Fion

“Was that too direct?”

“You are a very direct person, Sir Bast.”

“I can’t help that. It is my nature to be direct.”

“So I have observed. I, likewise, prefer to be direct. You ask how I find you. In truth, I find you overwhelming.”

He looks taken aback by my declaration, and he lowers his hand slowly.

“While there is nothing about you I find personally objectionable, you must understand, I’ve met you only today. You say you have loved me all your life, but you are a stranger to me.”

“Yes,” he says, frowning slightly. “I had failed to consider that. You must allow me to apologize, Lady Endellion.”

“Fion,” I answer him spontaneously, and his blue eyes widen faintly. “You have asked me to speak informally, so I will allow you a similar courtesy.”

A slow smile spreads across his face, and the sight leaves me a bit unsteady on my feet. 

“Then, Fion,” he takes my hand in earnest just as the moon slips out from behind a cloud, casting us in a silvery beam. “Allow me to be direct once more.”

“Go ahead,” I answer, a tad breathless.

“My love for you, my desire, it’s no longer just in my mind. Now that I have seen you walking around, now that I have heard your voice, I cannot bear the thought of being without you. I know I failed to find you and kill the treant, but any fool can see I am ten thousand times more suited to you than that animal Victor Crusoe.” 

“Are you suggesting that you are my one true love?”

“I must be— I am sure of it. And at least, I must ask you to consider it.”

“You ask me to ignore the prophecy.”

Sebastian’s face is marked by grave pain at the reminder of his failure, but he does not let go of my hand. “I’m asking that you would put the specifics of the prophecy aside for now. I have loved you all my life. I would care for you and defend you with my dying breath. I know I am your true love.”

I watch him silently, not unmoved by his words, but not convinced by them either. Again, my thoughts return to Victor and the prophecy. I think of faithful Azariah who guarded me all those years only to fall at last to Victor’s hand. But if fortune had permitted and Sebastian had been the first to find me, would that powerful treant have withstood this mighty dragon? Or would he have fallen to him too, just as he did to Victor?

“Marry me.”

He interrupts my thoughts with this imperative. Though I can’t say I wasn’t expecting it, this does not lessen the thrill of his sudden proposal.

“Bast, I’ve already explained—”

“Please, Fion. Though you say I overwhelm you, though you say you do not know me well enough yet, let me say it plainly now that I must have you for my wife.”

Another cloud passes before the moon, plunging the forest into shadow. I feel rather than see Sebastian take the shortest step nearer to me.

“You do not have to give me an answer now,” his hand lifts to caress my bare shoulder, and I feel my skin prick with lightning at his touch. “But do not be mistaken about my intentions, Fion. There is nothing I won’t do. No mountain I won’t climb, no river I won’t cross, no monster I will not face, to make you my bride.”

He’s so earnest, I cannot doubt a single word he’s just said. But earnestness alone is not enough for me. I did not waste away of a broken heart for want of an earnest man who would devote his life to me. The whole reason I subjected myself to that ageless sleep, the reason I bid goodbye to my beloved parents and the world I knew, was to find my one true love.

I refuse to settle for anything less.

“I’m sorry, Bast. I can only marry my true love. Until I am certain you are he, I can promise you nothing.” 

I sense his frustration and disappointment as his hand drops to his side and clenches tightly, though he does his best to hide it from me.

 “What must I do to prove my devotion to you? Name the challenge, I’m sure I will be equal to it.” 

“I do not doubt your devotion. Besides, there is no challenge I could ever give that the champion of the north would not be equal to. Instead I ask only that you let me follow and observe you for a few days. Whether or not you are my true love, your actions will reveal that to me better than anything I could ever ask you to do.”

“It is a test of chivalry, then.”

“It is what you make it, Sir Bast. But for now, let us head back. You’ve had a long day; you need your rest.”

“Stay with me a little longer. When I look at you, I don’t feel tired at all.”

“But I am tired. And it is cold.”

Bast panics slightly. “I’m sorry, I should have realized. Here, take my— ah, I’m not wearing a coat. My shirt, then?”

“That’s quite alright,” I hear myself laugh. “If I came out of the forest with your shirt on, I’m sure Katalin would set my tent on fire later.”

“That foolish girl,” he growls faintly, looking in the distance to the camp. “She knows my feelings for her have only ever been platonic. I shall have a word with her.”

“That won’t be necessary,” I say, laying my hand on his arm to stay him. He pricks at the gesture and his eyes shoot to me, hyper-aware, it would seem, of my every motion. His nostrils flare slightly as he breathes through them, and I lower my hand self-consciously.

“I am more than capable of handling a girl like Katalin,” I say, looking away quickly before he can see the effect his own littlest gestures are having on me.

I am not immune to this man, I consider as he escorts me quietly back to camp. His charm is a whole different brand from Victor’s— if indeed, Victor had any charm at all. I’m holding back right now because I want to be sure, but the truth is, I’m already half sold. If not for the prophecy, I don’t know that I’d even hesitate. If not for the prophecy…

Bast leads me to the tent Lady Ruth had prepared for me.

“I’m sorry the accommodations are not better. You deserve to sleep in a castle.”

“I’ve spent the last two nights in a castle; I can assure you they’re not all they’re made out to be.”

His smile is pained.

“And before that, I slept four hundred years in the roots of an oak tree. So I daresay an ordinary cot is more than sufficient.”

“You’re very optimistic, aren’t you?”

“Always,” I smile at him, and his breath catches. Then a slow smile spreads across his face in reply.

“I look forward to learning more about you in the days to come, Lady Fion.”

“Likewise, Sir Bast. Then, I’ll bid you goodnight.”

“Goodnight, my lady,” he startles me by bowing deeply and pressing a kiss to my fingers. “And pleasant dreams. Though, not too pleasant, I hope. If you can’t wake up on your own, I can’t promise I won’t come to kiss you, just like in the story.”

“Don’t be too disappointed,” I forget myself and grin at him flirtatiously. “I’m a pretty early riser.”