A Beast's Tale

Chapter 63

I had a talk with Sariel about Ivetta's workload. It was a more friendly discussion than I expected, as he was already planning to lighten her schedule. His most important goal had been to teach her what she specifically needed to be ready for the coronation and engagement ceremonies. Now, with nothing in particular that she needed to learn or achieve before the wedding, he was going to focus on generalized knowledge covering the variety of topics she would have learned had she been raised as royalty. As I told her, she didn't need to learn it all overnight. There was time.

And there was far too much time left until the wedding.

My workload continued unabated, but her relaxed schedule meant it was easier for me to see her well before the dangers of evening came. After a day of lessons and the occasional social engagement, she was in the library until dinner, and then she spent the rest of the night in her room. Whenever possible, I tried to join her in the library for a few minutes. It couldn't be for long. Just the sight of her smile was enough to light a fire in me at this point.

One afternoon, I arrived to find her searching the shelves that housed foreign texts. It was easy enough to guess what she was looking for. I had told her what her father's journal said, and Sariel and I had summarized the documents Gilbert brought, but she wouldn't be satisfied until she could read it all for herself. Language studies were part of her curriculum now. It was only natural that she should try to learn the language of Garnet. Those shelves weren't going to be much help to her, though. Garnet had been northwest of Obsidian prior to its invasion and subsequent dissolution; Rhodolite was southeast of Obsidian. The physical separation had imposed a political separation as well. Rhodolite's dealings with Garnet were few and far between.

I walked up behind her, smirking when I realized how totally immersed she was in her search. She didn't hear me at all. I stopped behind her and leaned in to speak directly into her ear.

"What are you looking for, little dove?"

She jumped and spun around to face me, her cheeks bright red and her green eyes flashing.

"Chevalier! Don't-"

I cut her off with a kiss. She pounded at my chest once, and then curled her fingers into my shirt and melted against me, as I knew she would. I was finding her all too amenable to my advances recently. Spring wasn't coming fast enough.

"Well?" I asked, forcing myself to pull back.

It took her a moment to respond, obviously flustered after the surprise I'd given her.

"You're impossible," she muttered, glaring at my chest. She took a deep breath and looked back up at me, her green eyes contrasting violently with her flushed cheeks. "I'm looking for a book written in the language of Garnet, but anything about Garnet would do. There just doesn't seem to be anything in the library."

"Rhodolite's dealings with Garnet were few due to Obsidian physically separating us," I explained. "You won't find anything here."

I took her hand and pulled her toward my library, where the only book from Garnet resided.

"Is there something in your library?" she asked hopefully.

"You should know," I replied, glancing down at her with a smirk. "After all, you picked it out for me."

"When?" she asked, surprised. "Oh, the Foundation Day festival?"

She couldn't have known the contents, though. Her selection had been based on the cover only, recognizing it as something I didn't have in my collection. I pulled the book of poetry down from its shelf and turned back to her. She was biting her lower lip with nervous excitement. It was such a small thing, but it affected me greatly. And since we were alone, I had no reason to hold back.