A Beast's Tale

Chapter 23

"This isn't like you, Chev."

I flung the blood from my sword and took the cloth Clavis held out to me, wiping the blade clean before sheathing it. He crossed his arms over his chest and his legs at the ankles as he leaned against the wall next to the cell door, still maintaining his air of dignity even with his clothes encrusted in dark reddish-brown. The freshest layer came from the motionless corpse on the red-slicked stone floor behind me. A metallic odor and his final screams hung thick in the air. I strode past Clavis into the corridor, and he fell in step beside me.

"It's inefficient. Leon already had all the information we needed from him, and you didn't have to throw a single punch. But you wasted your time and energy making him as miserable as possible. Almost as if this were personal."

Our booted footsteps echoed off the dingy stone walls; the flickering flames of snapping, crackling torches warped and distorted our shadows. I'd spent plenty of time down here over the years, but it was far from my favorite place. I wanted a bath, a clean change of clothes, dinner, and bed. Without Clavis pestering me. He wouldn't be the only person to question my behavior before I turned in for the night, though, and I saw torchlight glinting off of gold up ahead. Leon had been waiting for us.

"I gotta agree." He stepped into the light, blocking my path. "I figured you'd wanna get in on the questioning yourself, vent your anger in a productive manner, but you didn't. You passed up that opportunity and stayed with her, and then you showed up here after she left, hotter than I've ever seen you. So I gotta ask: how serious are you about her? 'Cause it sure looks like there's a lot more going on than a little flirting."

"Move."

He stepped aside, and I walked away, Clavis' laughter trailing after me. "Oh, he's way past flirting. He's into the jealous, possessive stage now."

"Look, whether you care about her is none of my business, although I won't lie and say I'm not curious," Leon continued, now walking alongside me. "She already had a target on her back because she was working for you. That target just got a lot bigger, and I wanna know if you plan on protecting her when she gets tangled up in politics, or if you're just gonna write her off as a loss."

"That should be obvious."

"As long as protecting her serves Chev's best interests, he'll continue to do so," Clavis said. "Of course, as soon as he gets bored with her..."

Leon sighed. "Clavis."

"He's a self-proclaimed beast who lacks a human heart. That's the reason you're always butting heads with him, and it's the reason he can make all the right choices for the kingdom without an ounce of regret for the people he has to cut down along the way. And since pigs aren't flying yet, and LeBeau won't be coming back to tell us if Hell has frozen over, I, for one, can't believe Chev has developed feelings for his little dove. Not feelings of affection, at any rate. No, the moment Ivetta caught his eye, he doomed her to a short life and a miserable death—except I'm anti-Chev and a perfect gentleman. I don't care what happens to the kingdom as long as I can save the lives he would otherwise trample, and I'll be ready and waiting to swoop in like the gallant hero I am to rescue her from the tiger's jaws before they snap shut."

I knew without looking he said it all with a smile, and I knew he meant every word. Some of it was true. And, as always, there was no point in trying to convince him of the falsehoods and considerable benefit in allowing him to continue in his erroneous beliefs. He had many friends among Rhodolite's dissenters. If he told them she meant nothing to me and was merely a hapless pawn in my hands, most of them would take him at his word and leave her alone, perhaps even sympathizing with her and viewing her as another victim suffering at my hand. I preferred to keep their attention solely on me. It reduced the risk of collateral damage—to those around me, and to the kingdom as a whole. I was more than capable of defending myself.