A Beast's Tale

Chapter 19

“How is she?” Leon asked, waiting for me outside Jack’s cell.

“She’ll be fine.” I unfastened my cloak and handed it to Leon, the cool calm in my voice in direct contrast to the pulsing heat in my blood. “You got what you needed from him?”

Leon nodded, his amber eyes flashing. “He’s a real piece of work. There aren’t any other pimps in the area, or even any independent prostitutes. He kills off the competition.”

I removed my gloves and tossed them on my cloak. “She told me he was her only threat.”

“He would have killed her this time if she hadn’t gotten away,” Leon continued in a low growl.

I cracked my knuckles and rolled my shoulders in preparation. “I don’t suppose he said how.”

Leon smirked. “He did, actually. And everybody’s had a crack at him, but I made sure we left enough life in him for you to have a little fun.”

“Good.”

“Do you want me to tell you?” Leon asked, unlocking the cell.

“That will be unnecessary,” I said, smirking. “He’ll tell me himself.”

It would be my turn to hide bruises from her. But I always wore gloves, so it wouldn’t be too difficult to hide the evidence of Jack’s last moments on my knuckles. I made sure to dispose of my bloodied clothes, too. She wanted things to go back to normal tomorrow, and although I’d fully earned the nickname Bloody Tiger well before I met Jack, she didn’t need to deal with that side of me. Not now. Not while she was still so fragile.

Normal. My ‘normal’ had been turned upside-down by her. The cold, hard edges of my cruel, calculating world had been invaded by a soft, gentle, innocent warmth. When I closed my eyes, I saw hers, vivid and expressive. And she was there in my dreams, too, her slender frame curled up on my lap, her fingers clinging desperately to me, her face buried in my neck.

There was no ‘normal’ anymore.

“Good morning, Prince Chevalier.”

It took me a moment to realize that her voice was real, that I was actually awake. She hadn’t been humming, but that wasn’t too surprising. It would take more than a single night for her to recover from the trauma she’d endured.

“Did you sleep well, your highness?”

She’d never asked me that before. I pushed back the covers and stretched, curling my hands into fists as I usually did without any thought. “Yes. Did you?”

She stood frozen in front of the bench, my clothes piled in her arms as she stared at my bruised knuckles. “Your hands.”

I sighed and got out of bed. “You’re too observant,” I commented, stopping in front of her and taking the clothes. “But perhaps you’re trying to avoid the question.”

Her green eyes met mine, and a faint blush colored her cheeks. “You’re also too observant, your highness. I’ll be right back with your breakfast.”

No humming, no smiling, and she hadn’t slept well. I went into the bathroom to get dressed, scowling at the marks on my knuckles. Jack had been begging for death at the end. It was too good for him. But I couldn’t take the chance that he would somehow escape. His demise meant an end to her waking nightmare. I couldn’t do anything about the nightmares that undoubtedly haunted her sleep, though.

“Prince Chevalier,” she said, as if words were necessary to draw my attention to her as I exited the bathroom. She had set my desk with breakfast and was busy making my bed, and it was taking everything in me not to stare at her. “Thank you again for everything yesterday, and for the carriage this morning, but I’d rather walk home tonight.”

Too observant, and too stubborn.

“Have you forgotten what I told you?” I said irritably, taking my seat at the desk.

“No, I haven’t, but I’m just thinking about my mother, your highness,” she replied.

“Surely, your mother doesn’t expect anything to come from a simple carriage ride,” I scoffed, keeping my eyes firmly fixed on the plate in front of me. If a dying woman who’d never met me had picked up on my attraction to Ivetta, then I certainly needed to reevaluate how I’d been handling the situation.

Ivetta sighed behind me. “Well, she is my mother, your highness.”

I didn’t say anything further, and neither did she. My internal conversation was loud enough to drown out the physical silence between us as I finished breakfast and she worked in the bathroom.

Jack was dead; she had no other enemies outside the palace walls anymore.

Known enemies, anyway.

Insisting that she continue to take a carriage to and from home was probably unnecessary.

Probably, but not definitely.

And the mere fact that I was looking for reasons to deny her request indicated how important it was for me to acquiesce to it.

She was a vulnerable young woman - too vulnerable, too young. I was used to having my way, without any regard to the effects on those around me, and I didn’t entirely trust my own intentions toward her to be purely selfless. It would be all too easy to misuse my position and well-tuned skills to manipulate her innocent dependence on me into something much more compromising. The habits of a lifetime couldn’t change overnight.

But I needed to stop thinking about her and focus on the round table.

Leon and I had rescheduled for this morning at ten o’clock. It wasn’t uncommon for multiple meetings to be needed before any decision could be made regarding a new polarizing topic, as initial talks tended to devolve quickly into heated shouting matches between Leon and myself with potential swordplay as well. But we’d managed to unite around our concern for Ivetta, even coordinating our very different approaches to handling the problem, and I had new insight into how he operated. I’d always interpreted his tendency to advocate for discussion and utilize non-violent methods as passivity, but I now realized that his reluctance was not a total dismissal or avoidance. He simply wanted to ensure that all options had been thoroughly explored so the best possible decision could be made. I preferred a more direct, offensive stance, but not out of a sense of bloodlust, as was commonly assumed. The element of surprise was essential to my plans. Months of quiet preparation backed nearly every supposedly random attack I perpetrated. I hoped Leon would be willing to listen long enough for me to explain that.

“How’s Ivetta?” he asked as soon as I entered the round table room.

“Fine,” I said shortly, taking my seat. I was the last to arrive, and I had no desire to elaborate. “Let’s begin.”

The meeting was surprisingly productive. Leon didn’t like my plans, as Nokto had predicted and I’d expected, but we arrived at a compromise. I agreed to hold off until the annual goodwill gala with Benitoite, unless something happened before then that would necessitate another round table and an acceleration to our plans. The gala would occur in about two weeks, enough of a delay for Leon to gather more information without placing Rhodolite at a serious disadvantage in the event of a war with Obsidian.

And then it was back to my office to catch up on all the work that had piled up from the day before. The information about the Benitoite princess was still sitting on my desk, untouched. I really needed to look it over.

“This is the marriage proposal, right?” Nokto asked, picking up the neglected folder.

“Yes,” I said, barely sparing it a glance.

“Mind if I look at it?”

“Go ahead.”

Clavis came around to the desk, looking over Nokto’s shoulder at the documents.

“I’m fending off a couple of noblewomen right now, too,” Nokto muttered, skimming the papers and handing them back to me. “At least this one is reasonably good looking. Very haughty, though. Looks down on everybody, especially servants. Treats them like dirt.”

“So, Chev a couple of weeks ago,” Clavis teased with a sly grin.

“She’s no Ivetta,” Nokto confirmed with a glitter in his crimson eyes. “But she does have two advantages. First, her title, and second, her fertility. Wide hips, busty. Jin’s type, actually. And she comes from a large family. She’ll have no trouble producing an heir.”

“Ivetta is a bit small for that,” Clavis agreed. “But, then again, there are plenty of small women who never have any difficulties giving birth.”

I sighed, irritated by the turn this conversation had taken. “This is a waste of time.”

“You know I hate to agree with you, Chev, but you’re right,” Clavis admitted, grabbing some paperwork. “It’s too bad she’s just a maid.”

That ended that discussion, thankfully, and the office fell silent except for the rustling of paper and scratching of quills.

Two thirty came, and I was drawn to the library like a magnet. She brought me my tea, polite and prompt as usual, but when she stepped back to wait for my next command or dismissal, she wrapped one hand around her other wrist. I didn’t say anything about it, and she didn’t even seem to be aware of what she was doing, but the sight made me wish I’d hit Jack one more time before I ran him through.

Against my better judgment, I didn’t make her take a carriage home that afternoon.

She wasn’t humming the next morning, but her state of mind seemed to have improved a little more. I didn’t say a word about Jack or the assault, although I was acutely aware of how fragile she was, how every little sound made her tense involuntarily. The wrist-holding was a new nervous habit, far less endearing than biting her lip.

The day her humming woke me up was a breath of fresh air. I lay still in bed, listening, and I realized it was her mother’s birthday. Her mother’s last birthday. And, in typical fashion, Ivetta was looking forward to making it a good day. She’d be in the kitchens with Yves later that afternoon. He was harmless enough. I’d miss her in the library, though.

When nine o’clock came, her morning greeting was much more exuberant than normal.

“Good morning, Prince Chevalier!”

“There’s no such thing,” I grumbled, keeping up the facade of cold indifference I’d maintained since the day after the assault.

“Of course there is, your highness. Come on, get up.”

I smiled to myself. She was talking to me like I was a child. Her light, carefree attitude reminded me of the festival. But I made sure the smile was gone when I sat up, looking at her coldly. “You’re going to be a nuisance today, aren’t you?”

“Oh, I hope not, your highness,” she said, trying not to smile.

I took the clothes she’d set out for me and disappeared into the bathroom while she went to the kitchens for my breakfast. As soon as the door closed behind her, I allowed my smile to return. She was back.

Her humming didn’t stop when I finished in the bathroom and sat down for breakfast, and it didn’t stop while she worked in the bathroom, either. She’d never kept up her humming while I was in the room before, unless she thought I was asleep. I didn’t leave after I’d finished eating. It was too enjoyable listening to her. I’d missed hearing her, and I’d missed seeing her smile, and although I’d known they had a profound effect on me before, the effect was enhanced by a couple days’ absence.

“You’re in a good mood today,” I commented as she exited the bathroom and crossed the room toward me.

“It’s my mother’s birthday, Prince Chevalier. I’m looking forward to surprising her.” She piled the dishes onto the tray as she talked, her posture relaxed, her smile radiant. “It’s been a while since I’ve done any proper baking. I’m hoping the beignets make her feel a little better.”

“It doesn’t take much to make you happy,” I observed, smiling mockingly. It wasn’t actually an insult, and she didn’t take it as such.

“I don’t know about that. It’s not always easy to make somebody else smile, and that’s what really makes me happy. Like you, Prince Chevalier. I haven’t figured out what makes you smile yet.”

If only she knew.

“Is there anything else you need from me?” she asked as she reached the door, full tray in hand.

“Since you will be wasting much of the afternoon on your trivialities, I expect you to work twice as hard this morning.” My words were harsh, but I couldn’t quite manage a matching tone, and her smile was not dampened.

“That won’t be a problem, your highness. I work twice as fast when I’m this happy.”

She may not have figured it out, but she was more effective at eliciting a smile from me than anything or anyone I’d ever known. I knew a few days was not enough time for her to recover completely from the trauma of the assault, but she was happier now than I’d ever seen her, and that filled me with a sense of relief.