A Beast's Tale

Chapter 18

I glanced at the clock, ticking closer to five o'clock with every minute. She'd knock on the door soon and present herself with her customary question about any final requests before she left, and I was still struggling with how to answer that today.

I'd run through at least a hundred scenarios involving her and LeBeau. They all led me to the same conclusion: he'd done nothing to her yet. Threatened her? Yes, many times. Assaulted her? No. He had clients who preferred virgins, and she still had a distinct air of innocence about her which indicated a naïvety concerning physical relations with men. She flinched away from a stranger's touch, but she seemed uncertain of how to react when she had some degree of familiarity and comfort with the man touching her. Prolonged contact was foreign to her, as was flirting and teasing. She avoided trouble by avoiding men and assuming the worst about their intentions until proven otherwise, and she didn't know how to handle harmless attraction.

I'd thought she must be desperate to tolerate my threats when we first met. I hadn't realized how desperate. This had been her last attempt at legitimate employment before succumbing to the pressure to prostitute herself, hadn't it?

The thought angered me.

My current knowledge of the situation led me to believe she was not in immediate danger, but I couldn't account for all variables, and there was always the chance she would leave at the end of the day and never make it home. Licht had already doubled the guard. Lucien was keeping an eye on her during her commute, when doing so did not conflict with his primary objective. She was safer now than she had been before—and it wasn't enough.

But if I pushed her about it, would she tell me? Or would she double down on her defenses, locking me out and breaking the tenuous thread of trust I was developing with her?

This was the reason I preferred force. I saw immediate, reliable results when I drew my sword. Appealing to emotions took precious time and could still fail.

The door opened, interrupting my thoughts. I looked up as Sariel entered my library with silent steps, his black snakeskin print jacket and strange dark purple sash clinging to his tall, slender frame without any rustling of the fabric. It was unusual for him to invade my privacy. Although his black hair fell in his narrow lavender eyes and his expression remained inscrutable behind his thin black glasses frames, I could venture a guess at what would bring him now.

"Has he died?"

Sariel nodded. "I was hoping to find your maid here as well, but I can speak with her later. The round table cannot wait."

She wasn't in the main library?

I set my book aside and stood. That detail was of lesser importance than addressing the reason Sariel wanted to see her. "She won't agree to become Belle."

He smiled a thin, razorlike smile. "Then I'll have to persuade her."

"No."

"'No'? So the rumors are true."

"The practice of having Belle select the next king is antiquated and foolish. It places the fate of the kingdom in the hands of a simple commoner, making her our greatest weakness and the single most dangerous person in the country. I will be king, regardless of what a simple commoner may say."

Sariel sighed and shifted his weight on his black boots. The series of black belts around his black-clad legs gave a slight squeak. "In any other kingdom, that would be the case, but your mother's title and your birth order have no bearing here in Rhodolite. The Belle system ensures the royal family always keeps the best interests of the commoners at heart, and it prevents infighting for the throne. But we are vulnerable the longer we are without a king, making the selection of a woman to fill the role of Belle of immediate importance. From what I've heard, your maid would be an ideal candidate."