursor to a near-inevitable metaphorical bite- though her tendency toward the more literal kind of biting during the earlier years of our marriage was never quite as far from my mind as I might have liked it to be.
"I keep it all for you, poppet." She shot me a sharp look that sent a thrill up my spine- not because I particularly liked it when she fought back, but because an already broken doll wasn't worth breaking twice... though it could still be fun to play with.
We reached the children's quarters without any distractions, and in that hallway only three doors were of any interest to me. One stood open- the door to the salle d'armes- and briefly, I wondered where Florimond was now that he'd been told to make himself scarce, instead of available to cater to my every whim. Then I remembered that I didn't care, and turned my attention to the other two doors- Leonides and Miasenna's, respectively. "Put her down in here," I said, opening the door to her bedroom. "Then we'll... Perhaps you can run me through what happened a bit more, in the boy's room."
She didn't seem enthusiastic about this idea, but she didn't fight me on it- which was too bad, really. She placed the girl on top of the covers, and carefully arranged her with her head on the pillow- something I don't think she'd taken the time to do since before Miasenna had learned to walk. She even brushed some hair off of her face as if specifically to echo her earlier gesture, and when she finally did turn her attention to me, she pinned me with a glare that told me not to say anything about it.
Of course, that just guaranteed that I would be doing exactly that, and after I escorted her back into the hallway and closed Miasenna's bedroom door behind us, I started laying into her. "If I had known that temporarily misplacing a child was all it would take to bring a little tenderness out of you, I would have-"
"Sebastien," She said in a voice that immediately caught my attention, and not only because it had been literal years since I had last heard it. "Take me to bed." It had been so long, in fact, that it caught me entirely off guard- to the point where I stared blankly at her for a moment, under the impression that she was making some sort of joke. "Take me to bed, 'bastien- I'd like to focus on someone else's inadequacies for a few short minutes, rather than drowning in my own."
It was obvious that she was trying to get a rise out of me- in more ways than one- but it was just as obvious that it was working. "Are you so desperate for company that you would resort to allowing your lawfully wedded husband to bed you, my sweet?" And we both knew I was her last resort on any given day, if only because I was the man her father had seen fit to marry her off to. We also both knew she was far from 'sweet'. "I thought you had 'standards'-" She grabbed me by the collar and slammed me into the wall, pressing me there with the length of her deceptively powerful body.
"Fuck me, or I'll find someone who will- and I'm not in a 'tender' sort of mood."
I swallowed thickly, glancing at Miasenna's closed door- and then Leonides's, briefly. I weighed up the choice- the possible consequences and the all but guaranteed reward- and shrugged loosely as I turned my most intensely lascivious smirk on her, making my voice as low and silky as I could in an attempt to further entice her. By the way her eyes flashed, I knew I'd hit a mark, if not the one I'd been aiming for. "I suppose I have time to put you in your place, lovely... I hear the knees are a popular destination, today."
(A/N): Dinner = Lunch/Midday meal (Supper = Evening meal) (Am I going to remember that distinction and stick to it? No, probably not- but this is what I meant here and now)
Lascivious = feeling or revealing an overt sexual interest or desire. (I originally went with 'libidinous', but decided lascivious fit better. I think Sebastien is libidinous with the maids, but respects/fears Cipicia too much to be that overtly randy with her. Hence him being like, 'hey, I'm interested', rather than straight up leering at her- because he's scared she'll knee him in the balls or something)
Poppet = A term of endearment like 'dear' or 'sweet', derived from the Middle English word Poppet, which meant a small child or doll (like puppet). I thought this was particularly fitting for this part of the conversation, where Sebastien goes on in literally the next line to compare her to a broken doll, and it also adds to his creep factor. (I've also been a big fan of 'Poppet' as a term of endearment since Spike used it for Drusilla on Buffy, and I originally intended to have Jerremyah use it at some point for Lisbet or Evie- and he still might- but I thought it might fit better here, given the difference in context between Sebastien using it, and someone like Jerremyah using it)
Salle d'armes/Salle = Salle is the french word for 'room'- but it is also used specifically to describe a fencing school (aka, the place where fencing is taught). There is another term, 'salle d'armes', which means 'a room or hall used for fencing'. The reason I chose to use 'salle d'armes' instead of just 'salle' is because the room being used isn't exactly a school, and more of a training room, so I figured 'salle d'armes' fit better.
I feel like this chapter is going to be one that people come back to, after... Anyway, some foreshadowing (as is typical in these Sebastien/Cipicia chapters at this point), as well us untypically, because it relates to... well, the sex stuff. Specifically that very last part, which the very, very astute of you may pick up on, because it's certainly not subtle in any way, once you know what you're looking for. To be fair, it may not even be obvious that it's foreshadowing anything (other than the fact that I just told you), but what you might recognise is how similar what Sebastien did/said is to something else, and Cipicia's reaction to it is somewhat foreshadowing-y. If that makes any sense.
Also, if you notice them speaking more casually around each other at certain points, it's because they've sort of declared an unspoken truce where they don't get on each other's backs about speaking 'properly', at least while they're alone, in this emotionally stressful situation. The difference between and Cipicia/Sebastien truce and a Lisbet/Jerremyah truce (other than one being unspoken and the other being VERY spoken) is that both Cipicia and Sebastien are likely (possibly inevitably) going to break that truce without warning at some point, whereas Lisbet and Jerremyah absolutely would never do that. Not that Cipicia and Sebastien are anything like Lisbet and Jerremyah, but they both have truces, so I thought I'd take the time to erroneously equate the two.
Also also, do I regret naming Sebastien Sebastien, because I only learned to love the name Sebastian years after I named this character, and now I'm mad I don't get to use it for a character I actually like? Yes, yes I do. Still got to use that 'calling him Bastien in the heat of passion' thing, though. And I got to emulate Sebastian Wroth from 'No Rest for the Wicked' (part of the Immortals After Dark series by Kresley Cole)- AKA, the character that made me love the name Sebastien- in a different character, though it'll be a while before you actually get to meet him. And by 'actually get to meet him', I mean that he's been mentioned by name already, but he won't actually be a part of the story for- well, knowing me, a couple of real life years, and in the story, about ten years. Ten years from these past chapters, which is around the 'modern' timeline, AKA 1976 ish. And considering how long it took me to write things that took place over the span of a day... Anyway, I'm real excited for him, and his story! And his... love story.