The Rebel Prince (The Season Series #3)

Chapter 24 - Part 2

Beatriz watched her brother leave, still leaning back in her chair. As the door closed behind him, the scarred corner of her lips lifted when her eyes found mine.

"That was a valiant effort, idiota. Valiant but fruitless," she said, pointing to the chair opposite her. "Sit."

"You didn't say please," I replied, the words flying from my lips before I could stop them. Her eyes lifted from where she'd been unrolling a bandage, locking with mine.

"Must I remind you what happens when you don't listen to me?" she asked, challenge lurking in her brown gaze.

"Will you tackle me to the ground again?" I asked.

A smile flitted across her face, predatory and dangerous as she assessed me. Even as memories of the battlefield, of the certainty that she'd been about to kill me, surged forth in my mind, I found myself unable to look away. Even though she was a murderer, one who could likely kill me with her bare hands, I was unable to keep from returning her smirk. Even despite all the anger that had simmered within me when I rode away from the battlefield, I couldn't stop myself from verbally sparring with her.

She was nothing like anyone I'd ever met before. Just when I thought that I'd figured her out, that I'd pegged her as a dangerous weapon of her brother's, obedient to a fault like a loyal guard dog, she surprised me. Rather than leap to her feet and draw a weapon at my mention of her brother's mysterious wife, she'd fixed me with an impressed look. Rather than threaten me when I attempted to meddle with the crown prince's emotions, she'd quietly helped tamp down his anger. Even though mere hours before, she'd been angry enough with me that I'd been convinced she was about to kill me, she was now about to tend to my damaged ear, without any grumble of complaint.

Distracted as I was by her brown-eyed gaze, I didn't dare think about why I'd felt the foolish urge to ride to her aid on that battlefield, or the way it played into my fascination with her....

A pair of heavy, booted feet tromped by in the hall outside, shattering whatever spell had fallen over us. Beatriz's smile vanished as quickly as it had come, her attention dropping to the healing instruments before her.

I didn't miss the way she turned her head, tilting the scarred part away from me.

I slid into the chair opposite her when she opened her mouth to speak again, snapping it closed when she noticed my movement. I couldn't keep the grin from my face as I wondered whether she had been about to say please. Turning away from me, she rose to wash her hands in the washbasin.

"Do your worst," I said when she turned back, the grin still on my face. She rolled her eyes, seizing the mortar and dragging her chair over so she could sit beside me. I tried not to wince as she inspected my ear, the headache growing as she cleaned it.

I distracted myself by studying her out of the corner of my eye. This close, I could see the similarities she shared with her sisters. She was no beauty, like Ana-Cristina, but she shared her high cheekbones and almond-shaped eyes. Her nose wasn't straight, but given what I now knew of her, I guessed that it been broken and re-set after a fight. Were it not for her crooked nose and the scars criss-crossing the other half of her face, she could have rivalled Dulciana's looks.

As the thought crossed my mind, I couldn't help but wonder whether her older sister had played any role in what had caused her scars.

"What?" Beatriz demanded finally, when I kept looking at her.

"I'm sorry, am I distracting you?" I asked, once again unable to keep the smirk from my face.

In response, she loosed an annoyed sigh, scooping a wad of crushed herbs and what smelled like vinegar from the mortar, pressing it to my ear. It stung like a sizzling fire poker and I hissed in pain, pulling away from her. Her other hand reached out to seize my chin, pulling me back towards her more gently that I'd expected.

It had been a long while indeed since someone had touched my face like that.

"If you want to keep your ear, don't move," she said, pressing more of the stinging mixture into the wound. The pain seared away the thoughts of how her fingers felt against my cheek.

I ground my teeth as she worked, the headache slowly abating as whatever was in the poultice began to take effect. Finally, she reached for one of the bandages.

"Hold this," she said, taking my hand and pressing it against my ear to hold the bandage in place over my injury. Now that the pain had ebbed, I found it hard not to think about the feel of her fingers over mine. Calloused, but gentle. A bizarre mix, especially when all the female hands I'd encountered had always been soft and dainty - hands that had likely never mashed together a poultice or sewn up a battle wound.

Beatriz didn't seem to notice when I cleared my throat to chase away such thoughts, too focused on winding the bandage around my head to keep the poultice in place against my ear.

"Where did you learn all of this?" I asked, when she'd tied off the bandage and risen to wash her hands. She glanced at me in the reflection of the mirror above the washbasin.

"You ask too many questions," she said, shaking her head.

"I'll wager that it wasn't at a convent," I continued. She snorted a laugh, but offered no further reply. Instead, she stooped to rifle through one of the saddlebags beside the table, withdrawing another familiar vial.

"Take this with your dinner and make sure you sleep on your good ear," she said, handing it to me, "We have a long way to go tomorrow."

I spun the vial between my fingers, watching her. When it was clear that I wasn't about to leave, as she no doubt expected, she folded her arms.

"What?" she demanded again. Again, she turned the scarred side her face ever so slightly away from me.

"One day, you're going to answer my questions," I said, pointing the vial at her as I lounged back in the chair. "Why not make it today, to save yourself from the efforts you know I'll make to get my answers?"

"If you think you're the first meddlesome prince I've dealt with, you're not as clever as everyone says you are," she replied.

"So they say I'm clever?" I grinned, quirking an interested eyebrow. Beatriz rolled her eyes, crossing to the door and opening it. She held my gaze, waiting for me to rise, but this time there was nothing of what had passed between us before. Instead, fatigue reigned. I wasn't going to earn any answers from her today.

With a sigh, I rose, still spinning the vial between my fingers. I paused in the doorway, still holding her gaze.

"Thank you for saving my ear," I said, winking before I could stop myself.

She arched an unimpressed eyebrow, closing the door in my face.

**A/N Dec 23 2017

Merry Christmas readers!!! I'm hoping you all enjoy the spirit of the season, surrounded by loved ones. I know I'm a few days early, but (as you've likely guessed because of my delays in updating), I'm going to be offline for the next little while. 

My wedding is in less than two weeks now, so I'll try my hardest to update at least once before the New Year, but that's all depending on whether the last minute details overwhelm me or not. If you don't hear from me until 2018, I'm wishing you all a very Happy New Year. May 2018 bring you all the smiles and happiness that you all bring me every day.  I am so thankful for each and every one of you and my New Year's resolution is to try to be better about replying to messages and comments so you know how much I appreciate them! 

Wishing you love, health, and happiness,

Kate