A Beast's Tale

Chapter 58

"I've been saying that since she started working for him. If I had her alone in my room all the time, I wouldn't be able to keep my hands off of her."

Silvio laughed. "Big surprise, comin' from you. I bet she'd slap you if you tried anything with her. She's feisty enough to pull somethin' like that."

"She hasn't yet, but I wouldn't put it past her. I wouldn't put it past King Highness to tell her she could slap me, either," Nokto replied. I could hear the sly grin in his voice and knew he was glancing at me for a reaction, but I ignored him and continued drawing up a contract for a prospective business partner.

After this, I had some financial reports to review, and I needed to schedule a time for an inspection tour of a few merchants in my jurisdiction. Now was an ideal time. Clavis would put his plan into action tomorrow, and I wanted to be close to the border, should he need assistance. He had Cyran with him, and Gilbert's support increased his chance of success, but Gilbert would deny involvement if something went wrong. It would be best if I could stay out of it, however. This couldn't become public knowledge without causing a messy international diplomatic situation.

"This ale from your newest venture," Nokto was saying, having moved on from the topic of Ivetta for the moment. "I have a tavern that wants exclusive import rights and is willing to pay something in this range to get it."

"Pfft. You know better than that, Foxface," Silvio scoffed. "What else have you got for me?"

"Oh, nothing much, just a new flower the tavern owner's wife has been cultivating with potent medicinal properties. Clavis has been experimenting with it, and he's almost ready to put a new hangover remedy on the market. How about exclusive export rights for that? Of course, if they throw that in, you're looking at the lower end of this range..."

Clavis must have given Nokto permission to make that deal for him. His talents in chemistry extended beyond smoke bombs with unique side effects and had led to many medical advancements, as well as a fortune second only to mine among our brothers. He was an accomplished negotiator in his own right, but he cared little for money, and Nokto had more experience handling Silvio. Securing Silvio's interest in future medications Clavis was developing was the more important and as yet unstated goal of this barter.

A knock at the door brought their conversation to a halt. Belle. She entered without waiting for a response, knowing she would receive none. "Nokto, Leon is ready at the villa for you. Prince Chevalier, I have the minutes of the court minister's meeting for you, along with this investigative report, and Sariel requests your presence to speak with you," she said, crossing the office to lay the papers on my desk.

Nokto stood with a sigh. "We'll have to continue this when I get back, Silvio."

"This is about those girls, right? I'll come with you. I just got word we found a couple of 'em in Benitoite, and I wanna talk to this Duchess Latoure about—"

"Not right now. I'll have Leon talk to you about it when he's free. If you'll excuse me."

I sat back in my chair as I skimmed the report. Silvio slumped into his seat and crossed his arms over his white ruffled shirtfront, scowling at the door closing behind Nokto. "What's that about? I ain't gonna say somethin' stupid in front of them."

"It isn't about you saying anything wrong, Prince Silvio," Belle explained. "You're a man they don't know, and that might scare them. But I have these reports you requested, and there's a merchant dealing in jewelry who wants to see you."

He snatched the reports from her and stood. "I'll never understand how Foxface ended up being a guy someone like those girls can trust." He paused in flipping through the pages and looked at Belle. "When's Glumskull gonna be here?"