.

The next day, Sebastian had been safely returned to the dukedom, so he was sleeping, when he was woken up by the sound of metal scraping against marble tiles. It was not a pleasant sound to hear, especially because it shattered his sleep, so he got up, slinging his blankets away, and stood up to slip out of the hall. 

As soon as he left, he caught sight of a hooded figure wearing a black cloak. In their hand was a gleaming dagger. Sebastian felt a chill ripple down his spine, and the hooded figure promptly turned and held up a single finger to its lips in a 'shh' gesture. Sebastian, who didn't quite know what to do with assassins since his last assassination attempt had ended up with a kiss, stood there, dumbfounded, as the hooded figure turned around and walked soundlessly down the hall. 

Sebastian followed the hooded figure but quickly lost sight of them in the shadows of the night, in which everything seemed to blend together. 

Furrowing his brows in worry, Sebastian turned down a random hallway he thought the hooded figure had gone down. He ran down the hall, the carpet wrinkling under his feet.

And, when he turned the hall, he saw the hooded figure slipping through a door. A door that had been left open. A door that belonged to Jylan. 

No.

No no no no no no no. 

Sebastian's words stopped in his throat. He swung open the door, not caring as it bounced loudly on the wall with a clang, and Jylan flinched but didn't wake up. The hooded figure was now holding a knife against the duke's face, which was sleeping and peaceful. The hooded figure was perched ominously above Jylan, the dagger gleaming in the darkness. Sebastian's breath came in gasps, and he stammered, "I-ill do whatever y-you ask, let him go-" 

Then the hooded figure reached up a hand to brush off their hood. 

Baron Eclis smiled at Sebastian.