10. Revi
He didn’t have the magical reserves to return to her dreams again, but Revi found himself seeking Kienna out in the real world in the following days.
No, not seeking her out. He just happened to want to spend time in the library when she was there. Every single afternoon that week.
He had a lot of reading he wanted to do.
Today he sat in wolf form, on his preferred sofa, a book across his large paws. But while his eyes were trained on the page, his ears were attuned to Kienna’s every movement.
He hadn’t tried to speak to her. She’d tensed that first day when he came in, but he’d given her a brief nod and then—as far as she could tell—ignored her. So she’d ignored him, even if fear still lingered in the air. They’d spent their days like that. Him reading—or pretending to—and taking care of any Court business his steward brought to him. Kienna read or, if Zoya was there, asked her maid questions about Elyri culture and language. She seemed frustrated by their limited collection of books written in Kasmian Common, so she’d set herself the task of learning Elyri instead. Revi briefly considered gifting her the language with his magic, as he had for Zoya, but he quickly discarded the idea. If she didn’t end up staying, he had no desire to give her a tactical advantage over his Court by knowing the language as fluently as an Elyri. And if she could read the language, she could read the curse inscribed on the scroll laid out under the window. That wouldn’t help anyone.
But… if she cared enough to learn it herself, he wouldn’t stop her. Maybe her eagerness was a promising sign.
She asked dozens of questions, and Zoya humored her, though she seemed hesitant to answer Kienna when Revi was present. It was like she was nervous around him.
But when he didn’t bite her head off for teaching Kienna how to read the Elyri alphabet from a children’s book, she relaxed. And Kienna did too.
The maid was good for something after all.
And slowly, as he showed up every afternoon—along with their dinners every evening—the fear faded into the background until it was so faint it stopped calling to the predator lurking in Revi’s mind. The silence became almost companionable. He found himself sitting, eyes closed, just listening to the peace of the library. Being with another person, without any demands on him, without any fear tainting the air—he’d forgotten how restorative that felt.
“Can I ask you something?” Kienna broke the silence for the first time since he’d entered that day.
Revi’s gaze flicked to her for half a second before he forced it back to his page, as if he’d been reading. He hadn’t, but she didn’t need to know that. He relished that she had spoken to him, and he spoke the first thing that came to mind. “You will regardless of how I answer that.”
The words came out more abruptly than he’d meant them, sounding more annoyed than teasing. He cringed internally; he could practically feel Enlo glowering at him. Not that his cousin was present, but if he were, he’d be furious at Revi for being rude to the human.
From the corner of his eye, he saw Kienna’s mouth twitch. She was probably withholding a frown.
“I’ve been rereading this story book—”
“Enjoying it that much, are you?” Revi cut in drily.
She shrugged. “You don’t have many books written in Kasmian Common, and sometimes my mind needs a rest from deciphering your Elyri runes. Anyway. I’ve been reading this one, with its stories about Elyri Courts. And this story.” She tapped the page.
“‘She pressed him for his loyalties, fear crippling her breaking heart
When she asked him who he stood beside—with whom he chose to plot
Jormun’s tongue ached to betray the truth, as tongues are wont to do
He wrapped a hand round his throat in a last bid to keep his secrets true.’”
Kienna looked up at Revi. Her eyes were bright, fetching in a way that made Revi want to lean closer to her, to run his hands through her hair. If he had hands, if he weren’t a cursed beast.
“This makes it sound like Jormun didn’t even have a choice in speaking the truth,” she said.
“Where’s the question?” Revi asked, finally wrestling his mind off her eyes and hair to focus on her words.
“Can Elyri lie?”
Revi blinked. Clever human. A small rumble rolled from him through the room. “No.”
Kienna’s eyes narrowed. “How do I know you’re not lying about that right now?”
Revi huffed out a laugh. There was nothing he could say that would assure her he wasn’t.
“I’ll just have to test it.” Kienna stood and set her book onto the chair’s cushion. Revi leaned away as she approached him, a determined glint to her eye. What was she plotting?
She perched on the end of Revi’s sofa, just beyond his book, and peered into Revi’s face. This close, he was wholly enveloped by her sweet scent, by how she filled his space with her bright green eyes and mischievous smile.
“What’s your name?”
Revi’s eyes narrowed. “You call me Beast.”
“And yet that’s not your name.”
“It’s a worthy title.”
“But it’s not your name. Do you not tell me your name because you hate me?”
Revi withheld a grimace. Of course that was the conclusion she’d come to. He was a beast. His every action probably felt threatening.
“I don’t hate you,” he said stiffly.
Kienna hummed, her eyes twinkling in a charming way. “That sounded like it hurt to say. What do you think of me?”
Revi opened his mouth—choked on his words and swallowed. Answering that would only embarrass him. “You’re quiet.”
“That’s a statement of fact, not your opinion.”
Revi cast around again. “You… are very attractive.” Her eyes widened, and he found himself blurting out the only other thing he could think of to save his pride. To hide his heart behind. “By human standards.”
Kienna’s lips twitched. “I think that was almost a compliment.”
“Are you sufficiently convinced of your theory?” Revi asked gruffly.
Kienna studied him for several moments, making Revi shift. “What’s your favorite color?”
Revi blinked. “Why does that matter?”
“Humor me.”
“White.”
“Favorite food?”
“Meat.”
“Do you prefer it raw?”
Revi hesitated.
“You always eat the least-cooked pieces from your plate at dinner.” Her tone was level, no hint of the disgust or fear Revi would have expected to accompany such a statement.
“Yes,” Revi agreed reluctantly. He could hardly deny it, no matter how he might want to.
She tilted her head. “Why is it cooked at all, then?”
He shifted. “My cook thought it would scare you off if I ate it raw around you.”
“You should tell them I don’t mind.” She gave an encouraging smile at his look of disbelief. “Really. Eat your food how you prefer it. It won’t be the strangest thing I’ve seen here.”
It was a tiny thing, but his chest tightened all the same. How could she act so nonchalant about the idea of him taking his meat entirely raw? It was a clear mark of his beastliness.
Kienna, oblivious to his roiling mind, continued her rapid questions. “Favorite time of day?”
He blinked himself out of his thoughts. “Sunset.”
“Have you ever met an elf?”
“Not since I was a child.”
“Have you ever climbed on the roof of your castle?”
“Of course.”
“What’s your name?”
“Rev—” He cut off with a growl. He jerked to his feet and jumped from the sofa. “You tricked me.”
Kienna tensed, her shoulders coming up around her ears. “On the bright side, if you could lie about your name, I doubt you’d be so angry right now.”
The growl that rumbled from him made Kienna flinch, and a faint swirl of fear entered her scent. It stabbed through his frustration, bursting and dispersing it. He didn’t want to return to the tension of before, to the way her fear made his beast instincts hungry.
“What’s the rest of your name?” she asked, her voice small and nowhere near as confident as it had been a moment before. “Rev-what?”
Revi’s hackles were raised. He didn’t want to give her his name, either. “It doesn’t matter. You’ll not call me anything but Beast.”
Kienna grimaced and stood. She gave Revi a wide berth as she returned to her chair, closing her book. “As you wish. I think I’ll go rest now.”
Revi watched her flee and sighed. He might have ruined what peace they’d found, all because he couldn’t keep the beast within and out of sight.