Chapter 216

Pearl spent the rest of the day working out in her head nearly every conversation she and Erik had ever had. Conversations about his life, his father, his mother and the rest of his family. She made of list of all the people he had surrounded himself with, the conversations that had taken place. Edward, Frances, Alice, Charles, Louis, Auggie, the heavyweight fighter, Henry, from their first meeting. She decided to start there, with the people she was aware of him knowing. Then she would begin finding people to weed out that were merely acquainted with Erik and so on. She knew she was in for a long couple of days or more, but it was worth it if it meant saving his life.

"Are you and Erik close?" Pearl asked Sebastian. They were back in the quiet study, so Pearl could think. Sebastian wanted to help, but she could sense something odd from him.

"Am I a suspect?" Sebastian asked, jokingly.

"Maybe." Pearl said, not joking.

"Well, then I better give you my full statement."

Sebastian said. "No. No we are not close. Quite the opposite, actually."

Pearl felt a bit shocked by that omission.

"You're not? Then why are you here?"She asked.

"Because he is family. And the heir to the throne. It is my duty, both as a member of this family and a lieutenant colonel in His Majesty's Armed Forces, to be here, assisting in the recovery efforts." He said. Pearl thought about it and decided that a fair reason.

"Why are you not close?" She asked.

"It's a long story, as most often are." Sebastian said.

"I'm all ears." Pearl said.

"I don't think it's something Erik would want you to know. It's not something I want to know, but I do, unfortunately." Sebastian said.

"Well, Erik isn't here so he can't say what he wants or doesn't want me to know. I'm here. And I do want to know." Pearl said. Sebastian hesitated and then decided to talk, realizing the woman he had met in her seemed to deserve all truths. Not just half truths. She was fighting for him. She loved him.

"We had a rivalry all of our lives. It began as small boys. We were cousins and the same age, only separated by a year. And he was the son of the crown prince. I was the son of the second born prince. So I was always behind, always overlooked. He was adorable, smart and well mannered. Everyone's favorite. I compensated by being tougher, more loyal to the family, more of a caretaker. I spent the better part of my formidable years attempting to prove my worth and that I had value. And then things changed after Erik became a teenager. He withdrew, became cold, rebellious. He stayed away from the family, acting out all the time, nearly failing school. He was even arrested a couple of times, but people put all of that under the rug of concealment. I was past my wanting to be a favorite phase, so then I just saw him as a first class tosser, a giant arsehole. I couldn't believe I had tried so hard to prove I was better than him all those years. I had actually looked up to him when I was child." Sebastian said. Pearl listened intently but none of this seemed a reason for the animosity insinuated between the two of them. It just seemed like typical family dynamics.

"And before I went into the army, we spent the summer together. He was 20 and I was just turning 19." Sebastian continued. "I had a friend, a best friend, Mara. She was my first friend in primary school and she was leaving for university in the fall, so we were spending a lot of time together before we both went away. Erik met her and we all hung out frequently. One day, she called me, hysterical. I went to her at her mum's house and she was locked away in her room, afraid to come out." Sebastian cleared his throat and took a breath. He knew this wasn't something Erik would want him telling his fiancée. But she was asking about it. And, she should know.

"I asked her what was wrong. She lifted the back of her shirt and lowered her trousers. There were whip marks and hand prints all over her body. Bruises and bite marks. She told me he tied her up and held her in a room for several hours, doing these things to her. That he said things about women being weak and not caring about themselves. Not their families. Not their children. He was cruel to her, for no reason. He tortured and hurt my friend." Sebastian put his head down.

"Was this against her consent?" Pearl asked.

"No. She agreed to all of it but didn't realize how terrible he was or how far he would take it until it was over. She even signed some agreement that all of those things would happen to her before he started. But that isn't the point. She was my friend. He humiliated and defiled my friend. Treated her like rubbish and tossed her aside after. The worst part? She became obsessed with him after. Wanting to save him. To help him. Calling him constantly and showing up in places that he would frequent. After what he did to her, HE had to get a restraining order." Sebastian said.

Pearl felt horrible for the girl. Erik had told her about his dark past but this was much more detail than she had heard before and it was worse than she had imagined. Erik was so kind and good to her. How could he have been this kind of monster to women in the past?

"I'm so, so incredibly sorry about your friend, Mara. I knew a little about the darker indiscretions of Erik's past, but I didn't realize how dark they truly were." Pearl said.

"There is more. And there are others. I hope someone like you would consider this before marrying him. That is just advice. Nothing else." Sebastian said. "And, when my fiancée was on her death bed three years ago, fighting to live after she surprised a burglar in her parents house, saving their lives but taking a bullet herself, he never came to see how I was. He didn't even come to the funeral. She and I were together 6 years." He said. "He never came to my mother's funeral a year later, either. I mean, I understand we were childhood rivals, but I also considered him a friend."

Pearl couldn't believe she was hearing this about Erik. This wasn't the man she knew. This Erik she was hearing about was a terrible man and she didn't know what to believe. It sounded like Sebastian had reasons for hating Erik. And if that was the case, there could be more to the story and she should be careful what she believed without talking to Erik first.