Free Legends of the Vengeance : The First Adventure (9781310742866) by Chautona Havig Page A

me?”
    “What took you so long? What are you doing
in here?” His father stepped into the little cabin and peered
around the room, stopping with eyes suspiciously fixed on
Sebastian’s face.
    He flushed until his face nearly matched his
hair, and he knew it. “Nothing important.”
    “I asked you—” Nicolo began, anger welling
up in his eyes, but he closed them, took a deep breath, and sank to
the bunk. “Are you feeling well, son? Is there something you should
tell me?”
    Confused, Sebastian shrugged. “I—what do you
mean? Of course I am fine.”
    His father’s eyes bored into him. “And you
have nothing you think you should share with me? Maybe you have
questions…” Nicolo swallowed visibly. “Perhaps about the raid,” he
suggested quickly.
    Sebastian shook his head. “No… it’ll be the
same as usual, right? I am locked in the room looking like a stupid
girl while everyone is out having adventures.”
    His father’s hand reached for him, pulling
him onto the bunk. He felt an arm around his shoulder, but
Sebastian stared at his feet on the floor. “You do not like our way
of protecting you, do you?”
    “Would you like it? Would you like to be
stuffed into a padded dress with jeweled combs in your hair to make
you look like a woman?”
    “I think my beard might make such a thing
ineffective, but no I would not.”
    “I look forward to the day that I have hair
on my lip and my chin. Then maybe yo—people will see me as
something other than a fragile child.”
    Neither of them spoke for some time. After a
few minutes, his father tried again. “Perhaps we should talk about
what you were doing before I came. I don’t see…” It seemed as if
his father was hesitant to speak.
    “I—”
    “Sebastian, why won’t you talk to me?”
    Once more, a very long silence hovered
between them. Sebastian fidgeted with his hands while Nicolo seemed
to fight his desire to say what he thought. His father’s silence
when he obviously had something to say unnerved him. Usually Nicolo
would have exploded in a rage when Sebastian did not answer
quickly. That he tried to be understanding prompted Sebastian to
try to explain.
    “When I was in Siracusa, I went to the house
of an artist. The woman, Rosa—”
    “Yes, her son Angelo. I met her.”
    Curious, Sebastian stared up at his father.
Why was he so tense—so bothered by it all? “You did? Did you meet
Angelo too? He is an artist. He showed me so much. He had me pose
for him. I learned…”
    Nicolo’s eyes closed and Sebastian watched
as he swallowed deliberately. “What did you learn, son?”
    Never had Sebastian heard such dread in his
father’s voice. “I learned about drawing. While he told me how to
pay attention to light and dark, shadow and highlight, he sketched
me. He said I had the soul for art—that my face had something in
it. Longing, I think he said.” Sebastian dropped his head. “The
drawing was good, Papa. It looked just like me. He made me promise
that I would return for it someday. He told me to practice,
so…”
    Nicolo’s shoulders relaxed a little as he
urged his son to continue. “So… what?”
    “I took a stick with a charred end. Look.”
He jumped from the bed and grabbed the stick and the rag. “I was
practicing. I thought you wouldn’t like it, so Jaime showed me how
to lock the door so no one would see…” Again he hung his head,
shamed. “I am sorry for hiding it from you, Papa.”
    Laughter reverberated around the room, first
confusing and then frustrating Sebastian as Nicolo howled so loud
that he wiped tears from his eyes. “You—were—drawing?” he gasped
between guffaws.
    “Yes. I am not very good,” he admitted. “I
want to do it, though. I need to, Papa.” Those words stopped him,
and Sebastian frowned. “It is true—I do need to. I know
this. But I don’t know why. Is that not strange?”
    ~~~~~~~~~~
    Nicolo wanted to forbid his son from such
foolishness, but Jaime’s words echoed in his