A Beast's Tale

Chapter 3

“Good morning, Prince Chevalier.”

Ivetta’s cheerful voice was muffled by the fluffy white blankets above me, pulled up over my head so I wouldn’t be disturbed by the bright sunlight that shone through the two unshaded windows along the wall opposite from my bed. My sleep-fogged mind tried to process what she was doing here. I’d told her to come, but I had to be dreaming. She would never be happy to be in my presence, especially not in my room.

What was she doing in my dream?

“Prince Chevalier, breakfast is ready,” she called again.

The tantalizing smells wafted through the covers to me, bringing me closer to full consciousness. I’d only told her to bring me breakfast. She didn’t have to pretend to like being here, and she certainly didn’t have to wake me up. If I just lay still, she’d take the hint and leave.

Suddenly, the warmth of the comforter was ripped off of me, immediately raising my ire. I rolled over to face her, standing in the middle of the room with the comforter in hand. The sunlight pouring through the windows caught a mischievous sparkle in her green eyes.

“What do you think you’re doing?” I mumbled, intrigue replacing irritation. Dream or not, she painted a pretty picture, standing there on the light blue floral rug, folding the comforter up over her arm.

“You don’t want breakfast to get cold, Prince Chevalier,” she said, smiling sweetly at me. “It would appear that you’ve been scaring maids out of here too, so I’m assuming your bedding is due for a change. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” She turned and headed toward the door, the bright light from the large window behind me reflecting off of the golden chandelier above and onto her glossy black hair. I found my eyes following the silky tresses as they cascaded down her back to her hips, and then further down to her slender limbs…I had to be dreaming. Surely, she wouldn’t be so foolish as to tease me like this in real life. I climbed out of bed and grabbed her arm before she reached the door, spinning her around to face me and holding her still with a firm grip on both arms.

She felt real. This was all real. I really was awake.

“A fragile little dove in a beast’s lair should tread more cautiously,” I warned, my face mere inches from hers. Her green eyes were now devoid of mischief or teasing, just surprised, with a hint of fear. I’d misread her - not so surprising, given the fog of sleep that still clung to me. But she had to have known this was coming. Did she really think she could get away with behaving so recklessly?

“I’ll try to keep that in mind. Please accept my apologies, your highness,” she replied, dropping my gaze submissively. I released her and went into the bathroom, unable to suppress a soft chuckle.

This was not how I’d expected this morning to go. At least she was making it worth my while to get up so early.

I only needed a few minutes in the bathroom, not long enough for her to have returned by the time I came back to the bureau for my clothes. She’d tied the pale yellow drapes back from the main window, flooding the room with even more light, and the wooden desk in front of the wall of built-in bookshelves opposite my bed was laden with more than enough food for me. I retrieved my sword from its spot next to my pillow as I surveyed the spread. She didn’t know what I liked, so she’d brought a little of everything. No doubt she would also note what I did and didn’t eat, so she could tailor the order to my preferences next time. Assuming there would be a next time. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been awake early enough to warrant eating breakfast, and though she had surprised me thus far, there was still a good possibility that she would be frightened away well before my next early morning came.

Maybe she wouldn’t come back at all. If me jumping out of bed and grabbing her wasn’t enough on its own to scare her away, finding me asleep with my sword may have done it. I knew it was an unusual habit, but I’d lived through too many assassination attempts to risk sleeping without it. Luckily for her, my immediate reaction to her presence was not murderous. Clavis had jumped back mere seconds from losing his head on more than one occasion.

There was a reason nobody complained about my sleeping in every day.

She did return, much to my surprise and satisfaction, bearing clean sheets and cleaning supplies. I glanced at her and returned to my meal without a word, but it was hard not to look back at her every once in a while. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever seen a maid in my room before. They came, of course, but only when I specifically requested, and only when I was absent. She, too, would clearly prefer my absence, but though she was uncomfortable, she wasn’t letting that interfere with her duties. She set the sheets on the white cushioned bench flush with the foot of the bed and got to work, stripping and changing the bedding. Judging by the cleaning supplies she’d brought, she intended to deep clean the entire room while she was here. That would keep her out of the library and away from my brothers quite nicely. Not that it mattered to me whether they bothered her or not. It was more to do with the fact that they wouldn’t be getting any work done if they were chasing her around. And they most certainly would do that. I hated to admit it, but Clavis’ comment was correct. Even I could not fail to notice how attractive she was. Beyond that, she was also the first maid to last more than two days with me. That made her a subject of great interest.

I finished breakfast and left for my office. Unlike most of my brothers, a new attractive maid was not going to distract me from my work.

“Chev, what are you doing up?” Clavis exclaimed, genuinely startled when I walked through the door. Nokto, too, was uncharacteristically wide-eyed.

“That should be obvious,” I said coolly. “I don’t trust you to handle this meeting appropriately.”

Nokto’s eyes narrowed, and he grinned slyly. “By any chance, did your new maid wake you up this morning?”

“What business is it of yours if she did?”

His crimson eyes gleamed as he tilted his head slightly to the side. “She wasn’t in the library when I stopped by earlier. And here I thought you said she was fair game.”

I knew he’d go looking for her.

“Chev, if you want to go back and finish whatever you started with her, Nokto and I can take care of this,” Clavis teased, his golden eyes sparkling.

“What I want is for you to focus on the matter at hand,” I said sharply. They were more than capable of handling the foreign diplomats who would be visiting, but if I was going to force myself to endure their company, they would have to stop behaving like children.

Benitoite had sent what must have been their dullest, stupidest diplomats. The meeting dragged on far longer than was necessary, mostly because Nokto had to patiently explain himself multiple times in multiple ways before the idiots grasped what he was saying. If I were surrounded by court ministers such as these, I would probably be as bratty as Bentoite’s Prince Silvio, too. At least it didn’t sound like he would be attending the upcoming annual goodwill gala. He never failed to get on my nerves.

The meeting finally came to an end, and I escaped to my office to write out the reports I’d mentally composed while I was half-listening to the tiresome conversation. Nokto and Clavis remained with the diplomats for the inevitable drinking and socializing that took place after business was concluded. Socializing had never been my strong suit, and I welcomed the opportunity to work in silence, uninterrupted by Clavis’ pranks and Nokto’s tales from the bedroom.

Two thirty finally came, and my work was done again. Starting my day early meant I finished early, too. Ivetta’s smile flashed through my mind as I headed toward the library. It hadn’t been genuine, but it had caught my attention. I should have her clean my office someday, preferably when Clavis and Nokto weren’t there. Unlike my bedroom, I didn’t allow any servants into my office unless I was there to supervise. Too much risk of somebody seeing something they shouldn’t. But she worked quietly enough that she wouldn’t disturb me, and she didn’t require much in the way of supervision or instruction, meaning I would actually be able to accomplish my own tasks at the same time she was there.

I opened the library door and was greeted not by her humming, but by Jin’s voice.

“Playing hard to get, huh? I like that.”

He had her cornered. She looked even younger and smaller next to his tall, broad-shouldered frame, but she also looked to be holding her own. There was a fair amount of distance between them, and her expression was anything but inviting.

“See you around, Ivetta.” He turned away from her and headed toward the door, smiling casually at me.

So, I’d walked in on the end of the conversation, not the beginning, and she’d clearly rejected his advances. Maybe she wasn’t as fragile and helpless as she looked.

“Hey, Chevalier,” Jin said, shoving his hands in the pockets of his dark gray pants as he came to a stop in front of me. “I just stopped by to check out your new maid. She’s quite a looker.”

Clavis’ exact words. As I’d expected, he’d been talking about her.

She disappeared into the back room, an obvious blush coloring her cheeks. She may have been handling Jin well enough on her own, but she was more than happy to let me finish the job. A simple enough task. I’d been dealing with my older brother’s womanizing tendencies for many years. Although I couldn’t recall having actually stepped in to assist one of his prospective conquests before.

“You’re interfering with her work,” I snapped. “And avoiding yours, too, I see.”

He’d rolled the cuffs of his dark gray jacket and light gray shirt up to his elbows, no doubt expecting his exposed muscles would assist in his efforts to sweet talk her. His sharp burgundy eyes sparkled, and he withdrew his hands from his pockets to cross his arms over his dark blue vest and tie. Like Nokto, he wore the tie loose, and the top button of his shirt was open.

“Don’t tell me you actually like this one? Well, this is a change.”

“Don’t be absurd,” I said dismissively.

At least he kept his reddish-brown hair short and his black shoes polished. Everything in between was relaxed and ready to drop off of him at the slightest invitation from his next willing conquest. Even his sword belt was barely hanging on to his hips.

“Then you won’t mind if I take her out for drinks sometime,” he said slyly.

“I couldn't care less.” Although I highly doubted she would take him up on that offer, especially given the distinct lack of a coy smile on her face that was characteristic of the majority of his women just before they fell into bed with him.

“Great! And if you end up chasing her away, try to shoo her in my direction.” He winked and left.

Not likely.

She was leaning back against a bookcase in the back room, her arms crossed over her chest, her cheeks decorated with an embarrassed blush. I smirked and walked over to her.

“Hiding from Number One, I see,” I said, poking her in the forehead.

“I probably shouldn’t say this, your highness, but he’s a bit of a pain,” she said coolly. “I’ll go get your tea now.”

The boxes were all gone, and she’d swept the floor clean, too. I went to my chair and picked up my book. It wasn’t long before she brought my tea, and I dismissed her without so much as a glance. She retreated to the main library.

Efficient, competent, quiet. I did like this one.

She knocked on my door a few minutes to five o’clock. I knew it had to be her - nobody else bothered to knock - but I didn’t answer. It was time for her to leave, not pester me. The door opened, and I looked up as she walked over to pick up my empty teacup. She was visibly tense in my presence, but her voice was calm as she spoke.

“Is there anything else you need me to do, your highness?”

There was nothing I could ask of her that she could accomplish in her few remaining minutes here. But I could give her orders for the morning. I had no reason to get up early again, but she already had Jin and Nokto after her.

“Come to my room in the morning,” I said, looking back down at my book. “I don’t want to be disturbed until nine o’clock.”

Or noon, really, but I couldn’t very well keep an eye on her with my eyes closed, could I?

“Have a good night then, Prince Chevalier,” she said, offering her curtsey before she left.

She was very careful to be polite and refer to me by my title or ‘your highness.’ But then, her attention to detail was exceptional in everything she did so far. And, from what I’d gathered from the head maid, she was the same here as she was outside of the palace. Her references were as many and varied as the multitude of odd jobs she’d worked prior to finding employment here, but all agreed that she was unfailingly hardworking and honest. She didn’t live in the town just west of the palace, but in the village on the western side of that town, quite a distance away. I was still tracking down the doctor who cared for her mother, but, as she’d said, she had no other family. A long walk to and from home, and she doubtless spent her entire time there tending to her mother. And she did it all quietly, without complaining, hiding it all away so nobody would know.

As much as I hated getting up early, the thought was more tolerable with the prospect of her waking me up. She probably got up at five or six o’clock to get to work on time at eight o’clock. If a fragile little dove like her could manage that, I could certainly stand to get up a bit earlier, too.