Page 52 of Acedia

“Well,” Sebastian began awkwardly after we’d taken our seats. “I suppose we have to address recent events. Things have… shifted.”

Tallulah sat back in her chair, watching him with an entirely neutral look on her face. If it was a negotiating tactic, it was a good one. Sebastian was immediately flustered.

“Everyone I was reporting to was arrested.”

“Report to yourself?” Tallulah suggested mildly. “If you believe in what we’re doing here, then why not keep going? You can always present an option back to the new leadership—Harlow Miles.”

Sebastian scowled. “Harlow? She’s not a leader.”

“She’s the one currently leading,” Tallulah countered.

“That’s an interim measure. She’s not qualified,” Sebastian snapped. I leaned forward in my seat, resting my forearm on the table, and he immediately straightened, looking contrite.

“Let’s all keep calm here, shall we?” I suggested mildly. I hadn’t liked this prick before, and I liked him even less now. Since Meera had wiped most of the players from his board, he’d been walking around the palace smelling like stress, and it was deeply unpleasant.

Sebastian inclined his head stiffly. “Of course.”

“As far as I can tell, you don’t have anywhere near the sway that you used to. In fact, I’m not confident you’ve got any authority left at all—the people who hired you are imprisoned now, are they not?” I asked, because I wanted to make him squirm a little.

“No one has replaced me,” Sebastian said defensively. “Or even suggested the idea.”

“Perhaps not, but that doesn’t really matter if they don’t respect your word, does it? We could come to whateverarrangement we like, and it might all be for nothing because you’re no longer recognized as a figure worthy of respect.”

Perhaps I shouldn’t have come along to this—I was probably making Tallulah’s job harder.

She didn’t seem mad though as she leaned back in her seat. “I did ask you to bring Harlow along to this meeting,” she reminded Sebastian.

“Harlow is some kind of… tech expert or something,” Sebastian shot back, clearly ruffled. “She isn’t qualified for this.”

“Neither am I,” Tallulah pointed out. “But I have the trust of the people and Shades that I’m working on behalf of. You don’t have that, Sebastian. Not anymore, not with a whole new set of faces in charge. Harlow has stepped into that vacuum, has she not?”

This appeared to be a sore spot for Sebastian since his scent soured even further, and he shifted uncomfortably in his chair. He didn’t know that Harlow was our contact and had been given advance notice that everything was going to fall apart, making it easy for her to take up the mantle. Undoubtedly, Sebastian would have done the same if anyone had warned him that a position was opening up, but wisely, no one had.

His intentions seemed somewhat more pure than the Councilors we’d dealt with before—I suspected he really did want to find a solution that would last and wasn’t overtly exploitative of the Shades. However, he clearly still believed in thesuperiorityof Hunters, and we couldn’t afford to forget that.

Sebastian sighed heavily, massaging his temples. It was the least composed I’d ever seen him. “I’m not even sure why I’m here, to be honest. Everything has fallen apart, and I guess there’s some comfort in the familiarity of being here, you know? The landscape back home has changed so much that I don’t recognize it—I don’t recognize my place in it anymore—so I keepcoming here because at least it feels like I’m doing something. Like it isn’t all completely hopeless.”

I gave Tallulah a pointed look because we had strayed well beyond my area of expertise now. I could, and would, happily tell Sebastian that he was a loser, and no one trusted him, but I wasn’t equipped to deal with the emotional fallout that followed.

She narrowed her eyes slightly at me before composing her expression into something kind and understanding for Sebastian. “You’re in a really unique position right now, Sebastian. You could be at the forefront of change right now. You could be a decision-maker rather than just a spokesperson. It’s crazy to me that you’re not seeing the opportunities that are available to you right now rather than the ones you’ve missed. You could shape the future of both realms, and you’re sitting here, wondering what to do now that you haven’t got overlords giving you specific instructions.”

“They weren’t my overlords,” Sebastian muttered, his face an interesting reddish color. She’d embarrassed him, but it had been effective too. He was clearly giving the matter some thought. “Perhaps we should call it for today’s session. I mentioned to Cora that I’d spend some time with her this afternoon.”

“Did you?” Tallulah asked, raising an eyebrow. I tried in vain to copy the movement, even though I knew Shade facial features weren’t as moveable. It just looked like such a fun gesture to make.

“She’s been socializing a little more,” Sebastian continued. “Obviously, she’s had a hard time of it, but I think she wants to find her place here regardless. She’s trying to befriend Jade.”

From memory, Jade was one of the new ex-Hunters who’d moved into Elverston House, and was not the most approachable of sorts. But perhaps she was like Theon—once you got past that hard exterior, you would find the most loyalof friends. Would Iris like to meet them? She’d been sheltered a lot since she arrived—too much, actually—but she couldn’t be hidden away, confined to socializing with the infants in the nursery, forever.

I experienced a feeling that might have been jealousy, even though Iris had already rejected me. In my stupid head, I still wanted her all to myself.

He nodded at us both as he stood, quietly excusing himself. There was really no need for Sebastian to stay in the shadow realm since he had the use of a portal to travel back and forth as needed. Maybe he just preferred it here?

I might feel a smidge bad for being so hard on him if he genuinely enjoyed living here and wanted to stay.

Tallulah and Evrin looked as though they were having a cute moment together—must be nice—so I headed out of the room, contemplating finding my brother. I didn’t think it was fair to leave these conversations resting on Tallulah’s shoulders when the circumstances had changed so drastically. She needed more support.

“Hey!” Tallulah called, her bright red shoes clicking against the stone floor as she rushed to catch up with me, Evrin easily keeping pace with her steps. “Thanks for that. That was really helpful.”

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