Chapter 7 First Night Together
A week later..
"We are starting to get vulnerable in the east, it's only about time before Askor Kingdom catch on and try to breach through. I say we start focusing on rebuilding our defenses there, what do think your highness?" Levi, who was sitting on the right side of the table from the king, asked.
But Sebastian didn't hear his question, infact, he hadn't been listening all along. Levi and the rest of the war council raised their heads to look at the king, concern and surprise on their faces. "Your highness?" Levi called again, much louder than before.
Sebastian forcefully snapped out of his thoughts, clearing his throat as he leaned forward to pay attention. "My apologies." He said as he clasped both of his hands together on the table.
"How many wielders did you say we lost in the east?" He asked, looking unfazed by the absolute shock written on their faces. Which was understandable because never once had they seen the king lose concentration when it comes to strategizing on and off the battlefield.
Nobody was as invested as Sebastian when it comes to matters like this and he himself wouldn't even tolerate any form of laid-back attitude from his council members towards the ongoing war. It was definitely surprising for them to see him so out of focus.
"I was just stating, my king, how we need to focus on strengthening our defenses in the east because we are most likely to get breached by the fire wielding kingdom." Said Levi, the rest of the council nodded their heads in acknowledgement.
"You are right," Sebastian agreed, a soft sigh escaping his lips. "The ruler of Askor is particularly smarter than he looks, I would not risk leaving any part of my Kingdom exposed for a bunch of fire-wielding werewolves to invade." Sebastian's eyes darted across the table to meet one of his council member's.
"Gayle," The young man sat upright, "Start working on the reconstruction of a much stronger defense in the east, gather as much wielders as you need to get it done." Sebastian ordered and the young commander nodded firmly.
"That concludes our meeting for today," Sebastian said, dismissing the council members. Only Levi and Anderson remained. The three sat in silence, Levi's gaze fixed on Sebastian as he pondered what had been distracting him lately.
"Your Highness, is there something you'd like to discuss with us?" Anderson asked, a question he'd mentally rehearsed countless times.
Sebastian leaned back in his chair, his eyes locked on his two most trusted war council members, struggling to find the right words to explain the turmoil in his mind.
How could he bring himself to tell them that Fernanda has been the reason why he has been losing focus lately. His wife whom he wedded one week ago, dreads the sight of him even more after they got married.
On the night of their wedding, Sebastian had gone to check on her and was met with a quite shocking amount of aggression from her. She had grabbed any object she could lay her hands on and hauled them at him with rage.
Sebastian left that night without saying a word but ordered the servants to watch her carefully and keep all objects that seemed sharp and harmful away from her. The next night he visited, she held a small knife and told him she would harm herself if he came any closer.
The third night had also been alarming, he saw her maidservants looking so worried. They told him that she had locked herself in a closet all day and refused to come out. Sebastian had wanted to blast the closet open, but changed his mind and left again without saying anything that day.
It was either one thing or the other every single day after their wedding and it gradually became the only thing that Sebastian thought about. He hated how much she fears his presence and would rather choose to jump to her death rather than have him close to wherever she was.
"She hates me... Terribly." He began, saying it as if it were a war problem. "I believe she needs more time to get accustomed to her new life, My King." Anderson said. "I know. The problem is, how do i make her get accustomed to being my wife and Queen of my Kingdom?" Sebastian asked, his expression the most confused his adviser had ever seen on his face.
"Pardon my choice of words, Your Highness, but it's not your job to do that for her. She needs to find the courage to do that herself." His advisor replied. Levi just sat in silence, thinking about what he could probably say that won't have the King chopping his head off.
Sebastian sighed and started to clench his fist, making the temperature in the room drop a few degrees. Anderson noticed and added, "I believe, my king, making her feel safe and protected is the only way she can accustomed to her new life."
"She is very safe and protected! I will rip apart anyone who dares to come near her before they could even touch a strand of hair on her head. No one would dare hurt her." Sebastian said, his jaw tensed with anger at the thought of anyone hurting Fernanda.
Later in the evening, after spectating a sparring session between two ice wielders, Sebastian visited Fernanda in her chambers again. Her maidservants bowed immediately when they saw him approaching, one of them hurriedly turned to go in and inform Fernanda about his presence but he raised his hand, silently ordering them not to.
Fernanda was sitting in front of a mirror, silently combing through her long and brown curly hair, when Sebastian walked in. She didn't need to see him before she felt his presence and that made her stood abruptly and turned to face him.
Her hands clenched tightly around the comb in defense. Sebastian took a step forward and she didn't hesitate to throw the comb at him. He swiftly caught the comb almost as immediately as she threw it.
"Let's not do this again this night Fernanda." He said calmly, taking a few steps forward. She turned and frantically searched around the dressing table to see what she could grab and throw at him before he reaches her.
She saw a pair of scissors and immediately took it. Without thinking it through, she sharply turned and made a move to stab him. But Sebastian was faster, he firmly caught her hand in his, stopping the scissors which had already pierced him from going further in.
They both stood there, unmoving while also staring at each other. Blood slowly began to seep at the spot where Sebastian had gotten injured by the scissors and that made Fernanda's eyes widen with terror.
She gasped and immediately loosen her hold on the scissors. Sebastian didn't look like he cared for the wound, he just kept staring at Fernanda, his gaze hardening each second of the moment.
"Your... Your majesty, I... I didn't mean to..." Fernanda stuttered, struggling to find the right words to say as her eyes kept darting from the wound to Sebastian's unreadable face.
With his hand still firmly holding her wrist, Sebastian slowly pulled out the scissors from his chest and threw it onto the floor.
"You are bleeding too." He simply said, still looking at her. Fernanda looked at her palm and flinched, she had been too terrified of the consequences of stabbing the king to even care about her own injury.
Tears began to pool in her eyes as she kept her gaze fixed on her bleeding palm which was still firmly trapped in Sebastian's hold.
Seeing how scared she looked made him smirk, "So you are just all bark and no bite, huh? I thought you meant to kill me, why are you being such a coward now?" His voice had a mocking edge to it and that made Fernanda snapped.
"You are injured! How can you still sound so arrogant?" The rage in her eyes were back and overriding the feeling of fear in her. Sebastian didn't say anything, instead, he pulled her closer and placed his hand over hers, freezing the wound and making the bleeding cease. The burning sensation also stopped.
"You are telling a man with a gash across his eye to bother about a puny wound?" His voice was low and weirdly intimate and when Fernanda raised her head, she realized how close they were, both their faces were mere inches from each other.
She panicked and tried to shift back but Sebastian pulled her closer, "We have to sleep now," He told her with an unyielding cold demeanor. "We?" Fernanda was astounded, "I am not sleeping together with you on the same bed!" Her astonishm ent was palpable.
"I wasn't asking." He stated and with a swift movement, lifted her up in his arms and walked over to where her bed was. Fernanda was too stunned to argue, she swallowed nervously as he gently placed her down.
He walked over to the other side and began unbuttoning his shirt, Fernanda fisted her hands and turned her head to avoid looking at him. Sebastian sighed as he fully shrugged out of the clothing.
Fernanda froze and tightly shut her eyes when she felt the weight of him sink onto the bed behind her. But almost immediately, the same eyes which she had shut, instantly flew open when she felt his strong hand by her waist, pulling her closer to his bare chest.