A Beast's Tale

Chapter 63

The alley was dark and quiet. Candlelight flickered in a few windows lining the main street, but not here. Here, the shadows stretched long where the starlight didn't reach. My boots tapped a steady rhythm on the cobblestones; my cloak fluttered behind me in the breeze created by my pace. I stopped at a nondescript wooden door and knocked. After a moment, it opened on silent hinges.

"Chevalier." The black-haired man who answered the door gave me a disarming smile. "What brings you here in the middle of the night?"

"As if you don't know."

He shrugged. "It's past my bedtime, but I suppose you can come in for a few minutes."

Despite his choice of words, he wore his full military uniform, complete with his cloak and its black ruff of fur around the collar. He turned away and went to a plain wooden table and chairs in the corner, where his black and gold cane rested against the wall, and he gestured for me to take the seat opposite him. The soft glow of lit candles bathed the cozy scene in warmth, but there was an unspoken tension in the air. I remained standing.

"Well?"

"Are you asking for my assessment of her?" He took a sip of tea and set the cup in the saucer with a soft clink, then settled back in his chair, toying with his cane. "She's as sweet and friendly as I'd heard. It was cute, watching her put so much thought into picking the perfect book for me, and when she found out I was new to the area, she was happy to tell me which inn would be the best place to stay and which restaurants served the best meals. I wanted to eat her all up." He smiled, his blood-red eye narrowing, as if he were imagining doing just that. "But you know what that's like, and that's why you're here. To tell me to behave myself around her."

"Not quite." I leaned my shoulder against the wall, glancing past him at a bookcase stuffed full of books, with letters and envelopes tucked between the volumes at random. "You'll have to sign a contract containing extensive conditions for your stay here in Rhodolite, and there is a clause within that contract regarding the treatment of servants, but you'll find ways to obey the letter of the law and still achieve your desired result. That won't stop me from trying to keep you away from her, and it won't stop you from trying to get her alone. I'm here to deliver an ultimatum. Hurt her, and I'll kill you."

He laughed. "My, but she is an appetizing little dove to bring us to this." He propped his right elbow on the table and his chin in his black-gloved hand, tracing his left index finger around the lip of the saucer. "Don't tell me you're ready to sacrifice Rhodolite for her?"

"No. Should it come to that, I would kill her myself rather than see her used against Rhodolite, and you would do the same for Obsidian."

"There are none more cruel or sadistic than royalty. Our existence is a sin, don't you think?" He chuckled. "So, for a decisive win here, one of us needs to force the other to make that choice: country or her. Except..."

His smile widened. I studied his expression, the crinkling at the corner of his right eye, the lift of his cheeks as his lips stretched his face.

"Except you seem certain you've already won."

"I know I've already won, but I'm enjoying watching you try to figure it out. You're very close, I can tell." He sat back in his chair, stretched his arms over his head, and sighed. "But we really should end the discussion here. I'd like to be wide awake when I tell her the man she met in the bookstore is Prince Gilbert von Obsidian."

I smirked as I turned away. "You won't be the first to tell her."

"Aw, don't spoil my fun for me!"

"Stop whining and go to bed."