Sebastian

Chapter Twelve

This chapter has 777 words in it. I enjoyed writing it because it was refreshing to not keep up interaction between Sebastian and Elizabeth throughout the chapter (Although there will be more interaction very soon). Roy is a character I've been playing around with in my head for years, and it's crazy fun to be able to write some dialogue and interaction between him and Elizabeth or between him and some other characters I plan to bring into the picture soon. It's kind of like finally meeting someone I've thought about for so long. THIS BOOK IS AT OVER 300 READS AND HAS 40 VOTES! That's WILD! Thank you so much for reading!!

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I stared at the box, sorting through the contents inside. Elmer was preoccupied, playing with his makeshift wrapping-paper ball. I placed each item on my bed; I was confused. Lake Village did not allow pets. Why was he not angry, and why did he get me toys and snacks for the number one thing that wasn't allowed? As I emptied the box, I remembered his order to Roy to bring me and my family to him. I had to explain to them what would be happening, and I got up and shuffled into the living room to tell them. 

It was late, and Mom was the only one still up. She looked up at me from her knitting and smiled.

"Hey, Mom," I started, sitting beside her on our scrawny couch.

"What's up?" She asked. She was working on a blanket.

I didn't know how to start. I considered not telling her and just showing up by myself, but I didn't want to put Roy in a bad place if he only arrived with me in tow and not my family. I thought about asking her how she would feel about leaving the house for a family trip, but quickly banned that idea. I wondered if I should tell her about the king's obvious interest in me, or if I should tell her about my growing interest in him. I kept drawing ideas in my head, but none of them fit. I settled for ripping the bandage right off instead.

"Seb-The king wants us all to come to spend the day at his estate tomorrow," I said. "He's sending outfits and they'll be here tomorrow morning." I muttered the last part, wanting to put it all out there but not wanting to deal with her reaction.

Mom gaped. I looked at the blanket she was working on instead of her face; we couldn't afford a lot of yarn, so Mom always found little scraps of it and used that. It made her blanket look patchy and authentic, and I was excited to see the end result.

"Tomorrow? Why does he want all of us? Does he know about Elmer?" She bombarded me with questions. 

"Tomorrow. At first he just wanted me back, but I told him I had plans to spend time with my family and so he just assumed that I meant spending time with my family there." I ignored the last question.

Mom tried to look stern, but her excitement was obvious. She looked at me for a long moment.

"Okay," She said, a wistful, happy look in her eyes. "I'll tell the boys in the morning. You should be sleeping, what time is the car coming?" She asked. I stared at her for a moment, surprised she took the news so well. She wasn't angry like I was expecting; instead, she was happy about it. I fought the urge to ask her why she wasn't flinging more questions at me, or why she wasn't yelling and forbidding me to go.

"Two."

"Get to bed, I don't want you to be tired the entire time," She insisted, patting my leg. In truth, I was exhausted. It was one in the morning, and I had woken up early the previous morning. I hoped she would tell them while I was asleep; I somehow knew that Kaden wouldn't take the news very well.

"Okay, I love you," I said. Mom smiled at me.

"I love you too, honey."

Back in my room, Elmer was going nuts over the small scrap of fabric with catnip in it. He grabbed it and threw it, and then proceeded to rub on it. I placed the box on the floor for him to play in, grabbed the bag of treats and put them in my drawer where he couldn't reach them, and put all of his new toys in his box for him to find sometime during the night. I crawled into bed and pulled my blanket up to my chin, listening to my kitten's excited noises. I turned to my side and stared at the wall. Just as I was dozing off, I heard tapping on my window and even though it should've scared me, I had a feeling that I knew who it was; only one person knew me well enough and was daring enough to knock on my window late at night. I got out of my warm bed and looked out the window, finding a civilian-clothed Roy staring back at me. He grinned and motioned for me to open the window, and I cracked it so I could hear his voice.  His eyes glinted amber-gold as he leaned down to whisper in the opening of my window.

"Feel like a walk?"