The Beast and His Tamer

Chapter 36: Right and Wrong

Sebastian was supposed to be able to fall right asleep that night. He really didn't want to upset Rhett, but if his family saw how they slept, well they would get the wrong idea. And Sebastian probably wouldn't be able to convince them that it was to keep him calm and away from losing himself to his sickness. He was just glad that Rhett seemed to understand.

He was really taking this seriously. Rhett really did try to impress his family, and acted with nothing but respect. It was the most calm and collected that Sebastian had ever seen of him.

It only made him more nervous about what was to come.

The more Sebastian tossed and turned that windy night, the more it seemed like he wasn't going to get any kind of sleep. But he didn't dare go out of that tent. Knowing his luck, someone would be up and he would have to talk to them. For once, he wished that he was by himself, able to spend the night with the moon, talking about all the things that he wished he could get off his chest right then.

There were so many things that he wished to sort out. When he was walking through the forest with all of them that day, it felt like a tug-of-war as his family tried to pull him towards his own responsibility that was their tradition and Sebastian's own wish to figure out what he wanted.

His mother was already talking about setting up a ceremony between him and Titus, and his father was thinking that it could be done before they even solve this issue with the forest. To him, their bond being created in the forest could help them pinpoint where the missing people were much easier.

"You're easily one of the strongest tamers," his father told him, excitedly putting an arm around him. "Titus is as well. Your union in the forest could be the one thing that we truly need towards finding out what's behind all of this."

"I don't think it has to be in the forest," Titus piped in, surprising them all. Sebastian and his parents had been talking about it rather quietly so that Rhett wouldn't hear about it as he led the group. Sebastian would hate to see his reaction to all of this planning. Instead, Felicia had gone up there to distract him.

"What do you mean?" Sebastian asked the tamer. He was still rather nervous around the man. He was quiet, calm and collected. But there was something about those dark eyes that Sebastian wasn't fond of. At first, he thought it was an interest that the man had in him. But now it was starting to look more like any other man that Sebastian had thought was interested in him. Those eyes just seemed to wander to others, acting like he wasn't anyone special.

"Well, I don't mind either way," Titus told him, trying to capture his eyes again, just as he had done when Sebastian first met him. "The forest just isn't the most ideal place for a ceremony."

"What's an ideal place for you?" he asked, tilting his head in curiosity. He had to stop himself from showing any signs of disappointment with that statement. Of course, Sebastian would never find someone that could see the beauty that forests had in them.

"Well," Titus said, his eyes lighting up at a thought. "I was thinking an island somewhere in the middle of the ocean."

He shouldn't have been surprised to hear him say that. Everyone in his family had wanted their ceremony to be near the ocean. Sebastian never minded that fact, however it wasn't how he wished his ceremony to be.

The more they talked and got to know each other, the more Sebastian realized that they didn't have much of a chance at working out. He wasn't sure how the ceremony would go, but it only made his heart grow distant, longing for someone who understood him.

Why did this have to happen right then? Why did they have to find his suitor the same time that Sebastian had finally found someone who actually wanted to be with him? He didn't understand why fate had to be so cruel to him. It wasn't like Sebastian wanted to be miserable his whole life.