WARHAVEN

Thirty-Four

The next few weeks dragged on. I had only seen King Augustus a few times and only in passing. He couldn't even bring himself to look at me. It felt a little dramatic, but based on our fight, he was obviously dealing with some heavy shit.

I had read five books on various topics, as well as memorized the names of all the castle paintings that I could find. I now felt I knew most of the castle and kept a makeshift map of what I could remember under the mattress in my room, though I still couldn't figure out how to get past the guards. As well as the one the King had decided was to watch me like a child. He kept a reasonable distance most of the time, so it wasn't so bad. The others who swapped out weren't very kind, but Sebastian was. We would chat from time to time.

Sebastian was almost as tall as King Augustus. His shoulders were incredibly broad. He constantly wore his finest warrior gear. I assumed his appearance was very important to him. His hair was cropped short and always looked very neat. The chestnut color almost matched his eyes perfectly. The freckles that were all over his handsome face complimented him very well.

He seemed so kind, I couldn't ever imagine him in combat. I couldn't imagine him even killing a spider. His big eyes were always so doe like. He seemed like he was probably a bit younger than the King, but he must've earned his spot somehow because the King put him with me the most.

It was about noon and we were on our way back from the stables. Sebastian suggested we could feed the horses and said he hoped it would raise my spirits. I had been in a bit of a depression lately. I couldn't tell if it was because of my fight with the King, or maybe it was his emotions rubbing off on me.

We walked down the pebble stone path in comfortable silence. He said we could take a different way back so I could see more of the castle grounds. This way was also a bit longer, which was nice. This was one of the only times I had been outside in the last few weeks. Sebastian and I walked to the lake last week and that was nice, aside from the fact that the King required there to be two extra guards with us who wouldn't stop laughing and talking about a sports game they played earlier that day.

Being out in the fresh air was nice. The trees within the castle walls were thriving. The leaves were the prettiest shades of green. They towered over each side of us. The grass went on for what seemed like miles on all sides of us. Everything was so beautiful here.

I suddenly heard a commotion, my vampire hearing aided in that. I looked to Sebastian to see if he heard it too and he was just grinning widely.

"What is that?" I asked, confused. It sounded like people were fighting. There was yelling and cheering, as well as swords clashing.

"I thought we'd swing by the barracks and training grounds. Everyone is out practicing our combat." Sebastian explained. "It's pretty interesting if you've never seen it before. What do you think?"

"I don't know...I don't want to encroach or make anyone uncomfortable, and are we sure the King won't be upset?" I didn't want a repeat of our argument. I really didn't have the time or energy to deal with that, and things seemed to be getting a little better.

"Oh," Sebastian smiled widely, "August will be training with the cavalry today." Well, that sounded like something I would love to see. King Augustus being knocked on his arrogant ass.

"Let's go." I said, hurrying my footsteps in the direction of the sound. Sebastian caught up to me, laughing loudly.

We came to a break in the trees where the path split off and led to several large rectangular buildings, the barracks I assumed. They were huge and made of large stones. The whole area was surrounded by massive stone walls in the same gray tone. We crossed the threshold, through the open gates and came to a massive crowd.

There were fires going where shirtless men were roasting food, and many had different colored glass beer bottles in their hands. The vibe was extremely masculine, but cordial. Everyone got along here. It was like a big group of friends.

Most of the men were cheering, surrounding a massive dirt circle where two men fought. Everyone was a little sweaty. I felt so small compared to all of the men who were about Sebastian's height of 6'5 and taller.

The men cheered loudly as two men left the circle, clearly one loser and one winner. They jumped over one another, congratulating the victor. It was almost endearing, grown men comfortable enough to act like boys with one another. It was clear that these men were happy here.

We made our way to an opening in the circle by the wall. It wasn't too crowded there, which was nice. It would suck to be accidentally crushed by the rushing men. The cheering got even more intense as a man stepped into the circle, stretching slightly. He was obviously preparing for a fight.

The man was huge. He was covered in ink art all over his torso and some on his legs. His muscles looked on the verge of ripping. The man had very short hair and it was striking black. He went around the circle, exciting the onlookers.

"Who wants a go?" He teased, although I didn't miss the playful threat in his words.

The cheering became feral as another man made his way into the circle. They were patting his large shoulders and giving him their props. The second he broke through the bustling men, I knew it was him.

The King would be his challenger.