Page 70 of Beast and Remedy
As we left Beau’s advisors, and each one hugged and wished us safe travels, the weight of my burden began to feel manageable.
With help coming from the other kingdoms,andfrom my friends, hope stirred in my chest. All I can do now is pray Jean and Pierre, too, will be on board with our plans.
“Think they’ll be alright on their own in Vilbirn?” Marian asks as we reach the stables near the back entrance of our home in the early twilight of the following day.
We left our friends at one of the taverns in town, still open for travelers with my father’s permission, trusting them to hide out and wait for us to speak with Jean and Pierre.
It’s going to be hard to convince them to let Beau and the others into the castle. And it’ll be even harder to convince them not to tell Papa what we are up to. But we need all the help we can get.
Beau is Marian’s only hope. Beau ismyonly hope…
I shake away the thought, needing to keep my distance. My focushasto be on finding a remedy.
“As long as Leo doesn’t try to sleep with the entire town, and they don’t reveal who they are,” I quip.
Marian snorts as I dismount my horse. Still worried about her, I move to assist as she swings her leg over the saddle, and the small shift of her balance has me jolting forward.
She playfully pushes me away, helping herself down and dusting off her cloak. “I’m fine. No need to be so jumpy.”
I press my lips together. “Right. Sorry.”
I’ve been monitoring her carefully, noting anything that could be a potential symptom.
When Beau healed her before we left, she didn’t remember what was revealed at dinner. And when we told her, she handled it in stride, her pride and belief in me shining despite exhaustion taking over her features.
She grimaces. “Are you alright, Vi?”
Marian knew something else was wrong during our travels, and she tried to ask me when we had a moment to ourselves. But I spun a half-truth, avoiding anything revolving around Beau.
Mentioning him meant acknowledging my feelings. And the feelings I have arenotgood right now.
I nod before glancing toward where we left our friends, debating whether we should have had Beau come with us to use his powers on her once more for good measure.
Marian takes my hand and squeezes it twice. “It’s going to be okay. We are going to be okay.”
I inhale a sharp breath, tension coiling in my chest. “Let’s get this over with. I don’t want Jean and Pierre to think anything is amiss.” I squeeze her hand back for moral support.
She loops her arm through mine. “It already is amiss.”
I flinch at her morbid reminder, bloodied faces and lifeless eyes flashing in my mind as we drop off our horses and seek out Jean and Pierre.
The images terrorize me as we drift past the skeleton staff of mostly healers and guards. And the pit in my stomach deepens as groans of exhaustion and pain whisper in the halls.
My grip turns into steel, my restraint fraying and magic stirring from this incessant need to help them.
When we make it up a set of stairs, Marian and I catch our breaths, hers more winded than mine. She gives me the go-ahead, and we press on, knocking on the second door down the corridor.
It creaks against its metal hinges as Jean fills the doorframe. “Princesses.”
He pulls us into an embrace, and I welcome it.
Pierre watches us, his arms braced against the table. His tense body relaxes, and his nose wrinkles through the tight smile he offers.
Jean breaks away, ushering us in. He reunites with his husband on one end of the desk as Marian settles in one of the two burgundy seats.
But I remain standing, clutching onto the chair for support as my nerves run rampant.
“Were your travels safe?” Pierre asks, his voice raspy as he runs a hand through his disheveled hair.
