A Beast's Tale

Chapter 30

Evening came far too quickly, and I made my way to the ballroom, where the rest of my brothers were already gathered. Guests were filtering in, but none of the foreign princes had arrived yet.

"She'll be greeting them all and showing them to their rooms now," Leon said quietly, coming to my side.

I nodded.

"Clavis still keeping an eye on our friend?"

"Yes, and Nokto's on his assignment as well," I confirmed.

"Good. Yves looks like he's actually enjoying himself. With any luck, he won't be baking tonight."

Leon's attempt to lighten the mood did nothing to assuage my dread. Nothing would do that until this week was over and the foreign princes were gone.

Silvio was the first of the foreign princes to arrive, and, as usual, he made quite an entrance. His blue eyes bore their usual haughty glare, and he tossed his blue-dyed hair disdainfully as the guards announced him. His boots were turquoise with silver toes and designs, ending about two-thirds up his calves. The vest and pants he wore were black, his white shirt had a low-cut neck with prominent ruffles falling over his chest, and his sleeves were full and poofy until they came to a tight cuff. His cloak was multiple shades of blue, matching his hair - lighter on the inside, darker on the outside, with some blending of shades here or there, rimmed with a white and black spotted ruff of fur about the neck. And, of course, he was covered in his trademark copious jewelry - necklaces, rings; even his sword belt glittered. Every move he made was accompanied by clinking and jangling of metal.

Pretentious twit.

Leon and I greeted him cordially as the faction leaders and representatives of the rest of our brothers.

"I was expecting someone important to greet me when I arrived, not some little maid," he snapped.

And as rude as ever.

"Is your room to your liking?" Leon asked, ignoring Silvio's snide remark. Leon's smile did not quite reach his eyes.

Silvio shrugged. "It'll do. Whose idea was it to leave a gift?" He looked from Leon to me and smirked. "Surely not one of you two."

I expected nothing less from him, but his dismissal of Ivetta's efforts irritated me.

"That little maid," I said coolly.

"Really? Huh. That's a surprise. Wouldn't have thought somebody like her would know a thing about style," he said condescendingly.

"Well, you can thank her later," Leon said smoothly. "How about something to drink?"

I didn't follow them to the bar. Silvio was a brat, but I couldn't let him get under my skin. The night had only just begun.

A few minutes later, the ballroom doors opened again. A single glance at the nervous guards told me who had arrived before they announced his name. Gilbert. He had black hair and a single blood red eye visible, with an eyepatch covering his left eye. Like Leon, he was dressed from head to toe in black. His boots were completely unadorned and ended just below the knee, and his pants were similarly plain. He wore an odd coat, the right coattail hanging down to the knee while the left cut off at the thigh. It was edged in gold and bore gold tassels and copious military medals over the chest. His shirt was gray, and his tie was black, with a gold tie pin at the throat. He wore black gloves, similar to mine, and his long black cloak was edged in silver with a glossy black fur ruff at the neck. The black walking cane he bore in lieu of a sword was decorated with ornate gold markings.

And he was kissing Ivetta's hand.

My blood was already boiling. I'd only been joking about leaving my sword in my room, but I was already regretting my decision to keep it with me.