Page 62 of The Beast King's Bride

16

ASH

I manage it for a while. I manage to stay away. Deprived of walks in the gardens, I ask for a teacher to teach me letters and one arrives within the day, a pretty Fae girl with hair like wheat and eyes like a cat’s, green and golden. She introduces herself as Sheedra and says she is the palace librarian. She has something of Jassin in her face, I think, something in the sweep of her eyes.

I don’t ask why she hasn’t left the palace. She doesn’t ask why I can’t read or write.

Let me share with you the first thing I discovered with Sheedra: Learning to read and write gives you a headache. Second thing is that I should have specified from the start that I was interested in learning a human alphabet, preferably that of the kingdom I hale from, and not a Fae alphabet. And third… it’s almost impossible to focus on copying letters and learning their sounds when your mind keeps returning to a certain handsome Fae king, replaying scene after scene with him.

Saving me from monsters.

Holding me in his arms.

Kissing me.

Asking me if I’m all right.

At least now we have switched to a more familiar alphabet, a human one. The letters are vaguely familiar to me from my childhood when I had begun learning them, and those old memories seem to help a lot. I’m learning quite fast and Sheedra is pleased.

Jassin brings me invitations from the king to dine with him and I refuse. What’s the point of seeing him when I’m trying to convince myself I don’t like him, that I don’t want to see his face?

One moon. One moon and I’ll be free to go. I can do this. Knocking my head repeatedly against the alphabet helps take my mind off it all.

But of course, this state of affairs can’t last forever. One morning, Jassin enters my room and bows.

My tutor smiles at him. “Jas?”

“I hail thee, cousin. And of course, my fair lady Elayne.”

“You’re cousins,” I blurt out, ignoring the compliments he has been adding lately, trying to mollify me. “I thought you looked kind of similar.”

“Indeed, princess Elayne.” Jassin looks preoccupied, giving us a faint smile and bowing again.

“Just call me Ash,” I say, the words leaving my mouth before I can overthink them. “I only told the king to call me princess out of spite and now he calls me Ash anyway, so…”

Jassin’s smile warms and his gaze focuses on me. “Ash it is, then. His majesty requests your presence.”

“Apologies.” I grip the sides of the leather-bound book Sheedra is making me read from. “As you can see, I’m very busy at the moment.”

“His majesty has kindly diverted me from my other tasks to aid Lady Elayne in learning how to write and read,” Sheedra says apologetically to her cousin.

“Just Ash, please,” I mutter, and then her words sink in. “Diverted you from other tasks?”

“Oh, yes. Like everyone in the palace these days, I have taken on other tasks. Usually, in the early mornings, I help his majesty with the palace correspondence, before he leaves on patrol, and then I check any new scrolls and books that we sent for in case there is any clue on how to break the curse.”

“A cure other than me,” I whisper, distracted. He sent Sheedra to me, even though he needs her help, even though I’m leaving soon. Staying angry with him is so hard sometimes.

“Yes, we had high hopes when he brought you over, but it isn’t working, is it?” Her cat-like eyes drop away from me, filled with sadness. “It was our last chance and we got it wrong.”

“Don’t say that,” I whisper.

“I helped the king decipher the bird’s messages,” she says, her smile tight. “Only he has heard the full riddle, but I knew enough to listen out for keywords in the hall of echoes where he used to sit every evening, hoping for a clue. We both thought we heard enough to choose, to call back all the ravens and stop searching. After all, time is running short. We had to make a decision.”

“Sheedra,” Jassin mutters. “Maybe you shouldn’t—”

“You’re right.” She stands up, hands clasped together. “In any case, he found you, made the decision, and here you are and we’re all glad of your presence.”

“What did you mean when you said that time is short? Sheedra…”

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