A Beast's Tale

Chapter 14

Her humming was conspicuously absent when I awoke. I glanced at the clock and burrowed back into the blankets. Eight fifteen. Never in my life had I woken up at this hour on my own, but I knew what woke me now. She must be in Sariel’s office. I could just picture her small form seated in front of his heavy wooden desk, his elbows propped up on the surface between stacks of books, documents, and blank parchment, touching his fingertips together. He would be trying to convince her to become Belle, and, if he was smart, he would only be using words, relying on the maroon and gold tapestries behind him and the red and gold carpet beneath them, in addition to the maps and official documents, to add authority and weight to his persuasion. I considered getting out of bed to check on her, but decided against it. Sariel was a devil, but he wasn’t a fool. And the choice was hers to make.

I hated this. The waiting, the worry, the fact that my mind and my emotions were at odds with each other. This wasn’t like me. I had always put the good of the kingdom first, and in this instance, naming Ivetta as the next Belle would be in the kingdom’s best interests. The health of her mother and her own personal preferences should be inconsequential. I knew that, and yet, inexplicably, I was prepared to maim or murder Rhodolite’s most competent court minister to keep him from forcing Ivetta into a role that I knew she wouldn’t want.

My parents had feared that I would dispose of them and take the throne whenever I pleased. I’d considered killing my father after the horrors of Bloodstained Rose Day, after he sent my teenage brothers to battle while he stayed at the palace with his women, but I’d decided such an action would be even more harmful to the already devastated kingdom. But, now, perhaps it was time for me to live up to that expectation, discarding the Belle Covenant for the worthless waste of time I’d always thought it to be. A commoner could never be expected to make an appropriate choice regarding the leadership of a nation, anyway. My father was a prime example of that. Maybe he could have been a good king, if he hadn’t fallen in love with the Belle who chose him, but the loss of her ruined him. And if I did take the throne now, Ivetta would no longer be in danger of becoming Belle.

She really was problematic. Aside from the days immediately following Bloodstained Rose Day, I’d never seriously considered open revolt before. Such an action would undoubtedly result in civil war, leaving Rhodolite completely vulnerable to Obsidian’s attack. If I really intended to go that route, I may as well write a letter to Obsidian’s emperor offering him Rhodolite’s people as his newest slaves and be done with it. Ivetta would avoid becoming Belle just to become a slave.

I sighed and rolled over, burying my face in my pillow. This was all nonsense. I would lie here, and wait for Ivetta to return, and if she had agreed to become Belle, then there was nothing more to it. If she had declined, Sariel would begin the search for another candidate. That was in Rhodolite’s best interests. That would allow the people, including Ivetta, to remain free. She could not take priority over the kingdom, regardless of my level of attraction to her.

She arrived about fifteen minutes later, opening and closing the door with barely a sound. If I’d been asleep, there was no way she would have awoken me. But I’d been lying in wait, counting the minutes until her arrival. She came sooner than I’d expected. I wasn’t sure if that was a good or a bad sign.

“You’re late,” I mumbled, pulling down the covers just enough to see her expression. She didn’t appear to be in distress, but she was surprised to see me awake.

“My apologies, your highness. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

I pushed the comforter back and stretched. “And how is Four-Eyes this morning?”

She’d already regained her composure and was heading to the window to open the drapes. “This was my first time seeing him, so I can’t say for sure, but he seemed well enough, your highness,” she replied, not bothering to ask me how I knew.

I sat up on the edge of the bed, facing her, but the question I’d meant to ask left my mind as she tied the drapes back. Sunshine kissed her skin with a soft glow, warm and inviting, and it was all I could do not to reach out and touch her.

“I’ll be back in a moment with your breakfast,” she said, turning to go, but she stopped when she saw me, a flicker of anxiety passing through her green eyes. And rightly so. She was trapped between me and the window, her slender figure silhouetted by sunlight, and I was waging a fierce internal battle with temptation. Her expression settled the matter for me. I dug my fingers into the sheets and forced my thoughts to the forgotten question.

“Will you be accepting the role of Belle?” I asked coolly.

“No, I will not, your highness,” she replied, her voice equally controlled and calm.

“Good.” I stood up and took a step toward her, poking her lightly in the forehead with a teasing smirk.

“Prince Chevalier?” she asked, confused.

“My breakfast,” I replied, wiping my smirk away and turning away to go to the bathroom. It felt like a jolt of electricity had surged through my finger and up my arm from that brief touch. This wasn’t going to work. I needed to focus on the round table, Obsidian, the informant - anything other than her.

The door closed as she left for my breakfast, and I let out a sigh of relief. That woman was trouble. And the worst part of it all was that I knew Sariel wasn’t finished yet and I couldn’t stop worrying about her. He was probably already investigating her situation with the intent of manipulating her into acquiescence. I had done the very same thing when I first met her. But I had decided against further action when I learned of the danger to her mother. He wouldn’t care. I would have to keep an eye on the situation as the day progressed.

I didn’t speak to her again that morning, and I somehow managed not to look at her, either. She was still in the bathroom when I left for Leon’s office. He’d been out last night, probably gallivanting around town, pretending to be a commoner again. Such nonsense needed to stop. We could be having the round table discussion this morning had he been attending to his duties properly. My irritation grew with each step away from Ivetta and toward Leon, and I didn’t bother knocking before I burst into his office.

“Chevalier, what are you doing here?” he asked, narrowing his amber eyes as he looked up from his desk. At least he was getting an early start to make up for slacking off yesterday.

“We need to call a round table,” I said coolly.

“About?”

“I’ll explain it all then.” Not only would there be no point in telling him now, but I hated to repeat myself.

He studied me for a moment before he responded. “This isn’t about the king or Belle, is it?”

“Both could impact the situation, but no. This is a separate issue that has become all the more pressing due to the king’s passing.”

He frowned and leaned back in his chair. “Tomorrow morning?”

I nodded. “Ten o’clock.”

“I’ll make sure mine are there.”

“I’ll do the same.”

That was done. Now for Clavis, Nokto, and Luke. I’d send servants to locate whoever wasn’t already present in my office.

“Hey, Chevalier,” Leon called, stopping me in the open doorway.

“What?” I asked testily, glancing back at him.

“Ivetta would make a good Belle.”

I turned back to the hallway, the irritation that had started to fade back in full force. “She declined,” I said sharply.

My office was empty, much to my chagrin. I dispatched one servant per brother and prepared a piece of parchment and quill. Leon wouldn’t care too much if the information was written down or not, but the others in his faction might. I would need to compile months of research into one succinct document. Sariel would have to be informed as well. I would handle that at the same time I checked in with him regarding Ivetta.

I skipped lunch, working and waiting for the others to arrive. Their absence was bothersome. If I had to find them myself, I would guarantee the rest of the day would be quite unpleasant for them. They were wasting my time, and every moment of delay was an extra moment for Sariel to operate unchecked.

Eventually, Nokto and Luke arrived. Clavis didn’t come until one o’clock.

“About time,” Luke commented when Clavis arrived. As if Luke hadn’t taken his sweet time, too.

Clavis’ golden eyes were glittering. “Sorry, Chev, but the whole Ivetta and Sariel thing was too entertaining to leave until it was over.”

My quill froze in midair.

“What happened?” Nokto asked curiously.

Clavis grinned, happy to be the center of attention. “Sariel tried to talk her into being Belle first thing this morning, and she declined.”

“So?” Luke asked.

“So, she declined because her mother is sick. After their little meeting, Sariel did some investigating and dispatched orders to have her mother moved here, to force Ivetta into the role of Belle.”

I should have gone straight to his office after talking to Leon. If I’d been thinking clearly, I would have realized that Sariel would move quickly. He had a prime candidate for Belle right in front of him, and he had no intention of letting her go.

He may lose a hand yet.

“I may have let that slip to Ivetta, and it turns out she can be quite the passionate little thing,” Clavis continued. “She ran straight into his office and yelled at him.”

But then again…

Luke let out a low whistle. “You’re kidding.”

Clavis shook his head. “I heard the whole thing. His servants were more terrified of her than they were of him.” Clavis laughed. “I’ve never seen him back down so quickly.”

I suppressed a smile. The image of Sariel backing down from anybody was amusing, but Ivetta was nearly a foot shorter than him. I could imagine her green eyes flashing at him, her jaw set in defiance. The glimpses of her anger that I’d seen before had been rapidly eclipsed by fear and intimidation inflicted by me. But then, I’d never threatened her mother. There was quite a bit more to her than was evident on a surface examination.

Nokto chuckled. “That is interesting.”

“It takes her a little while to cool off, too, as it turns out,” Clavis said, still chuckling. “She wasn’t up for a friendly chat afterwards.”

A friendly chat. He went straight back to teasing her. Nevermind the fact that I’d summoned him hours ago. She had everything under control for her part. Now it was time for me to get a handle on my rowdy brothers.

“So, what’s so important, Chev?” Clavis asked, sitting on the edge of my desk.

“I’m glad you’re finally taking an interest in your country’s well-being,” I said coolly. “There will be a round table tomorrow morning at ten o’clock.”

Nokto shook his head, suddenly all business. “I don’t think Leon’s faction is ready to agree to our plan, King Highness.”

“And how long do you expect it will take for Obsidian to find out about the king’s death?” I asked.

Clavis’ grin had disappeared, too. “Not as long as we’d like, especially with an informant in the palace. They’ll be sure to at least dig into it more, and an attack will be quick to follow.”

“So, we’re going to war,” Luke said quietly, his green eyes narrowed.

“Whether we like it or not,” I confirmed. “The only question is who starts it.”

“Leon will want more time to investigate on his own,” Nokto said.

“Which is why we need to get him thinking about it now, but we will not delay our plans in the meantime.”

“How much are we going to tell him?” Clavis asked.

“All about the arms dealing, nothing about the informant. We will stress discretion. His faction can at least handle that.”