The Midnight Storm (A New Dawn #2)

Chapter 36 - Nick

"No, it can't be." Alana tugged at his arm and pushed his face towards her voice. "This is a joke, right? Sebastian—Son of Greed and Wrath—did not do that. That's an imposter you're describing—not my cousin. He couldn't have."

"Except that he did." Nick gave a little shrug. "Bear is mine now. He's helping me pack."

"Arf," Bear said, muffled, his snout in Nick's sock drawer. At least, that was where Nick hoped the pup was fetching socks. The dirty orphaned socks under his bed were not for Bear to touch or sniff.

"But why?" Alana asked.

"Bear enjoys fetching stuff. He's good at it too. Watch me—"

She tsk'ed him. "Muttonhead, I meant Seb. He loved Bear—never seen him happier. Why would he give his pup away?"

"I'm not sure," Nick said, reminiscing.

He had just been playing with Bear in the royal garden when Seb had walked up to them and had started a long rambling speech about Laneby, Lord Brandon, Abby, the army, the General, the magician that had taken Nick's eyes at Whitepeak and Fox. Then Seb had jumped to Alex and Billy, and how it was easy to blame him of all that had gone wrong, and that he was also partly to blame, but not all of it, but that he was still sorry.

In the end, Seb had stumbled over his words, mentioning  Bear's teeth and the King's health, and how he needed to do what the Greenlanders expected him to do.

Seb had taken a deep breath, his voice cracking. "I want you to have Bear. He'll be happier in Ice, with you."

Nick had been too baffled to say anything in return. He had felt Seb's proximity, heard him talk to Bear, the pup yipping as his master said his goodbyes, then Seb's footsteps had turned away until they had faded completely.

Alana was right—this was not the Seb he knew.

"Have you seen him?" Nick asked Alana.

"No, you?" she returned the question.

Nick touched his face, snorting. "Of course, half an hour ago, with my two functioning eyes. He was admiring his peacock hair in front of the mirror in your chamber. He was thinking of bleaching his hair to honour Ice." 

"Nick..." 

He felt the hot breath of her sigh. "What? Think before you say anything."

"You're not being fair."

"What? It's not like you can forget I'm blind." Nick turned towards Bear, who had dropped two pairs of socks by his hands. When he sought the pup to give him a pat and a piece of meat, Bear pushed his head into the palm of Nick's hand. Bear never forgot. Him he could trust to remember and always be ready for him.

"Nick, I'm sorry." Alana's heels clicked. She wrapped her arms around him and pressed him against her soft bosom. Her cold hands tickled the narrow strip of naked skin that had formed on his lower back. Alright, Bear would never be able to do that. "All I can think about is that you're leaving tomorrow. Why can't Uncle River stay another fortnight, or another moon, until after the tournament?"

Nick laid his head on her shoulder. Today, she smelled of roses and honeysuckle; a hint of cinnamon too. "Your uncle doesn't seem like the type to enjoy watching bullheaded men crack open each other's skull for King and the motherland."

"And a shiny trophy," she added.

"I don't blame him. Who wants that, anyway?"

"I have no idea." She chuckled.

His hands slid down her back. "You could come with me to Ice. Visit your family in Bigtown."

"I wish I could, but I can't." As she exhaled, his face grew warmer because of it. "I really can't. Not with Papa and Seb..."