A Beast's Tale

Chapter 4

I awoke to soft humming the next morning.

There was a faint click as the maid closed the door behind her, and then light footsteps on wood until she reached the rug. Another soft sound as she set breakfast on my writing desk, and then I listened to her humming travel past the bed to the window. Fabric rustled as she tied back the drapes.

Hadn't my jumping out of bed and grabbing her yesterday scared her, even a little? Unless that incident had reassured her of her safety here. I had her at my mercy, and I let her go. There was a logic to it.

"Good morning, Prince Chevalier."

I pushed back the covers and yawned, stretching in the warm sunlight. "What were you humming?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize I was humming, Your Highness. It's just a song my mother used to sing to me."

She wasn't looking at me, having already moved on to her next self-assigned task of dusting the built-in bookcases lining the wall behind the writing desk. Her hair had an exceptional shine, though the green ribbon tying it back was dull and faded. Its neat bow matched her apron's white bow over the small of her back.

She was a sight better than Clavis first thing in the morning.

I went to the bureau and pulled my clothes from the drawers, casting her a sideways glance. She wasn't humming anymore. I guessed it was an unconscious habit, something she did when she could relax and work undisturbed.

'Used to sing to her,' she'd said. How long had her mother been ill?

Whatever was going on, she seemed to be handling it well, or at the very least wasn't allowing it to interfere with her work. By the time I finished in the bathroom, she'd made my bed, propped my sword and boots up next to my chair, and was back at her dusting.

"I hope you like it, Prince Chevalier," she said as I lifted the silver cloche from the breakfast tray, revealing steaming food. "I'm used to cooking simpler dishes." Then she disappeared into the bathroom while I ate an excellent meal.

Maybe I had been too hasty in writing her off as a spy. It was possible she was too good to be true.

She hadn't resumed humming when I left, nor had she emerged from the bathroom yet. Trusting I wouldn't molest her did not mean she felt comfortable around me.

"Well, look who's up early again," Clavis greeted me when I entered my office. "Decided to sleep in a little this morning? Or maybe you were engaged in other activities with Ivetta?"

This would get very old very fast.

"Report."

He heaved a dramatic sigh. "Well, since Nokto isn't here to add anything from his nighttime 'investigation,' I suppose you'll have to make do with the story as I know it. The party really picked up after you left. Funny how it always works out that way. You really should work on your social skills, Chev."

I picked up a document from my desk, written in what passed for Clavis' handwriting. The maid's name was at the top in near-indecipherable hieroglyphics.

"Ah, that. Much more interesting than the confessions of drunken Benitoitian diplomats." He leaned around me to look at it. "She's a mysterious little dove."

"The head maid told you she had no references," I said, scanning the list of names.

"None that she gave our dear ol' Marge," Clavis confirmed. "But she's worked all over the city, and almost everybody gave her a glowing review—until a couple of months ago. That was when she started leaving jobs shortly after starting them, with no notice and no apparent reason."