Mr. King and I

Chapter Three: The Engagement

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Sadly enough I didn't stay unconscious long enough. I was awoken by something cold and wet being pressed against my face, the rough fabric pressing against my temple. Gentle, comforting murmurs urged me to open my eyes, begged me to awaken. I complied with great effort, meeting the steely tempest gaze of Sebastian King. My fiancé.

I flinched away from his tentative touch, ducking away from his outstretched hand. Sebastian's lips thinned, but he kept silent as heballed up his hand into a fist, drawing it to his side. I sat up slowly, tucking my legs beneath me. I glanced around, finding no sign of Mr. Grey or Aunt Bet.

"What happened?" I asked, my voice coming out an octave higher then normal.

"By all intensive purposes you had a panic attack and fainted." Sebastian explained as he drew himself up straight beside me. His eyes swung over towards me in a glance. "You gave Elspeth quite a scare."

I said nothing. I stared blindly into the patterns on the hard wood floor. I stared at it so hard that the image blurred causing me to blink. I drew in a long, shaking breath as I turned towards Sebastian, regarding him for the first time.

His blond hair was messier than before, his face drawn in worry. His eyes were the same easy to read storm clouds of emotion as they had been before. I scrutinized him, dissecting his every feature. From the slope of his nose to the cut of his cheek bones. He really was handsome, a Hugh Dancy kind of handsome, that slightly disheveled-boyish good looking that caused hearts to melt. This man was going to be my . . . my . . . .

Oh, god.

"H-how long did you know? Why did no one tell me? When did-did this happen?"

Sebastian remained silent for several agonizing heart beats before answering;

"It was all set up when I was very young, and you were a toddler at the time. My father and yours' set this up as a sort of . . . collateral. You see, at the time your father was in debt and he came to my father for help. My father agreed to help Tom-give him the money to get rid of his debts and a job with the firm as well-but in return he asked that you and I have an . . . agreement.

"I've always known about it. I planned to have my lawyers find some loop hole long before your twenty-first birthday. This was the entire reason why your parents never thought to tell you. But sadly, thus far my father made sure that the contract was air tight. And he made sure that we couldn't get out of it without punishment."

"Punishment?" I asked frowning. "What kind of punishment?"

"If we should try to break the . . . betrothal we would be punished. I will be disinherited. The business will be seized and giving to the board, my accounts will be frozen and all estates and possessions in the King name will be seized by the courts. I'll be penniless, homeless. You, on the other hand, will be given all of the debt that your father had at the time the contract was made. It'd take all of your inheritance to get half of it paid off."

I gaped at him in horror. What kind of sadistic man had Sebastian's father been?

"There's no way out of this, is there? We really have no choice?" I asked, every fiber of my being pleading for him to deny it.

"I know I am asking a lot from you, but I swear to you that I will do nothing to make you uncomfortable. I would like for us to be able to be friends. I won't ask for more, at least not now. All I ask is that you at least try to get to know me. We have four years before we have to face this. So for now we can just pretend we are no more than guardian and ward."