Watching for a while longer, Roz tucked her desire to cry away. “Mirror, I’m done now.” It continued to show her Leuthar, Nina, and Everett.
“Can you shut down now?” she asked. “Is there an off button?”
“No, there isn’t an off button. Mirror, go black.”
Roz watched Ezra approach. She crossed her arms and waited. He stopped by her side, and they stared at the black mirror.
“It’s good to know you have the magic words.”
“Technically, it’s more of a command than magic.”
“I see,” Roz filled in.
“So, you came into my room to look in the mirror?”
“Yes. Although, I can see how it wasn’t my greatest idea. I should have asked for your permission.”
He shook his head. “It’s fine. You’re welcome to check on your family. I’m sure you’ve been worried about them.”
“I have been worried. Leuthar has exhibited signs of having the sickness.”
“The sickness?”
“I feel as if I’ve explained this to you before, but here it goes. The sickness is something my friends and family have started to get over the last decade. It came out of nowhere, and no one knows what’s happening or what’s causing it.”
“What do you mean? Please explain.”
Sighing, Roz proceeded to explain, “The sickness consists of people talking to themselves, hallucinating, and having anger issues.”
“Anger issues?”
“Vicious anger issues. They start acting out and imagining someone is there. They have whole conversations to themselves and attack people without provocation. After a few months of this, they stop eating. We can’t do anything more by then.”
He nodded. “I didn’t know.”
Gesturing her hands to encompass the room, Roz said, “How could you? You’re up here in your castle. Safe and protected by magic. Even after what you did, you have the Second Kingdom home delivering meals for you. You live a whole other life.”
“It doesn’t mean I don’t care.”
“Doesn’t it? What have you done to end the curse or help your people?”
Clearing his throat, Beast shrugged. “I couldn’t. I didn’t know what to do, which I’ve tried to explain multiple times now, and do you really think anyone you know would have accepted help from me?”
“You could have tried.”
He nodded. “I have. I’ve analyzed what the witch queen has said to me. I worked on remembering what she told me, and I’ve kept an eye on all of you. If someone would have attacked you, I would have stopped them.”
“Is there anyone else besides the Second Kingdom who would attack us?”
“No,” he said, “there are only our two kingdoms. We emerged as the only two after the last world war. My great-grandfather told me there might have been only the Second Kingdom left if he hadn’t struck an accord with Queen Ada.”
“An accord which you were about to disregard? If you knew they were so powerful, why would you ever consider going up against them? You had to be insane.”
“I believe that was the general consensus at the time. Buford was concerned, and I should have listened to him.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“What?”
“Why didn’t you listen?”
Taking a deep breath, the beast held out his hand to the door. “You can exit now.”
Roz crossed her arms and sighed. “Why didn’t you listen?”
“You’re more than welcome to leave at any time.”
“I’m not leaving until you answer the question.”
“Okay, I’m leaving.”
“Ezra, you can’t run away from me. I’m your prisoner after all. You have to talk to me.” Roz dashed in front of the door.
“Please get out of the way,” he said.
She shook her head and blocked the doorway. “I’m not moving until you give me a reason for deciding to go up against the Second Kingdom.”
Shaking his head, he reached out and grabbed her shoulders. He shifted her to the left and went for the knob. Roz grabbed his wrist. He grabbed hers.
His red eyes narrowed. “Let me go.”
“No. You let me go.”
“I’ll let you go when you let me go,” he countered.
“Tell me why you made such a stupid decision.”
“It was for an even more stupid reason, and I’d rather not share it.”
Roz nodded. She released his wrist, and he let hers go as well. Taking a step back, she waited for him to leave.
He stood there staring at her, his hand still on the doorknob, and he didn’t move.
“You have really disturbing eyes,” she blurted out.
Blinking, he moved his gaze to the door. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s the color. They have the same shape as when you were a little boy. Sometimes you resemble him. So, I’d like to know why he would go against such a powerful kingdom.”
“You’re exhausting,” he said and opened the door.
Shrugging, Roz smiled. “I’m persistent.”
“Your tenacity is strenuous,” he repeated.
“You enjoy using a thesaurus, don’t you?”
“Those are still in circulation?”
Nodding, Roz said, “My school has high standards, and a few of them survived the world war.”
Ezra leaned against the door frame and crossed his arms. “You saw the picture of me as a little boy? Are you making comparisons between what he looked like and what the beast looks like?”
“I wasn’t making comparisons. I was seeing the similarities. Your eye shape, face shape, and lips are the same. She didn’t change everything about you.”
“You noticed my lips?”
Frowning, Roz bit her lip. She didn’t know how to respond. Her cheeks were burning, and there was a chance she might vomit.
“I’m sorry,” he told her. “I probably shouldn’t have asked you that.”
Roz looked around the room and avoided eye contact. “I didn’t see any other pictures of you. Any chance I can see any of the ones of you as an older prince?”
“No. Not going to happen at all.”
“You know this makes me even more determined to find all of the photographs you’ve hidden around the house. I’m excellent at finding things. It’s why I’m so resolute to finding clues about ending the curse.”
“We’ll keep our eyes open for flowers. When they come, we’ll recognize we’re close. If I think of anything else, you’ll be the first to know.”
“I’m going to take your thesaurus away. In fact, is it hidden in the library?”
“Everything else is in there,” he said. “Would you like to go look? Or read?”
“If we’re waiting for your imaginary flowers, it might take a while. So, yes, I vote for reading. I might find a book in your library which will tell me more about flowers.”
Taking a step out into the hallway, he stood there waiting. “Would you like to walk down?”
“I would. Thank you.” She ambled into the hallway and stopped at his side. “Shall we go?”
“After you,” he said.
“You don’t trust me, do you?”
“I’m sure there’s a weapon in your pocket even as we speak. Am I wrong?”
Roz shrugged. “There could be.”
“Now you can understand why I won’t risk it. It’s fatiguing trying to find new pockets to stuff your ammunition into. Also, I’m not fond of spoons in the eye. I’m not sure how it would look if my bloody eyes leaked actual blood.”
“Ezra, you have painted a horrid picture in my mind. Please don’t ever say those words again.”
“You’re right. It wasn’t my best comeback. Did you finish Persuasion?”
Nodding, Roz smiled again. “I did. It was an excellent book. At first, I was a little frustrated by Anne’s behavior, but the more I read it, the more I understood. Her father and sisters were awful.”
“They were, and it was difficult to read how A
nne did everything they said. I’d like to think she gained a backbone by the end of the story.”
“She definitely grew up. Did you decide to attack the Second Kingdom because you gained a backbone? Although, I would like to point out that you lacked common sense in your decision making.”
“Are you ever going to give up?”
Roz shook her head as they descended the main staircase. Once they reached the bottom, they turned right. Entering the library, Ezra went to the low table and picked up his book. Going to the shelves, Roz perused them to find her next read.
After a few minutes, she turned and watched Ezra. His head was bent over his book, and she observed how his hair glistened in the sun with the red pieces threading through. She wondered if it was soft.
Frowning, she turned back to the shelf. Stupid thought. I shouldn’t be thinking such a ridiculous thing.
Looking over the titles, she couldn’t seem to pick one. There were too many to consider reading. Choosing just one was too challenging.
“Having a hard time finding one?” he asked.
“There are too many. Options are hard.”
“Do you need any suggestions?”
“You’re already reading Edgar Allen Poe. What else is there?”
“Nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine other alternatives?”
Roz whipped around and put her hands on her hips. “You were obnoxious as a child, weren’t you?”
He tilted his head and shrugged. Putting down his book, he stood and came over to where she was. Looking at the shelves, he squinted and reached out to grab one.
“You might like this one. I found it similar to Jane Austen’s style of writing, but this author has a more humorous spin.”
“Georgette Heyer? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of her.”
He handed the book to her, and she read the title, “The Grand Sophy? It says she’s ‘resourceful, adventurous and utterly indefatigable,’ and I don’t know what indefatigable is.”
“Your school thesaurus is falling down on the job. Indefatigable means untiring, remorseless, and determined. There are several other synonyms, but I can’t recall all of them at the moment.”
Roz turned the book over and tapped her finger on the cover. “Your wordsmith skills are masterful. This doesn’t look like a bad book, and I do love humor, but it seems a bit too romance-driven for me. Do you have anything else?”
Holding out his hand to take the book, Beast raised a brow when Roz just shook her head and hugged the book to her chest.
“I want to hold onto it, but I would love to read something where the main character is a woman who annihilates her enemies.”
“Should I be worried about where this is headed?”
She shook her head and looked down at the book in her hand before lifting her eyes once more. “Do you have any suggestions?”
“There are several books you could read. My mother enjoyed The Joy Luck Club, Three Strong Women, Jane Eyre, Anne of Green Gables, Little Women, Daughter of Fortune, Briar Rose,” he began listing and pointed to them as he went.
Holding up her hand, Roz said, “Please stop. Can I read all of them?”
Ezra started pulling book after book off the shelves and handed them to her. Arms filled, Roz watched the stack grow. At the tenth, she shook her head before he attempted an eleventh.
“No, thank you. I think I need to set these down and go through them. How do you know your mother liked all of these?”
“She told me about all of them. She loved to talk about books, and I would read most of them as well. They’re very old authors, but their plots have stood the test of time.”
Taking the books to the couch, Roz sat down and created a stack on the coffee table. Picking one up, she looked at its cover and turned it over to read the back. Humming, she put it to the right of her stack and picked up the next one. Ten books later, The Joy Luck Club returned to her hand.
“This might be my first pick. I’m eager to know what life for this family was like, but also what 1989 resembled. Centuries ago, a woman wrote this book about other women’s time in China and then in America. Do you know these places?”
Shaking his head, Ezra picked his own book back up and settled back on the couch. “I’ve heard of them. My father mentioned them as being countries or something like that eras ago. There may have been a war between them? I don’t know.”
“Did you and your father read together?”
The beast shrugged as he opened his book. Roz pulled her legs onto the couch and tucked them under her. She waited for him to say something else, but he didn’t say a word. He just sat there and read.
“You said this library was theirs?”
He nodded.
She tried again. “You mentioned you hid it from my team because it’s where you can still come to remember them? That this was their favorite place?”
Without looking up from his book, he nodded again.
“Ezra?”
His eyebrows raised, he glanced up at her.
“Are you going to tell me about your parents?”
Sighing, he let his book drop to his lap. “I don’t usually discuss my parents.”
“You haven’t had company in ninety-nine years. I think you can make an exception and fine tune your verbal skills. I didn’t know your parents, and I’d like to hear about them.”
Replacing his bookmark, he set his book on the table and rotated to face her. “What do you want to know?”
“What were they like? Were you close? I’ve heard they were good rulers, but were they good parents as well?”
“They were wonderful rulers and enjoyed being king and queen. My father enjoyed riding and hunting, and my mother loved music and flowers. Both adored reading.”
After a few seconds with no further response, Roz asked, “Is that it?”
“I think it covers everything well enough. I don’t know why you’d want to know all about them since you’re never going to meet them.”
Roz blinked at him and felt her jaw begin to ache. She realized she was gritting her teeth and bit her lip to release some of the tension. Sniffing, she picked up a pillow and hugged it.
“I know I’m not going to meet them, but I’d like to know what they were like. How did you get along with them?”
Fiddling with the edge of his cuff, he shrugged. “My mother was a wonderful person and ruler. She made everyone happy, even my father. They could read in her for hours at a time. It wasn’t often they had time, but when they did, everyone knew where to find them.”
She smiled. “That sounds really nice. I take it you were close to your mother?”
Nodding, he gave a close-mouthed smile. “She was one of those rare people who made you feel instantly comfortable. The whole kingdom loved her. If she could have read every single day, she would.”
“I can tell you miss her a lot. What about your father?”
“He was king. He loved my mother and learned to love reading.”
She fisted her hands and raised them in the air to shake them. “Why won’t you just give a specific reply to a specific question?”
His lips curled upward, and Roz shook her head at him. “You’re not going to smile, are you?” she asked.
He shook his head and clamped his lips together.
“You weren’t close to him, were you?”
Sighing, Ezra crossed his arms and said, “No, we weren’t close.”
“See! Was it so hard to be honest?”
Ezra swallowed, thinking of the biggest secret he was keeping. It made him feel uncomfortable knowing he wasn’t being honest about something which could change their lives. The thought of lying to her was making his insides sick.
“Are you all right?”
“What?” He looked up, eyes widening.
“You look nauseous. At least, I think you look nauseous. It’s really hard to tell when your skin has a blueish tint to it. You’re not green, so I’ll take that as a good sign. However, your eye i
s now twitching.”
“Roz, can we now change the subject?”
“You haven’t given me any details. I need details! I’ve been living with the same news, the same questions, and the same people for seventeen years. Not to mention, everything surrounding your very existence has been shrouded in possible myth forever. Please tell me about your life.”
“You’re seriously in need of entertainment, aren’t you?”
“We have books. Have you seen your library?”
“Point taken,” he told her.
“Now, give me your life’s story and leave nothing out.”
The door opened, and Buford entered with a tea tray. He brought it to the low table in front of them and set it down. He began to pour without saying a word.
Roz looked at him and quirked a brow. When he continued to fix their tea without speaking, she turned to Ezra. Eyebrows raised, her eyes met his.
He shrugged. They both watched Buford add sugar and milk. The butler handed each of them a cup and saucer.
“Mrs. Hausmeister is preparing lunch. It should be ready soon. Would either of you care for anything else?”
Ezra shook his head, and Roz shook hers as well.
“Wonderful. If you need anything, please let me know.”
“What’s Mrs. Hausmeister having for lunch today?” the beast asked.
Buford said, “She’s making roast beef sandwiches with a fresh vegetable salad. Did you wish to request anything?”
Exchanging a look, Roz shook her head. “I think everything sounds delicious.”
The beast also shook his head.
“Did you want anything to go with your tea?” Buford asked.
“We’re all good here. Thank you,” Ezra said.
Giving a short bow, Buford exited.
“Was it just me or was Buford acting a little different?” Roz asked.
“No, he did seem a bit more silent than normal.”
“Do you think he overheard any of our conversation and came in to rescue you?”
“Maybe he just has fantastic ESP?”
“I’ve heard of this ESP, and he does seem to have it. Now, start talking.” Roz took a sip of her tea.
Taking a sip of his own, Ezra thought of what to say. He kept glancing at the door and hoping Buford would come back. Clearing his throat, he considered what to share.
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