Working For The Prince (BxB)✔

Chapter 15 - Opening Up

Things were quiet between the two as Asher helped scrub the beast's fur. Luckily the tub was large, so Leon didn't have to scrunch over to fit inside as Asher worked to get all of the broth out.

Asher learned a few new things about the creature's anatomy this time. One was that there were apparently tiny sharp spines hidden under the fur on his back, and he nearly cut himself on one. Another thing was that his arms were leaner than they appeared. Due to their extended length they seemed gangly, but there were quite a few hidden muscles.

As the servant worked, he'd give more orders like 'arm up', or 'head down', and the beast would obey without question. Once he was all soaped up, Asher dumped water over Leon's head to rinse him off.

"I'll leave you to soak for a bit while I go prepare your night clothes." Asher offered as he left the room, leaving the beast alone with his thoughts.

Immediately after stepping away, the servant's guilt hit ten-fold and he crouched down on the other side of the door with his eyes closed.

With how quiet the beast was now, Asher was sure he had been too harsh. What was the worst that the beast had done to him? Been rude? He could understand why he was that way since the man had been harassed most of his life by his perverted magic nanny.

Another darker realization set in as Asher concluded that the King must have known all along what was going on since it was his idea to marry his son off to the woman. So that meant that in all the time the Prince was growing up, Leon probably had no one to turn to when he was uncomfortable.

How awful.

Grabbing the simplest night shirt he could find, he returned to set it on a nearby counter.

"It's been a while since anyone spoke to me that way." The beast murmured, breaking the silence.

Intrigued, Asher kneeled down next to the tub. "That probably comes with being royalty."

Leon snorted. "My mother always yelled at me whenever she thought I was being unruly."

"I'm sorry?"

"Don't be. I needed it." The beast smiled softly in remembrance. "I was a nightmare child. I always did whatever I wanted, ignored my tutors, and gave my father a hard time. At most he'd laugh it off, then tell Ebony to come get me and acted like I should be happy that she was the one to deal with me instead of him." The smile faded. "I never understood why he wanted me to spend so much time with her until now."

Asher remained quiet as he bit back the slew of questions he wanted to ask. He presumed that 'Ebony' was the name of the nanny based on how disdainfully he said the word, but he had already been rude enough for one day, so it would be wise to keep his thoughts to himself for once. Luckily the beast continued his story without the servant egging him on.

"I'm pretty sure my mother didn't know about it. That or she didn't approve. Everyone else would call for that witch whenever I got out of hand, but not my mother. She preferred to deal with me herself. Not that that's all she did." He was quick to defend her. "She loved spending her free time with me. Ebony would get so angry when mother dismissed her so we could have tea or travel alone. I remember the two of them having an argument one night, and my father left the room not wanting to get into the middle of it. I was young though, so I didn't understand why they were fighting. I just knew I liked spending time with mother more than Ebony, but then...."

His voice trailed off as his eyes dulled sullenly.

Asher recalled how the Queen had died from the plague and knew that what the Prince was remembering was probably his Mother's last days, laid up in bed, sickly and weak. Just like his own parents had been.