Page 38 of The Beast of Ashwood Manor

He wasn’t just a lord, but a man of many talents, and I realized just how much everyone depended on him for food, shelter, and safety.

I continued to help Royce in the morning with breakfast and then Edgar outside with the animals in the afternoon. Afterward, I’d meet Gil in my room to study and eat supper. We always found ourselves by the fire, and each night, Gil would open up to me a little more.

By the time winter had come, I had been at the manor for two months. I had also become so good at reading, I decided to try a small chapter book with no pictures. Gil told me it would be good practice since he had to go hunting in the forest for the next day or two. It hadn’t bothered me before. But now, remembering he’d come back injured before, it did.

“What if you get hurt again?” I’d asked him, and he’d answered with “I’ll be fine.”

The day after he left, I fell ill for some reason. My head felt heavy, my nose was clogged, and my eyes were watery. Mary told me it was no doubt something in the air outside, but no one else seemed to have the same problem. By the second day of being sick, I laid in bed to try and sleep it off, as my mother had always told me that food and sleep was the best medicine for sickness.

In the night, Dyna came to my window, and I let her in. She laid with me, and I scratched her as she purred.

When a knock sounded on my door, I sat up. “It’s open,” I called out.

It was Mary. She came in quietly and shut the door. She carried a tray over to the bedside table and set it down. On it was a bowl of soup and a cup of milk.

“How are you feeling?” she asked.

“I’ve been better, but I’m fine. Thank you.” I smiled at her.

She placed her hand on my head. “You’re a little warm. My mother always told me warm vegetable soup is good for a sick body.”

I sat up as she handed me the bowl, and Dyna stretched out on the bed before meowing and sniffing at my meal.

“Doesn’t your owner feed you?” I asked, pushing her away.

Mary smiled and shook her head. “I’m surprised you let her in. She gets into so much outside.”

“She always comes scratching at my window, so I figured I’d be nice.” I spooned out a piece of meat and gave it to her.

“Stop that,” Mary scolded me. “I just set a bowl out for her this morning. She can go get it when I leave.” She sat on the bed at my feet and sighed as I ate. “When you’re feeling better, you should come eat in the dining room with us.”

“I feel awkward. Natalie and Eugenia give each other looks, and I know they talk about me and Gil.”

She looked down. “Well, with you and Lord Gil spending so much time together lately, I think they are holding their breath, so to speak. Just . . . waiting. All of us are, really.”

My shoulders slumped. “And yet you’re all still so distant from him. Because of his outbursts? Because he hunts in the forest? I know there’s something about him that’s different, but no one wants to tell me what.”

Mary looked at the door before meeting my eyes. “Cale, I’m only telling you this because you seem like an understanding person.” She paused and bit her lip, as if she was about to let out something shameful. “Lord Gil, he . . . well, he can change his shape. It’s part of the curse. Most people would call him a monster. It can take over his mind sometimes.”

My mouth dropped open, and my spoon clattered against the bowl. “He . . . changes?” I blinked.

Mary shook her head. “Yes. I know how it sounds, but that’s why everyone is distant with him. I want to warn you beforehand so that it doesn’t shock you the first time you see it. And you will see it. His angry outbursts come from that monster inside him. If he’s pressed enough, he’ll change into it.”

I thought hard for a moment, and when I thought back to my first night here and how Gil had fought off the murderous birds, I gasped. “Before, he took those birds down that attacked me. They were huge, and at the time, I had brushed it off, but it seemed a very inhuman thing to do. And when he grabbed me, I noticed his arms were black, almost furry. Was that . . . part of it?”

“Yes. It’s what scared Jared off. It’s why he tried to hurt him. He couldn’t look past that side of him. But don’t let it scare you.”

I looked down, my stomach suddenly feeling weird.

“I’ll let you rest, Cale,” Mary said. “Don’t let what I said scare you too much. Lord Gil is a good man. You need to see that.”

I nodded, feeling worse now than when I did before she came in here. As soon as the door shut, I set aside my bowl and laid on my side, eager to get some sleep, but all I could think about were the horrible things Gil could possibly turn into. I imagined him as a big beast with horns, and the vision shook me so hard that I jumped up, my heart racing.

Gil and I had spent so much time together lately that it felt like we were genuine friends. Kindred spirits, as my mother usually called it. Surely this newly learned thing about him wouldn’t turn me away from him.

Dyna meowed and rubbed her head against me, then she licked my hand, her tongue rough against my skin, but I let her, because I needed the comfort.

An hour or so later, when the sky was growing dark and I dozed, another knock sounded on my door. I jumped, breathing fast.

---