Family of Lies: Sebastian (16 page)

“We may not have another chance like this. Why are you throwing it away?” Lady Orwell blocked the carriage door with her body while the Orwell offspring watched with mixed expressions of embarrassment and anger.

“Why do we have to leave too?” Alice whined as she sat atop her wagon with her husband and children.

“One more complaint and I will show you that while my magic is nearly gone, I know how to use it effectively.” Lord Orwell’s brown eyes flared, and his family grew quiet.

“He actually looks threatening,” Kevin whispered to James.

“He’s afraid. Do as he says for now, and we’ll find out the truth later,” James whispered back.

“For now, but that bastard and I will have words when we reach the house,” Diana promised grimly.

Lord Orwell’s eyes hardened on his youngest son, and Sebastian wondered what he had done wrong until strong fingers squeezed his forearm.

“I wanted to say good-bye.” Turren smiled shyly, and ignoring Lord Orwell’s glare he led Sebastian off to the side.

Sebastian sighed. “As a friend wishing me a safe journey?”

“For now.”

Sebastian shook his head. “You have your pick of royalty and you choose a man with a mind-addled family. I fear for Larnlyon’s future if you don’t make better decisions.”

“If you have no feelings for me, I will drop my courtship and leave you in peace.”

“Did you know that you rub your thumb on your thigh whenever you lie?” Sebastian asked.

Turren grinned. “That answers my question. An uninterested man never would have noticed.” Turren slipped his fingers to Sebastian’s wrist. “You have an open invitation to the castle as my personal guest, so please don’t wait years to visit again.”

“I guess that’s safer than waiting for you to be stabbed again. Fine, I’ll see you again in a month or two when I’m due to see Harold—as a friend.”

“Thank you. Also, did you see what the assassin tripped over?” Turren asked. “It’s been bothering me all day.”

“No. I have to leave before the guards think my father is trying to curse you.” Sebastian turned his back on Turren and hoped his worry over their companionship wasn’t justified.

“W
HY
ARE
we traveling at night?” Lady Orwell complained. “This makes no sense if you’re so concerned about our safety.”

“A night out in the woods is safer than the castle,” Lord Orwell said without taking his eyes off the road.

Sebastian listened to his mother snipe at his father for the first half of the trip, but Lord Orwell remained stubbornly curt. He heard Ophelia grunt behind him and looked to see Kraven helping her regain her balance.

“Father, the pace is too fast,” James chastised.

“We should rest,” Kevin suggested.

“No.” Lord Orwell shook his head. “We’ll slow down, but we are not stopping.”

“If you were worried, then we should have taken the guards that King Harris offered.” Lady Orwell impatiently ran a hand through her hair, which had come undone from their hard travel.

“Sebastian saved Prince Turren’s life, and the king gave him an escort into the city. That is all. The king is no longer obligated to us, so we will have nothing to do with him from now on. We did our duty,” Lord Orwell said firmly.

“I don’t recall that being your decision,” Sebastian spoke up.

“That is because you’re the most foolish of my children,” Lord Orwell said.

Sebastian snorted. “I—” Or he meant to say that except that no sound came out of his mouth. He inhaled and exhaled slowly, keeping his temper and trying not to reveal his magic by displacing the spell. Diana touched his hand holding the reins, and Sebastian’s voice returned with a squeak.

“Father, that was rude,” Ophelia said.

“So is speaking back to your parents. Enough, all of you. We’ll talk when we’re out of the woods and away from curious ears.” Lord Orwell ended the argument.

“T
HAT
ASS
is avoiding us,” Diana said while daylight faded. “He said nothing last night, and if he thinks I’ll let him get away with it twice, he is mistaken.”

“Drink your tea. You don’t need any more wrinkles,” Lady Orwell advised. “How is it that you have more wrinkles than I do? People always wonder if
you
are
my
mother.”

“James, why did you let Father run away to purchase a damned table?” Diana ignored their mother.

“I didn’t let him do anything. The kitchen table was broken when I came downstairs, and he shoved a pot of an unfinished potion into my arms. I wasn’t dumb enough to drop it so I could chase after him. What was that potion anyways?” James grumbled.

“Scrying potion,” Lady Orwell said while stirring more sugar into her cup.

“Why can’t he use a mirror like normal people?” Kevin asked.

Their mother kept stirring but said nothing.

“You need a big pot of potion when you’re scrying for something far away or someone who doesn’t want to be found.” Diana smiled sweetly at their mother. “A person with that kind of potion usually isn’t scrying for anything respectable.”

“Yes, bitterness will definitely add wrinkles,” Lady Orwell snarled at Diana.

Diana squinted at her. “You know, I think you have a point.”

“Demetrius and Pratchett caught fish,” Ophelia said cheerfully as she loudly climbed down the stairs. The door opened and they stepped inside, apparently not surprised that their appearance had been expected. Food brokered a temporary peace, and Sebastian helped clean the fish with his other brothers who hadn’t caught their supper.

“D
O
ALL
of you have to stare at me while I eat?” Caspian Orwell asked while lifting his fork to his mouth. He had stomped in not long after the fish had been cooked and divvied up.

“Diana says you’re using questionable spells,” Pratchett said without any regard to the glob of meat still in his mouth.

Lord Orwell rolled his eyes. “It’s not questionable but rarely used nowadays.”

“Name one respectable wizard who’s used it recently?” Diana asked but waved the question away. “Never mind, just tell us what you were doing.”

“Where’s Alice?” Their father put down his fork and tilted his ear for any sounds of the unruly brood.

“She’s letting the kids run around outside for her sanity.” Lady Orwell pulled a pipe out of her bodice and snapped her fingers at Diana.

“There’re matches in the cabinets.” Diana leaned against the kitchen wall and raised a brow.

Lady Orwell reached into her pocket again and withdrew a pouch. She tumbled a small bit into her pipe and rolled her eyes. “Please, Diana.”

Diana pushed away from the wall and walked to their mother’s chair. She held out her hand, and Lady Orwell gave her the pipe. “Why do you have an enchanted pipe when you always use up your magic?” Diana asked after heating the bowl and returning the pipe.

“Appearances are everything, and it pains me that you still don’t understand the necessities that gave you a roof over your head.” Lady Orwell inhaled deeply and released a green cloud into the air.

“I’m beginning to wonder if those necessities will put a noose or an ax around Father’s neck,” Sebastian mumbled.

“With the exception of a few instances of blackmail, I’ve kept my master’s oaths,” Lord Orwell said. “I wasn’t foolish enough to linger when they started planning capital crimes.”

James sat down and buried his head in his hands. “I don’t think I want to be here.”

“Father isn’t perfect, but he is a good man when it counts.” Ophelia placed her hand on Lord Orwell’s shoulder.

Lord Orwell patted Ophelia’s hand and chuckled. “Yes, I did do the right thing so many years ago. That may lead to all of our deaths.”

“There was no reason for you to fetch me like a disorderly child!” Alice’s angry voice rang through the house.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt you and Mernon. Ow!” Kevin cried out at the tramp of several feet.

“You piece of shit!” Alice shrieked.

Children’s gasps filled the entrance, and Lady Orwell rubbed her temples.

“Please stop teasing my wife, Kevin,” Mernon asked quietly.

Lord Orwell looked at the kitchen table and then toward the entrance. “Why did we have so many?” Before his sons and daughters could voice their retorts, he shouted, “Alice, send your children upstairs and bring Mernon into the kitchen with you!”

Several complaints rose up from Sebastian’s nephews and nieces, but Alice quickly shushed them and dragged her unwilling children upstairs. Moments later, she entered the kitchen with Mernon and Kevin at her back. “All of us have assembled to hear your crimes, Father,” she said while Mernon untangled two chairs from a stack blocking the window.

“Some of them,” Lord Orwell corrected.

“If you’re offended, Alice, nothing is stopping you from jumping into your wagon and going back home,” Lady Orwell said as she stood. She walked to the cabinets to remove cups, and James got up to help her.

When two wine flagons were empty and several glasses were full, Lord Orwell took a deep breath and began his tale. “There were four of us under Master Uvel. He was years past his prime but decided to keep teaching anyway. A mistake on his part, but advantageous for us. No other wizard thought I was worth taking under his wing, and the other three could learn magic without their teacher knowing what kind of monsters they were. Feoras was the self-righteous sort, and he fell for Trenton’s swill like everybody else. Dalia was a murderer, so she didn’t need much persuasion. But I, Caspian Orwell, whose ancestors sold off most of the family land and lost so much of their magic, turned out to be the one with the conscience.” He stared into his goblet that was surprisingly still full and set it aside. “After Master Uvel died, they offered up our services to the highest bidder. They also made it plain that although I had little power, my participation was mandatory.”

“Then your magic began to fade?” James asked.

“No, I pretended that my magic faded.” Lord Orwell chuckled. “Only a madman would throw away his livelihood, so they believed me.” All of his children looked at him with shock while Lady Orwell sipped her wine.

“All this damn time, your magic worked just fine!” Demetrius jabbed his goblet in their father’s direction, almost sloshing drops on Kraven’s shirt. “What about that winter three years ago when the wagon broke down? What about the time I frightened that stupid Tren skunk and you said there was nothing you could do to get the smell off me?”

“You were wearing enough clothing, and you shouldn’t have been teasing it.” Lord Orwell shrugged.

Demetrius leaped out of his chair, but Kraven and Diana grabbed his arms. “You’re a useless bastard! I bet you’re lying! You’re nothing but a washed-up old man who can only do parlor tricks! Trenton and whoever left you behind. You’re not better than anybody!”

“I’m smart enough to remove myself from the company of men and women who probably tried to kill Prince Turren,” Lord Orwell said patiently. “I wonder if fate didn’t intervene and leave me so many stunted children. I doubt many of you would have made the same decision.”

“Sobriety does wonders for your intelligence. Do you plan on making this a habit?” Sebastian asked.

“For the time being.” Lord Orwell sighed. “If I don’t get my ducks in a row, we might be dragged into this mess whether we want to be or not. Trenton knows I’m in Larnlyon, and he’s not dumb. We stay away from the castle and Prince Turren.”

“We can’t avoid King Harris forever. That would make us look even more suspicious,” his wife pointed out.

“Our family’s safety trumps social climbing, dear.”

“Are you sure it’s Trenton?” Sebastian asked.

“I’ve had eyes on him since the last time he walked out our door. Due to recent events in Anerith, I’ve been waiting for him to make a move,” Lord Orwell said.

“I was beginning to respect you, old man. Are you suggesting we do nothing and hide?” Kevin asked.

“Um….” James blinked. “I was going to ask the same thing.”

“I’m all for living privately and letting the royals look after themselves, but you know who attacked Prince Turren. What kind of home will any of us have if Turren dies and our country falls into a civil war?” Kevin asked.

“Trenton is more powerful than Lord Pasley and the queen. Who exactly do you think stands a chance against him?” Silence met Lord Orwell’s question, and he spread his hands across the table. “Nobody in this family goes near the castle, or you endanger us all.”

James raised his pointer finger. “Why hide your magic this whole time? Didn’t Trenton stop caring about you?”

“You notice how you’ve lived almost forty years, and this is the only time we’ve had to worry about my past enemies?” Lord Orwell asked.

“You say that as if it’s something to be proud of,” James said.

“It is.” Lord Orwell smiled. “Passing myself off as a harmless, washed-up wizard is my greatest con yet.” He leaned back in his seat. “Now, since I told you ingrates the truth, I expect your full obedience.”

“W
HY
DIDN
’
T
Ophelia see it?” Sebastian asked his father after his siblings had gone to sleep. His mother was outside chopping wood. His father was still seated at the table, stroking the cup of wine.

“It’s been centuries, but she isn’t the first seer to appear in my line. I know a few tricks to dodge her visions, and Ophelia is considerate of my privacy more often than not.”

“Seeing into the hearts of others. In a way, your magic is a weaker copy of Ophelia’s. How much do you know?” Sebastian stood next to his father’s chair.

“You should continue hiding your magic until Trenton is out of the country, and I would tell you to sleep in Prince Turren’s bed once if that would lessen your desire, but you were always the sensitive one.”

“You are a shitty, shitty old man,” Sebastian said. “Why do people call you weak? Whether Trenton admitted it or not, he needed your magic.”