A Beast's Tale

Chapter 14

Her humming was conspicuously absent when I awoke. I glanced at the clock and burrowed back into the blankets. Eight fifteen. Never in my life had I woken up at this hour on my own, but I knew what woke me now. She must be in Sariel's office. I could just picture her small form seated in front of his heavy wooden desk, his elbows propped up on the surface between stacks of books, documents, and blank parchment, touching his fingertips together. He would be trying to convince her to become Belle, and, if he was smart, he would only be using words, relying on the maroon and gold tapestries behind him and the red and gold carpet beneath them, in addition to the maps and official documents, to add authority and weight to his persuasion. I considered getting out of bed to check on her, but decided against it. Sariel was a devil, but he wasn't a fool. And the choice was hers to make.

I hated this. The waiting, the worry, the fact that my mind and my emotions were at odds with each other. This wasn't like me. I had always put the good of the kingdom first, and in this instance, naming Ivetta as the next Belle would be in the kingdom's best interests. The health of her mother and her own personal preferences should be inconsequential. I knew that, and yet, inexplicably, I was prepared to maim or murder Rhodolite's most competent court minister to keep him from forcing Ivetta into a role that I knew she wouldn't want.

My parents had feared that I would dispose of them and take the throne whenever I pleased. I'd considered killing my father after the horrors of Bloodstained Rose Day, after he sent my teenage brothers to battle while he stayed at the palace with his women, but I'd decided such an action would be even more harmful to the already devastated kingdom. But, now, perhaps it was time for me to live up to that expectation, discarding the Belle Covenant for the worthless waste of time I'd always thought it to be. A commoner could never be expected to make an appropriate choice regarding the leadership of a nation, anyway. My father was a prime example of that. Maybe he could have been a good king, if he hadn't fallen in love with the Belle who chose him, but the loss of her ruined him. And if I did take the throne now, Ivetta would no longer be in danger of becoming Belle.

She really was problematic. Aside from the days immediately following Bloodstained Rose Day, I'd never seriously considered open revolt before. Such an action would undoubtedly result in civil war, leaving Rhodolite completely vulnerable to Obsidian's attack. If I really intended to go that route, I may as well write a letter to Obsidian's emperor offering him Rhodolite's people as his newest slaves and be done with it. Ivetta would avoid becoming Belle just to become a slave.

I sighed and rolled over, burying my face in my pillow. This was all nonsense. I would lie here, and wait for Ivetta to return, and if she had agreed to become Belle, then there was nothing more to it. If she had declined, Sariel would begin the search for another candidate. That was in Rhodolite's best interests. That would allow the people, including Ivetta, to remain free. She could not take priority over the kingdom, regardless of my level of attraction to her.

She arrived about fifteen minutes later, opening and closing the door with barely a sound. If I'd been asleep, there was no way she would have awoken me. But I'd been lying in wait, counting the minutes until her arrival. She came sooner than I'd expected. I wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad sign.

"You're late," I mumbled, pulling down the covers just enough to see her expression. She didn't appear to be in distress, but she was surprised to see me awake.

"My apologies, your highness. I didn't mean to wake you."

I pushed the comforter back and stretched. "And how is Four-Eyes this morning?"

She'd already regained her composure and was heading to the window to open the drapes. "This was my first time seeing him, so I can't say for sure, but he seemed well enough, your highness," she replied, not bothering to ask me how I knew.