Page 9 of The Rat King
“Where will I find answers, then?” I shouted after him.
He didn’t turn around again, but said, “I’d start with your betrothed. Don’t you think he owes you that much?”
“I tried to ask him, but he won’t tell me. Can’t you just tell me?”
“And why would I do that?” When I couldn’t come up with an answer, he continued, “Pressure him enough and he’ll break. He does so very much want to please you.” Something about his sly tone gave me the impression that he would enjoy knowing I was pestering his brother for answers he made clear he had no intention of giving me.
“Thanks,” I said, muttering the word under my breath. I knew it. I had to get Xavier to talk. And why was the exiled former king roaming about the castle freely? Especially if he was supposedly a dangerous man. I lifted my hand from the table I’d leaned on to steady myself. Dust coated my palm, and I let out a frustrated breath. One thing at a time.
Chapter 5
Avery
Aweeklater,andI’d made it through half of the library. The space was deceptively large like the rest of the castle and easy to get lost in, as I’d done in the enumerable hallways a few times since my tour the first day. At least the library seemed to have some organizational plan which governed it. I’d been tackling one stack at a time, taking care to pull every volume and wipe it down before replacing it.
Footsteps clipped across the stone floor as Alice hefted in a fresh mop bucket. April followed behind her with some clean rags and set the bundle on the table I’d cleared in the center of the room. The table beside it held piles of books that had been shelved in the wrong location I planned to deal with later. I found ledgers next to spellbooks and fiction in the non-fiction section. I doubted they had the Dewey Decimal system here, and I wasn’t a librarian by any stretch, but that would not do.
“Did you see about getting a ladder?” I asked her, getting to my feet. I’d just reshelved the books on the bottom row of the stack I was working on when they came in.
“Leviticus said he’d ask His Majesty for approval first. I don’t think he liked the idea of you getting on a ladder,” April said.
“Then how else am I going to clean the windows?” I asked, putting my hands on my hips.
As if summoned, Xavier stomped into the room. “What’s the meaning of this? And why does Leviticus tell me you require a ladder?”
A grinning Nighval and another very large light-furred rat-man with the same dark eyes they all had in this form were on his heels and stopped to hover over the king’s shoulders. Voyeurs, no doubt, and I wondered if the second man was a Warlock, too.
I’d been asking about the curse at each meal I shared with my intended since Nighval had given me the thought, but Xavier hadn’t budged. The new rat-man leaned over and whispered something in Nighval’s ear that had them both chuckling and Xavier tapping his foot as he stared me down.
I glared at all three of them. “I’m cleaning, obviously.” I waved my hands around the sparkling half of the library.
“But you are to be my wife, the queen. Cleaning is beneath you, and I won’t have it,” Xavier said.
“Excuse me?” I replied.
Xavier, seeming to recognize he’d overstepped, stilled his foot. “What I meant to say is I have people who can do this for you. If you wish for a task to be done, all you need to do is mention it. There is no need to trouble yourself. It is my desire to take care of you, my bride.”
My teeth clenched at the pet name he’d taken to calling me. The lighter furred rat-man rolled his eyes, mirroring my sentiment. “Since no one cares to divulge what’s going on here with the curse and what exactly needs to happen to break it, this gives me something to do, something I can control. Unless someone feels like sharing?” I squared my shoulders showing him I wasn’t budging.
The tip of Xavier’s rat-nose and the insides of his furry ears reddened as he said, “May I please have a moment alone with my intended?”
April and Alice didn’t hesitate before scurrying from the room. Nighval and his friend turned to leave the room, but as they did, Nighval clapped a hand on Xavier’s shoulder and said something in a hushed tone that sounded like, “Don’t lose control, brother. An entire kingdom is counting on you.”
I repressed a groan. The last thing I needed was Xavier feeling any more pressure than was already placed on him, namely because that might hasten our nuptials, and I was still getting used to the idea of being wedded to one of these creatures. We hadn’t discussed a wedding date yet, and that was fine by me. Especially since no one would tell me how I could help turn them back human again.
Xavier pulled out a chair and beckoned me to sit. As I did, he dragged a chair beside it and sat so we were facing each other. He held upturned hands out to me, and I reluctantly placed mine in his. The moist, pink pads of his thumbs brushed over my knuckles which were dry and cracking from a week of scouring years’ worth of grime away.
He frowned as he studied them, before meeting my eye. “There is no need for you to suffer like this. I was under the impression you were spending time in here reading. Imagine my surprise when Leviticus informed me my bride was performing manual labor.”
“But truly, Xavier, I don’t mind getting my hands dirty. I enjoy workin—"
“If you need to occupy your time, you can see about making the final arrangements for our ceremony. Then there is, of course, the management of the castle staff. I didn’t want to overwhelm you when you first arrived. You were quite shocked, but now I see that you are ready to take on more. I’ll have the senior housemaid arrange a meeting.”
I shifted uncomfortably in my chair trying to recall the list of castle staff I learned and where precisely in the pecking order a housemaid would fall. “If I’m to be in charge of running the Ravsted, shouldn’t I be meeting with the steward, or is there not one?”
Xavier placed my hand on top of the other still cradled in his and gave mine what I took to be a condescending pat. “Leviticus manages the steward.”
“Then I’ll deal directly with Leviticus.”
