"Diya!"
The door burst open and a wave of blue light entered the room. The Healers screeched and threw up their hands, trying to counteract it with their own magic, but it was pointless to try to quell the worry of a Mage.
In the corner, Diya looked up from her book with a scowl. "Can't you see I'm trying to read?"
Sebastian crossed space and pulled his bodyguard from her seat, much to her annoyance, and spun her around. He let out a sigh of relief and pressed his hands on her shoulders. "Now I'm going to need you to not scream. Or pull away."
"What are you–" Diya broke herself off with a soft gasp as a flood of warmth entered her body from her shoulders. It reminded her of the time Sebastian took away her headache in the school library. That feels like a lifetime ago.
Sebastian stepped back and the light disappeared. He grinned. "Congratulations, Diya, you're not possessed!"
She stared at him with blank eyes. "What?"
"I just checked if the demon had given you a Thought Infection, and he hadn't!"
"T-that's great, I think?" Diya had never heard of a Thought Infection before and made a mental note to check the library when she was discharged. Trying to keep her tone and demeanour as relaxed as possible, she ventured to ask the question that had been plaguing her mind, "So, do you- do you know who that demon was?"
Sebastian's expression darkened and he nodded. "Yes, Caspian believes he is Prince Kyler of the Demon Realm."
"D-does he now?"
Sebastian mistook her stammering for fear of her brother possibly being taken by such a dangerous being. "Not to worry, Diya! Your brother must be alive- demons require their host to be alive in order to wear their face."
Diya nodded and thanked him for his woefully incorrect advice. That's just a myth we spread to trick you guys.
"I also talked to Father about the trial." He dropped his voice to a whisper. "After we win next week, we can go to the Capital and set up a protected account separate from the Elshers. Then your salary can be deposited then, sounds good?"
Diya thought back to Hazel and Carl. "Yes, I want to go see some friends as well."
"You have friends?"
"No need to sound so surprised." Diya picked up her book and pointed at a Healer scurrying to the other side of the ward. "You there."
"Y-yes?" He squeaked, glasses slipping to the edge of his nose as he jolted in surprise.
"Am I free to go?"
"W-well, we need to do a few more checks–"
"But the Crown Prince himself has checked me." Diya jabbed Sebsatian in the stomach with her elbow, causing him to straighten and adopt a more dignified manner. "Are you saying that he is wrong?"
"N-no–"
"So I'm free to go?"
The Healer glanced around the busy ward then gave a resigned shrug. "Okay. Just remember to come back in if you experience any nausea or headaches."
"Will do," Diya said, not fully listening but more desperate to get out away from the stench of sickness and bleach. It brought back too many memories of dark bottles and syringes full of red.
"You're so cruel," Sebastian whispered. "You could've been a bit nicer."
"Being nice doesn't get me anywhere in this world." Diya tied her hair up and side-eyed him. "You'd do well to remember that."
Once outside, Sebastian turned right and went down one of the garden paths with Diya following exactly five steps behind him, as was her duty. She thought he would go back to the main Palace, but was surprised when he took the back path to the Training Grounds.
At this time of day, it would be the Imperial Guards time to train- perhaps with one or two promising recruits. As most of the soldiers were in Shah Jen, it would be the weaklings of the Second and Third Divisions today.
"Crown Prince, where are you going?" She asked in a clipped tone, trying not to convey her shock.
He grinned boyishly, his contrasting eyes shone bright in the midday sun. "You have your friends, and I have mine."
He skidded down the bank and stumbled to a stop at the bottom, arms raised and a greeting pushed past his lips. The soldiers stopped and Diya thought they would bow but, instead, they raised their hands and waved with not a single formal greeting.
Goodness, the disrespect! Diya thought, half-expecting Caspian to pop out of the hydrangeas and curse them all.
"How're you doing, Sam?" Sebastian called, clapping a blonde man on the back. "I remember you got married a few months ago."
"I've recently had a baby with me wife, so I'm doin' great, Your Highness! Could do with a little more sleep, though." Sam grinned and scratched his stubble. "But yer support has been great. Especially after the wedding gift you sent me- you really didn't have to do that."
"Think nothing of it. You once took a blade for me, so this is the least I can do to repay the favour." Sebastian turned and shouted to a woman near the back. "Ah Edith! There you are skulking at the back- surely you can't still be mad at me?"
A woman with brown hair sniffed and gave an elegant shrug. "I can and I will. You were idiotic for drinking so much and throwing up on my favourite sword."
"But it was an accident–"
"My favourite sword." She lifted her other blade with a green hilt. "This is only my second favourite."
"Oh lighten up, Eddie!" Another soldier threw an arm across her shoulders. "At least we know now that our little Prince here has a low alcohol tolerance."
Sebastian laughed and turned to Diya, but his voice got stuck in his throat. She was standing on the edge of the circle, watching the proceedings. Her lips were parted and she looked as if all the blood had been drained from her body by a vampire. Her shoulders shook and her gaze darted from each smiling face, fists clenched so tight that red dripped from her nails.
"Hey, Diya?" Sebastian touched her shoulder and she flinched, blinking as if snapping out of a spell. "Everything okay?–"
"I need to go." Came the brusque reply. "I need to go."
"Oh, okay. We can go to the library–"
"No." She stepped back and hugged herself as if trying to put physical distance between them. "I need to go. I need some time alone."
Sebastian frowned and shielded her from the intrusive gazes of the soldiers. "Hey, what's wrong? Did I do something?"
"No, no, you didn't do anything wrong." But the way she avoided his gaze betrayed the shaky truth of her words. She tripped over her own feet and a shadow swooped down to catch her and push her up the hill.
"Wait, Diya, let's talk about this–" Sebastian tried, but she was long gone.
"Girl troubles, huh?" Sam patted him on the back with a comforting smile. "I know it can be tough."
"It's not like that." Sebastian scowled and tried to not waste time discerning the flurry of emotions in the Necromancer's eyes. "She's my bodyguard, and I'd rather not have someone that dangerous pissed at me. But whatever, let's just forget about it."
"Look, if you need to talk, I can give some words of advice."
"Oh here he goes again." A green-skinned mermaid rolled his eyes. "Now that he's married, he thinks that he knows everything about romance and love!"
"Certainly doing better than you," Edith mumbled with a raised brow. "You're not able to keep a stable relationship for more than three weeks!"
"Whatever." He flicked a piece of seaweed from his shoulders. "There's plenty more fish in the seas."
"Unfortunately for you, they're not interested in old crustaceans, Hali."
"Why you–" Hali reached for his sword.
"Hey, let's not forget that it's Seb here we want to help!" Sam interjected with his wide smile that could cool any hot temper.
"It's not like that, and I don't want to talk about it now." Sebastian turned to his friend and smiled through the turbulent swirl of emotions. "Tell me about your kid."
With those five words of fatherhood manipulation, he managed to steer the conversation away from his own issue.
**********************
Qotc:
1. Thoughts on Diya's reaction?
2. Thoughts on the Imperial Guards?
I hope you guys liked it!
Stay safe and thanks for reading :)