Apprentice of Death
Chapter 9

Sebastian was sleeping in his bed when Cinder quietly entered his room; her night out with Tristan had been very late, so she wasn’t surprised to replace him sleeping. He looked so peaceful that she didn’t want to disturb him. She gently brushed his hair from his forehead and lightly kissed him there before leaving his room, back through the door that connected with hers.

She stripped out of her armor and bathed off all the sweat from her intense practice and dancing afterward. She dressed in a deep purple nightgown made of silk with thin straps and a bareback; it almost looked like a gown. Her hair fell loose beyond her waist as she sat in front of her vanity, brushing it out, thinking about her day.

She heard an owl’s hoot from close outside and turned toward the breeze drifting into her room with a smile. The forest and nature had always made her feel better; it was almost calling to her now, with the night sounds drifting in through the double doors. She set her hairbrush down and silently walked onto her balcony with her bare feet to look at the night. She looked out at the forest, spotting the owl, as she ran her hands over the smooth marble of the railing.

Her thoughts drifted from the horrors of the morning to her enjoyable evening with Tristan. He was someone who she believed she could be good friends with. His ability to joke and lighten the mood and his straightforward, to-the-point way of talking made her enjoy spending time with him. She found it refreshing when he spoke what was on his mind instead of trying to hide things.

She knew she could use more close friends in her life like Tristan could become. At the moment, she had Sebastian and was growing a relationship with Adrian. She and Adrian had started to become close over the last two weeks, often spending long hours talking with one another. During her last two weeks working there, she had also started to grow a friendship with Jenny at the hospital.

Jenny was sweet and shy but very intelligent. Her mind was kind and straightforward, continually seeking ways to help others. While working together at the hospital, the two chatted easily and often laughed. It was strange having a female friend. Before Jenny, Cinder had only ever had male friendships.

Cinder had also noticed Riley’s growing attraction to Jenny, which made her smile often while working there. Jenny hadn’t noticed herself, but Cinder planned to encourage Riley’s affections wherever possible. Cinder laughed a little, thinking about how Riley watched Jenny, enamored with her, while she worked. He had been scheduled for routine examinations to track his progress through his first full moon, so he had been at the hospital several times weekly, allowing him ample opportunity to foster his growing crush.

Cinder looked out over the view, taking in the moon momentarily before another memory of Riley at the hospital hit her. She laughed again, louder, at the memory of the day she had caught him staring at Jenny working on someone else. Jenny had bent over, and Riley’s eyes had lit up at the sight just before Cinder had caught him; he had gone three shades of red when Cinder’s eyes had met his afterward.

“Thinking of something funny?” a voice startled her, and she turned to see Adrian walking out onto her balcony. “Excuse the intrusion. I saw you out here from my own balcony and came to see how you’re doing.”

“I was thinking about Riley’s crush on Jenny,” she answered, amusement still coloring her words.

He gave a half smile and laughed himself, “Yes, most around them have noticed, except for her.”

He walked up next to her and placed his hands on the balcony railing, looking up at the night sky, lit with the moon and stars. An evening breeze caressed their skin and blew their hair gently; hers floated about her. Adrian closed his eyes to enjoy the breeze and then sighed, turning to look at her. He was quiet momentarily, looking at her while she gazed at the moon. He looked at her in her nightgown and bare feet, with her hair blowing around her in the breeze as she was bathed in moonlight; she was strikingly beautiful to him then. His thoughts caused her to draw in a breath and turn her violet eyes to his blue ones.

They looked at one another in silence for a moment, and then he asked, “What happened today, Cinder?”

He examined her face for any more signs of being hurt. His inability to protect her frustrated him on a very deep level. The thought unburied old pains and thoughts about his inability to protect the women in his life that he cared about from Dominique. He had forgotten that she could hear him for a moment.

She sighed, “I started working in the prisoner’s room without my escort. When Dominique heard, he came and struck me and . . .and kissed me and then sucked the blood off of my lip from the kiss.” Adrian scowled at what she told him, and his eyes illuminated in anger again. “I failed to heal two of the prisoners before they died, and there was a young girl there and another man named Sean, who I got to know a little.”

She looked at Adrian’s eyes and reached up to touch him as before, admiring his wild beauty. With her touch, she didn’t startle him this time, and his eyes slowly faded to normal. He found her touch soothing and even reassuring.

“What happened to her, Adrian? The woman you loved.”

He watched as she gently caressed his brow, thinking, “She was killed.” Cinder looked at him while she casually stroked his brow, waiting for him to continue, if he would. He sighed and closed his eyes before remembering back, explaining, “It was back when we were both still young, a couple of years after our Coming of Age. She was the daughter of the King from the neighboring Kingdom, just past Dominique’s fortress. Our Kingdoms had never really gotten along but remained in a state of tense peace. She and I had fallen in love, and my father, King at the time, hoped it could bring our two Kingdoms together. But her father refused my offer of marriage, forcing us to keep our love and relationship a secret. It was a night when we agreed to meet in the forest between our two lands. I was not paying attention to my surroundings when Dominique swept down on me, intending to kill me. She ran at him, and he turned on her instead, and Dominique ended up biting her in their struggle.”

Cinder knew that a vampire’s bite was deadly to a werewolf, as theirs was to a vampire. It was supposedly the most painful way for any creature to die when the two venoms mixed in a single body.

“I attacked him, and he fled, leaving her to die. I carried her to Celeste’s fortress, not knowing what to do. Celeste was a young witch herself at the time but did her best to help. It wasn’t enough, and the princess ended up taking her own life in the night while I slept, unable to bear the agony of the vampire’s venom mixing with her system. I will never forget her screams that night. They were like no other sound of agony I have ever heard or wish to hear again.” Cinder continued to stroke him but moved her touch to his hairline, trying to offer some comfort during the retelling.

“Then what happened,” she prompted him.

“Celeste buried her in their graveyard, and I had to tell her father what had happened. He declared war on our Kingdom, which led to the deaths of many of our people on the battlefield, including my father. I succeeded him and led our Kingdom to victory, and the two Kingdoms joined into one single one here. My attempts to seek vengeance on Dominique only led to more death and a curse he placed on me until his death.”

Cinder stopped her caresses, and he opened his eyes to look at her.

“Adrian, what curse?”

His eyes were calm as he looked into her eyes to answer her, “A curse that I am the last of my line until Dominique’s death. It is why I have never married; I would never force that on a woman I cared about.”

She had watched flashes of the images in his head as he had recounted his tale; Dominique attacking the girl he loved, who did look remarkably similar to her, her wailing in pain after the bite and the gravesite, snippets of his father falling on the battlefield, and Adrian leading the charge of the final battle. She saw attempts to storm Dominique’s Keep and more dying in battles. Cinder saw Dominique curse Adrian down and then leave him alive to live for centuries alone. She felt his pain through it all. She now understood more clearly, why he had been so shocked to see her at first and his strong desire to protect her from Dominique.

The image of the girl in his memory could have been her twin, save for the eyes that were a dark blue instead of violet, upon closer inspection but barely noticeable. She could feel his pain and loneliness, making her want to hug him.

Instead, she asked, “Have you ever grieved her?”

He turned and looked at the moon and the night breeze blowing the trees, leaning against the railing with his hands spread over the top. The answer was a strong ‘no,’ though he didn’t actually answer her. He carried the princess’ death with him like she carried Garret’s; the responsibility of an innocent death because of their choices. She knew how he felt and let him feel how she understood. He sighed with a sense of gratitude. She reached out and gently touched his shoulder, interrupting his thoughts about his past.

“Thank you for telling me, Adrian. I know it wasn’t easy to remember such painful things from your past. Especially telling them to someone you barely know.”

She saw him scowl as he looked up at the moon, and his face came down to look at hers as he thought, “Do I barely know you, Cinder? I feel like you know me better than anyone else after only a few short weeks, which amazes me still. But I suppose I could not know you well; this is true.”

He continued looking into her eyes, grateful for her friendship and felt he could talk with her. He was also thankful for his growing friendship with Sebastian. The only problem he felt on his end was his increasing sense of closeness with Cinder was awakening feelings in him for her, that he didn’t know what to do with. He didn’t want to ruin his friendship with Sebastian with his growing affection for Cinder.

Her abilities to see into him and communicate with a sense of truth naturally sped up the progression of a friendship; you didn’t have to waste time figuring out if you could trust her or if she would be ok with the truth because she already knew. He had kept his distance from others after causing the Princess’ death, being a dead end himself. He felt he had nothing to offer a woman besides death and sorrow. He looked back out at the moon that was waning.

“Adrian,” she thought softly in a comforting way. She had heard him; of course, she had. He said nothing and continued to look at the moon. “Adrian, you know me, as I have hidden nothing from you, but I feel that there is just so much more to learn about you; you have lived a long time, and my story is a few mere sentences compared to your novel,” she laughed, reaching over and touching him again gently, on his upper arm.

He laughed back, thinking, “Hardly. I’ve just told you everything that would be worth telling.”

She scoffed in disbelief, making him laugh again, smiling at her interest in him and his story. Yet again, she was talking with him like he wasn’t even a King that she needed to impress, scoffing and chiding him even at times, making him feel almost normal. Sebastian also made him feel normal in many ways, not caring about impressions like the wolves he was surrounded with.

He was still looking down into her eyes, and almost without a thought, he angled his body more toward hers so he was standing right in front of her; instead of alongside. She angled her head to maintain their connection, her hand still resting on his arm, stirring something in him. He could feel his heart rate go up a little, his breathing making his chest rise and fall as he looked into her eyes. He desperately wanted to reach out and caress her, touch her. To know what it would be like, but no. He had to get away from her before he did something he couldn’t take back. He pushed off of the balcony and turned to leave when she caught his hand.

He turned back to her and looked at her, his brows furrowed. What right did he have to fall in love with her? It wasn’t uncommon to love multiple people in their world, but he couldn’t risk endangering things with Sebastian. That, and she was a witch, something so taboo, no one had ever dared think it. It could even be considered blasphemy in her world, amongst her people. Could he risk her reputation, maybe even her life, simply so he could love her? He wanted to protect her, and that could mean even from himself.

He smiled sadly at her, gently placing his hands on her shoulders, and kissed the top of her head, whispering, “Good night, Cinder.” He then released her and left through the hidden door he had come from.

Cinder was left alone with her thoughts about Adrian. She wanted to help him, but she also had a growing affection for him; she was terrified of caring for him beyond being a friend because she seemed to bring death with her. Even her love for Sebastian felt like a risk at times. She couldn’t care for Adrian and help him simultaneously; bringing death to him wasn’t caring for him. She looked up at the moon, losing herself in thoughts.

Cinder was again lost in her thoughts as she bent over a man on the medical table before her. She couldn’t get her evening with Adrian out of her mind. She had seen little of him over the last three days, but he seemed to always be on her mind.

“You look deep in thought,” Jenny observed. Cinder snapped out of her private thoughts to give Jenny a smile.

“Yes, I’m sorry.” Cinder looked down at the werewolf she was helping heal; he was the Kingdom’s specialty herbal cultivator and had fallen off the greenhouse ladder right into the patch of wolf’s bane. Cinder was spreading a counteracting salve on his wounds while feeling around in his mind to see if he had any head injuries from the fall. She sucked in a gasp when she found a bleed in the man’s brain.

“What?” Jenny asked, coming over, clearly worried.

“Give me a minute,” Cinder said, closing her eyes and flowing her magic into the man.

“He’s bleeding in his brain, Jenny. If I don’t stop it, he’ll die. I need to concentrate." Jenny gasped, staying close to the pair. Cinder closed off the bleed and helped speed the man’s natural healing to break down the blood in his skull, relieving the pressure. She could feel how it allowed him to regain consciousness.

“Cinder?” Jenny asked her. Cinder opened her eyes and watched as the man slowly opened his.

“Welcome back,” she smiled at him.

“Cinder! Thank you,” Jenny said, putting a hand on Cinder’s arm.

Cinder looked up at Jenny and smiled, turning back to gaze down at the man. She could hear Jenny’s thoughts about how amazed she was; the man would have died without Cinder’s help, no matter what Jenny had done or not done. The man was so skilled and valuable to their Kingdom; it would have been a heavy blow if he had died.

Cinder could hear Sebastian’s thoughts before seeing him, but she turned around expectantly to wait for him. She had a smile on her face for him as he rounded the corner to the hospital. Their eyes met, and then his traveled the length of her, her beauty stirring him, making his eyes flash as he approached.

She wore a new dark purple gown that complimented her violet eyes and long black hair. It had a corset bodice with sleeves attached to the side, leaving her shoulders bare, with long flowing sleeves and a train.

Sebastian walked up to her, wearing his appreciative half smile she loved, and reached for her. His hand held the side of her face, bringing her to his lips for a gentle kiss. Sebastian was never ashamed or bothered by showing her affection in public, so word of their relationship had naturally spread like wildfire in the palace and beyond. She loved that she belonged to him and that he wasn’t afraid to show it.

“You look lovely,” he whispered, looking down into her eyes, with his beautiful liquid gold ones. She looked at him, taking his free hand in hers.

“Tristan asked me to see if you would like to go dancing again tonight,” he said with a smile, still holding her face, caressing it with his thumb.

“I would love that, so long as Jenny doesn’t need me here?” Cinder turned to face Jenny, who walked over with a smile.

“No, you go ahead. There are plenty of healers on tonight,” she said.

“Jenny, would you like to come with us? It’s your night off, right?” Cinder asked her. A shy smile broke out on Jenny’s face, and she blushed. “It would really be a wonderful time!” Cinder encouraged her. Jenny smiled and glanced at Sebastian, whose warm golden eyes seemed to reassure her with their calm patience.

“Alright, I guess. I supposed I should go change!” She said, looking down at her medical frock.

Cinder laughed, teasing, “I went dancing in armor once with Tristan, and we made it work, but it might be nicer in a dress!” Jenny looked up at Cinder and laughed at the image. “Alright, I’ll meet you in the palace courtyard in half an hour,” she said.

Sebastian walked out of the hospital wing, holding Cinder’s hand in his, gazing over at her in a way that made her blush. She loved him so much there were times she could barely stand it. They stopped in the courtyard to wait, and Sebastian turned to face her, just gazing at her with a look of utter love and devotion. She took a moment to admire him, looking him over.

He was adjusting well to his role as Adrian’s Second and even looked the part now. He wore black boots and pants, with a silver fox-fur belt and his silver and black livery collar, over a bare chest. The sight of him made her heart catch and flutter each time she looked at him; he was so handsome.

“You keep looking at me like that, Cinder, and we are going to be much later than 30 minutes,” he warned her in his mind, his eyebrow shooting up as he smirked at her.

Even so, his eyes flared slightly as he stepped up close to her. Both his hands came to her face, and he bent down to kiss her. Each time he kissed her, it was like the rest of the world would fade to her, and she was consumed with him; the taste of him, the feel of him, his woody scent. It made her sigh, and he took the opportunity to part her lips more with his tongue, taking possession of her. Her hands found his bare chest, and she sighed again under his sensual kiss, setting her on fire.

Someone standing close to them cleared their throat, making her jump and pull back. Tristan stood right next to them with a mocking smirk, almost laughing. His thoughts were highly amused and entertained.

“You two, sheesh! You act like you just fell in love yesterday, but every day of the week,” he laughed, looking between them.

Sebastian returned his smirk and pulled Cinder into his arms, saying, “When it happens to you, Tristan, you’ll understand. If you love her, it will always be like that, no matter how old you get or how long you’ve known each other. If she stirs you down in your soul level, you will never be rid of the need for her.” His eyes drifted to gaze intently into Cinder’s as he finished, “If she bewitches you, you’ll be lost without her by your side, and you’ll feel like a piece of you is drifting out to sea when you aren’t touching her.” Cinder’s gaze softened as she melted even more into Sebastian’s arms at his words. She reached up, brushed his hair out of his face with her hand, and settled it on his cheek, still looking into his eyes. Tristan could have made a smart comment back, but instead, he looked at the two with serious contemplation, taking in the look in their eyes and reflecting on it in his thoughts.

“Well, I’m ready,” Jenny’s voice met them from behind Tristan. She walked up and smiled at the three of them. Tristan looked surprised at first and then pleased. The four walked out of the palace and down the road, discussing their days; Sebastian held Cinder’s hand the whole way to the tavern.

They were shown to a table and ordered drinks, continuing to talk about their days. Tristan had the group laughing with his retelling of the practice arena for the day; a few of the new recruits were rather clumsy. Jenny began commenting on various injuries she had seen from the soldiers over the years, seeing if Tristan knew how they had gotten them. They were all laughing at some of the connections.

A new song came on, and Sebastian walked Cinder onto the dance floor to pull her into his arms and start dancing. Tristan watched them momentarily, still thinking back to Sebastian’s words earlier. He heard Jenny sigh and looked over at her. She was also watching them with a whimsical smile on her face. He studied her momentarily until she felt his eyes on her. She turned to look at him and blushed. He gave her an inquisitive look, and she blushed deeper.

“It’s just nice to see, is all,” she commented.

“Haven’t you seen people in love before, Jenny?”

“Of course! But there is just something about them that moves me. Perhaps it is because it seems so pure and deep to me. It doesn’t matter if he’s a werewolf and she’s a witch; when they look into each other’s eyes like that, you know they belong together.”

Tristan looked back at Sebastian and Cinder dancing and couldn’t disagree with Jenny’s assessment. He finally stood up and offered Jenny his hand, pulling her onto the dance floor to join the other couples.

The four would switch off every couple of songs, enjoying each other’s company, and all join in on the group songs, laughing. At one point, Cinder and Jenny sat down at their table together while Sebastian and Tristan continued dancing a group dance.

“Cinder, may I ask you a question?” Jenny asked. Cinder looked over at her, dragging her eyes away from the guys to look at her.

She was quiet momentarily before answering, “It’s beautiful but scary, being in love. It simultaneously brings you reassurance and fear, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything either.” Jenny was shocked that Cinder answered her unspoken question.

“Fear? Do you fear he will leave you?” Jenny asked, a little surprised.

Cinder laughed a little, saying, “No, never. What I mean is the fear of losing the one you love or of being lost to them. I suppose some people leave one another, but in my opinion, if you’re capable of doing that, it was never true love in the beginning. Do you worry you won’t replace someone, Jenny?” Jenny looked down, blushing, her mind confirming the truth.

Cinder smiled at her, thinking about Riley, saying, “I think one might be closer than you think.” Jenny’s face shot up to look at Cinder, shocked. Before she could ask what Cinder meant, the guys came over and whisked them off to continue dancing.

The four stayed out late, dancing, laughing, talking, and joking with each other. Cinder couldn’t remember laughing as hard as she had that evening in a long time. Going out dancing provided her with a good distraction between her horrendous visits to Dominique’s keep.

When it was so late they were forced to head home, the four walked back up to the palace in the dark together. Cinder tripped, not having night vision, but Sebastian caught her. He lifted her into his arms to carry her the rest of the way.

The guard opened the gate and portcullis for them, and it was shut after them. They said their goodbyes and headed their separate ways, Sebastian carrying Cinder down their corridor.

He walked straight to his room, and the door was opened for him, closing behind him. The fire crackling in the fireplace glowed over the room as Sebastian gently set Cinder down on her feet. She stood before him, looking at his handsome face, which was partially cast in shadow from the firelight. Slowly she reached up to brush his hair from his face, caressing him like she had since they were young, looking at him with love in her eyes. She slid her hands up his bare chest, following the contours of his muscles as she caressed him, slowly making her way up to the livery collar he wore.

His eyes lit up as he watched her lift it from his shoulders, setting it on the back of one of the chairs near them. Her eyes also started to glow his exact shade of yellow, lighting up the dark and displaying her desire for him. She looked at him, glancing at his mouth briefly, as a hand swept up into his black hair to pull him to her for a passionate kiss.

His hands were on her with a sigh of passion, holding her to him. A slight growl escaped him when she pulled on his hair, opening her lips for him to slip inside and take possession of her. His hands reached the back of her dress and started unlacing it as he drove her wild with his tongue twirling around hers, sensually stroking her.

She reached down and started undoing his belt, lightly teasing his hips with her nails, drawing a moan from him. She gasped when his mouth left hers to journey down to her bare shoulders and neck, ravaging her exposed skin. He had her throbbing with need, a heat growing within that only he could satisfy.

“Sebastian,” she moaned, reaching out to undo his belt at last, dropping it to the floor.

Her fingers began working on his pants just as he managed to free her from the laces of her corset. His palms came to her shoulders and slid down her arms, taking her sleeves and the purple gown down with them until it dropped to the floor with a rustle. She freed him from his pants just as he bent to hook his hands under her knees, pulling her up and around his hips in one swift jerk.

She fisted his hair as his tongue swirled and tickled the sensitive skin of her neck, making her gasp and shudder with pleasure. Her head fell back on another moan, his mouth making the most of the opportunity, sucking on the newly exposed flesh, while he walked around the sitting area chairs to sink them down onto the plush fur rug in front of the fireplace.

His mouth kissed its way down to her breasts, his large hand sliding over one to bring it into his mouth. Her fingers dug into his shoulders as she gasped with pleasure, her back arching in response to his teasing tongue and teeth on her.

She sucked in a lungful of air, so she could moan it out when his fingers pressed up inside of her, curling and stroking to build her up into her first shuddering orgasm while his mouth switched breasts. His fingers left her, traveled higher, and started to tease her, building her need again while they stroked her throbbing flesh, making her sob out his name in need. He released her breast and rested on an elbow, his face above hers, gazing down into her glowing eyes as he stroked her hair with his free hand; his fingers still stroking and dancing on her below.

He watched her face reflecting her pleasure in the dancing light of the fire as he caressed her face, dwelling on how much he loved her. He had her panting with need, her eyes closing, as her head tilted upward; her hands and legs pulling on him, demanding he answer her need that he had created.

His mouth covered her, swallowing the deep moan of pleasure at him pressing into her. She was still pulling on his hips with her legs and clawing at his shoulders when he started to move within her with his powerful, possessive thrusts. His tongue pressed into her lips to possess her mouth while he filled her heat again and again, holding her hips to him.

“You’ll always be mine, Cinder. No matter what our future, you’re mine now, and you always will be," he thought as he thrust into her, filling her completely while he held her hips to him.

She was and would be until the day of her death, a death that would be before her time, the Oracle had said. But for now, she was his completely; heart, mind, and soul, she was his.

His powerful thrusts had her breaking their kiss on a cry of passion as a flush washed up her face, her orgasm rushing out over her like a tidal wave. With a growl on a final thrust, Sebastian came to his own release within her, arching his back as his head flew back on a deep moan of ecstasy, claiming her as his own yet again; in the dark of his room.