A Beast's Tale

Chapter 2

"You didn't tell me she was such a looker, Chev," Clavis said, bursting into my office with a wide grin the next day.

I looked up from the document I'd been skimming, the annoyance I usually felt whenever Clavis appeared tempered by an unexpected satisfaction. So, she had returned.

"Who are you talking about?" Nokto asked, his crimson eyes immediately intrigued as he looked up from his stack of paperwork.

"Chev's new maid. Well, she's actually not assigned to him at all, just the library. I checked," Clavis replied, taking a seat on a corner of my large white desk instead of one of the various chairs. Fortunately for him, his news had me in a good mood. The irony of it all was that this maid was the only one I'd come across so far suitable to attend to me personally.

"King Highness, you didn't mention a new maid," Nokto said with a sly smile, his messy silver hair brushing the shoulder of his white jacket as he tilted his head slightly to the side.

"It's not pertinent to your work," I said coolly, surveying his careless appearance with distaste. His dark blue tie was barely hanging on, a sharp contrast to Clavis' perfectly knotted rich blue tie. But this was their normal. Clavis, meticulously groomed, and Nokto, always looking like he just got out of bed. Which he usually had.

"Her name is Ivetta," Clavis continued. "I think she's going to be quite entertaining." The light from the two large windows behind me emphasized the mischievous sparkle in his golden eyes.

"How so?" Nokto asked, ignoring my pointed glare. At least his white shirt was clean today, but he'd neglected the top button and hadn't tucked his shirtsleeves into his dark gray pants.

"She was in Chev's library when I found her. Jumpy little thing. I suppose you gave her a fright yesterday, huh, Chev?" Clavis laughed. "And she had the audacity to shoo me away so she could get back to work!"

Nokto chuckled with amusement, crossing his arms over his light blue vest. She was brazen, daring to enter my library without my permission. And while Clavis was far less intimidating than me, he was very clearly a prince. She had no business ordering him around. More discipline would be necessary.

For the maid, and the prince.

"What about your work?" I snapped, turning to the built-in bookcase that separated the windows behind me and selecting a heavy reference textbook.

Clavis groaned dramatically. "You're no fun, Chev," he said, vacating his spot on the desk just as I dropped the large book where he'd been sitting. He sat in the chair directly in front of the desk, opening the book and pulling a stack of paperwork toward himself.

"So, what does she look like?" Nokto asked, leaning back and stretching his long legs in front of him, his white boots kicking Clavis' chair to keep him talking.

Clavis grinned. "She's a pretty little thing. Short, can't be much over five feet. Long, straight black hair, bright green eyes, slim build, with all the right curves in all the right places."

An accurate description, worded specifically to pique Nokto's interest further. He straightened in his chair, the sword belted at his side bumping the wall behind him. "Hm, I may have to pay a visit to the library," he mused.

"Try not to drool on official documents, Clown," I said dryly.

"Surely, even you noticed what an attractive little dove she is, Chev," Clavis teased.

"I leave the pointless womanizing to those with lesser ambitions."

"So, she's fair game?" he asked slyly.