ROOK AND RAVEN: The Celtic Kingdom Trilogy Book One by Julie Harvey Delcourt

But oh what a tangled web we weave, he thought dryly.  How these two were going to reconcile was going to be an interesting challenge to witness, but he sincerely did want them to be together.  He knew in his heart they were meant for each other and had known that even when he had once dreamed of making Jessy his own.  Shakespeare had not been wrong about the course of true love.  How was true love to ever be measured if not tested?
    David considered him over the rim of his glass.  Yes, he would give Sebastian the benefit of the doubt.  After all, he really only knew one side of the story.  There was much that just didn’t make sense, had never been logical in this whole bloody affair.  Why in the name of Hades had his friend abandoned Jessy? The two had been so in love it lit up the world around them.  It was as plain as the nose on anyone’s face they fit each other like two matched pieces of a puzzle.   
    He would help Sebastian for one very important reason that he would not, and could not disclose, but first his friend had better be honest with him.  Letters over the years, due to war, the blockade between the two countries, and just the fact that neither of them were committed letter writes, had been very few and irregular.  The letters would show up at his door delivered by a motley variety of sweeps, vagrants and one time a man pretending to be drunk and lost.  He understood better now what that was all about at least.
    There was some mystery in all this, David felt, somehow circling around the Dowager Marchioness of Redsayle’s inexplicable hatred of Jessy.  Before Sebastian had suddenly left for Celtica it was clear the countess wanted a bride from one of the Viking families of the kingdom for her son. That was the reason the two had planned to elope.  He had been away with his regiment at the time, but he had letters from both telling him of the desperate step they were going to take. The hate the countess still held for Jessy did not make sense and
    David didn’t care for things that were illogical, they gnawed at him.  This was a question he wanted answered sooner or later.  Everything had a reason if you cared to find an answer.  He cared.
    He looked at Sebastian and after taking a sip of brandy and scratching
    Hercules behind his ears, took a deep breath and waded in.
    “What you are going to do now is to tell me what exactly happened that summer and not lie to me,” he made his voice as stern as he could, entirely without its usual easy drawl.  “And yes,” he held up a hand when he saw Sebastian’s mouth open,” I have of course heard Jessy’s side of the story. I have (metaphorically anyway) accepted your return with open arms.  So if I feel for a moment you are not being absolutely honest with me, you can find lodgings elsewhere. What I need is to know whether my faith in you is justified. 
    Jessy is my dearest friend next to you-“
    “You mean you have always loved her,” Sebastian interrupted, “And you are as windy as ever my friend.”
    David shrugged and gave a wry smile, “Known it was hopeless since we were twelve.  Don’t interrupt me.  Just answer me this; why did you leave her?  Do you have any idea what she went through?  I should hate you, tear your heart out, and feed it to Hercules here.  I still may if your answer isn’t good enough.  Recent behavior paints you as an idiot, but the question is this; is it idiocy, cruelty or some vagary of fate of which I am unaware?  So fess up friend or put down that glass, get out and find an inn to hole up in.”
    Sebastian sighed and dropped back into the old wingback chair.  He leaned his head back and for a moment closed his eyes, the firelight swirling red and black behind his eyelids.   He had known that his return would not be simple for any number of reasons; his friendship with David being one of only many complications.  Some of those difficulties and concerns he had used as an excuse to not think