A Dark and Deadly Beauty

The Ox at the Table

Of course, there were arguments. How many guards Lucien could spare? What palace staff would travel with the royal couple? How many war-gifted would go?

Electra wanted to bring five of her men- a tracker, an archer, and three combat skilled fairies, herself included. They would dress in plain clothes and present themselves as members of the royal staff. They would serve as spies and scouts, all the while brushing horses and laundering soiled nappies. Vengeful, lethal warriors, hidden in plain sight.

When Electra had offered to go, Emilia looked relieved, clearly worried despite her bluster. Faren’s shoulders relaxed ever so slightly. Extra eyes, extra blades… hopefully would keep their family safe.

But, the king had asked, who would run the guild in her absence?

“I have several senior guild members that can hold down the fort while I’m gone, my King. Part of warfare training is planning for every contingency. In battle, I could go missing, be badly injured, or even die. I’ve had to train my folk to know how to handle things.”

That seemed to be the end of that discussion.

Beck would go, of course. Along with Luci, whose job would be to care for the twins while Faren and Emilia met with the common folk.

There would be a dozen guards, a cook, and a healer. All told, a small party compared to the royal retinues of years past, but it would still take skill and planning to make certain every member of the tour returned home in one piece.

The King had dismissed them all to go find breakfast and get some rest.

Beck ran his hand gently down the length of Electra’s back, a silent farewell to the woman he had sworn to take to his bed. She turned her head and gave him a tired grin, the flash of white teeth and glimmer of acknowledgment in her eyes setting his stomach on edge, before she stood and wove her staggering way to the door, off to find the wagon that would carry her to the Sanctuary where her wounded brother waited.

The others didn’t seem to notice his small gesture, their brief exchange. Except for Faren, whose sharp eyes caught his valet’s tenderness. As Beck stood, Faren shot him a quizzical look. “Lady Electra and you?” the Dark Prince seemed to say with his gaze and lifted brow.

All Beck could do was shrug his shoulders and share a wolfish grin with his friend. Faren would pepper him with questions later, he knew. But for now they needed to herd the women to their suite and get everyone something to eat.

Someone must have tipped off the kitchen, because when they walked through the door of the suite, they were greeted by four heaping bowls of warm rye porridge surrounded by little clay pots of milk and molasses, a heaping platter of dried apricots, and cups of fragrant chamomile tea leaves beside a kettle of piping hot water.

They fell on the food like a pack of wolves, their backsides barely in their seats before they all started pouring milk in tea and molasses in porridge. Beck emptied his tea cup in three gulps before wiping his mouth on the back of his sleeve. He splashed milk into his bowl, just enough to cool it down,and drizzled a heavy spoonful of the pitch-dark syrup over the thick cereal before shoveling bite after bite into his mouth, barely breathing between swallows.

It wasn’t until he was scooping the final spoonful from his bowl that he looked up and saw Luci and Emilia staring across the table with wide eyes that he realized he had inhaled his entire meal in the time it had taken his friends to manage a few mouthfuls of their own.

Faren had grown up beside Beck, and his eating habits never seemed to bother the Prince. Despite both being raised under the watchful eye of the late Queen Grace, Faren had developed a natural talent for table manners while Beck… had not. Perhaps what Electra had said teasingly last night held some truth. Maybe he did eat like an ox.

As the others continued to eat, Beck’s gaze settled, as it so often did in moments of quiet, on the twins resting on a thick woolen mat. Lying on their bellies, side by side, they were surrounded by toys- brightly painted blocks, a shiny metal rattle, and the soft rag dolls Electra had gifted them.

Kyrin was content to touch felted fabric beneath his fingers, mesmerized by the softness he felt and gurgling contentedly at his exploration. His head, still a bit heavy for his neck, wobbled just a bit and eventually the little Prince needed to rest his cheek on the ground. Only for a moment though, before a wooden hoop tied with a sunburst of dangling ribbon caught his attention and he was up once again grasping for the toy.

Kaitrin had batted all of her toys away, and was kicking her chubby legs angrily up and down, her face screwed into a pouty frown. She reminded Beck of a wee frog swimming on the surface of a pond, arms and legs splayed as if the air beneath her limbs would hold her up. Emilia had once said that Kaitrin had been ready to take off running the moment she came from the womb, and looking at her now- so eager to be anywhere except where she was- Beck could see Emilia had been dead right.

That girl was going to crawl soon, Beck thought with a wash of pride at the plucky little babe. And then he panicked, realizing what it would mean to have babies that could move of their own accord around the suite. No corner would be safe, every speck of dirt on the floor would be shoved into their mouths. If Beck had to guess, Faren would turn into a whirlwind of cleanliness and order to prevent his children from getting hurt, and Emilia would weep that her babies were getting so big so quickly.

That would be a rough few days.

The clinking of spoons in emptied bowls brought his attention back to the adults.

Slumped on the settees, Faren and Emilia looked like a pair of cats, plump and sated from a stolen jug of fresh cream. Happy to be full, grateful to be alive. But Luci, her flowing crown of flowering vines hung limply beside her face and something uneasy flickered in her usually bright eyes.

“Luci,” Beck said. “What’s the matter?”

Both Faren and Emilia lurched forward in their seats, concerned.

“I’m sorry. I’m quite worried and it’s hard not to let it show right now.”

“I know what happened last night is alarming,” Faren soothed his wife’s loyal handmaid, “But I swear, Luci, you are safe.”

“Oh, no! I know I’m quite safe here, though I thank you for the assurances.”

Emilia put a tender hand on Luci’s shoulder. “Then, what’s troubling you? You can tell me anything.”

“I didn’t want to burden you, you have so much on your shoulders right now. But, my parents…”

Emilia’s free hand flew to cover her mouth, hovering there a moment as Luci’s meaning sunk in. “Your parents were at the feast last night. Of course. And you have been so busy taking care of us, you haven’t even had a moment to check and see if they are alright.”

“I’m your maid. You are my priority, your family is my priority.”

“I couldn’t have made it through last night without the knowledge that you were here protecting my babies, Luci. You have gone above and beyond the call of your station. But, you’re not merely a maid. You are my friend. And the well-being of your mother and father matters as much to me as my family’s well-being matters to you.”

Emilia turned her eyes to her husband, looking for an echo of support.

“Luci,” Faren stood, “Beck and I have the children well in hand. Go, check on your parents. Take a basket to the kitchen and fill it with food. Have lunch with them, and don’t come back until your mind is at ease.”

Luci’s smile could have shamed the brightest star. She wanted no time and dashed out of the room.

Emilia laid an arm across her full stomach and let out a groan. “What I need now is a long nap. But I can smell the reek of smoke and cinder in my hair and on my skin. I’m going to need a bath before I can sleep. Beck, I know you’re exhausted as well and I’m sorry to be a bother, but would you mind terribly-”

But Beck was already on his feet and moving to the bath chamber, the half-empty kettle of still hot water in his hand.

One facet of Beck’s power was his ability to take a miniscule amount of water and amplify it until it filled any vessel Beck wanted. This meant the wash basin pitchers were always full, the drinking glasses were never empty, and the bath… Beck could take a mere goblet of hot water and create a deep, luxurious tub full of clear, warm bath water.

When Emilia found out she could take a hot bath without having to wait for buckets of water to be heated and dumped into a tub, she almost swooned. If she hadn’t already been married to a handsome Prince, she might have begged Beck to wed her for that little party trick alone. And truthfully, he enjoyed doing it for them- this family of royals and servants that had been thrown together. But, he still couldn’t pass the opportunity to needle the Princess, just a little bit.

“Now that you mention it, you stink as fiercely as a chimney-sweep’s arse, Emilia. I’ll gladly prepare your royal ripeness a bath.” He gave an exaggerated bow and turned.

Behind him he heard a gasp of faux outrage and a curse of “You cheeky git!”. He made it into the hallway just as wedges of apricot went sailing past his head.