Chapter 424: Doing Witchery By Sebastian
The road was long and silvered with early moonlight, the silence between them filled only by the crunch of their boots over earth and fallen leaves.
The horse walked obediently beside Sebastian, its reins loosely held in his gloved hand. His coat flared behind him with each confident stride, while Thalia matched his pace, her cloak tugged tightly around her frame.
"So..." she panted slightly, brushing her wind-swept hair from her cheek, "where exactly are we going?"
Sebastian groaned as though the question had plagued him for miles. "I’m starting to feel like we need a change of plan."
Thalia furrowed her brow, glancing sideways at him. "Wait—what was the original plan again? Because I feel like I missed that part while being dragged through half a forest."
He didn’t answer at first. His eyes scanned the horizon, and then after a thoughtful pause, he stopped walking. Thalia nearly collided with him.
"There might be a way," he said, his voice low and thoughtful, "a shortcut, of sorts. If it works, we could reach your Lord and Lady by dawn."
Her curiosity piqued, she tilted her head. "What kind of way? The starving, hallucinating kind?"
Sebastian turned slowly to face her, his gaze intense under the flicker of moonlight. "Do you have anything that belongs to the Third Prince?"
Thalia blinked, momentarily caught in the pull of his eyes. The way his lashes shadowed his cheekbones when he tilted his head, the smirk that hovered just under the surface of his cool demeanor—it was all far too distracting.
"I... no," she stammered, then quickly composed herself, "but I have something of the Princess’s. And if I know her heart right, where she is, he won’t be far behind."