Chapter 20 The Price Of Neglect
An hour earlier...
Sebastian was in an important meeting with the trade council members when he got information of Fernanda's visit to the stables. He had immediately dismissed everyone, not caring about the look of disapproval on the older men 's faces as they all stood up to leave.
"When did she leave? Who did she go with?" Sebastian kept questioning his advisor. "She went to stables about an hour ago with her maidservants and some guards." Sebastian could felt a twinge of jealousy within him, he wanted to be the only one who gets to spend time with her.
"Are you truly forfeiting an important meeting just to go and see your wife?" Anderson asked, looking at Sebastian like he's lost his mind. "Yes." Sebastian's short and stern response held no room for opinions.
Sebastian rode to the stables, accompanied by Levi. Both of them were greeted by Fernanda's maidservants and the guards upon arrival. They were visibly nervous as the two men approached them on horseback. "Your majesty, what brings you here?" Yolanda asked, her voice slightly shaky.
"I came here to see my wife." Sebastian responded authoritatively, his eyes searching around for Fernanda. "Where is she?"
Maya's heart took a beat when she and Levi locked gazes, she'd rather be anywhere than a place with his presence. His calculative eyes were dark with apprehension and curiosity, Maya feared the possibility of him saying something.
Something that's most likely not to be in her favour, but he didn't say anything, only continued to watch her in silence as if she was an object of study.
"Her highness just left on her horse not too long before your arrival, your majesty." The first guard spoke, "And you let her ride off by herself without protection?" Sebastian said, disbelief dripping from his voice. "She instructed us to watch over her friends while she rode away." The guards admitted nervously, they felt foolish under Sebastian's hardened glare.
"Friends..." Sebastian trailed, his eyes falling on the three maidservants whom from the looks of it, would rather choose to be in front of a fire breathing dragon instead of the King. Maya could especially feel Levi's stare boring into her.
"And why didn't her friends accompany her?" His voice was surprisingly calm although the word friends left a bad taste in his mouth.
He was angry at their negligence towards his wife, but somehow found himself incapable of punishing them due to the fact that they were Fernanda's friends. She had found a connection with them and hurting them means hurting her.
"Forgive our senselessness, your majesty." Yolanda quickly apologized.
"What direction did she ride off to?" he demanded. No one answered, causing Sebastian to clench his jaw hard. He was trying hard to keep his rage at bay for Fernanda's sake. "Pray for your lives as I go find my wife," he told them, his tone devoid of emotion.
"If I see her and there's so much as a scratch on her, you will all be thrown into the dungeons," he continued, watching as they all turned pale with worry. "And if I don't find her at all, you all will be fed to the rogues in those dungeons."
Only Sebastian rode away to go search for Fernanda, Levi stayed behind, watching them in silence as they all anticipated the worst that could happen.
Sebastian's horse ran twice as fast as Fernanda's so it didn't take long for him to spot her. He didn't realized the smile of relief on his face when he saw her, but that was short-lived as soon as he noticed her struggling to hold on to her horse as it kept speeding.
He immediately began to speed across the stony ground towards her, his heart beating wildly in his chest. "She'll fall! She'll fall and die if I don't get to her soon." He thought as he sped.
Sebastian had never been one to sugar-coat things for himself and people around him. He had always loved telling people bitter truths and harsh realities. It was no different this time around, he knew Fernanda will surely lose her life if he's unable to get to her faster.
All ounce of levelheadedness left him immediately he heard her scream, "Come on!" He growled, edging his horse to go faster than it ever had, pushing it to the maximum limit. It was hard but the horse understood Sebastian, it ran with the speed of a bullet.
Everything happened in a flash. Sebastian caught Fernanda just as she slipped from her horse, just as she barely escaped death. But she didn't die, instead she was right in front of him, panting heavily with her face flushed from the intensity of the wind and fear.
His horse after having sped a long distance, gradually slowed down after Fernanda got rescued. Sebastian's face was taut with fury and Fernanda could see it even if he wasn't saying anything.
He got down first, Fernanda wanted to alight by herself but wasn't chanced because Sebastian was already lifting her off the horse like she weighed nothing before she knew it.
He carefully set her down, examined her face and body and momentarily sighed in relief at the realization that she wasn't scratched before his face hardened again.
"Sebastian..." Fernanda muttered, unsure of what to say or what excuse to give. Sebastian didn't say anything but continued stare at her, worry, fear, anger and a struggle for control all merged into one in his ocean blue eyes.
"Why do you so badly want to end your life Fernanda?" Sebastian said, making sure the anger seething within him wasn't evident in his voice. "I wasn't trying to commit suicide, I am not insane." Fernanda told him with a sharp tone, offended by his remark.
"Then why on earth were you riding a horse that wasn't properly saddled!" He demanded in a gruff tone, the anger in his eyes burning fiercely. "You could have fallen to your death if I hadn't shown up in time and caught you."
"I had no idea the horse wasn't properly saddled," Fernanda said with a shaky voice, holding her body with both arms as if to keep it from falling apart. She was trying hard not to cry but the tears stung her eyes regardless.
Sebastian saw that and sighed softly, he was angered by the thought of her dying, by everyone's carelessness, not Fernanda herself. He quietly berated himself for making her feel like that.
Without hesitation, he pulled her into his embrace. His hand burrowing into her soft wavy hair as he held her shivering body gently against his chest. Fernanda didn't fight it and Sebastian was grateful, he wasn't sure how she'd react to that.
"Forgive my outburst," He whispered, "I..." He hesitated, "I was afraid." He finally said after a moment of considering whether or not he should say that.
If she had died from that fall, he would not have been able to forgive himself.