Page 16

Chapter sixteen

Beatrice

Beatrice watched the sunlight fade through the curtains as she prepared for bed with Guinevere’s help. It had been a long day, with many shocking discoveries, and she was exhausted.

But she couldn't shake the feeling that Alexander might want to see her before they went to sleep in their separate chambers. She would not be making the mistake of falling asleep in his bed again, even if it had been nice to wake up with someone else for the first time in her life.

She hadn't felt as alone as she usually did.

It didn’t matter, though—it didn't seem possible for her to be with someone the way marriage required. She didn't know how to live with someone else. What if she messed it all up?

Her father had been working the trade routes since she was a tiny child, and she’d often spent the night with Dietrich and his mother until her father had deemed her old enough to spend the night on her own.

She was used to being alone.

Which was why it was so surprising that she was feeling drawn to spend more time with Alexander before she fell asleep.

It hardly seemed possible that she had someone in her life now, but she was already enjoying it, even if their future was uncertain.

She felt ill at the thought of everything Alexander had revealed. It didn't seem possible for someone to hate him so much that he had murdered Alexander's parents, and the fact that he was coming back was terrifying.

And they didn’t know how he would react to Alexander already being married.

Guinevere murmured a good night, and Beatrice responded with a quiet smile. Neither of them had felt much like talking tonight while Guinevere helped with her hair and dress, each preferring to ponder in silence after the events of the day.

Dietrich had chosen to stay at Eldenwilde. Between the storm and the fact that he was unwilling to leave until Beatrice’s safety was assured, he was very adamant that he was not leaving yet, so he had borrowed some of Jenkins' clothes and was staying in a guest suite not far from Beatrice’s room.

But Beatrice didn't feel the urge to go talk to Dietrich. She wanted to talk to Alexander.

After Guinevere left, she took a deep breath, made her way to the adjoining door, and knocked. She waited for his muffled “come in” before she opened the door and entered, suddenly shy, even though she’d done the same thing the night before.

“Are you well?” Alexander asked. He was already sitting in bed, the covers tucked around his waist.

“I was hoping to talk to you,” Beatrice said, looking away from his bare chest.

It was the first time she had ever entered a man’s bedroom for the express purpose of talking to him, and she wasn't sure what to say or what to do or where to go.

“Come sit,” Alexander said, patting the bed beside him.

Beatrice glanced sideways at the bed.

“We don’t have to fall asleep,” Alexander said with a grin. “I will help you stay awake, but it will be easier to talk if you’re not standing across the room.”

So Beatrice crossed the room and gingerly sat down on the bed next to her husband. He reached over to take the blanket placed on the table beside his bed and give it to her. Had he put it within reach in case she visited him?

The adjoining door snicked open, and an orange kitten padded through from Beatrice’s room, hopping up onto the bed and settling in Beatrice’s lap with a contented purr.

“Are you going to transform?” Beatrice asked her, “or do you prefer to purr as a kitten right now?”

Rose turned into a dragon in an instant but continued to purr.

“Was she a kitten or a dragon when you found her?” Beatrice asked.

“A dragon,” Alexander said. “She looked so tiny and pitiful and cold, surrounded by broken pieces of a green shell, and I knew I had to do something to help her. I had no idea what to do with a baby dragon, but thankfully, she transformed into a kitten before I got her into the house. I could only hope that her kitten insides were the same as her dragon parts and that she would be able to digest milk. Mrs. Jenkins was more than happy to oblige. I think she was happy to see me find a friend, even if it was only a kitten.”

“They seem to care for you very much,” Beatrice said.

Alexander reached over to pet Rose, and his fingers brushed against Beatrice’s. “They were the closest thing I had to parents after I lost mine,” he said. “I don’t know what I would have done without them, but I would not be the man that I am today.”

“I’m very thankful that you had them,” Beatrice said. “I happen to be partial to the man you are today.”

Alexander let out a sound that could maybe be described as a chuckle. “I should hope so, given that you married me.”

“Did I have a choice?” Beatrice asked, bumping his arm with her shoulder.

“Absolutely,” Alexander said, his voice turning completely serious. “You had the choice, and I would never have pressured you to change your mind if you had turned me down. I will admit, though, that I’m glad that you didn’t,” he added, his voice turning a little less serious. “It’s been lovely having someone who knows my secret, and it hasn’t even been a day. I can’t begin to tell you how much weight it has taken off me to know that I am not alone.”

“Well, you’ll never be alone again for the rest of your life.”

“However long it may be,” he said glumly.

Beatrice shook her head. “We are not thinking like that,” she said. “We are going to figure this out, and we will protect you from him.”

“I’m more concerned with protecting you,” Alexander said. “You didn't go into this with the full knowledge of what you were entering into, and I am not going to place importance on my life over yours.”

Beatrice looked at him with emotion warring on her face. “I would rather not be mistress of Eldenwilde without you,” she said after a moment, “but hopefully it won’t come to that. I am still hopeful that we will discover a way to break your curse so you can tell me anything else you might know. Then we will find a way to prevent him from hurting you for already being married.”

She sighed. “But I didn’t want to talk about that tonight. I wanted to talk about other things and pretend for a moment that we are not a couple who married not out of necessity, but because we actually like each other.”

“Not that I don’t like you,” she added hastily, her eyes widening. “But perhaps we could pretend to be a normal couple for an evening.”

What was she doing? She was bungling this terribly.

“What does a normal couple do?” Alexander asked.

“I was hoping you would know,” Beatrice admitted. “My mother left when I was only a baby, and my father has been gone more often than not ever since. I had a good example of a mother in Dietrich’s mother, but his father died not long after I moved in with them. So I’ve never really had a model of what marriage should look like.”

Alexander thought for a moment before he shrugged. “I know something we could try,” he said, “if you’re willing.”

Beatrice glanced at him, narrowing her eyes. “What exactly do I have to be willing to try?”

“We could play the game I used to play.”

“What kind of game?” Beatrice asked. “Do married couples really play games?”

Alexander shrugged again. “We’ve already established that neither of us knows what we’re doing, so we might as well do something fun. And I don’t know about you, but I could certainly use the distraction right about now.”

Beatrice admitted that a distraction sounded like a good plan. “What sort of game is it?” she asked.

Alexander sprang out of bed and made his way to the wardrobe. He opened a drawer and rummaged for a moment before pulling a wooden box from the bottom.

“It’s about running your own estate,” he explained as he came back to the bed.

“That sounds…fun,” Beatrice said, wincing a little bit. “This is what you did in your free time growing up?”

Alexander laughed. “Yes. My version of free time is probably not much like yours, but I think it’s fun, and I think you might also. It seems like the sort of thing you would enjoy.”

“If that’s what you would like to do, I don’t have a problem with that. But you’ll have to teach me how to play.”

“I can do that,” Alexander said with a grin. It was the most excited Beatrice had ever seen him, like he had reverted to childhood again, and it was adorable to watch. He dumped out the game pieces and opened up a piece of fabric with a pattern stitched into it.

“How exactly do you play?” she asked.

“It’s simple,” he said, before launching into one of the most convoluted descriptions Beatrice had ever heard. She stared at him blankly as he began putting pieces in front of her. “It’s easier to play than it is to understand,” he admitted. “You’ll figure it out, and I’ll help you, although I might beat you.”

“I’m sure you will,” Beatrice said with a laugh. “In fact, if you don’t, I will be incredibly surprised and maybe a little disappointed in your skills as lord of the estate.”

“If you win, it will be luck,” Alexander said confidently as he continued to lay out pieces in front of her.

Beatrice leaned forward to inspect the pattern stitched into the fabric—it clearly had something to do with the game—and Rose squirmed out of her lap and settled on the bed in front of her instead. “I’m sorry,” Beatrice said, shaking her head at the dragon, “did you not like being squished?”

The dragon let out a disgruntled chirp and Beatrice chuckled. “Terribly sorry, I’ll pet you more when we’re done.”

The candles were beginning to burn low by the time they finished their game, and surprisingly, Beatrice was the winner.

“How did you do that?” Alexander asked, staring at the board incredulously. “I didn’t think you would beat me.”

“I didn’t either,” Beatrice admitted with a giddy laugh, “but it feels great.”

Alexander was a little put out, staring at the game with a grumpy expression. “I can’t believe you beat me,” he said. “Please don’t tell Jenkins. He will never let me hear the end of it. He had to play me more than once, and I always beat him.”

“Then I shall be sure to tell him first thing in the morning,” Beatrice teased.

Alexander groaned and pushed his extra pieces off his lap with a huff. “You must have cheated somehow,” he said. “I’m going to look at the rules again.”

He reached for the book inside the wooden box and began flipping through it.

“I’ve never even heard of this game before—how could I have cheated?” Beatrice said with a grin. “You don’t actually think I cheated.”

“No,” he said with a sigh. “One of the reasons I chose you is because I knew that you would always do the right thing.”

Alexander had paid enough attention to her to notice that? She didn’t realize he’d been so aware of her. “How do you know that?” she asked.

“Because I was willing to give you more pay when I first started the library, and you told me to use that money to pay for schoolbooks for the school instead.”

Beatrice smiled at the memory. She remembered that, though she was surprised he did. “And that’s the reason you chose to marry me?” she teased. “Because I wouldn’t let you pay me enough money?”

Rose noticed that they were done playing and climbed back into Beatrice’s lap, rubbing her head under Beatrice’s wrist.

“Did you need more?” he asked.

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I didn’t need more. I already had more than enough.”

“I still think I should have paid you more.” Alexander shrugged. “But I wasn’t going to lose you by insisting on paying you more than you would take.”

Beatrice smiled. “I wonder how the library is getting on without me,” she said.

“Well, you told me who to put in charge of it,” he said. “So I did that, and I’m sure it’s getting along well. Besides, even if it wasn’t, you don’t have to worry about it anymore.”