Page 85 of The Beast King's Bride

22

ASH

“Has something happened to Talen? Is he injured?” I’m already taking off my stained apron, chucking it on the counter. “Tell me.”

“He isn’t injured, I don’t think.”

“You don’t think? Then what is it? Sit.” I pull Jassin to a stool because he looks awful. “Speak.”

“He’s losing himself. Losing hope. I cannot get through to him and...”

“Something happened. Tell me what happened, Jassin.”

Jassin rubs both hands over his face. “He was patrolling, giving his magic to the land as he does every day, but he came back early and when he returned, he locked himself up in his study. He won’t come out to eat or drink or talk to us.”

That sounds bad but above all… “You don’t know if he’s injured.”

“I haven’t seen him.”

That decides it. I’m going, pride be damned. “I need two guards to break the door.”

Jassin’s eyes go round. “Ash…”

“Now, Jassin. Come on.”

He shoots to his feet and leads me out of the kitchens, through corridors I know by heart by now, up several stairs and through the palace. On the way, he gestures for two guards lounging outside the throne room to follow us.

They obey instantly, which shows me once again how much more than a servant Jassin is. A baron’s son, he’d said. A true friend.

One who didn’t let his pride dictate his moves like I did. How am I any better than Talen? Not seeing him truly, not realizing how important he’s become to me. Not going to him, instead waiting for him to reach out to me.

I was wrong.

The study door is indeed closed. I rattle the knob. “Talen! Open this door. Let me in.”

But nothing happens. No sound from inside.

My stomach twists. “Break this door,” I tell the guards.

“Your wish is our command,” one of the guards says. “His Majesty told us that your orders will be received as his own and that we should protect you with our lives.”

There’s a burn in my eyes. “Break the door down,” I say again, a little hoarsely. I was hung onto my pride while he made sure I was free and safe, practically giving me the keys to his palace, his land. “Do it now.”

The two guards ram the door, one after the other, until the lock cracks and the door swings open into the room.

“Stay here”, I tell the guards, make sure nobody comes in. “Jassin—”

“I want to make sure he’s all right.”

“If he needs help, I promise to come out right away and tell you.”

He frowns down at his clenched hands and eventually, he nods. “He probably doesn’t want to see me now,” he says, “or he would have opened the door for me. I doubt I would be much help, anyway.”

“Maybe he doesn’t want to see anyone,” I whisper, “but let me talk to him.”

“Yes. Go to him. You’re the one who managed to put a smile on his face for the first time in decades.”

And with that startling news, he goes and leans against the wall beside one of the guards, folding his arms over his chest.

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