Sebastian tensed and said, “I wish for her to remain. I have been a long time out of civilisation and she keeps me calm.”
The elder seemed shocked and asked, “Are you dangerous?”
Ash answered, “No, elder. I would never have brought him out of the Labyrinth if he wasn’t safe.”
The elder’s eyes widened “The Labyrinth?”
Ash quickly told the old priest how she had found Sebastian and freed him when he had calmed down. She didn’t tell him that it had taken months before he would even allow her near him. The elder frowned and didn’t impart his thoughts. He nodded his head after a moment and then turned to Sebastian. “I have to ask, why were you chained down there?”
She was worried. Sebastian wasn’t someone to reveal anything of himself so she was surprised when he said “I killed a man. I don’t think they expected me to last so long though.”
Ash glanced at him and asked, “You killed someone?”
He turned to her and said, “Yes, he killed my brother, so I killed him. I thought it was justice, others did not agree.”
They both turned back to the elder when he asked, “How long?”
Sebastian shrugged. “Ash mentioned when the dragons first came. How long ago was that?”
The elder blinked and said, “Maybe eight hundred years ago.”
Sebastian was quiet for a time and said, “Then I have been down there three hundred years.”
Ash was floored and so was the elder who asked, “You can live that long?”
“My people live for a very long time. Close to immortal in some people’s eyes.”
She didn’t ask how old he was, though she wished to know. The elder was thoughtful and said, “Even if you do lie about the man you killed, I believe that three hundred years below ground is justice enough. You would not be the only one here with a shady past. I will have one of the novates show you to a room.”
Sebastian interrupted. “I will stay with Ash.”
The elder frowned. “That would not be appropriate.”
“She is mine, I will stay with her.” To prove his point Sebastian caught her wrist and showed the brands. He turned over his own arms and she could see that the brand was very similar to her own in design. Sebastian repeated. “She is mine.”
The elder leaned forward to look at the marks and asked, “Is this some kind of ritual binding? A blood bond?”
Sebastian nodded. She was shocked and she yelped. “What?”
The elder looked at her and asked, “Did you not consent to this?”
Ash didn’t want to get Sebastian in trouble so she said, “I just don’t understand what it means.”
The elder gave her a sympathetic smile and said, “It means you married the man, child.”
He looked at Sebastian who nodded. “She is mine, so I will stay with her.”
The elder looked thoughtful and said, “This is unusual.
They were out of the garden before Ash could collect herself and blurted out, “Married!”
Sebastian glanced at her and said calmly, “Let’s go to your room first before we have this discussion.”
The fact that he sounded so reasonable frustrated her and made her angry. When she tried again to start the conversation he refused to engage and so she rushed her steps so they could get to her room.
Ash realised her mistake when Sebastian closed the door of her small room and she was trapped in a small space with him. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw the look on his face. He stalked towards her and framed her face in his hands.
He asked, “Do you deny that you are mine?”
She blinked confused with the way he was putting things. “You never asked me. You just decided. You never said anything about marriage.”
She thought back to it all. The first time he had stated she was his was when he was ill just a few days ago. She pulled back and glanced down at her hand. “Was that it. The only thing you needed to say we are married.”
Ash rubbed at the brands. They had stopped paining an hour ago but they still tingled. She could feel the power in the brands. Defeated she flopped to sit on the edge of her bed. Tears blurred her eyes. Sebastian sat on the bed next to her and with a finger under her chin turned her to look at him.
He murmured, “Hush.”
Then he kissed her. It was gentle, which surprised her. He was such a large man and filled with a constrained violence inside him. He moved his hands to rest lightly on her waist. That reminded her of the kiss before.
Ash pulled back and asked, “Why? I mean you could have waited and explained things.”
Sebastian sighed and said, “I thought you understood. I thought you stopped things earlier because you wanted the binding first. Before you would let me take you. The idea of binding us together pleased me so I did it. I thought you knew what it all meant.”
She blinked staring at him for a moment. Anger rushed through her and she pulled back further. “You never said anything. Ever, Sebastian. You don’t tell me anything, how am I supposed to understand or know what is going on inside your head when you are so stoic with me. How was I supposed to know a bloody kiss was a marriage proposal?”
His eyes darkened and she was afraid for a moment. He surprised her though by saying. “Sorry.”
He stood up then and started undressing. Gaping she asked, “What are you doing?”
“You are upset. I will comfort you.”
Her words choked in her throat then she went breathless as he completely disrobed. He sat on the bed again and she finally shook off her stupor. “Wait Sebastian. This morning when I stopped you it wasn’t because I wanted you to marry me first it was because I’m not ready.”
He brushed the back of his fingers over her cheek and said, “You only believe you are not ready because you are afraid. I will not harm you and you will know that there is nothing to fear.”
His logic was infuriating. She pushed away his hand and said, “You aren’t listening to me. Yes, I am afraid. I’m only seventeen and I haven’t... well before I hadn’t even been kissed.”
“Good.”
She shook her head. “You don’t understand.”
Sebastian leant forward and she quickly put her hand on his chest to push him away. Ash could feel the heat of his skin and the beat of his heart. She was breathless. Panic mixed with confusion.
He put his hand over hers on his chest and said, “You are afraid of the unknown. So I will give you the experience so you will no longer be afraid.”
She shook her head, confused and tingly. He tugged on the laces of her gown and she jerked backwards. When he reached for her again she scrambled away and reached for the lamp. She held it in the ready to whack him over the head if he came closer.
She was trembling in earnest now. “Stop it Sebastian. You can’t force me.”
Her voice hitched on the words. He frowned at her for a long moment then reached for his clothes. She sighed and went to her knees, they were no longer able to hold her up. Tears flowed in relief and fear and a touch of confusion.
Sebastian finished dressing and with his hands held out wide to show he was harmless he approached her. She let him hold her and let the tears flow as well. He hushed her gently as he smoothed a hand through her hair. “It’s alright sweetheart, I will not harm you. You must know that.” He soothed.
She shook her head against his chest. “You scared me. You might not think it was hurting me. I don’t know what is going through your head, ever.”
He kissed the top of her head and was silent for a long time. Her tears dried up and she sniffled for a moment. She pulled back gently surprised that he had held her for so long.
Ash rubbed her face and said, “So, we are married. What are we going to do about it?”
He frowned confused by her question. She plucked at her clothes. “I know we can’t change it but I didn’t expect this. I was ready to be a worker here. I thought I’d never have to deal with all this… this.”
She
waved her hand to indicate the brands. He took up her hands as she was moving them nervously. “You have nothing to fear.”
Frustrated she pulled her hands back. “It doesn’t work like that Sebatian. Just telling me not to be afraid doesn’t make me any less afraid. This is serious I want to know what is going to happen.”
He huffed out a breath. He didn’t say anything though. Frustrated she said, “Say something.”
He raised an eyebrow and said, “You seem to get angry when I talk so I thought to keep silent.”
She sobbed with frustration. “Oh my, how are we ever going to make this work?”
Ash scrambled to her feet to pace the small confines of her room. “I don’t know anything about you. You aren’t even the same species as I am. How can we have anything in common?”
Sebastian remained on the floor watching her as she raved for a moment longer. She turned to look at him when he said, “Ask then. I will tell you anything that you wish to know.”
That railroaded her thoughts. She sat down on the bed and stared at him for a moment. Before she could think of so many things she had wanted to know about him but now that he had given her leave to ask she couldn’t think of one single thing that she wanted to ask him.
Except one. “Why me? Is it because I was the one to find you? That I was just convenient?”
He shook his head and stood up to come sit next to her. “When I was first placed in the labyrinth all I wanted to do was to kill everyone that had placed me there. Then I became resigned to my fate. I was merely waiting for my end. Then you arrived. A light in the darkness. You took compassion on me when it was clear that I had been placed there for punishment.”
Ash shrugged. She had thought of it but she had decided to reserve judgement. He had seemed so pathetic trapped down there. “You befriended me. A strange thing for me as even before I was not one to have friends. I was always so filled with anger. Now still. Yet you kept coming back. Please tell me it was not out of pity?”
Ash shook her head though part of it had been. She said, “I was curious. I’ve never met a dragon before.” He nodded though she thought he wasn’t pleased by that answer. He was quiet for a long moment. Then he nodded his head slightly and said, “You need time.”
She sighed and said, “Yes. Yes I think I do. Thank you Sebastian for understanding.”
He nodded his head and said, “We should eat and rest.”
She jerked up to attention and said, “Sorry, you are still recovering and I’ve been dragging you around all over the place.”
His smile was warm as he said, “I don’t mind.”
Ash glanced at Sebastian lying on her bed as she put away the things they had used to eat their meal. He moved his arm from off his face and motioned to her. He had conked out right after the meal. He really wasn’t completely recover.
She hesitated to follow his instructions. It had gotten her into trouble before.
He seemed to understand as he explain. “I merely wish to hold you.”
How could she resist that? She hadn’t been able to tell him but she did love him. She wasn’t sure wanted marriage and everything that went with it though.
Ash approached and sat on the edge of the bed and kicked off her shoes. She kept on her clothes because she still didn’t trust him to understand completely that she wasn’t ready. She lay down stiff as she was unsure what she felt and what was to happen. Sebastian shifted to make more space for her.
There was a lot of shifting till she settled. There was a long silence. Sebastian stated. “I wish to kiss you.”
Ash went very still. But they were married and there was nothing she could do to change that even if she wished she could go back and enjoy to courting there would be no changing where they were. So she would need to make some effort in fixing up their relationship. It was clear that Sebastian was ready to do more than just hold her. But she wasn’t sure.
She asked, “Will you stop if I ask?”
He nodded. So she said, “Okay. But just kissing.”
Sebastian moved so he was leaning over her. He was propped up on his elbows. He looked down at her his eyes searching her face. His hair hung down past his face. He brushed her lips with a thumb and shifted so his knee was between hers.
She went still, tense with this change. But he didn’t do anything else for a long moment. Watching and waiting to see if she was alright with this. That eased her fears. This was different from before. He was slow as he leant down. His lips brushed hers gently. Asking for more. She parted her lips out of curiosity. She was rewarded for her bravery. Shivery feelings ran up her spine and warmth pooled in the pit of her stomach.
Ash reached up to touch his arm. She ran her hand up to his neck and into his hair. She was surprised by his groan and she pulled back.
He shook his head and said, “Don’t stop.”
“Oh”
He kissed her again his hand moving to her waist so he could arch her up to deepen the kiss. His mouth was sinful she thought. He pulled back though after a moment and she made a sound of protest that soon changed when he sat back to pull off his shirt.
When he saw her face he said, “I am used to wearing less, Love. This is still just a kiss.”
He moved slowly like he had done at the beginning. He brushed her lips but it soon went deeper. She placed her hand on his chest and his skin shivered under her touch. She splayed her fingers. His skin was cooler than she would have thought. Smooth as well. He was not hairy like some men. In fact she could see the flex of his muscles. She explored this with her touch. She was rewarded with a groan from Sebastian.
He placed his hand over hers on his chest and held it still and said against her lips. “Be careful love, I am not infallible and you tempt me.”
Still she looked up at him. He groaned and rolled away from her. She turned to look at him. He had his eyes closed and his head tilted back. His skin was exquisite.
He asked, “Am I pleasing to the eye, Love?”
She chuckled. “Oh, definitely. I don’t know how you managed to survive down in that cave, let alone look so damn healthy.”
He took her hand and twined his fingers with hers. Playing with her fingers, he stared at them intently. He made a non-committal noise. At least he wasn’t growling at her as he used to. He kissed her fingertips one at a time, slowly savouring it. She let out a sigh.
She was enjoying this moment. “How come you remember your brother but not your own name?”
He went still for a moment and said, “It was all I thought of when I was placed in that place. It consumed me. By the time I came to accept my place I had forgotten much, including my name. I did not try then to remember because I was merely waiting to die. Do you not like Sebastian?”
She shrugged. “I just think it is sad that you won’t be able to keep even that. It is very cruel what they did to you.”
He kissed her fingers again and sucked one. She gasped and asked, “What are you doing?”
He rolled his tongue around another finger and said, “I love the taste of you. Does it not please you?”
She chewed on her lip for a moment. Inside she was shivering with something but she wasn’t sure what she felt. His tongue tickled the place where he had branded her. She jerked but didn’t pull away. Sebastian rumbled with a growl, but nothing like the ones he had used in the labyrinth.
Elder murphy spoke softly with Sebastian but when Ash had offered to leave them in peace Sebastian had gone very still and had asked her to stay. She wondered why and spent the time thinking about him and why he didn’t want her to leave and why he seemed almost afraid. She almost cursed herself. She had thought with his bearing and his muscles that he was not a man that feared anything but she realised that despite that, he wasn’t very sure of himself.
Especially as he had already made mistakes and she sometimes had to explain to Elder Murphy what Sebastian was trying to say or to smooth over something that could be taken wrong. She kept forgetting that he hadn’t b
een around people in a very long time. That would make anyone unsure of themselves.
She knew that there was also that anger and violence that was in him. He had warned her about it though she had never seen it shown besides the occasional growling. But she knew it was there and she wondered how he struggled inside to keep calm when he normally would have given injury.
Sebastian absently stroked her hair. Her attempt to give them some privacy she had sat down on the grass by the seat and was reading a book. The elder had seemed surprised by her reading. But he hid it quickly. Maybe because children that had the parents willing to educate them were not the kind of children that ended up here.
Wyvern's Trim and other stories Page 6