Chapter 229: Dueling the High Crown's Heir
Sebastien
Month 9, Day 3, Friday 2:15 p.m.
Sebastien felt like the world was spinning around her. She wanted to rest her head on her knees while things settled, but instead looked desperately between Professor Lacer and the High Crown, as if one of them could free her.
The High Crown and her mentor were staring, unblinking, at each other. Professor Lacer wore a small smile and an unusually friendly expression. The High Crown looked constipated, if anything.
‘Say no, say no, say no,’ Sebastien urged silently, trying to push a compulsion on the man with her eyes and the force of her Will alone.
Beside the man, the younger Pendragon seemed to have noticed her in the crowd. He looked to his father, and then to Sebastien. His shock turned to suspicion.
Sebastien had a very strong feeling that the young man had never requested a duel with her at all. ‘What is Professor Lacer trying to do? Some kind of show of dominance? But surely, refusing the duel isn’t “acting against” either of us? Or is he trying to make Pendragon throw the duel against me?’ The latter was the only way she had any chance of winning. ‘Or maybe he just hopes they’ll refuse and lose face from seeming scared of the challenge?’
When the High Crown gave Professor Lacer a single, stiff nod, his son grew incredulous. The High Crown pulled the young man away to speak with him privately, while Professor Lacer turned his attention toward Sebastien.
Sebastien’s legs lifted her halfway up from her seat before her mind caught up. She opened her mouth to protest, but the words died in her throat as she caught the High Crown’s venomous glare. Nothing she could say would make a difference, she realized.