Page 155 of Beast and Remedy
Marian yawns. “Well, if a king is commanding me to get my rest, I guess I better do what he says.”
Christine and Jules snicker. “Yes, we all need our beauty sleep.”
They stroll toward their room as Marcel grins and bows to Beau before sprinting off to his partners.
Leo extends his hand to Marian, and she takes it, beaming back at me. “Good night, sis.”
I hug myself as my loved ones each go to their rooms, my heart heavy with gratitude for the family and friends the Makers blessed me with.
Beau waves to his brother as he closes his door. And when we are finally alone in the quiet hall, Beau offers me his elbow.
Clinging to him is natural and comfortable, and I sigh blissfully at connecting more of myself to him. “Thank you foreverything, B.”
His lips meet my brow. “Anything for you, Rosebud.”
We walk to my bedchamber, and I worry he might sleep in his own bed tonight. As he reaches for the door latch, I stop and ask, “Can… can we talk?”
34
Against the Wall
His golden irises flick to me, his features furrowing. “Is everything alright?”
I glance down the corridor. “It’s not something I wish to discuss so close to others.”
Beau concedes before following me into my room and locking the door. He braces himself against it, slumping.
Panic surges in my chest. “Areyoualright?”
He straightens and adjusts his tunic before facing me. “It’s not very reassuring when you say you want to talk and I have no idea what it’s about.” He scratches his jaw, releasing a long breath. “I worry I might have overstepped earlier in some way.”
“Oh,” I sigh, before hurrying and taking his hand. “No, no, it is nothing like that.” I squeeze him twice. “I wanted to tell you whatactuallyhappened at dinner.”
His eyes twinkle with curiosity. “What do you mean? I thought—”
“I didn’t fully explain what happened with Sybille.”
“Why?”
I bite my bottom lip. If I told everyone earlier, maybe Marian wouldn’t have been so down. But…
I shake away the thoughts before answering. “Because I didn’t want to give anyone any false hope, and I didn’t want to break Sybille’s trust so soon.” I drop my head. “And I didn’t really get any answers, anyways.”
Beau grabs my chin, drawing my gaze back to his. “But did you get confirmation she was the seer?”
“Maybe? I mean, she didn’t finish her sentence before her mother pulled her away from the conversation but—”
“Deities,” he breathes, almost like he didn’t believe in his own assumption.
“She was very cautious and was asking my views on the secrecy of it all. And then I told her I was a shifter.”
He blanches. “You told her aboutyourmagic?”
I shrug. “It felt like I needed to. Given the secrecy all the kingdoms have had for generations, I needed to show you and Queen Tove weren’t the only ones open about your abilities.”
“How did she take it?”
“She was stunned,” I reply. “But like I said, I didn’t get much more because her mother interjected. I’m hoping maybe tomorrow morning before we go, I can try and talk to her again.”
