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“Thank you, my friend,” Magnus said with a grin, letting go of Sai’s hand and reaching around to thump his back.
Finally, Magnus was letting Sai into the inner circle. Personally, I thought the gesture was a little late. It was one thing to shock the city-dwellers into taking the wolves seriously—us and Jorgen’s group—but Sai was and needed to be one of our closest allies. And Magnus liked Sai. I wouldn’t have kept Sai at arm’s length for so long.
“And Sebald,” Magnus moved on, holding out his arm to Sebald. “It is good to see you again, and looking so well.”
Sebald flushed pink and shuffled forward, the man I assumed was Barthold moving with him. Poor Sebald looked embarrassed as he greeted Magnus with, “Magnus, it’s good to see you too.”
Sebald and Magnus shook hands, and Magnus said, “It appears you have someone important with you.”
I stole a quick grin at Peter that was easily returned. That was the smoothest way I’d ever seen for anyone to ask about someone’s new lover.
“This is Avenel Bolshynov,” Sebald said quickly, before he was even done shaking Magnus’s hand.
I was still looking at Peter, and both of us fell into looks of surprise before turning back to Sebald. The sweet-looking young man wasn’t Barthold?
Sebald shocked us even more when he added, “Avenel is my pup,” in a voice that cracked. Sebald was bright red after the admission, and he couldn’t meet anyone’s eyes, not even Magnus’s.
“He’s your what?” Peter blurted, doing nothing to hide the snap of anger in his question.
I winced on Sebald’s behalf, and on behalf of the young man, Avenel. Peter was instantly outraged, but I could see at a glance that there was way more to the story than a simple introduction could tell. For one thing, Avenel looked hurt at Peter’s outburst. For another, he swayed closer to Sebald and glanced to him for help…and as if the world revolved around Sebald.
“I see there are some things you left out of your letter to me,” Magnus said, his eyes dancing with…amusement? Did Magnus think it was funny that Sebald had somehow got himself a pup? And so quickly after he had been one himself?
Peter turned to glare at Magnus, but one quelling look from Magnus and his anger shifted to the back burner. He knew how he needed to present himself, how we all needed to present ourselves, during this negotiation, and not even the surprising news that one of the Sons had done something that flipped our entire purpose for existing on its head could break him from what he knew he had to do.
“Avenel was a servant at the palace,” Sai stepped in to explain with a smile. I wondered if that smile was because he finally knew something Magnus and the rest of us didn’t. “He attended Sebald on his first night as my guest, and the two of them…got along quite well. When Sebald requested that Avenel be given to him as his personal servant, I couldn’t say no. The nature of their relationship has changed, but I’m sure Sebald would like to tell his friends all about that himself.”
“Yes,” Sebald said with a feeling of urgency. “I would very much like to explain.” He met my eyes briefly, and Lefric’s, and even Jace’s and Gennadi’s as they stood farther back behind us, but especially Peter’s. I had the feeling Sebald knew this was how we would react, or rather, how Peter specifically would react.
Peter opened his mouth to say something, but he didn’t get the chance.
“Enough of this needless formality,” the woman I was certain was Jace and Sai’s mother said, pushing her way through the men who had clustered around the leaders, watching their greeting. The three younger women pushed their way with her. “I have waited long enough. I want to see my son.”
