Chapter Seven

If a herd of unicorns led by Whisper stampeded into the room, Remus was sure Sébastien wouldn't hear it. He went out like a candle, apparently still rocked by cumming while being spanked.

Remus hadn't been expecting that and figured his moving hips had just been stimulation that wouldn't go anywhere. He'd been struggling to ignore his raging erection since spanking Sébastien and seeing him get so into it had worked him up. Having the Prince against his chest made him not want to get up either.

Sébastien shifted in his sleep onto his back and stretched out an arm. Elira, he was beautiful, especially since he was so relaxed. Remus couldn't resist giving his cheek a gentle kiss.

His belt was still undone, so Remus carefully buckled it without waking him. He'd probably prefer to not wake up with his trousers and drawers ready to fall off when he stood. He inched off the bed, and Sébastien didn't even twitch.

His erection was starting to flag, but he needed release. Close quarters had rather made it impossible lately. With the divider blocking off part of the room where they could bathe and change, he could do it down the privy.

It didn't take many strokes to get himself back up. While he certainly wouldn't be trying to get Sébastien into bed or pressuring him into doing anything, he couldn't stop himself from imagining the Prince completely naked and appreciating every inch of that beautiful body. He'd kiss him all over just to make him squirm with delight, take his cock in his mouth, and see if he could make the Prince gasp. Afterward, he'd lift the Prince's legs. In his imagination, all the prep had been done, so all he had to do was slide himself into Sébastien tight, slick hole.

Remus's nuts were already tightening as he jerked himself. He needed to feel Sébastien cumming, gasping against his neck and biting him, completely undone. He fucking needed it, and the orgasm came on so intensely, his legs stiffened. He braced his forearm against the wall and clenched his jaw as the orgasm made him shudder and fuck his grip faster instead of Sébastien's ass.

Ropes of his cum vanished down the privy, and he breathed heavily, still not quite done in his head. Once the Prince had cum on his stomach and Remus had licked it off, he'd turn him over to rub every inch of his back, look at the feathers, and feel him melt further into the bed.

That was better.

Fixed, he got back into bed. Sébastien hadn't moved, and his breathing was deep and even. Still beautiful. Hopefully, nothing bothered him in his dreams and made him feel unsafe.

Remus carefully draped an arm over his waist, breathed in the jasmine scent, and let himself doze off.

***

Remus blinked, and the Prince's eyes darted sideways.

"Are you all right?" Remus immediately asked. Judging by the sun's angle through the window, they'd slept for a couple of hours.

"Yes. You fixed my belt."

"Sorry. I thought you'd prefer that."

"Actually, I do. Thank you." The Prince's voice was a little softer than normal, and he stretched slightly under Remus's arm. "I feel like…like you smacked something out of me."

Remus couldn't help a slight snort. "I've heard of that feeling before. That's good for you, right?"

"Yeah. I feel…looser."

Sébastien didn't appear inclined to talk about it further. He might not want it again for a while. It had been a lot, and he probably wanted to think about it and see how he felt about things in general.

"Would you mind stepping out? I need to clean myself."

"Sure."

***

Remus was awoken that night by the Prince yelling in his sleep.

"We need salt!"

Remus jumped and sat bolt upright to find the Prince had gotten out of his narrow bed and was clinging to the corner post with his hair wild and covering half of his face. In the light of the crystal lantern they'd left on low, he seemed to be shaking.

"What happened?" Remus pushed back the blanket and stood.

Sébastien held up a hand to keep him back. "N-nothing."

"You said something about needing salt?"

"I was dreaming." Sébastien sat on the edge of his bed. Something of the terrified look he'd had in the Knight's home after the cuff incident was there. "I don't remember what happened. I just know it wasn't…good."

Remus hovered his hand over the little crystal lantern by his bedside table. "Do you want the light brighter?" With more light, it might be easier to shake off whatever had scared him.

"No." Sébastien brushed back his hair and squinted. "What did I say?"

"‘We need salt.' You sounded quite alarmed."

Sébastien raised an eyebrow. "Sounds like a kitchen disaster."

"You don't remember anything else?"

"Nothing…except being startled, and I jumped up. I don't see a lack of salt being scary."

Remus sat again. "I've had some silly dreams that were actually quite frightening at the moment. I was at dinner, and I didn't know anyone in the Hall. Somehow, I was naked all of a sudden. Everyone started screaming at me and saying I needed to be put in prison."

"Because your clothes vanished?"

"Pretty much. Indecent exposure. I was absolutely terrified." Sébastien cracked a faint smile, and Remus laughed because it seemed so silly looking back on it. "When I woke up, it took a few seconds to convince myself that I had not gone to dinner and mysteriously lost my clothes."

Sébastien settled back in his bed. "Nothing to worry about. The realm isn't about to run out of salt anytime soon, and I don't think your clothes will magically disappear in the middle of dinner."

***

To get to Norraco, they could take a well-traveled road that wound southeast. It was a coastal city, and Soleil had gone more for northern coasts, including some places more on the west side with larger fisheries and farms to disrupt the food supply. Where Remere had died was northwest, and Remus would never take Sébastien there.

As they rode that morning, Remus looked over his shoulder. "Does sitting hurt your ass?"

The faintest pink touched the Prince's cheeks. "No."

Remus chuckled. "Just checking."

"There's barely even a mark. I'm not made of porcelain." Sébastien shifted his hand on Remus's back. "Except for whatever I dreamed that woke me up, I slept well the rest of the night."

His body seemed looser that morning. Remus had rather hoped the Prince would get in bed with him the previous night so they could sleep against each other. He must have enjoyed having the other bed to himself.

He didn't seem to mind sharing the blanket with Remus even if they didn't touch. Remus had considered getting them proper sleeping rolls, but they'd be another thing to lug around. The blanket they'd been using would do, and it was a bit warm to be getting into bedrolls.

Remus was used to the heat of Rowland. It almost never snowed, and when it did, it was light. Sébastien said it was warmer than he'd prefer but not quite like Finkin.

It took about four days to reach Blushing Grapes. Inns were along the road, and they kept to themselves as they traveled. Even though Remus highly doubted anyone would guess who he was, he didn't want to take chances, and Sébastien always kept his hair tucked under his cap.

Beyond the winery, the Rolling River headed for Norraco and veered west before it reached the split that ran down part of the country. Remus guided Whisper over a bridge and kept looking to his left even though he couldn't see Norraco from where they were. A path from the main road led between fields of grapes and blue heron berries which could be used for certain blue wines. A lemon orchard sat to one side.

The main winery building where people could taste and purchase what they liked was quite large and surrounded by a yard. A cart laden with crates was leaving, and Whisper gave it a wide berth without being told or nudged over. Beyond the fields, trees lined a hill, and Remus knew if he stood there and looked out, he'd see his home city, the massive Palace, and the familiar land and ocean beyond that.

"We're quite close to my home, but I've never been here before."

"I know this must be strange."

"Yeah, but we have something else to do right now, and we'll be back soon enough. Are you still fine with this and everything we talked about last night?"

"Yeah." Sébastien was quite tense. "Let's get it done and over with."

Sébastien waited off to the side of the building. As much as Remus liked Whisper, he wished they could somehow hide his horn and make him a different color for a bit. With Sébastien's hair covered and his head often down to hide his pretty face and eyes, no one seemed to think twice. After all, why would the Soleilian Prince and the man who was supposed to be his slave be wandering around like commoners? He also wasn't the only man to ever have a silver unicorn. Nobody had a reason to look at them long and start thinking like Bill had.

Remus was grateful he'd never come to Blushing Grapes before. He entered the shop section of the winery where two ladies stood at a counter. A tray held tiny glasses with a couple of sips of wine. Little placards said what each glass contained, and one lady praised the hint of lemon in a bright blue. The woman on the other side with an apron said it was one of their most popular.

Racks held bottles of less expensive wine. The better, pricier stuff was undoubtedly locked up. Remus went to one end and flipped open a little booklet as if he were checking to see what was available for purchase.

The apron lady came over. "Do you need time to look or do you know what you want?"

Remus changed his accent to sound more Soleilian. "I'm looking for Nulio. Is he here?"

"Yeah, in the back."

"If you could spare him for a minute, an old friend from Soleil came to visit." Remus smiled as the woman squinted.

"From where?"

"Lapinville," Remus said as if it were obvious. "It's supposed to be a surprise. He'll remember."

"Ohh. Give me a second." She hurried toward the doorway to a back room. "Nulio!"

Remus looked through the book for something to do. Finally, a man who looked a little younger than Sébastien came out. Remus's stomach sank.

At thirteen, Nulio had probably looked quite sweet, innocent, and young, rather like Sébastien had at the age of fourteen. If the Prince's suspicions were true, no wonder they'd never returned. Nulio had light brown skin like Remus. Instead of brown hair, he had dark blonde ringlets tied back with a piece of leather.

"Go see your friend," the woman said before hurrying back to the two customers who were still debating what to buy.

Nulio peered at Remus with big eyes. "Erm, I don't think I know-"

"Your friend is outside and waiting for you. He's quite eager to surprise you. It's been so long, you might have trouble remembering him."

"What's his name?"

"We'll see if you can remember it, okay?"

"From Soleil? I wasn't there that long."

"If you don't remember or want to see him, he's going to be so disappointed," said Remus.

That got Nulio moving with the urgency of one who doesn't like disappointing others. He also likely felt quite safe at home, and if he yelled, someone would hear him and come running.

Remus led him around the side where Sébastien was stroking Whisper. His face tensed at the sight of them.

"Hello, Nulio. Do you remember me? From the lodge in Lapinville." The Prince smiled although it was quite stiff.

The young man's face remained clueless for several seconds before recognition blossomed.

"You can't tell anyone I've been here," Sébastien said hurriedly. "Not one soul."

Since everyone in Rowland knew that the Crown Prince had been sold into slavery to Soleil, Nulio seemed to realize who the big guy was. His mouth dropped slightly as he glanced at Remus.

"I'm not his slave if that's what you're thinking. I'm also not a murderer."

"Mother says it's all lies-"

"Shh," said Sébastien. "I need to ask you something about when you were at the hunting lodge outside of Lapinville-"

"I want to go inside," muttered Nulio.

"He came all of this way, and you can at least listen to him," Remus said in a low voice.

"You're not in trouble," said Sébastien. "No matter what you say, there won't be any consequences. I need to know if you or your brother stole a bottle of pink, sweet wine from the kitchen."

Nulio stared at him for several seconds before his eyes grew glassy. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I'll pay you back!"

"You're not in trouble," pressed Sébastien. "I don't care about the theft. I wouldn't care even if you stole a million bottles of wine. I just need to know the truth."

"Y-yes. Alessio said to take it because I was younger."

"Who?" asked Remus.

"My older brother. He said if I was caught, I wouldn't be in such trouble. I was only thirteen, so Regent Corentin-I mean, he was Prince Corentin at the time-he would've probably slapped me on the wrist and sacked me at most. Or he would have had the cook do it. I didn't want to, and he also said Prince Corentin likely wouldn't even miss it. I hid it under my cloak when we left that night to return to the lord's home."

"What did you do with it?"

Nulio swallowed. "We had our own room, and the cook there never let the younger servants have any alcohol, so, er, we-we drank it that night in secret. It was really sweet, and I felt very grown-up to finally be drinking wine, and-" He cut off.

"And then what? I need to know."

Nulio turned pink. "We drank it quite fast, and alcohol hits kind of hard at that age. We woke up with sore heads. That's it."

"I don't think you're blushing because you got partially smashed at the age of thirteen on stolen wine and woke up with a hangover."

"Please, tell him because this is important," added Remus.

Nulio plucked at his sleeve. "Alessio got an erection from the wine. I did too, and I didn't like the way I felt. Neither of us felt very good, and he told me there was something in the wine because alcohol doesn't work like that. It took forever to fall asleep because my head felt so off. In the morning, we had headaches, and Alessio said we couldn't go back."

Sébastien didn't move. "Why not?"

Nulio's face flushed redder. "Alessio said something had been added to the wine to make a man vigorous, and the only people staying at the lodge were Prince Corentin and you. He didn't think either Prince would simply drink that stuff on their own. I didn't know what he meant, and…"

"What?" pressed Sébastien.

"Alessio explained a man only takes that sort of thing when he intends to have sex, and there was no one else except for you. Prince Corentin wanted nobody in the lodge after dinner. He probably couldn't get it up anymore without help and needed it so he could use y-you. Alessio was terrified for me to go back even for a day because he was scared Prince Corentin would do things to me too. He said I looked too young, rather like you in a sense, and he wasn't risking it if Prince Corentin was the sort of man who rapes young boys. Alessio always trusts his gut feelings. We took the little money we'd saved and left to come home."

Sébastien gripped the loose reins on Whisper like he needed something to grasp. "My Uncle liked giving me wine and vigor herbs sometimes. He thought you didn't return because you were lazy boys who didn't want to work." He turned away as his back grew rigid.

Nulio's brother had been a silly teenager for stealing alcohol, and he had partially guessed the reason for the wine and done nothing for Sébastien. He'd gotten his younger brother away as fast as possible, seeking to protect him at all costs.

Remere had called his little brother a liar when he admitted the truth of what had taken place before.

"I'm sorry," whispered Nulio. "Alessio said if we told anyone, we'd never get out of Soleil alive, the lord wouldn't believe such a thing, and King Jean would be furious if we said anything about his brother. He was afraid the Regent might steal me as a slave if he liked little boys, and he'd never forgive himself. I'm sorry. We were both scared, and I didn't know what to do except leave with him."

Remus almost wanted to throttle him for leaving Sébastien alone there in the clutches of his Uncle, night after night. If they'd done something and gone about it the right way, maybe the lord of Lapinville would have acted…

He forced himself to take a deep breath and rethink that. If two young boys admitted they'd stolen wine and found it was full of vigor herbs, a lord wouldn't be inclined to believe that. Accusing the King's brother of touching little boys, especially his nephew, would have sounded utterly outrageous. If the lord even dared to speak to Corentin about the accusation, the Regent would have said it was because he'd scolded the youngest for not staying on top of his duties.

Since tensions had been growing between Rowland and Soleil at the moment, no commoner from Rowland would have dared to speak out. Nulio and Alessio would have been instantly deemed liars and possibly imprisoned for slander. After the war passed, and peace settled, both Kingdoms weren't friends, and coming forward after so long wouldn't have had better consequences.

With the Regent on the throne at that point, they likely would have permanently disappeared.

Sébastien finally turned to Nulio again. "Thank you for telling me the truth."

"I'm sorry. I wish we'd said something. I-"

"Nobody would have believed you," said Sébastien. "Corentin would have made sure you and your brother never talked again. Fuck, maybe your whole family too. He could have sent spies here to do his dirty work and make sure no one was telling tales. I'm glad you told me now. I thought you might have suspected, and it seemed likely. I wasn't sure. If I came back in a few weeks, would you be willing to do something for me?"

Nulio hesitated, likely imagining himself being brought before the court in Soleil and forced to openly accuse the Regent right there.

"No danger will come to you," said Sébastien. "If I ask you, it'll be entirely safe, and no one will be able to harm you or your family. I'll be in control of everything."

Remus and Sébastien had spoken of it the night before. If they went to war with Soleil, they could arrest the Regent and sentence him to death. Following protocol for someone guilty of a crime could also work in his favor.

Accusing the Regent of rape and incest might sound a little extreme to some. They could use Nulio's story as proof along with Maxime's suspicions. Sébastien would have to admit to the abuse openly, and Nulio would lend more credit to it. Alessio could also speak.

Not only would that guide the people into believing the truth, Corentin deserved to be sentenced to death for everything, not just the fact that he wanted to replace his nephew.

"All right," said Nulio.

"It won't be for a bit, and if I never come-" That meant Sébastien had died, and everything they'd worked toward had failed. "Live your life, and don't feel guilty for being a powerless thirteen-year-old. You have a good brother who protected you, so appreciate him."

"I do."

"We have to go, so thank you again."

Nulio fidgeted with the edge of his sleeve again. "Do you want a bottle of wine?"

"No, but thank you."

"Mother will ask why I didn't give my friends something after coming all this way, and she'll say I lost my brain in the fruit press."

"Well, all right. I like red."

Nulio hurried in and returned with two bottles of red wine. While Sébastien put them in the saddlebags, Remus tried to hunch a bit and not appear so giant since Nulio was rather pale and frightened-looking.

"What's going on in Norraco?"

Nulio blinked. "It's mostly normal."

General life would continue for the populace in most cases even if the whole Royal Family keeled over. The common man must still work and eat. "I figured. Are there any rumors or gossip? How do the people feel toward me?"

"I don't go into the city that often. Mother says her friends don't believe Quintus. Some are secretly calling him King Usurper, Uncle Killer, King of Traitors, and things like that. A few do seem to believe him, but I'm not sure if that's because they're afraid to say otherwise in case it gets back to him. He sent twenty others with you, and a couple are afraid Quintus might sell a few more in secret if he hears people are talking about him and can pinpoint who is who. Some of Mother's friends are saying you'll return, and we just have to wait."

"They think I'll return?"

"Yes. You'll escape Prince Sébastien and make your way back. If that happens, some of her friend's husbands say they'll fight for you."

Remus wasn't about to gather an army of commoners with whatever weapons they could collect and throw them at trained Palace guards. Too many innocent lives would be lost, and if Quintus had gone that far, he wouldn't hesitate to kill them either. Still, support was good. He wouldn't be facing an angry populace when he returned with an army of werewolves.

"Oh, and a lord somewhere north also disappeared, but Mother didn't get the whole story. Another died."

"Which ones?"

"Erm, I'm not sure which. Mother heard that from Grandma the last time she came over here. She always gets her facts twisted. Mother could find out more the next time she goes into the city. You could go in and ask her too-"

"No, no. I don't want anyone knowing I'm here."

"But if you're here-"

"We're alone. If I go into Norraco and try anything, we might not leave alive. I'm not risking Sébastien." Remus sure as fuck wasn't tempting fate right then.

"But you could get lords too. I'm sure they don't all believe Quintus."

"Approaching to ask would leave us quite vulnerable. What if the lord doesn't support me? It's too risky. We do have a plan, but don't say anything, okay?"

"Is there going to be another war?"

"Not quite like you're probably thinking. We'll be back."

Nulio stood by the door to watch them finally leave on Whisper.

"I think we should follow the Rolling River as it heads south," said Remus. "It's more direct than the main road around here which kind of goes around and back to the river."

"We'll follow the river then. Save time."

"We'll be sleeping outside at times."

"That's fine. It'll save money too, and it's best if few see us."

"True."

Sébastien was quiet as they rode for a couple of hours and the sun drifted lower. Finally, Remus cleared his throat to voice a thought that had occurred to him.

"Uh, if you want me to shut up about it, you can say so. I'm asking because I'm curious about the way Remere acted. Was he abused?"

"No."

"He refused to believe you. Or he did and was too ashamed to admit it or do anything."

"I'm positive he wasn't abusing Remere," said Sébastien. "Uncle came to my room many nights, or I had to go to his when he said so. Sometimes, it was during the day if there was time. I doubt he could have juggled us both like that. When I was thirteen, Remere started to get the attitude many teenage boys have where they don't want hugs and feel like it's babyish. He also wasn't sitting in anyone's lap at twelve whereas I was the more affectionate one. He was three years older and less easy to manipulate anyway. I never noticed anything when he was younger. Remember, Mother was alive. Enzo too, but I think Mother was the true thing who stayed between me and Uncle. By the time she was gone, Remere was too old to interest him, and he wasn't a late bloomer like me."

"Do you think she suspected he'd abuse you?"

"No, not at all. It was simply her presence that deterred him. I was quite close to her, so I would have said something if he'd done anything so blatant. I'm positive that Uncle wanted me for a long time since the sneaky touches started when I was twelve. Those I said nothing about because I didn't understand they were sexual. Before that, he always used to tell me I was beautiful, and I'd always be his favorite. He bought me a lot of things too when I was little."

"The other two didn't get jealous?"

"Well, he wasn't too open about it. The compliments and gifts were usually more in private, or if we went riding without the other two, he'd take me in the city and buy me a sweet before we returned home."

Remus had to fight to keep his body at ease on the unicorn even though the words turned his gut. Corentin had spent years slowly grooming the one he wanted so that if the opportunity ever came…

As soon as Margot and Enzo had died, Corentin had pounced, knowing that Sébastien was in his grip enough to keep quiet and say nothing to the parent he wasn't nearly as close to.

"Did he hate her or something? Did he not grieve for his sister-in-law or have one fucking ounce of respect? Did he not miss Enzo? For fuck's sake. You were blood."

"I think he grieved. Mother and Uncle got along, and he appeared to love Enzo too. I can't say what all he thought or felt. He had something he wanted right there in his reach, and that night was the best opportunity to get started. Don't try to wrap your mind around his thinking, Remus. You'll never think like him because you're not that kind of man."

"If Remere wasn't abused-" Remus bit his tongue to avoid calling him a pile of absolute fucking shit for abandoning his brother like that.

"I still loved him," Sébastien said in a defensive tone.

"You didn't exactly have many people," Remus said, barely keeping his anger in control.

Sébastien squeezed his waist ever so slightly. "Why don't you tell me something about your Father?"

"Why on Ymir's dirt would you want to hear about him?" If he wanted to change the conversation to something else, Remus wouldn't have picked that.

"He's your Father."

"He was drugged, but he still did something to yours."

"I know. If I can see you differently now, I can see him differently too. He was drugged on something we don't even know. You said that wasn't the man you knew, and I'm trying to get past that too. I did hate him because of the war and…everything, but there's more to him than that."

Remus told him a few stories about their youth. Father had always driven his sons to fight well and helped with their training from a young age. Fortunately, he hadn't been one of those men who only saw his sons as fellow soldiers and couldn't relate in any other way. He also hadn't been the sort who verbally beat his kid down after a mistake.

He didn't tell Mother when Quintus brought in a wolf puppy.

"How did he get a wolf puppy?" Sébastien asked incredulously.

Remus chuckled at the memory. It was almost impossible to think of Quintus as a traitor when he remembered his twin's innocent face. Quintus had been outside under the not-so-watchful eye of a servant who'd fallen asleep on a bench in the garden. Remus had been playing on the floor in their shared room when Quintus ambled in with his arms wrapped around what he thought was simply a big puppy. Somehow, he'd caught the pup, brought it inside, made it upstairs, and wasn't noticed by anyone on the way.

Mother had said they couldn't have a dog because they were too young, and four-year-olds couldn't take care of a big animal. Quintus said he'd found it outside in the garden, and it was their new pet forever. They couldn't tell Mother, so it would have to live under the bed, and they'd feed it.

Remus, thanks to a lack of logic with the thought process of a four-year-old, thought his twin was an absolute genius. The only thing he thought of was how they'd feed it because he wasn't sure what puppies liked, and Quintus had declared that when they had dinner, they'd hide the meat in their pockets because all puppies ate meat.

"I also didn't think of where it would go to the privy. Life's easy when you're four. Anyway, it was pretty playful and running around our bedroom. I guess we were lucky to not get bit because they don't have a lot of control, and we could barely keep our hands off it. We were arguing over a name when we heard footsteps, and Quintus pushed it under our bed. Father came in, and the pup came flying out, covered in dust bunnies. You should have seen Father's face! He had to chase him down the hall, catch him, and bring him to the guards outside."

"If they put him down, I don't want to know."

"No, no," Remus said hurriedly. "Several guards went to look around and see if there was a Mother and a den nearby because Father didn't want to simply stick it outside. He said we couldn't keep a wolf, and it's not a pet for children. Quintus threw a fit. He was on the floor, kicking and screaming with snot all over his face, and I simply sat and cried. Father hushed him up by saying Mother would be outraged to find a wolf had been inside the Palace. If we kept quiet, he'd convince her to let us get a real puppy that would grow into a much smaller dog."

"What happened to the wolf?"

"They couldn't find a den or a Mother nearby, and…they're not sure how he got into the grounds. It was rather odd. They couldn't find any holes around the perimeter where he might have wiggled under the wall either. Honestly, it was kind of like the Goddess dropped him in. One of the older men who was close to retiring decided to raise him. His vision grew pretty bad, and the wolf became an aid for him."

"Oh. So he was kind of like a blessing to the guard. Did you get a puppy? I mean, the dog sort."

"No. After Mother miscarried and passed, someone's nalcin in town had kits, so we each got a pet nalcin. When they passed about ten years later, we were teenagers and didn't care much about getting a dog anymore."

The tension with Soleil had started, and Remus hadn't been concerned with getting a new pet once his beloved nalcin died.

"I'm guessing you were kind of big as a teenager?"

"I didn't stop growing until I was about eighteen, and I was pretty big at sixteen."

"What was the nalcin's name?"

Remus paused. "It…I was six when I named him. I didn't want to change his name later since he responded to it."

"That name was…?"

Remus could already imagine what Sébastien was going to think. "Giggles."

Sébastien's intake of breath sounded like he was fighting to keep himself in check. "I find it hard to imagine you at sixteen, all big and muscled, holding a tiny nalcin named Giggles."

"Nobody messed with Giggles or made fun of his name because they were afraid of me and my muscles."

Sébastien shuddered like he was holding back laughter.