The Aldean Chronicles: Spotlight (Part 2)
Prologue

17 years ago

"And that's it." Liege Oisin drew the meeting to a close. With a satisfied smile, he walked to the man positioned strategically at the head of the table. "Good?"

Infante Matteo buried his face in his hands and waited for the room to clear out. "I can't do this anymore, Callum," he said. "I can't."

Callum sighed and took the seat to the Infante's right. "It's okay, Seb. It's only been a few months since you got your title, it'll get better."

Sebastian picked up the heavy, green manila folder in his front and threw it across the room. "You're not getting it. I don't want to do this, not now, not next month, not ever." He ran his hands through his dark brown hair.

Callum bit his lip. He had a few choice words for his oldest friend but decided to hold his tongue. "I have to get home to Renata and Tristan." He got to his feet and gave Sebastian a reproving look before exiting the room.

"Infante." Sebastian's assistant, Ray, walked into the room less than a minute later. "You have another meeting at 6, Secretary Hanson promised to keep it under two hours. We have to get you to the building." He noticed the manila folder on the floor and frowned. "And your sister scheduled tea at half past 5 tomorrow morning. She didn't say why."

Sebastian snorted. He didn't think it was possible, but Freya became even more insufferable after being crowned Queen a few months before. She was no doubt inviting him for another "constructive criticism" session.

Sebastian dragged his aching feet out of the room and into an official black car. Beside him was a pile of newspapers.

Now, for the best part of his day.

He picked up the first one and read silently:

Why You Should Always Vote

Six months ago, our beloved King Adolphus VII died. Unlike other children, the royal siblings didn't have time to grieve. Before his coffin could be lowered into the ground, ballots were cast. Our choices were current Queen Freya (Graduated top of her class from Brimstone and broke the record for most wins at Milton's match, seven), and her twin brother, Infante Matteo, a man who the president of Calais called (on a leaked phone call) 'a complete waste of power'.

Council members spent months urging their constituents to vote. They never said it, but we all knew they wanted citizens to vote for the Queen. And thank goodness, we did. Queen Freya has launched her 32-point plan to bring Aldean to a new century. A plan she worked on closely with her mother, till her untimely death just three years ago.

Sebastian stopped reading, he could handle news criticizing him and praising his sister, but he couldn't handle news on his mother. She was killed on a Royal Visit to Charlton in 2002. Her death sparked outrage and finally forced his father to drive Ryppers to Malone, life in Aldean had been relatively peaceful since then.

Sebastian loved his mother, she was the only member of his family who didn't make him feel like a failure. Why didn't his father die in her place three years ago? Not even Freya would have missed him.

"Infante, we're here," Ray called from the front seat. Sebastian didn't move. "Infante?"

"There's something I need to do, I can't go to the meeting," he said.

Ray looked at his clipboard. "There isn't anything else on your schedule."

"It's top secret, you don't know about it." Sebastian didn't know where he was going, all he knew was that he couldn't stay there anymore.

"I'm sure this is where you're supposed to be." Ray insisted.

"And I'm sure I'm supposed to be elsewhere. So do the job you're being paid for and take me there," he snapped.

Ray sighed, he was used to his boss' tantrums. "Fine, where are you supposed to be now?" He failed to scrub the sarcasm from his voice.

"Where's the furthest place you can think of?" Seb asked.

The driver snorted and said under his throat. "Maybe Earth."

Sebastian sat upright. "You guessed it, that's where I'm supposed to go."

Ray and the driver shared a look. "No member of your family has been since the Illyrian war ended. Nobody goes there," Ray said with a light chuckle.

And nobody knew him or any of the things he'd done there. It was perfect. "That's why it's a top-secret mission. Tim, take me to the nearest Bhain. Ray, tell the secretary of state I won't be joining him."

Ray coughed. "Infante I..."

"Get out of the car," Seb ordered. "Tim, drive."

"There's only one in Aldean, we're two hours away." Tim pulled the gearshift.

Ray sputtered. "This is insane, I'm telling the Queen."

"You do that, but it will be outside my car. Tim, get him out."

Tim laughed, reached over Ray, and opened his car door. "Have a nice night, Raymond." He pushed him out of the car.

Raymond stood up from the pavement and brushed his suit. "That is assault. I will also be mentioning it to the Queen," he yelled.

Tim closed the door and drove off into the night. Seb's heart was racing, he was actually doing this.

Two and a half hours later, he pulled up to a warehouse.

"Can I see your authorization, identification, and statement for your journey please?" The man at the entrance asked. Seb rolled down his window. "Infante, your highness. I didn't... I didn't know it was you."

"Hello sir, I have urgent matters to attend to. It's top secret state business, do you mind letting me through?"

He stammered. "Of course sir, you know we hardly get travelers coming here. No one is interested in going to Earth, haven't had a traveler in months. I'm about to be made redundant." His eyes were pleading.

Seb sighed. "Tim, get his name. Keep this a secret and I'll take care of you."

"I will, I will. Thank you, Infante." He stood there, staring at Sebastian. "Oh, the exit, yes."

They drove into the warehouse and through a big brown gate.

"It's...different here," Tim said as they rolled into a dark, dingy warehouse. "These people don't have magic." He shook his head. "I don't believe it."

They left the warehouse and drove past the metallic turnstile that opened on their arrival. "Where to now?" The driver asked.

"I don't know, where are we?"

Tim shrugged. "The GPS says America, I think. I'm not sure."

"America," Seb said slowly. "My history professor at Brimstone was obsessed with this place."

"It's not too bad," Tim says. "But sooner or later, I'll have to stop. Do you want to go somewhere or go back?"

"No," he said instantly. "Stop at..." He stared out the window and saw a familiar building, a bar. "There." Tim parked the car and Seb got out.

He walked confidently into the room. "Watch where you're going." A brute man scolded after bumping into him.

Seb grinned. No one recognized him, there was no chance he'd be in any papers the next day. "Can I get a drink, please?" He called to the bartender. He ignored him. "A drink, please." He said in a louder and more authoritative voice.

Another bartender walked closer to him. "British guy, what's your order?"

Seb looked around the crowded bar. "Me?" He pointed at himself.

She rolled her eyes. "I don't have time for this." She pointed at a different customer. "You.

"No, no wait. Sorry, I'll have a vodka, no ice." He paused. "You do have that here, don't you?"

"Yes, you British twit." The man beside him said in an accent that sounded Feronian.

Sebastian froze. Has he been discovered? "Are you from Illyria?" He asked.

The man snorted. "I see you've already been drinking." He and his friends laughed.

"Your drink, are you paying now or should I add it to your tab?" The bartender dropped the glass in Seb's front.

Seb fished a credit card out of his pocket "Here."

The lady looked at it under the dim fluorescent lights. "I don't think you can use this."

Seb frowned, he's never had trouble paying for well...anything.

"I'll pay for your drink, just give me that pretty, ring on your finger." The man who accused him of being drunk offered.

"It's not for sale," Seb scoffed. "This ring is priceless."

"Well then." The lady took his drink.

"Wait." He said to her, then turned to the man beside him. "What about this?" He rolled up his suit jacket and showed off his silver watch.

The man beside him sniffed. "That's a good piece, I'll give you $100 for it."

"Will that pay for my drink?" The bartender gave him a disbelieving look. "I'll take that as a yes." He exchanged his watch for five twenty-dollar bills.

He slid everything over to the bartender. "Tell me when I only have ten left." And that's all he remembered.

***

"Where am I?" Seb stirred awake. His head was banging, his eyes stung and a battle was going on in his stomach. "What happened?"

"I found you passed out in the bathroom with your trousers down, what were you doing in there?" Tim looked repulsed. "You're lucky no one knew you there. You'd have been forced to retire and hide from the public eye."

"Where are we?" He asked again.

"We're on our way to the palace, you have tea with your sister. Something you're late for." He cursed. "Why did I let you go off on your own?'

Seb sat up and squinted out the window, the sun was high in the sky. "Tim," The driver didn't answer. "I'm sorry."

"I'm not the person you should be apologizing to." And that was the end of their conversation.

Sebastian walked down the familiar halls of the palace to his sister's personal drawing room. He opened the door and saw her sipping tea by the window.

"What is wrong with you?" She asked simply. "Earth, really?" He didn't know what to say. "Of all the stupid, ridiculous, infuriating things you've done. This has to be the worst."

Sebastian collapsed on the nearest sofa and wept. His sister dropped her tea and rushed to his side. "What happened to you?" She placed her arms around his slumped shoulders.

"I did something bad, something really, really bad."

"What did you do?"

"Lillian is going to leave me."

"What did you do?"

"I think, I'm not sure. I was drunk, I..."

Freya held up her hand. "Don't finish that statement."

"What should I do? What will I tell my wife? And baby Greyson, she'll take him." Freya was silent. "She will, won't she?"

Freya thought about it. Her brother had done a lot of terrible things to the people in his life. If he wasn't a Prince, they would have left him. "I don't know, Seb. I don't know."

He couldn't stop crying.

Freya glanced at her watch. "Get up, go to your old bedroom. Get dressed, we have things to do today and we're behind on all of them."

Sebastian stopped crying. "Did you not hear what I just said?" He sounded angry.

"And what do you want me to say, Sebastian?" She bellowed. "You're not a baby, get your shit together." She placed her right hand on her copper-red hair and sighed. "I am done covering for you. I have tried so hard. I tried with the council, I tried with the media. I tried with father." A tense silence enveloped the room. "I'm done. You did a bad thing, a very bad thing. And you don't deserve to be forgiven, but you probably will be. You always do what you want and you ignore the consequences."

The Queen adjusted her cream blouse and rearranged her hair. "Try to be early next time. And have a nice day, Sebastian." She swung the double doors open and walked out.

Seb picked up his phone and checked his missed calls. He called Lilian first. "Where are you?" She yelled into the phone. "Do you know how worried I was?"

"I'm coming home now. And I have to tell you something."