A Beast's Tale

Chapter 8

The levity of the previous night was fresh in my mind when Ivetta arrived the next morning. I had to wonder about the reason for Yves’ baking spree. It couldn’t be Ivetta. She was having a profound effect on everybody, and, though I couldn’t claim to understand Yves’ way of thinking, there was no way I could believe the prospect of an afternoon in the kitchen with her would bring that level of stress to him. He hadn’t denied the accusation, either, and he certainly would have done so emphatically if there were any truth to it. Normally, I wouldn’t concern myself about it, but the trouble we were having with Obsidian meant I needed more information. Anything regarding Yves’ heritage could easily trigger his stress baking.

I stopped by Leon’s office before mine that morning.

“Chevalier, what are you doing here?” Leon asked, looking up from his desk and glaring at me. His tease about Ivetta the previous night came to mind, and I narrowed my eyes and returned his glare.

“Where is Yves?”

Leon frowned, his amber eyes narrowing as well. “What do you want with him?”

“I want to talk to him,” I said testily.

“About?”

“That is none of your concern. Where is he?”

Leon leaned back in his chair, his expression relaxing into a smirk. “This wouldn’t happen to have anything to do with Ivetta, would it?”

“Don’t be absurd,” I scoffed. “He was stress baking last night. Why?”

“How should I know?” Leon studied me carefully. “And why do you care?”

“I’ll remind you that I am in charge of foreign affairs,” I snapped. “And Yves is half-Obsidianite. If he’s had any contact with Obsidian, I need to know.”

Leon stood up and walked up to me, crossing his arms over his chest. “You had better not be insinuating that Yves is a traitor.”

I turned back to the door. “You know better than that. When he turns up, I need to see him.”

“Chevalier.”

I sighed, my hand on the doorknob. “Nothing bothers Yves more than reference to Obsidian, but his loyalty is not in question.”

“He got a letter from Obsidian yesterday.”

I turned back to Leon. “And?”

“And, that’s all I know. He wouldn’t talk about it. Is it really that serious?”

“Maybe, maybe not.”

Leon sighed. “He didn’t come for breakfast. My guess is, he was up all night in the kitchen, and he’s still asleep in his room.”

I turned back to the door. “Then I shall have to wake him up.”

Leon chuckled as I left. I’d never woken anybody up in my life.

I didn’t bother knocking, and Yves was indeed still asleep in bed, crumbs all over his face and the pink bedding. He’d been really worked up. I would be surprised if this wasn’t serious.

“Showoff,” I barked, standing over his bedside and trying to ignore the distinctly feminine pinks, purples, and golds that decorated the entire room. Yves’ fashion sense was second to none, and, although I couldn’t call his masculinity into question, I never could understand his color preferences.

He immediately sat up, his blue eyes wide as he stared at me. “Chevalier? What are you doing here?”

“You had a letter from Obsidian. What about?”

He scowled. “I know you don’t like me, but I at least thought you trusted me.”

“There is no time for your insecurities,” I snapped. “Obsidian abandoned you when your mother died, with no attempts to contact you until now. Why?”

He sighed and flopped back in bed, covering his face in his hands. “The letter is on my vanity.”

I walked over to the white vanity decorated with gold knobs and floral designs, positioned next to the enormous window covered by pink draperies. The letter was resting next to Yves’ earring, a long piece of jewelry with alternating garnets and obsidians. The earring had belonged to his mother, and he always wore it in his left ear. I ignored it and picked up the letter.

“‘Dear cousin.’ Gilbert has a lot of nerve,” I muttered.

“You’re telling me. If that letter is anything to go by, he may be coming to the goodwill gala.” Yves groaned behind me. “‘Cousin.’ Obsidian practically accused me of murder just because I was born, and now I’m Gilbert’s cousin.”

I dropped the letter on the desk and headed for the door. “If he comes, bake him a cyanide cake.”

No wonder Yves was so distraught. His mother, an Obsidianite princess, had married my father with the intention of bringing our countries together. But she had always been sickly, and she died in childbirth. The entire retinue she’d brought with her to Rhodolite were recalled to Obsidian - without Yves. Relations with Obsidian got worse, and most of the commoners and nobility saw Yves as the half-Obsidianite prince, a wolf in sheep’s clothing, just waiting for his opportunity to betray Rhodolite to Obsidian. He’d been trying to prove himself to Rhodolite his entire life, with very little success. My brothers and I all knew he was loyal, but we still had to be careful which political events he attended, which celebratory balls he couldn’t join, for the sake of appearances. Such times usually led to his stress baking and night eating.

‘Dear cousin.’ I almost hoped Gilbert, the true Obsidianite prince, would come to the goodwill gala. Yves was much stronger than his appearance led others to believe. If a cyanide cake seemed too subtle, perhaps a blade to the heart would get the message across. And, if Yves froze, as he had on Bloodstained Rose Day, Leon and I would be more than happy to kill Gilbert for him.

Clavis and Nokto both had new information as well, and I summoned Luke to my office. Time to put him to use. I had determined he wasn’t a security risk, so he had to be briefed on the situation. It was imperative that we take our next steps immediately and carefully. I only allowed them to leave long enough for lunch and to feel out Leon’s faction, and then they were back and the discussions began again.

There was a knock at the door at about two thirty. Her knock. What was she doing here?

“Well, if it isn’t everyone’s favorite maid,” Nokto said, opening the door for her as we all fell silent. She was carrying a teacup. Was she really so foolish as to come to my office without my invitation, just for my afternoon tea?

“Hello, Prince Nokto,” she said, smiling as she walked past him to set the tea on the desk. Her green eyes met mine briefly, unphased by my icy glare. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you had company, Prince Chevalier.” She turned away from me and continued, “Would anybody else like anything?”

They were all smiling at her - Luke with his boyish grin, Clavis with his inscrutable smile, Nokto with his sly grin. Why were they encouraging her? After everything we’d talked about, did they still not realize the gravity of the situation?

“I’m a bit hungry,” Luke volunteered.

Of course he was. He was always hungry. Nevermind that he’d gorged himself on Yves’ baking last night and had probably still eaten three servings at dinner.

“I’ll be right back then,” she said, oblivious to my ire. “Excuse me.”

As soon as the door closed, Luke turned back to me with a wide grin.

“That’s your new maid, huh? She’s really pretty.”

“Now, how did she know you wanted tea?” Nokto asked, tilting his head to the side as his crimson eyes glittered with amusement.

“This is about the time Chev goes to the library every day,” Clavis explained. “She’s very attentive to his routine.”

Too attentive. I would have to talk to her about this later, when business was concluded. And that would be delayed, thanks to her appearance. There would be no point even trying to get back on topic until after she returned. Speaking of which-

“Jumbo,” I snapped. My tone had no effect on his idiotic smile.

“Yeah, King Highness?”

Nokto’s nickname for me sounded ridiculous on Luke’s uncultured tongue.

“You are here to work. This is the last time you will encourage such nonsensical interruptions.”

His smile finally fell. “Aw, but-”

“Better not argue, Luke. If Chev won’t make an exception for his pretty little dove, he certainly won’t for you,” Clavis said, his golden eyes gleaming.

Her knock came to the door again, less than fifteen minutes later, and Luke raced to open it. He threw the door wide with an imbecilic grin, one which she rewarded with a smile of her own. A genuine smile. Only a blind man could resist such a smile, and my brothers were not blind. Their eyes followed her as she crossed the room to my desk, completely unaware of the effect she was having on them. How could she possibly seem so relaxed, surrounded by men who she so despised? Luke was the only one present who hadn’t teased or harassed her somehow - yet. Now that he’d seen her, he’d be chasing her around, too.

“Enjoy,” she said, setting a tray on the corner of my desk. That smile didn’t fade, even when her sparkling green eyes met my chilling glare. At least she had the sense not to linger. Three sets of eyes watched her swaying hips as she left. Four, for a moment. I managed to tear my gaze away from her, and the sight of my brothers leering brought my irritation back in full force. The men in the red-light district couldn’t ogle her in a more lecherous manner than my brothers were doing right now. She was attractive, but she didn’t deserve to be looked at that way. Especially not when she had grown up hearing her mother being falsely accused of prostitution, and she was undoubtedly facing similar comments from the commoners she lived among.

“Now that’s what I call service,” Luke commented as the door closed behind her.

“I don’t understand how you do it, King Highness,” Nokto mused. “Having her in your room every morning. You’re even more frigid than I thought, to resist such a temptation.”

Not as frigid as I’d like to be, but at least I had a modicum of self-control and an ounce of respect for the woman.

“You wanted to eat, did you not? The food is over here,” I said coolly. Food was usually a good distraction for my brothers, and I wanted their minds off of her.

Luke turned away from the door with a sheepish smile. “Oh, yeah, the food. What did she bring, anyway?”

“Quite a lot,” Clavis said quietly, still looking at the door.

“Cookies!” Luke exclaimed, loading up a plate. “And tea for the rest of us, too.”

It was a handsome spread, actually. A teapot, teacups, assorted desserts, plates. She’d put it all together remarkably quickly, too. But it was just another delay, another distraction. At least the food was a significantly lesser distraction than her presence, and I was able to rein in my unruly brothers fairly quickly once their plates and cups were full. Then we were back to the serious topic of national security. It was a couple of hours later when I finally called an end to the day and headed for the library.

She was humming, fully engrossed in her work when I arrived. She was happy. Happy, and relaxed, and irritatingly beautiful. I had to force my eyes up from her hips to her back as I walked up behind her.

“Maid,” I said coldly.

She was so startled that she actually jumped as she turned to face me, and I spun on my heel and headed into the back room.

“Yes, your highness?” she stammered, but my brisk strides had already left her far behind. She was quick to follow.

“Shut the door,” I ordered.

She did so, reluctantly. I stood over her, staring her down, watching her anxiety grow with each passing second. Good. She needed to understand what a potentially dangerous mistake she had made.

“I apologize if I disturbed you, Prince Chevalier,” she said. A flicker of realization passed through her green eyes. She really hadn’t thought about what she may have been interrupting. This time, she’d neither heard nor seen anything that could be used against her. This time. It couldn’t happen again.

“Don’t enter my office without my direct orders. Do you understand?”

“Yes, your highness,” she said softly, dropping her gaze.

“I keep it locked for a reason. Those in possession of a key are limited for a reason. Whether I’m there or not, I don’t want you anywhere near there without my permission,” I continued scolding her, surprised by my own verbosity. I rarely took the time to explain myself when I gave an order. Explanation was unnecessary, so long as my orders were obeyed. I stopped, frustrated by myself, and by her reaction. There was something more than a meek submission in her. Was she…sad? She’d truly found so much joy from giving out a few cookies? I stared at her, suddenly unsure how to handle her, how to handle this simplistic innocence that only served to heighten her charm and distract me from my purpose. It was irresistible. She was irresistible. I caught her chin and forced her to look up at me.

“You’re going to fly right into a trap if you’re not careful, little dove,” I said softly. Her green eyes searched mine, confused by my words and my tone. I barely understood them myself. What was I doing?

A perfectly timed knock at the door brought me back to my senses. I released her and went to my chair as if nothing had happened. Nothing did happen. Nothing should have happened.

“Just the lady I wanted to see,” Luke greeted her cheerfully as she opened the door. I had only just picked up my book, but it remained unopened in my hand.

“May I help you, Prince Luke?” she asked.

“You already did,” he said, grinning down at her. “I don’t know how I would have made it through that meeting if you hadn’t stopped by.”

“Get out of here, Jumbo,” I snapped.

He finally tore his eyes away from her to look at me. “I’m just trying to be friendly, King Highness!” he protested.

Friendly. That’s what she would think, too. But his idea of ‘friendly’ went a lot further than this.

“Thank you for your kind words, Prince Luke, but I do have a lot of work to do before I leave,” Ivetta intervened, smiling at him again. His green eyes were taking her in, eyes the same color as hers, but so very different.

“Thanks again. If you need anything, just let me know. Ivetta, right?”

“Jumbo,” I warned.

“I know, I know, I’m leaving.” He winked at her as he left.

She was still smiling when she turned back to me, once again oblivious. “Is there anything else you needed, Prince Chevalier?”

“No,” I said flatly.

As complicated as she was, she was also quite simple. She just liked giving to others. How completely naïve of her. How irritatingly, annoyingly, amazingly naïve of her. Since when did such simplicity become attractive to me?