<span style="font-family: 'Georgia'"><span style="font-size: 15px">Sebastian and Lydia both watched Ayaan collapse against the grass with twin expressions of surprise. Sebastian shot a scowl in Lydia's direction, real anger beginning to coil low in his belly. He took a slow, deep breath to quell it before trusting himself to speak. "Do you always push him this hard?" he asked, trying not to snap and most probably failing. <br/>
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Lydia, once again, rolled her eyes dramatically. Sebastian allowed himself a moment to imagine ripping her eyeballs from her skull, crushing them, and placing them back in her hands to hear her horrified screams. It was a nice visual, while it lasted. "Only when I'm learning a new element," Lydia answered. <br/>
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Sebastian then allowed himself a moment to imagine strangling her to death. Another nice fantasy to keep him from actually losing his mind. "You run the risk of draining him so completely of energy he becomes useless to you, maybe permanently. Accendos, especially untrained ones who do not even know what they are, were not designed for long hours of rigorous work."<br/>
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Lydia shushed him, cutting a nervous glance in Ayaan's direction, but the boy was out cold. Sebastian tried not to roll his eyes back at her. "Fine," she hissed. "We can be done for the day. But I want him here whenever we're training." <br/>
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"I have a friend. He's an Accendo who travels around, finding and training others of his kind. I could write him and have him here within a week. You would be more successful with a fully equipped Accendo."<br/>
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Lydia's lip curled with disgust. "Why are you so insistent that he know?" <br/>
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Sebastian wanted to tell her it was stupid and cruel and made no sense. He wanted to tell her he knew it was only a form of manipulation, keeping Ayaan in the dark, a way of making him feel even more dependent on her. But he bit his tongue with a low growl. "It is useless to keep him ignorant. You only stand to gain by giving him the knowledge he deserves."<br/>
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"No," she insisted, shaking her head. "At this point, he will only resent me for having lied to him for so long and it will dampen the bond I've spent years curating."<br/>
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Sebastian could have told her that a bond that easily tampered with was no real bond at all, but he once again bit his tongue. He hated this, walking on eggshells to keep her happy, but it was a necessary game to play. He'd risk Ayaan if he didn't.  <br/>
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"Fine," he snapped back. "Shall I take him back to his quarters then?" <br/>
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Lydia hoisted herself back to her feet and waved a dismissive hand. "Why not? I have no one else around to do it and I don't feel like fetching anyone. That's something I'd normally send Ayaan to do." With that, she turned on her heels and disappeared back into the mansion. <br/>
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Sebastian glanced back over at Ayaan and felt himself go soft all over, a very peculiar sensation that he decided not to think too much about. He reached out and brushed a stray lock of hair from her forehead, as light as a feather so as not to disturb him. The poor boy would likely need the next day to recover it and definitely wouldn't be getting it, sense Lydia needed him present to practice tomorrow. <br/>
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Knowing he'd sleep better in a proper bed, Sebastian climbed to his feet and then crouched back down to scoop the boy up into his arms. This was easily accomplished due to all of the strength training he'd just told Lydia about, and he strode towards the house as easily as if he were carrying a sack of flour. Once in the house, however, he realized he didn't actually know where Ayaan's quarters were. He hesitated for only a moment before deciding he'd just take the boy to his own room for the time being. <br/>
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He received odd looks from the other servants as he moved through the halls, but he paid them no mind. He kicked the bedroom door closed behind him and walked Ayaan to the bed, laying him atop the covers. He stipped off the boy's socks and shoes and then carefully tugged the blankets out from under him to drape them over his sleeping form. He moved back to the door to slide the lock into place before divesting of his own shoes, as well as his coat and weapons. <br/>
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He hesitated again, wondering what exactly he was supposed to do with himself while Ayaan slept. He could take another bath, but he hadn't sweated much and wasn't really in the mood. He could mediate, but he felt too restless and cagey to think he could really accomplish anything other than a feeling of frustration. He finally settled on reading, rooting around in his bag until he located one of the two books he carried with him and getting comfortable in the chair by the window to use its light for reading. </span></span>