A Beast's Tale

Chapter 54

The latch clicked. Soft footsteps padded into the room, and the latch clicked again as the door closed. I listened to her walking to the table and setting my lunch down, and then she passed the bed and pulled the drapes back.

"Good afternoon, Prince Chevalier."

I pushed back the covers and stretched. "You aren't humming."

She had her back to me now as she opened the bureau drawers and pulled out my clothes. I saw her shoulders tense. After a moment's pause, they slumped, and she said in a quiet, resigned voice, "Mother had a bad night."

She looked tired. I climbed out of bed as she set my clothes on the sofa, and she glanced at me and turned away, but that instant had been enough for me to note the signs. No smile, dark bags under her eyes, a generalized lack of energy and strength in her movements. I wondered whether she had slept at all. And she'd already worked four hours. She might have encountered Silvio, too, and she was in no state to handle him.

I grabbed my clothes and walked toward the bathroom. She was already curled up on the sofa with her book, confirming my suspicion about Silvio. She was hiding again.

"Take a nap."

She sighed and shook her head. "Thank you for your concern, Prince Chevalier, but I'm fine."

"You have an hour for your lunch break. If need be, I can wake you."

"No." She raised her head from her book to meet my eyes, and although her weariness was plain to see, so was her resolve. "Thank you, Prince Chevalier, but I can't do that."

There was no use in pressing the matter further. I went into the bathroom and dressed, and then I came back to the bedroom to eat lunch, and she read in silence, save for an occasional muffled yawn, while I pondered what she meant. She couldn't. Not that she wouldn't. She couldn't, and in this case, her work ethic was only part of the reason she claimed incapability. She feared oversleeping, yes, but there was something else behind her refusal.

Was it the nightmares?

She knew I had men watching her, and yet I was still receiving reports of her sitting outside at night, sometimes for well over an hour before she went back inside. Expecting sleep to provide no rest would be a reason to oppose me on this point. Even more so if she had active nightmares or talked in her sleep. I could guess the contents of her nightmares, and I didn't care to see or hear LeBeau assaulting her. But she needed sleep. She would be no match for Gilbert without it.

I didn't want him anywhere near her.

"You've met the Jangler."

She looked up from her book at me, brow furrowed. "You mean Prince Silvio? Yes, I met him this morning. I had to tell him I'm only allowed to take orders from you and the head maid, and then I made the mistake of making him lunch when I made yours, and he tried to buy me as his chef." She shook her head and sighed as she returned her gaze to her book. "I suppose I should take that as a compliment, but he's very rude."

That hadn't taken long. Then again, Silvio was as unaccustomed to servants with backbones as I had been when I met her. I knew the immediate appeal of such a novelty.

"The princes from Obsidian and Jade will be here in a few days." I stood and went to the door. "Get some sleep."

Seeing guards posted down the hall told me Luke was still in his room. I let myself in without knocking and assumed my usual position, leaning against the door, arms crossed over my chest, while he sprawled out on his bed. Nothing had changed, except for the absence of one honey jar on his bureau.

"You are under no compulsion to stay in this room."

He shrugged. "Figured ya'd wanna see me, an' ya weren't up yet. 'Sides, if I leave, that Devil'll drag me off to those torture sessions he calls 'lessons.'" He sat up and swung his long legs over the edge of the bed. "Ya know I still hate all of ya, includin' Jin."