Moody and the Beast

by Kristen Painter

  Amelia, for all her power, had her own issues to deal with. Perhaps that was why he felt a kinship with her. Although since her niece, Emeranth, had moved to Shadowvale, Amelia was notably happier and had definitely become more social.

  He wanted some of that happiness for himself. But he knew that was unlikely to happen. He had no family. No true, deep friends. And an ex-wife who would undoubtedly do him in should word get back to her that he’d lifted a finger toward freedom.

  Some days, he was half convinced the wretched lightning bugs were her spies. But then, Vesta didn’t need spies with the constructs she’d put into place. Blasted fairies and their curses. Witches had nothing on fairy magic.

  He glanced over at Theodora. He knew nothing about her. She could very well be working for Vesta. A plant sent to watch him and report back on how he was handling things. That would be a shame if true. Despite Theodora’s wrongheaded beliefs about him, he was already starting to like her. At least she engaged him in conversation.

  But would those conversations go straight back to Vesta? He’d have to test Theodora somehow. Slip her some misinformation and see if it traveled beyond her. But how? It would have to be something really big for Vesta to respond.

  That response could be deadly. If he was going to test Theodora, he had to be very sure he wasn’t opening up a crock of eels.

  Until he managed to suss out Theodora better, he’d have to keep the lovely woman with the bewitching eyes at arm’s length and watch his words.

  Vesta didn’t need any more reasons, real or imagined, to torment him.

  Theodora suddenly sucked in a breath. He realized he’d been watching her so long he’d lost sight of where they were. He looked forward to see what had made her gasp.

  The mine entrance was just ahead. He supposed it was rather something if you were seeing it for the first time.

  “That’s the mine?” she asked.

  He nodded. “One of them. The biggest one.”

  “It’s so pretty.”

  He gave it a fresh appraisal. The entrance had been cut into the mountainside and then fortified with steel beams, a steel support structure, and wide gates that opened in the middle. All very necessary and very serviceable. But there was nothing utilitarian about the arabesque curves, green and purple metal, and the multipaned glass inserts in and above the gates that let light through.

  Amelia had told him she’d designed it after a long-lost art deco Metro stop in Paris, one of her favorite cities. She’d said there was no reason something couldn’t be functional and beautiful. He didn’t disagree. Although he’d never been to Paris or seen pictures of the Metro stop, so he couldn’t say how true the homage was.

  “Looks like the lair of an enormous dragonfly, doesn’t it?” Theodora asked.

  “It does.” Seemed befitting that a place that produced such a spectacular array of amazing gems would have an entrance that was something more than just a hole in the mountain. He nodded. “That’s what they call this mine. Dragonfly.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes.” He smiled. “Amelia, the woman who designed it, likes beautiful things. She built this whole town.”

  “Is she a goblin, too? Wait, she also built the town? For her vampire lover, right? Then she’s a witch.”

  He was impressed Theo knew that much. “That’s right, she’s a witch.” A witch who as probably as powerful as Vesta. Maybe more so.

  Then again…he wasn’t really sure.

  Chapter Six

  Theo just stood there, marveling at how gorgeous the entrance was. And all for a mine. Amazing. The gates were swung open, and she could see inside. The light that came through the glass panels only reached a few yards into the mine. After that, it dimmed, of course, but strings of clear bulbs glowed brightly, helping to pick out the path that led deeper into the mountain.

  “Have you ever been in a mine?”

  She shook her head, glancing at His Royal Highness. “But I did a little training towards becoming a lapidary.”

  His brows lifted. “You’re a lapidary? How wonderful.”

  “No. I only began the training. I never finished it.”

  “Not your thing?”

  “I loved it. But when my mother died, the tuition money for the Royal Stonecutters Academy went with her. Even at the primary level, the cost was more than we could afford.” After that, Theo had gotten the rest of her education at the regular school. Just the basics.

  His face fell. Almost like he actually cared. “I’m sorry to hear that. What did you do instead?”

  She’d taught herself as best she could, but outside of the Royal Stonecutters Academy, that was considered an inferior way to learn. “I went back to the common classes, got my papers, then did whatever I could. Mostly baking, like my mother, in a shop in town. Did a little cleaning at night to make what extra I could, to try to keep the collectors from our door. That’s what I do now. I work at a bakery in the morning, then go to a cleaning job.”

  He didn’t say anything for a moment. “Losing your mother changed everything, didn’t it?”

  A moment of anger welled up in her, but Caralynne’s death had been no one’s fault. Her illness could have happened to anyone. Theo exhaled the bad feelings as best she could. “It did.”

  She was ready for a new subject. She looked at the basket he carried and thought about the fresh biscuits and jam inside. Her stomach grumbled softly, but she swallowed down her hunger. “Those biscuits won’t stay warm much longer, even with those towels covering them.”

  He smiled, which made him terribly handsome. “Mrs. Applestock puts a warming pad in the bottom. They’ll be plenty hot. But you’re right, we should get in there.”

  She didn’t blame him for not offering her one. It wasn’t his job to feed the servants. No doubt he assumed that had already been taken care of. If he thought of it at all.

  He tipped his head toward the entrance as he put his hard hat on. “Let’s go, then.”

  She followed alongside, astonished to find that, other than feeling like she was starving, she was actually enjoying her time with him. If this was a sample of her coming year, it wasn’t going to be bad at all. She liked being outside, liked seeing new things, and, much to her personal disappointment, liked spending time with the exiled king.

  For a traitor, he didn’t seem like such a bad guy. It was no surprise he claimed Queen Vesta was the villain. She’d made it plain on numerous occasions that she expected and anticipated a smear campaign from King Robin. She’d said he would paint her as the evil fairy queen out to destroy him.

  She’d been right, too, although it hadn’t happened on the large scale she’d predicted. Just in person. Which wasn’t much of a smear campaign, as those things went.

  But Theo could wonder about all that later. Right now, they were walking through the mine’s entrance, and there were a lot more interesting things to concentrate on.

  A short, squat man who looked like he could lift a mountain came toward them. He was covered in blue-gray dust and decked out in the same kind of outfit Robin had on. A jumpsuit, boots, and a hard hat.

  He grinned broadly, his teeth gleaming white against the grime darkening his face. “Your Lordship.”

  “Grent. Good to see you, old man.” The exiled king stuck his hand out like a commoner. But then, that’s all he was now.

  The man, a holler troll judging by his low brow and square jaw, shook Robin’s hand like they were old friends. Or at least well-acquainted ones. Grent looked at the basket. “I smell biscuits and blackberry jam. The workers will be happy about that. Give Mrs. Applestock our thanks.”

  “I will.”

  “Spriggs.” Grent called another worker over, also a troll. “His Lordship has brought us biscuits.”

  Spriggs grinned. “Thank you, Sire.” He took the basket with a nod and a bow to King Robin.

  As he left, the exiled monarch gestured toward Theodora. “Grent, this is Theodora Middlebright. She’s come to work at Gallow H
ouse for a year.”

  Grent stuck his hand out. “Pleasure to meet you, Miss Middlebright. I’m Grent Hawthorne. I’m the second-shift manager here at Dragonfly.”

  How odd that he’d want to shake the hand of a servant. She did it anyway. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Hawthorne.”

  He laughed. “Call me Grent.” He had arms like pillars and hands that could have cracked bones. “Well, shall we start the day’s inspection?”

  His Lordship nodded. “Lead on.”

  Was she supposed to follow? She wasn’t sure. She wanted to go. Seeing a working mine would be amazing. But she’d been brought only to carry biscuits. And she’d barely done that. She stood there, torn with indecision, as the two men began walking away.

  King Robin glanced back and stopped when he saw she wasn’t moving. He motioned for her, giving her a quick smile and a wink.

  A wink. She nearly fell over. His behavior was patently unkinglike. But she went after them, catching up in a few steps.

  They stopped at an entrance checkpoint where Grent signed off on a clipboard, then handed Theo a hard hat. “Regulations.”

  “I understand.” She took it and stared at the inside, not sure which was the front and which was the back.

  King Robin took the hat from her, turned it around, and set it gently on her head. It went down over her eyes. He took it off again, adjusted something, then replaced it. This time, it sat right. “There you go.”

  “Thank you,Your Lordship.”

  “You’re welcome, Theodora.” He gazed into her eyes for what seemed longer than necessary.

  Her throat felt hot and tight, and her stomach did a weird flip. Probably from lack of food.

  He turned to Grent. “Good to go now.”

  Grent started walking again. They followed the path of lights until the cavernous passage split into four smaller tunnels. Men and women passed them, all dressed in jumpsuits and hard hats, some carrying pickaxes, some pushing carts of stones. Many looked like trolls, but there were other species mixed in. Dwarves in abundance, but maybe even a few humans.

  It was louder here with the whine of machinery and the sounds of digging. That was fine with her. It covered the rumbling of her stomach. Whatever. She’d been hungry before. She’d live.

  The air smelled of stone and oil and sweat. It wasn’t altogether unpleasant. It was one of the many smells of work, something Theo was intimately acquainted with.

  Grent headed into the first tunnel on the right. He spoke over his shoulder to Robin. “The hunt for that vein of opal we were getting close to last week has paid off. We’ve struck a nice seam. Should give us a substantial bit of ore in another day or two.”

  They didn’t go far. After just a few more yards, he stopped them near a cluster of workers chipping away at the rock wall. A visible vein of milky, iridescent opal shone blue and green in the lights. It couldn’t have been more than a half-inch wide, but the color was almost neon against the tan rock it was embedded in.

  “Wow.” Theo reached out to touch it, then caught herself.

  Grent smiled. “Go ahead. It’s really something, isn’t it?”

  She slid her fingers along the narrow strip of gem. It was smooth and cool to the touch. “It’s beautiful. I’ve never seen anything like this.”

  His smile was proud and steady. “Wait until we open this up a little more. I predict it’ll widen up considerably another two or three feet in.” He went over to one of the worker’s carts, dug around a bit, then pulled out a chunk of rock.

  He brought it back and turned it so the opal fragment was visible. “Look at the color in this. Some of the best we’ve come across to date.” He handed the rock to Robin.

  “Excellent.” Robin held it up and nodded his approval. “I can’t wait to see what next week brings.”

  Theodora felt the old itch to work with the stone and turn it into something amazing, but her chance to become a lapidary had come and gone.

  They went through all four tunnels the same way, inspecting the new finds and talking about what might be on the horizon. Robin took samples along the way, collecting them in a little bag at his waist. Theo saw more gems than she’d thought possible. Besides the opals, there were emeralds, amethysts, tourmaline, topaz, and in the last tunnel, sapphires of all colors.

  But they never ventured into each tunnel more than fifteen feet, maybe less. Twice, Grent went quite a way deeper, gathered samples, then came back to them. It seemed odd that Robin, who was there to inspect the work, didn’t actually do that in two of the tunnels.

  She kept her mouth shut about it, though. What did it matter to her how he did, or didn’t do, his job?

  When they were through, they said goodbye to Grent, who made sure Mrs. Applestock’s now-empty basket was returned, Theo handed over her hard hat, and they headed back to the house by the same path.

  Theo carried the basket with His Lordship’s hard hat in it. Something gave her the boldness to ask the question burning in her mind. “How is that possible? All of those gems in one mine? That shouldn’t be.”

  “No,” Robin answered. “It shouldn’t be. But this is Shadowvale, and magic rules. The mines were all created with magic, which means the natural laws don’t exist. It’s a good thing, too. Those gems, the sale of them anyway, are what keep this town going. The money pays for all the things we enjoy here. Those mines fund everything the town needs. From the fire department to the schools to keeping the roads nice. Of course, magic helps with some of that, too.”

  She just stared at him, trying to process that. “So if the natural laws don’t exist, then anything is possible? You mean with the mines, right?”

  “I mean…anything is possible with anything in this town.”

  Her mind ran with that in a hundred different directions at speeds she couldn’t keep up with. But she wasn’t done with her questions about the mine.

  He laughed. “Go on, ask. I can see you’re practically bursting with something.”

  She took a breath. “How did you get the job of mine foreman?”

  His brows rose as if that wasn’t the question he’d been expecting. “Amelia gave it to me.”

  “Does she know you don’t really inspect the work going on?”

  His smile went stiff, then faded. “She knows what I do.”

  Theo shrugged. It wasn’t her place to comment on what he did. She knew that. But he was a traitor to her people, and that made her bold. Even so, her words slipped out before she really thought them over. “Must be nice to have a job like that.”

  Robin stopped abruptly. “What exactly are you implying?”

  Her heart began to race. This was exactly why her mother had told her to speak less and listen more. She’d been foolish. She’d been lulled into thinking his kindness meant they were friends. They were not. Nor did she want to be friends with this traitor king. She shook her head and kept her eyes down, unwilling to look at him. “Forgive me. I apologize, Your Lordship. I spoke without thinking. I shall endeavor to remember my station.”

  She could only see him from the knees down. He wasn’t moving.

  “No, you won’t.” His voice was gruff. Then he sighed and shifted slightly. “I don’t want you to. You’re not a servant. This is not your station. You’re a woman who gave up a year of her life to take her father’s place.”

  She still couldn’t bring herself to look at him, but she didn’t know what to say either.

  He sighed. “I can’t go down those tunnels.”

  That got her head up. She didn’t understand what he meant, though. “Why not, Sire?”

  He made an odd face. Almost like her use of his title made him uncomfortable. “Because I am physically unable. Just like I am unable to stray from this path.” He peered at her, as if he was watching her eyes for her reaction.

  “I still don’t understand.”

  “Don’t you?”

  “No.” She shook her head, genuinely clueless.

  He crossed his arms as though he was attempt
ing to keep from lashing out. “Queen Vesta didn’t just take my throne, she took my freedom. My life here is cursed. I can’t stray too far from the house or from any of the routes she’s determined I am able to travel. When I say this place is my prison, I mean exactly that.”

  Chapter Seven

  Just like that, Robin had shared the secrets he’d held close all these years. Part of his decision to spill them was he’d grown weary of keeping them, but the thought had also occurred to him that his revelation might be the perfect way to test Theodora. If she told Vesta that he’d figured out her scheme to confine him, Vesta would be sure to react.

  Of course, she had to know he knew. He’d lived here long enough to have tested the boundaries. But he’d never said a word about it to anyone except Amelia and another man who’d tried to help him, Deacon, and he’d sworn them to secrecy.

  How would Vesta take the news that he wasn’t keeping silent any longer? For as much as she liked power, she also craved adoration. Being exposed for the terrible person she was wouldn’t win her any popularity contests.

  She might erase the restrictions to make him seem like a liar. Or tighten the reins in retaliation.

  The latter worried him. If his world grew any smaller, he would go mad.

  Theodora peered at him. “You can’t leave the path?”

  “Not far.” As much as he hated to make a fool of himself, a demonstration seemed in order. “Watch.”

  He stepped off the worn path, bracing himself, hands out. He found what he was looking for in two steps. The wall was as invisible to him as it was to anyone, but only he could feel it. He put his hands flat against the invisible divider that kept him from the rest of Shadowvale. “There. You can’t see it, but I promise, the barrier is real, and I can’t get past it.”

  She looked skeptical. He didn’t blame her. She put the basket down and stepped off the path to stand beside him. She stuck her arms out, waving them around and reaching past his hands. “I don’t feel anything.”