A Beast's Tale

Chapter 14

I had plenty of examples illustrating how disastrous royalty becoming involved in romantic relationships with commoners could be, and although I rehearsed them all in the time it took to reach the food stand, I needed to look no further than my father. His ill-fated affair with Jin's mother had long-lasting consequences which were still affecting the kingdom, not to mention the damage done to the women he'd used to fill the void left by his lover's absence, and the impact on my seven brothers and myself. Eight sons by seven now-deceased women. It was a travesty I didn't care to repeat.

'Indulge myself,' Jin had said. That was all he ever did with women. He had three rules to keep himself out of relationships, and his conquest of choice had to agree to all three before they proceeded to bed: no dating, one night only, friends afterwards. The number of women who agreed to this surprised me.

I didn't want that, and Ivetta would never agree to that. Nor could I picture our relationship as employer and employee continuing with no change after a tumble in bed. Jin's system worked for him, and Leon and Nokto had their own methods for handling women. I had to develop a plan for dealing with Ivetta that would work for me. One I wouldn't discard at the barest hint of her smile.

I stopped in front of the food stand, surveying the menu. Either I would buy her something, or Leon would when he returned. Setting the emotional aspect aside, we were still competing, and I never lost. But he was right. The variety of pastries on offer was much sweeter than I preferred.

"What do you recommend?" I asked Ivetta, glancing down at her in time to catch her green eyes widening as a small gasp escaped her lips. She stepped closer to me, close enough to touch my arm, and my pulse sped up without my permission for multiple reasons. My eyes snapped to the crowd. She'd seen someone who frightened her, possibly the man Leon sought, but nobody was even looking at her now. When my eyes returned to her, I saw hers darting around, searching. She'd lost him too.

"What is it?" I demanded.

She bit her lip and shook her head. "Sorry, Prince Chevalier, it's nothing." There was a slight tremor in her voice, and she didn't look up at me. I followed her nervous gaze again, and again, I found nothing amiss.

She wasn't moving away from me. Her arm brushed against mine, and I realized I had only to lean in to smell her hair.

I poked her forehead. "The menu."

She looked up at me, startled, as if she'd forgotten I was there. Her eyes dropped to the point of contact between us, and color flooded her cheeks. She took a hasty step back. "Oh, um, let me see..." She swallowed and shifted her attention to the menu. "How sweet do you like your desserts, Prince Chevalier?"

Until I met her, I didn't care for sweet things.

"The funnel cakes are really good," Leon volunteered, rejoining us and interrupting that unwanted thought before it could develop any further.

"Oh, Leon!" The smile returned to her face as she turned to greet him, all remaining tension melting away from her shoulders. "Did you find Roger's parents?"

He grinned down at her and tousled her hair. "Yeah, I did. And he couldn't stop talking about the pretty lady who helped him."

She giggled and ducked to avoid his hand a second time, unable to stop him since both of her hands were full. "Leon..."

I sighed and took the stack of books from her, dropping them in Leon's arms. "Order."

"Oh, sorry, Prince Chevalier. Um..." She looked back at the menu and touched her index finger to her lower lip. Her eyes lifted to me again. "Would you like a funnel cake?"