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With exquisite tenderness, he lays me down on the floor and then the time for tenderness is gone. “I will not break,” I murmur against the hard line of his jaw.
“No.” He grins. “But I might.” And then he is on top of me, covering me, warming me, loving me, and I give myself over to the magic that only he is able to work upon my body.
* * *
When we have taken our pleasure, we lie together with my arm draped over his chest, feeling the steady—if somewhat rapid—thudding of his heart against my ribs. His hand runs lazily through my hair, stopping to rub strands of it between his fingers. He shifts so that he can look down at me. “Do you think that we will ever manage to do this in a bed?”
“A bed,” I scoff. “Where is the fun in that?” But, oh, how I long for such simple meetings. Not wishing to think of that right now, I let the questions that have simmered inside me for weeks come tumbling out. “How did things go at the convent?”
He shifts under me, making himself comfortable. “Annith was not as surprised to see us as you might think.”
“What do you mean?” I murmur, kissing the rough misshapen shell of his ear, wondering if anyone has ever done that.
He flinches and reaches up to rub it, so I’m guessing not. “She said Sister Vereda had seen us coming.”
“So the old woman is still alive.”
“And thriving, according to Annith. Balthazaar’s arrival has breathed new life into her.”
Is it just my imagination, or does he hesitate ever so slightly over that name? “And Balthazaar?” He is not Mortain any longer, but it is still hard to separate the two.
He shrugs, making it feel as if the earth beneath us is moving. “Ah, he seems to be well. I think he’s still adjusting to the wonders of being human.”
“And the girls?”
Beast puts his free arm around me, pulling me closer. “They will do fine there.” His voice is filled with absolute surety, but the vise of my worry will not let go.
“What makes you say that?”
“Because Annith and the others have had years of experience taking in frightened, wounded girls. Because all the nuns were kind and welcoming. Sister . . . the older, fussy one who loves clothes?”
“Beatriz. That is Sister Beatriz.”
“She took Louise under her wing immediately, petting and coddling her like a small dog. Louise enjoyed it for a grand total of one day before whispering to Annith that she really didn’t want to spend her entire day being fitted for new gowns.”
I laugh with relief and joy that Louise felt comfortable enough to state her desires so plainly. “And what of Charlotte?”
“She took longer to warm up to any of them. Insisted on sleeping outside with the Arduinnites for the first two nights. But Sister Thomine arranged with Aeva to have her come watch as they were training in the yard, and that got her attention. They told her if she trained with them, she would be allowed into the armory to see the weapons. After that, she moved into the dormitory bed next to her sister.”
“Does Louise partake in the training?”
“No, she is enamored of the horses and has attached herself to Sister Widona.”
My mind reels back through time, to my own arrival at the convent. I arrived damaged and broken, nearly feral with grief and anger. “Widona and Thomine were the ones who calmed me when I first showed up on their doorstep. Louise and Charlotte will be naught but a breeze for them after what I put them through.”
He gently takes my hand, covering it with his blunt, warm fingers. “I have met them, Sybella, and I know they would take issue with the suggestion that you had put them through anything. Indeed, I think they would say instead ‘after what you had suffered.’”
His words are meant to comfort me and challenge the way I see myself. They succeed at both. “Did Balthazaar seem to mind them being there?”
“No.” Beast grins. “Especially once he was reassured they were not yet more of his daughters.”
I snort. “Won’t Annith love that—never knowing if her consort’s unnumbered children will be showing up on her door.”
“She seems to take everything in stride.”
“I’m sure she does,” I murmur, remembering how comfortable she’s always been at the convent. How strong she’s always been in her faith. How she was the one who oversaw the younger girls’ happiness, ever since I’d first arrived.
I allow the knowledge that my sisters are safe to soak in. Feel it ease the gnawing at my heart that I have endured for months. “Is that what took you so long? Waiting to get the girls settled?”
“No.” The word is almost gruff, and something inside him shifts. “There is more to the story, I’m afraid. None of it good.”
I pull back to better see his face, but it is mostly hidden by shadow. “What is it?”
“Rohan is gearing up for something.”
“What do you mean? I thought that was the entire point of overriding the queen’s counsel and installing the king’s man as governor of Brittany?”
“One would think, but we could not get through to Rennes. All the roads to and from the city were patrolled by Rohan’s men. We sent scouts and learned that everyone had to check in with the city watch and state their business. We could not take the risk. Not with my face being so recognizable. It also seemed too great a risk to try to contact Ismae or Duval if Rohan had the entire city under that close a watch. We left the next morning for the convent.”
Beneath me, his heartbeat shifts, increasing ever so slightly. “Our path to the convent took us through Rohan’s lands, which slowed us down considerably, as we did not wish to be seen. But worse than that was that every one of his strongholds was fully garrisoned, with additional soldiers encamped outside the keeps. We had the devil’s own time evading them without being seen. Fortunately, we had the Arduinnites’ help in that.”
He squints down at me. “Is it possible that word of our absence reached the king and he sent word to Rohan to intercept us?”
“No. The king did send a search party the second day you’d been gone, but he was looking for Fremin’s henchmen, not you.”
“Did they find them?”
I meet Beast’s steady gaze. “No.”
He nods. “Good.”
“And what of your return trip?” I ask. “Did you try to contact Ismae or Duval then?”
“I had hoped to, but in the few days I was at the convent, even more troops had amassed. I decided it was more important to report this situation to the queen rather than pursue Duval.”
“And here you are.”
He pauses. “And here I am. Lingering with you when I should be making my report.” He sits up and begins to pull on his shirt.
“You couldn’t have very well stormed into the coronation ball and made your announcement. It would not have been well received. Besides,” I add softly, “things have not gotten smoother while you were gone.”
He sighs. “I would have been surprised if they did.”
There is so very much to tell him that I hardly know where to begin. “I suppose there is a piece of good news,” I say lightly. “I found the missing initiate.” And then I tell him of Genevieve, trying to smooth over some of the rougher edges of her story.
Beast swears. “Are you certain she is not working for France?”
“I was not at first,” I admit, “but now I am certain.” I sigh deeply, then tell him of Fremin coming to my room, killing him, and how Genevieve took the blame.
He is quiet a long moment. “You have been busy while I was gone,” he says lightly, even as he pulls me closer, as if he would protect me from all the ills the world has to offer.
“As have you,” I remind him. “There is more. Your father is here.”
His entire body grows so still it is as if he has been turned to stone. “I have no father.”
“Your sire, then. You know who I mean, Beast.”
He pulls away from me to lie down on his back. The chill I feel has nothing
to do with the removal of his body heat. “Captain Dunois spoke true. The resemblance between the two of you will be unmistakable if you are in the same room together. People are sure to notice and comment. I have already warned the queen.”
He turns his head to me, a wounded look in his eye. Needing to touch him, I place my hand on his cheek. “We cannot let her go stumbling into quagmires if we can help it, and she thought nothing less of you for it.”
