Page 2 of Love Me Forever

“Are you struggling?” asked Sébastien.

“No, Your Majesty.” The baker’s sullen expression had settled on the desk as if it were the furniture’s fault. Maybe he didn’t want to look at Sébastien.

Since the Kingdom knew of the Regent’s crimes, and there had been statements to back it, Sébastien’s abuse was common knowledge. It was why no one believed the Regent’s lies about his nephew committing treason. Sometimes, he was sure people looked at him as dirty, used goods, and the very thought made his skin crawl.

“Do you like eating sawdust?” Sébastien asked the baker.

“No, Your Majesty.”

A blue dove flew through the open window to one side and landed on the desk. “Sébastien.”

He glanced at the dove’s leg where a letter had been tied. His name had been written in small letters, and Remus’s was above it and slightly to the side.

The roll was so thin, it likely had one or two lines.I’ve decided to stay here.

I’m busy, but I’ll write another time.

Maybe I’ll come by in the summer.

I’ve decided it’ll be easier to stay here.

So much for joining their Kingdoms. Sébastien almost didn’t want to take the letter. Having his hopes up months ago had been foolish. How stupid that he hadn’t learned. The Regent was dead, but that lesson would never vanish.

“Do you think people want to eat sawdust in their fucking bread?” Sébastien snarled. “Do you think a Mother wants to give her children bread that’s partly worthless and might make them ill? Last I checked, sawdust isn’t fit for consumption.”

The baker suddenly looked quite terrified even though the Soleilian King’s new rule hadn’t started with an iron fist. “No, Your Majesty.”

“Then why are you cutting your damn flour?”

The blue dove, standing on one leg, shook the other he was holding out. “Sébastien. Letter.”

“How about if you go back and tell him I don’t need bullshit excuses?” Sébastien hissed at it.

The dove blinked his beady eyes in confusion since they couldn’t pass verbal messages, and their vocabulary was limited. He shook his foot with more insistence. “Take.”

Sébastien untied the note and flung it down. “Didn’t I just ask you a question?”

“I-I was trying to save money,” said the baker.

“The price of flour went down last year.”

“But my daughter will be getting married this summer, and she wants a grand wedding. I-”

“Reply?” queried the dove.

“I haven’t even read it yet! Find something else to do with yourself.” Sébastien waved at the dove. “Besides losing your bakery, you’ll spend three months in prison if this ever happens again. It’s your first offense so you’ll pay a fine, and a guard will come to your bakery tomorrow to ensure none of your supplies are cut. Don’t let it happen again. I’m sure your daughter would love to get married while you’re staring at the wall in prison. You’ll pay a fine, and you have one month to bring the money to the office at the guardhouse.”

Once the baker received a slip with the amount written on it, the guard led him out. Sébastien glanced at the list for that morning. No one else needed to see him, and he could work his way through other things on his desk. The Regent had called him lazy. Sébastien had no trouble with settling down to work and getting shit done.

The dove stomped his little feet as he turned and angrily pecked at the twine around a stack of packets Sébastien needed to go through. The letter taunted him. He’d read it later. Or he could toss it in the fire and not bother looking at whatever excuse was in the thinly folded note. He’d be fine by himself. He was used to being alone.

The dove turned to look at him expectantly. They could read minds to a limit, and that was how they knew where to go. The sender had to picture the place and the recipient so the dove could pick it up. With the way it was staring at him, he had the feeling it could see things he didn’t like people knowing.

Great. The dove probably thought he was dirty too.

“Your Majesty?” A guard knocked.

“What?”

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