Steel Roses

A Friend

"Do you fence?"

The question – a diversion from the usual path of conversation – took The Beast by surprise, almost making him turn in his seat.

A week after Beldon and The Beast had settled into a routine, Beldon threw the question in, half way through his description of his day.

The Beast caught himself at the last moment and leant back against his chair. "Why do you ask?" he asked.

"Because, as nice as it is to walk the grounds and read to my heart's content, I still get bored. I want to practice my fencing again."

"You fenced?"

"I'm not bad at it," Beldon said, taking a sip of his wine.

"Is that so?"

"I happen to rather like sports," Beldon said, "and you, do you fence?"

Silence met him and Beldon pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"So after lunch I went back to the lake," he started, continuing with where he left off about his day's activities.

"Who did you fence with before?" The Beast cut in, startling Beldon. It was the first time The Beast had ever initiated a conversation, even if it was just a continuation of one he started. "Did you have a instructor? Or did you just spar against your brothers?"

"Both," Beldon said, "I had instructors and I sparred with my brothers and my friends."

"Your friends," The Beast mused quietly. Silence fell again and Beldon raised an eyebrow. "Tell me about them? Your friends."

Beldon stared at him. Well someone was talkative today. He didn't comment on it though, he didn't want The Beast to go quiet again – even if it was him who did the majority of the talking.

"Well," he said slowly, "most of my friends are from my boarding school days – many of those were my friends from court as well."

"You attended court?"

"Often enough," Beldon said, "my father is a merchant... and we lost our fortune... but before that we were one of the richest families in the country and my mother was from a noble line."

"Yet she married a merchant? Isn't that below her status?"

"It wasn't about status!" Beldon snapped. The Beast turned, clearly surprise and the firelight reflected against his eyes before he turned away again and Beldon blinked, then cleared his throat and sat back. "It was not about status for them," he continued, calmer, "They loved each other, that was all that mattered."

"Loved? Past tense?"

"She's dead," Beldon said bluntly and continued on before the tangent could lengthen. "So yes, many of my friends from school were my friends from court. Though, as you might imagine, most of them are no longer my friends after the loss of money. Who knows, now that my family has its riches back, they might be but I am not around to find out."

He let that sit in the air for a moment, but The Beast didn't even stir at the comment, making Beldon sigh.

"A few of my friends did remain, however," he said, "Angelo and William were both friends that remained after the loss, saying they did not care about the money." He smiled slightly. "So long as a man can have a good drink and a good time, then he is a good friend," he muttered, "that was their motto. Clearly I could do both so they stayed in contact. Then there was Raoul."

He stopped at that, looking at his food. He swallowed, then picked up his wine glass again.

"After I moved to the country, I made friends in the village."