A Beast's Tale

Chapter 60

"Are you sure about leaving Ivetta alone for a couple of days?"

I heard the smirk in Leon's voice and turned the page. He wasn't the first to ask me that question, and he wouldn't be the last. The most annoying part of it all was my lack of certainty. Silvio had agreed to watch his mouth around her, but he was still Silvio, and I didn't trust Keith, either. On rare occasions, I'd seen a side to him that was so at odds with his normal behavior as to seem like an entirely different person. For the briefest of moments, he would be cold, blunt, and mean, and then it would pass, and he would be his usual shy, bumbling self, confused and with no apparent recollection of what had just occurred. It was as though another person had occupied his body during that time. I'd never inquired into these episodes, deeming them irrelevant to me. If Ivetta saw that happen, however, she would worry and press into the problem instead of pulling away from it, and I didn't know how Keith would react under such circumstances.

But I couldn't take her with me, and I couldn't send someone else on this errand for me. The fewer people who knew of Clavis' treasonous activities, the better, and Ivetta couldn't leave her mother for more than a few hours. I had to set my concerns aside and rely on the measures I'd taken to ensure her safety in my absence.

"Yeah, I guess not. You've got nothing to worry about, anyway. She might be in for more teasing without you here, but we won't let anything happen to her. She could probably use a break from you, right?"

Leon laughed. The only humor I could find in this situation lay in his incorrect assumption. He'd realize his error tomorrow when he saw Ivetta's distress at my absence. I didn't want her to be upset, but I couldn't deny a smug satisfaction when I thought of him feeling slighted by her.

"I just had a thought," he continued, apparently determined to play Clavis' role tonight. "I gave Theresa the day after tomorrow off so she could go shopping, you know, to make up for that huge mess. You should let Ivetta go with her."

My hand paused midway through turning the next page. That wasn't a bad idea. It would help take her mind off of her worries for a while. "I'm not giving her the entire day off."

"I'd like to say you're way too protective of her, but you know what you're doing. How about a couple of hours, then? The carriage driver you cleared for Ivetta could take 'em, and with Lucien and Cyril following them around, it should be safe enough. What about it?"

I finished turning the page and slid my finger under the next. "She won't accept it unless she can justify it as work."

"So, they can stop off at a bookstore. Belle used to work at one. I bet there's something there you don't have."

The book in my hands was one Belle had promised me, a foreign military text. I'd meant to send Clavis on an errand to her former place of employment to check the stock, but Ivetta would find more enjoyment from the task than he would. "Fine."

Leon laughed and clapped me on the shoulder. "Great! You're turning into a real humanitarian, Chevalier. Hey, Yves was talking about baking tonight to celebrate Keith's arrival and Adèle taking those girls back to her estate. You should join us."

That would be quite a crowd. My brothers filled that little kitchen to the brim, and adding Silvio and Keith might be too much, even more so if Belle and Rio joined us. But between Silvio's demands and her work as Sariel's apprentice, Belle would likely seize the opportunity to relax and enjoy the evening alone, and her faithful pet would stay by her side rather than suffer more abuse from Silvio. That left eight people, excluding me. I could stand that for a little while.

After dinner, I followed the scent of Yves' chocolate raspberry serenade cake and the sound of raucous laughter to the kitchen. Jin and Silvio were already halfway through a bottle of the new ale Silvio had brought, discussing the palette and texture as Jin topped off their glasses. Yves was frosting his cake, and Luke was putting another in the oven. Licht and Keith were deep in a conversation about swordsmanship training and techniques, and Leon and Nokto were in a corner away from the rest, talking in low tones—about the girls and Duchess Latoure, no doubt. I joined Jin and Silvio.