Page 13 of Beautiful Beast

Little claws pricked my leg as he climbed, nestling himself near my hip. The gown was big enough he wouldn’t be noticed beneath it, but given who I was marrying, I wasn’t sure I could keep him there.

But the idea of Andaros’s horrified face when he found a dragon beneath my skirts delighted me so much that I smiled for the first real time since I’d woken.

“There you are,” Helena said softly when she’d finished with me.

The ladies who chattered around me gave me compliments that I accepted, and Helena was an excellent lady’s maid. I did indeed look beautiful. The one piece of armor she could give me. Because it was almost time.

Oh, stars.

She met my eyes in the mirror and saw my panic. “Thank you for your attendance, ladies. Her Highness needs a moment before she is escorted to the ceremony. Please make your way there.”

Thankfully they didn’t question her order. It was tradition for the ladies to escort the bride, but this was no ordinary wedding, and they knew it.

As soon as they were gone, Helena turned to me. “I know he won’t let you keep it, but I still had them sew in the panel for you.”

Shock ran through me briefly. I felt, and it was there. A division in my dress down to the bare skin of my thigh.

“Will he harm you for wearing it?”

“I do not care. I shall take the risk.”

The harness was already in her hands, and she was the one to dive beneath the unwieldy skirt to attach it to my leg, dagger in tow.

“You have a stowaway, my lady.”

“I know. But I can’t bear to make him leave.” The little creature clinging to my side gave me a steadiness I didn’t expect. It would be hard to conceal him, but at least until I left the city, I would hide him and keep him close.

She stood, brushing away flyaway hairs from her adventure beneath my gown. “I hope you know that I’m here for whatever you need. No matter what you choose to do. Even if it means using that dagger to plunge it into his heart.”

“And if I choose to plunge it into mine?”

Helena’s smile faltered. “I pray to the Fallen you will not find it necessary, and that the Prince is not as barbaric as the tales of him. I pray that both of us will be able to find some happiness in Craisos, and that we might find ways to honor those who came before us.”

Our grandmothers.

“I hope that too.” I blinked back the tears, not wanting to ruin her work.

“There is one more thing I must give you.” She crossed to the armoire and pulled out a drawer. Lifted the bottom of it. A hidden compartment I’d never known was there.

“You’ve been keeping secrets?”

“I was sworn on my very soul to keep this until the day you wed. And I fulfill my duty by giving it to you now.”

A small pouch, not unlike the one she’d sewn for Varí, was in her hand. Taking mine in hers, she emptied it into my palm. A simple silver chain ended in a locket of a dark, shining material. Oval and smooth, it opened and closed, though there was nothing inside it. Indeed, it looked a little battered, with small chips and scratches. It felt somewhere between metal and stone. Black and glossy, though opaque. Beautiful in its own way, but it was no great beauty.

“Why keep it until now?”

“I was told it kept the women of your line safe, and it was only to be passed on now. A secret, so no one might have a chance to do anything else with it.”

I frowned. Did that mean there was something more to it? If my grandmother had wanted me to have it, then I would never take it off. But I also didn’t want to draw attention to it. “It doesn’t match.”

“Here.” Helena wound the chain around my arm, hiding the necklace and stone beneath the curving sleeve of my dress.

“Thank you.”

A sharp rap on the door to my chambers had us both looking. It was time.

I barely remembered the ladies bringing in flowers along with my dress, but Helena handed me the bouquet of them. Mostly white, with speckles of blue.

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