Chapter 42: Are You Proposing?

Sebastian waited with bated breath. He could tell something was happening, as some commotion could be heard after Kai’s whispered apology that he was in the middle of math class. But nothing prepared him to listen to a voice he had heard over the phone before just like that.

“Sebastian?” Milo breathed out. “Is this really you?”

“Isn’t this Kai’s phone?” Sebastian asked. He had just wanted to check if the visitor’s device could be used to contact the other world.

“Is this what you want to ask me?” Milo’s voice broke, and its owner seemed to be performing some kind of physical activity.

“Why do you sound so breathlessly?” Sebastian asked another inane question.

“We’re on the run from Mrs. Marwin. She’ll have our heads for this, but it’s not important. Sebastian, where are you?”

“I’m sitting on my throne,” Sebastian replied. Why did he sound like he only had half a brain all of a sudden?

“For real? In Ifigia? And how come you have a phone?” Milo continued.

“One of your people is here,” Sebastian explained. “He somehow found his way here, to the castle.”

“Awesome!” Milo explained. “Put that guy on the phone. I need to ask him something.”

Sebastian offered the visitor his phone back, not without reluctance. The young man took it, and after a few short ah’s and oh’s, he began to explain something rapidly. When he realized what was going on, it was too late. He had only wanted to hear Kai Martin and learn that he and Pepin were safe, and now things were getting out of hand. “Give me the phone back,” he ordered, but the young man ignored him, putting a hand over his free ear and daring to turn his back while he continued his conversation with Milo.

Sebastian took one step and grabbed the phone.

“Hey,” the visitor protested. “I was in the middle of--”

Sebastian put one hand up. “Silence!” he ordered. “Milo, listen--” The line was dead. Sebastian groaned as he stared at the screen shutting down.

“Um, sorry about that. I should have charged the phone before heading here,” the visitor said. “My older sister is actually to blame because she grabbed my charger because she couldn’t find hers--”

Sebastian plopped down on the throne. “I don’t want to hear another word.”

One of the guards took a step forward. “Should we throw the spy in the dungeons, Your Majesty?”

“The dungeons?” the young man squealed. “For not having my phone charged?”

“No,” Sebastian said sharply and dismissed the guards with a wave of the hand. “He’s our guest.” A maid approached him quickly at a sign he made. “Prepare a room.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” the young man said in relief. “I’m a bit hungry actually, but really, is there not a single electric outlet in this huge place? Right, there’s no electricity,” he concluded for himself, after a pointed glance at the candle lights lining the walls.

“Your needs will be fulfilled,” Sebastian said. “But, first, you will have to tell me how you traveled here.”

“Hello? Hello?” Milo insisted in a more and more impatient voice. “Ah, damn it, there’s no answer.”

Kai couldn’t breathe anymore. Running after Milo like that was two steps from passing out. He took the phone from Milo’s hand, stopped to inhale air into his lungs, and then called the number. The robotic voice announcing to him that the number couldn’t be reached made him growl in frustration. “Did you manage to get enough info from that guy?”

They were behind the school, and if they climbed the fence, they would soon find themselves on the side of freedom.

“I did,” Milo confirmed. “It shouldn’t be far from where we were last night. We need to get there. Why isn’t the guy’s phone working anymore? Do you think something happened to Sebastian?”

Kai shook his head. His lungs were burning. “More like the guy’s battery went dead,” he explained what he thought to be a more likely option. “Let’s go.”

Milo put his hand on his shoulder. “Are you sure you can continue?”

“It’s for my best friend. And isekai,” Kai added. “Sure thing I can. Just give me a minute.”

“There they are!”

They both turned at the sound of the shouting voices. Their math teacher must have summoned the school guard to capture the truants.

Milo took a step toward the wall. “Kai, let’s go.”

Kai stared at the school guard rushing toward him while holding his belly with one hand. That was, most probably, the most excitement the guy had seen in all his career. “Just go, man. I’ll hold them.”

“What? This isn’t some action movie--”

“Milo, my dude, just go!” Kai said. He couldn’t run anymore, so he was like one of those herd animals who were too old or injured to keep up with the rest. “Don’t let my sacrifice be in vain!”

Milo nodded solemnly and rushed toward the fence. The guard got a hold of Kai. “Got you, kid.”

“Totally,” Kai said. “Now I’m ready for some more math. Don’t bother with my friend, though. He needs counseling,” he said the first thing that came to his mind.

“What for?” Mrs. Marwin had managed to be there, somehow, too, and she looked pissed.

“For being traumatized by math,” Kai replied airily. “Yeah, he’s got a serious case of PTSD after the last test.”

Sebastian questioned his guest at large about how he came to be there while servants and maids got busy around, placing and removing plates in a flurry of activity.

“Wow, you have such amazing food here,” the visitor commented as he helped himself to another serving.

“Do you really mean that you just walked through the forest and ended up here?” Sebastian asked. He couldn’t swallow a bite, that nervous he felt. If that was true, it only meant that there was a road somewhere between him and Milo. But was that really what he wanted? For Milo to see him perishing away?

It surely didn’t feel like there was still something wrong with him ever since this stranger had walked into the castle. More like being dragged there by dutiful guards, but aspects were not at all critical at this point. Sebastian felt the wound in his chest to verify if it was still there. Nothing had changed, except for the trembling excitement he kept on experiencing at the thought that he would be able to see Milo again.

“I’m telling you, man, ever since we’ve heard about the Blue Castle, we’ve all been up and about. I’m so lucky to be the first to find it,” the visitor said and groaned in pleasure as he took a bite from a tiny drumstick. “What is this called?”

“I don’t really know,” Sebastian said brusquely. “And do you happen to know Kai and Milo?”

“And Tani,” the young man confirmed. “Only from the forums, though. I mean, others have met them while they searched for the Blue Castle last night. And is this an entire world? Are there dragons, for real?”

“Yes, for real.” Sebastian had no idea what to make of the whole thing. Couldn’t it be that the fabric separating the worlds had been ripped apart somehow? Could that have happened because of all that back and forth Kai Martin seemed capable of?

“So, rumor in the streets says,” the visitor gestured with his drumstick, “that you and Kai got body-swapped.”

“Yes,” Sebastian confirmed.

“So cool! That’s how you know how to use a smartphone. But wasn’t it a big shock? How did you survive?”

“Quite easily,” Sebastian replied. “Now, if you’ll excuse me. Someone will see you to your room.”

He needed to see everything with his own eyes. If that had happened, dangers could lurk at every corner. Who knew what would happen with the worlds no longer being separated?

He grabbed Thunder’s reins and a sudden pain flared in his chest. Was he that weak that he couldn’t even properly ride a horse? Thunder neighed and pulled away from him. “Today’s not the day, Thunder,” he warned.

He could choose another horse, but none was as fast as Thunder. He managed to pull the young stallion outside, all the while grunting and cursing under his breath. “Why are you so stubborn?”

A flapping of wings behind him made him turn in bewilderment. Was this day going to hell faster than he thought possible? There, in front of him, was a dragon, but there were no cries of distress from the people around the castle, as there should have been.

Sebastian reached for his sword and cursed when he realized he didn’t have it, as he never wore it when dealing with his subjects’ problems in the throne room. He must have been too much in a rush to realize that he was leaving without it.

“Your Majesty, I’m a friend of Kai,” the dragon said. “That makes you a friend, too. If you need me to take you somewhere, please, climb on my back.”

“But I’ve hunted your kind--” Sebastian started.

“Which you won’t do again, will you?” the dragon asked in a playful tone.

“Was that a joke?” Sebastian mumbled.

“Half of it. Just tell me where you need to be, young prince,” the dragon urged him in her pleasant voice.

He hesitated only for a moment. Thunder had taken advantage of his lack of attention and was happily grazing at a reasonable distance from him. Trying to get him to heel would be a pain and a waste of time, and that wasn’t something he had at his disposal.

He scouted the crowns of the trees with keen eyes. A clearing appeared below his feet, and then he saw something moving or, better said, someone. The black clothes stood out, even from that height. “There, can you put me down there?” Sebastian asked the dragon.

“Of course, Your Majesty.”

The running person stopped and looked above. Sebastian held one hand over his heart as he descended. He was barely down when Milo rushed to him and toppled him in the blink of an eye. The air moved by the dragon soaring into the air and leaving them there ruffled Milo’s hair, making it play wildly around his head, and Sebastian just kept staring. “Are you really here?” he asked the dumbest thing he could ask.

Milo laughed and kissed him shortly. “I am. As soon as I heard you, I knew I had to ditch math class and rush here.”

“Mrs. Marwin might not be too happy with you right now,” Sebastian pointed out.

“And I’m willing to live with it,” Milo promised solemnly. “Now, Kai tells me you’re still ill, and that your aunt, a fire goddess – are you kidding me, man? – says that I’m the cure or something. So, here I am. How should we start?”

Sebastian stilled. In all that excitement, he had forgotten the most important thing, that he was not supposed to pull Milo from his world only to have him deal with something that was beyond his power.

“My aunt tends to be overly dramatic,” he said. “I will get well in due time. There’s no need for you here,” he added.

Milo stared at him for one moment like he couldn’t believe his ears. “Right,” he said slowly. “Because magical wounds disappear through magic.”

“Yes, just like that,” Sebastian replied. “I’m telling you, you should see about your math classes and graduation, not rush here to--”

Milo stopped him with another kiss. “You know,” he said as he pulled away, leaving Sebastian breathless but not because of pain like before, but of an overwhelming feeling growing inside his chest, “I kept on wondering who I was in love with, after all that body-swap mess-up. And I know the answer now.”

“You do?” Sebastian whispered.

“Yeah. Kai is just stubborn in different ways. When you get like this, I know I need to put my all behind it if I’m to make you mine.”

“Make me ... yours?” Sebastian mumbled. “But if it’s only for the wound, I’m telling you that I’m fine--”

Milo nodded like he was just paying half attention and pushed Sebastian’s shirt high. “Ugh, man, that doesn’t look fine at all.”