Page 67 of Beast and Remedy
The quiet hangs taut in the air, and Beau’s full attention rests on me even as I stare at the ground. But footsteps move, distressing me, and when I look up, his golden irises hold mine as he extends a single red rose.
“Ready to visit your favorite place, Rosebud?”
Autumn, The Makers Year 1012
Dear Beau,
Since rereading your letter, and talking to Mama about it, she and I both agree it is poetic. While I do think it is excessive, I guess you may still call me that if you so wish.
From,
Vi
P.S. If my nickname has rose in it, does that mean you think I’m beautiful too?
15
Coming Here Was a Risk
Tiled floors line the archive and library. The marble design of brown, beige, and gold blend with the wooden beams lining the center of the room, each board connecting to an aisle for sections of floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. The second story follows the same pattern of organization, tying into the glass dome above, my favorite part of it all.
A lightness I haven’t felt in recent months lifts my feet through each step I take, my fingers twitching with the temptation of reading my life away.
But I’m keenly aware of Beau’s presence and the tension brewing since I didn’t take his hand, nor the rose he offered me as he pats an armchair and settles in it.
Silently, I press my lips together, dipping my chin and letting my hair conceal my face as I sit across from him.
Relief and hope are what I should be feeling with our reunion, but shame and guilt fuel my nerves, gnawing and churning in my gut. And my unease is a clear reminder to keep him away because, no matter how enticing or alluring he is, Ican’thave him.
If I do—if I let him in again only to lose him once more... I don’t know if I will make it out whole.
He rules over Torgem, and I will eventually take Papa’s place in ruling Belmur.
We wouldn’t be allowed the luxury of merging our kingdoms. That occurrence was a rarity already taken by Axidoria and Palaena with an arranged marriage. And the joining of those two was a nightmare, one the other monarchs have expressed not revisiting again.
Even more of a reason to keep us apart.
“Are you ever going to allow me more than a few seconds to admire those emerald eyes?” Beau asks.
I bristle, hating that I’m lingering on our unresolved past rather than prioritizing my sister—my kingdom.
I allow air to fill my lungs before I expel my drawn-out breath and twist to the man I love. The man I can never have.
He breaks into a wide grin, his teeth gleaming. “Better. Now, care to tell me what you’re thinking about?”
Letum damn that smile.
“It’s not important, Your Majesty.”
His smile falters. “You don’t have to call me—”
“Yes, I do.”
Regardless of how much I love him, I have to put my feelings aside. I have to.
For Marian. For my kingdom. Foreveryone.
“Coming here was a risk, a bigger risk than I would ever dare to let on to my sister,” I admit, needing him to know I care about him, but my hands are tied. “But we are here, and you are the only other person with more expertise and knowledge beyond the average healer. Your magic and my own knowledge could bring us a cure quicker, but—”
