A Beast's Tale

Chapter 77

Leon wasn't long in coming to my office. His sparkling amber eyes and broad grin told me work wasn't on his mind just yet.

"Finished whatever you needed to with Ivetta?"

"Yes," I replied coolly. "Sit."

He dropped into the chair across from my desk. "She really enjoyed visiting Freedom, didn't she?"

"Gilbert knows," I said shortly, ignoring Leon's attempt at initiating small talk. "Or suspects."

Leon's expression fell, his eyes hardening. "Oh, he knows. He asked me straight out last night."

"What did you tell him?"

Leon shrugged. "The truth. It's going to come out anyway sooner or later. I just pointed out that I wasn't telling everyone he's king of Obsidian, so I would appreciate him keeping my secret until I'm ready to spill it."

I leaned back in my chair, considering. "We need to call a round table."

Leon winced. "Yeah, I suppose so. Can't say I'm looking forward to telling our brothers that I've been lying to them all this time."

"Better that they hear it from you than from rumors."

My office door burst open, and Clavis, Nokto, and Luke poured in.

"Hey, Chev, what did we miss?" Clavis asked.

Leon stood to go. "What time?"

"Noon."

"Making us skip lunch?" he asked jokingly.

"What about skipping lunch?" Luke asked, slightly panicked.

"That will encourage us to conclude business quickly," I replied coolly.

Clavis sat down on my desk; Nokto took his seat by the wall; Luke was too fidgety to sit. He needed to propose already. I turned my attention to the stack of paperwork on my desk and tried to ignore them all.

"Thought you and Ivetta would at least join us for dinner last night, but I guess you were a little preoccupied," Nokto commented.

"Here," I said, handing him some papers. "Trade deals with Benitoite."

"Hey, Luke, show us the ring," Clavis said, noting the way Luke's hand strayed toward his pocket.

"Not a chance. King Highness didn't show us Ivetta's before he proposed."

The door flew open again before he had finished speaking, and Silvio stood in the doorway, his sea-blue eyes wide.

"You're proposing to her?" he snapped. He stormed up to Luke and shoved him back into a chair, standing over him with his arms crossed over his chest. "What makes you think you're good enough for her?"

Clavis laughed. "I thought you couldn't stand her."

"She's still my cousin, and I'm not lettin' her marry just anybody."

"Don't worry, she has standards. She turned me down because I'm a twin," Nokto said bitingly.

Silvio rolled his eyes. "She turned you down because I told her you were just tryin' to get in bed with her, you idiot. And you," he said, turning his cold gaze back on Luke. "I can't believe I'm lettin' her sleep with you."

"We haven't slept together," Luke said emphatically.

That sent Clavis into another round of laughter. "Yeah, right. What are you two doing when you go off alone all the time?"

"Talking," Luke said firmly.

"Just talking?" Nokto pressed, his crimson eyes glittering.

"Well, we kiss, too, but we decided to take it slow after I talked to King Highness about it."