Chapter 6 #2
That shouldn’t have hurt. She didn’t like Benedict. She already knew he hated humans.
But the implication that he didn’t love humans—could never love a human—strangely stung. Perhaps it was because she was currently stuck in a fated mate binding with him. It had nothing to do with the way she found herself glancing at him just to feel that fluttering in her chest.
All the more reason to find a way out of this.
Beatrice strolled down the causeway of the castle and Library in the warmth of the early nighttime air that smelled of flowers and deep forests here in the perpetual summer of the Court.
While she could have used the Anywhere Doors to get home in mere steps, she needed the walk in the fresh, floral air, not to mention a few moments of quiet to herself before she was plunged back into domestic busyness.
On the other side of the causeway, she entered the outskirts of the fae village. Close to the castle, the larger estates of fae nobles sprawled with their fancy, moss-and-tree-covered homes.
Beyond them, she crossed a bridge over a stream and took the path that wound between the small, stone Houses where most of the librarians and other common fae of the Court lived. She passed the occasional fae walking the town at night, and she nodded to them as she passed.
Her feet led her to the two Houses allotted to her family. Rather than step into Basil’s House, she turned toward the House next door, the one where Munch and Brigid lived. Halting on the front step, she knocked on the door.
After a moment, the door opened, and Munch stood there, squinting at her. His forehead scrunched. “Beatrice. Is something wrong?”
“No. I just need to speak with you and Brigid for a moment.” Beatrice glanced around, making sure no one else was about. Not that it would be suspicious that she wanted to talk to her sister and brother-in-law, even at this time of evening.
“Come in.” Munch stepped aside, holding the door open for her. Once she stepped inside, he closed the door after her.
Brigid sat on a comfortable chair before the fireplace, the low fire behind the grate casting little warmth, given that warmth was unnecessary in this Summer Court. Several branches extended down from the ceiling, offering a blanket, a plate of crackers, a tray of sweets, and a drink.
“I’m fine, House. Truly.” Brigid waved at all the branches, a hint of a laugh in her voice.
Unlike Basil’s rather cantankerous House, Munch and Brigid’s House had the personality of a doting mother hen.
Handy for when Munch and Brigid hid traumatized humans there until they could be taken back to the Human Realm, but somewhat annoying when the House decided to hover, as it had been doing ever since Brigid had become pregnant.
“I see the House is up to its usual mothering.” Beatrice took extra care wiping her shoes off on the front rug. The last thing she wanted to do was gain the House’s attention.
“It’s fine. I’ll appreciate it once the baby is born.” Brigid waved off the offer of another blanket by yet another branch. “What brings you by?”
“Benedict.” Beatrice huffed and plopped into the seat across from Brigid.
“Ah.” Brigid settled deeper into her seat. “The mate bond?”
“Do I need to put an arrow into him?” Munch halted behind Brigid’s chair, one hand resting on her shoulder, and the other reaching for the arrows in the quiver belted at his hip.
“No.” Beatrice paused. “At least, I don’t think so.”
She probably shouldn’t be tempted. And she wasn’t. Not really. But sometimes Benedict was just so infuriating. Infuriatingly handsome. Too bad that pretty face didn’t have anything behind it.
“Just keep it in mind. I’ll even let you pick the spot.
A barbed arrow to the heart if you want it over quickly.
A practice arrow to the foot if you just want to annoy him.
” Munch shrugged, his hands drifting between several of the arrows, as if to indicate which ones he’d use for each case.
“Shooting people is more my sister’s hobby than mine, but I’ll make an exception for you. ”
Beatrice couldn’t help the slight smile, both at the brotherly offer and at his mention of his sister.
Robin had been the infamous outlaw the Hood before she’d married the local lord.
She was now more or less on the right side of the law, and she and her husband provided the main base in the Human Realm for returning captive humans to their homes.
“I appreciate the offer, but as of right now, he’s kept his tricks to himself. But…”
“But…” Brigid rested both of her hands on her stomach.
“He asked about the Wild Fae Primrose.” Beatrice’s smile disappeared as she glanced between Brigid and Munch. “He seems to think our family knows something because we’re humans and because of when the Primrose started operating. I think I put him off, but I’m not sure.”
Munch shared a look with Brigid. “That’s concerning. Benedict was overheard at the ball talking about how he blamed the Primrose for the war, for his imprisonment, and for everything that he deems wrong with the court. If he’s looking for information about the Primrose, it isn’t for a good reason.”
“No. But he’s being rather clumsy about it.
” Brigid’s eyes got that glint to them that she always had when she was scheming something.
“If he truly thinks the Wild Fae Primrose is a part of the Court of Knowledge, then speaking so boldly and openly is an interesting way to go about flushing him out.”
“Perhaps that’s the point.” Munch squeezed her shoulder. “He’s challenging the Wild Fae Primrose to come out of hiding. Which you won’t do. No matter how tempted you are by the challenge.”
“Of course I would never do such a risky thing.” Brigid’s grin contradicted that statement. Yet the grin faded a moment later as she splayed her fingers over her baby bump. “Especially not now.”
Munch and Brigid shared that look again, the one that made Beatrice happy to see her sister so happy and yet also sent an ache through her chest. She couldn’t imagine how she’d find that for herself.
Viola and Sebastian had had to leave the Court of Knowledge to find their spouses. Would Beatrice have to leave as well?
Yet she didn’t want to leave. She loved the Great Library. More than anything, she wanted to be a librarian within its walls. She wanted her own House and her own green librarian coat.
This was all assuming she could both break the mate bond with Benedict and beat him to the assistant librarian spot.
Brigid tore her gaze away from Munch and looked back to Beatrice. “Thanks for the warning.”
“And be careful.” Munch’s hand went back to his arrows again. “It might be best if you didn’t walk alone from the Library for the next while. Between Benedict looking for the Wild Fae Primrose and the Faerie Market arriving soon, it won’t be safe for any of us to be alone, but especially not you.”
Beatrice would have argued, but Munch was right.
She wasn’t a trained forester like Munch, nor was she as clever as Brigid.
While she did have the protection of being bound to the Court of Knowledge, she was still vulnerable as a human in the Fae Realm, especially since she wasn’t married to a fae the way Meg, Sebastian, and Viola were.
She could still be stolen in a way that they could not.
“I’ll make sure I stay with someone. Perhaps Buddy can walk me back and forth, if I’m eager for a walk.
” She grimaced and held up her hand. It wasn’t glowing at the moment since she wasn’t touching Benedict, but the gold swirl remained as visible and glinting as ever.
“Maybe the mate bond will be handy for something. It will be harder for a random fae to carry me off if I’m mate-bonded to a fae noble. ”
“Maybe.” Munch’s frown didn’t waver, his fingers still rubbing the fletching on his arrows. “I still don’t like that you’re stuck in a mate bond with him. It seems he’s only gotten more like his father and older brother.”
“I can handle Benedict.” Beatrice pushed to her feet. “After all, I’ve been doing it since I was ten.”
Her family had certainly done their best to halt his tormenting of her.
They’d approached his parents, but his parents had done nothing, considering they approved of his hazing of a human.
Basil had even offered to go to King Theseus or Queen Hippolyta, but Beatrice hadn’t wanted to bother the king and queen over childhood squabbles.
So instead, Beatrice’s siblings had helped her prank Benedict right back and protected her the best they could, given their position in the court relative to his and his family’s.
Through it all, she’d learned how to stand up for herself and not back down for anyone. And as she’d grown older, the prank war with Benedict had grown almost fun more than a torment.
Now she was eighteen, an apprentice librarian, and she wasn’t going to let Benedict win. Not in his quest to find the Wild Fae Primrose for whatever nefarious purpose nor in his pursuit of the soon-to-be-open assistant librarian position.
Now she just needed to break the mate bond before she was stuck with him forever.