Page 35 of Beast and Remedy
“We are managing as best as we can,” I start. “I must extend my gratitude again for your and King Jerrick’s assistancethrough everything Belmur is facing. The shelter you are offering along with corresponding and working with me and your healers will help tremendously.”
“It’s an honor to help those who have helped me,” Tove says as we enter the royal libraries.
My eyes dart everywhere when we pass the threshold, and I absorb it with amazement and awe.
I scan the rows of shelves lined with books, ledgers, and parchments holding ancient texts and histories of Palaena and Draymenk. Curiosity sends my mind spinning, attempting to predict what documents are sacred or secret and how many have not been shared with anyone beyond these castle walls.
Tove releases a small laugh. “I knew you’d love it here.”
“H-How?”
“Your father gushes about you, and I guessed your knowledge of healing stemmed from a love of reading and learning.”
I cover my heated cheeks, her observation kind and a compliment I don’t know how to respond to.
Tove pats my wrist. “Plus, my husband is a reader, so I understand the need and desire to read the next new thing.” She gestures to a seating area on the far side hosting a small square wooden table stacked with books.
I follow her lead, waiting for her to pick her spot before joining.
Tove sighs and leans back in her chair, closing her eyes and holding her stomach. Her relaxed state reminds me of a time I saw her as a bear.
A few days prior to Queen Tove and King Jerrick’s wedding celebration, I needed to shift and my bear form ventured deep into Thresborn Forest. I stumbled on their camp, and they were nestled close to the lingering embers of their fire.
Something sweet lured me there.
Hints of sugar, strong and familiar, enough to have my stomach missing it. Craving it.
The memory blurs to their startled horse and a dagger cutting through my fur, lunging after her and King Jerrick, and the two of them jumping off a cliff.
She saw my injured bicep a few days later during the celebration, and Sweet Makers, if she ever found out the bear was me? She would probably freeze me to death.
Or King Jerrick would end me with whatever powers he has.
“Ah, finally in a room without so much noise,” she breathes, pulling me from my thoughts. Her ice-blue irises sparkle as they meet mine. “Can I be frank with you?”
I ponder what she could mean, my anxiety telling me she knows I attacked her and her husband.
Maybe her snow magic somehow has a way of reading my mind. Or maybe her husband can read my mind.
Stop thinking then, Vi!
I try to remain calm. “Of course.”
“I will admit, I was hesitant to bring this up around your father and sister, given its context, so I hoped discussing it privately will shed some light.”
Trepidation arches my spine.
“About what?”
She reaches forward, moving a stack of books before she lifts an unrolled parchment. “This is a letter I received from the King of Torgem. Care to explain how a message is addressed to me, yet upon opening it, I see it is addressed to you?”
My heart stops.
He… he wrote back?
My mind stutters to process the first letter between us inyears, finally here. A piece of my wavy tresses fall forward, and I curve inward, wanting to hide the hope blooming in my heart.
Tove waits patiently, and I straighten, adjusting my features before she notices. “I-I wrote to them about the animal attacks.”
