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Ed sat in one of the benches overlooking the sea. It was one of his favorite places to come read, when the daylight was right. This was a fine day and the chatter of other people out enjoying the weather provided a pleasant backdrop of noise. His ears pricked as he recognized some of the voices in the chatter, especially when one called his name.
“I wondered if you would be out here today,” Tomas exclaimed. He had his arm around Eloise’s shoulders, as per usual. And, also as per usual, Yvette and Crispin were right behind them.
Ed greeted them all, lowering his book into his lap. He smiled. “I couldn’t stay inside on a day like today, but didn’t feel like traveling far.”
“What are you reading?” Yvette asked as she tucked her skirts and sat beside him. She turned her head to read the title. “Beast. Hm, interesting. Is it a scary story?”
“Oh, no!” Ed said. “It’s a romance, actually.”
Crispin laughed. “I could have told you that. Aside from all those books on magic, the only thing Ed reads is romances.”
“I’ve seen him attempt a few Meskato epics,” Tomas said. He waved his free hand dismissively. “Can’t blame him for never finishing. I’ve had someone tell me the interesting parts of a few, but there’s so much boring poetry in between. Maybe it’s more exciting in the original language, but after it’s translated to Chantelais—” He shrugged. “not as good.”
“Ed can read Meskato though, can’t you, Ed?” Yvette said.
“Of course he can,” Eloise chuckled. “That’s his job, remember? To translate books to and from Chantelais, and that means knowing Meskato and Tolmish.”
Tomas chucked Ed affably under the chin. “Our clever Ed. Now, what’s this romance about?”
Ed reopened the book and ran his hand over the pages. “Th-The main character is Meskato, actually. A prince.” He licked his lower lip, eyes going distant for half a second. “He’s cursed by a djinn for performing sacrilege at a festival, turned into a lion the day before his father, the Emperor, is set to kill a lion bare-handed. But the djinn said that even if he can escape that fate, he will only become human again if a woman can come to love him as a beast.”
“Ah,” Yvette said, nodding. “Hence the title.”
“Exactly. But he cannot speak as a lion, so he has no idea how he’s going to get a woman to love him. But, he has heard that the women of Chantel are the most romantic in the world, capable of turning cold stone to warm flesh with their love.”
“They certainly are,” Tomas said with his eyes and wolfish grin turned to Eloise.
“How does he get to Chantel?” Crispin asked. “If he’s a prince of the Meskato Empire, he must live around Inecalar, and they aren’t going to let a lion onto a ship.”
Ed tapped the book. “I haven’t gotten to that part yet. He managed to get across the strait and has been wandering the desert beyond Old Sulam for a year, but now he’s trying to figure out how to get to Chantel. He’s thinking maybe he can convince some woman that he is a tame lion, and she’ll take him in as a pet and come to love him that way.”
Tomas scoffed. “A prince? Becoming someone’s pet?”
“It has happened before,” Eloise said, waggling her eyebrows. She gasped. “Ed! If you’re looking for romances with Meskato princes, I saw a shop nearby with a copy of A Royal Affair for sale! Have you read that one yet?”
“Oh, I adore that book!” Yvette said. She clasped her hands over her heart. “I would have treated Prince Halwyn much better though.”
“But you see what I mean?” Eloise said. “Prince Halwyn essentially became Prince Ahsan’s pet.”
Ed clutched the edges of his book. His face had gone bright red and his eyes were distant behind his spectacles again.
“Are you alright?” Yvette asked.
Crispin snorted. “Thinking about what he’d like Prince Ahsan to do to him, I expect.” He winked and added, “I think you’d be his type.”
“Ed wouldn’t put up with someone like Ahsan,” Tomas said. “Besides, it’s all based on what happened with the heathen Emperor and his former lover, right? You know, the lost prince of Tolm? Ed’s probably trying not to go off on a rant about what a disgrace it all was. Not just that a member of the Tolmish royal family would debase himself like that, but that the Meskato bastard probably got off on it. Frankly, I hope when they lose this war, someone takes Emperor Cemil and—”
Ed leapt to his feet and slammed his book shut. “I came out here to read in peace, you know,” he snapped. “Not to listen to more of that gossip.” Without looking at any of them, he stormed off towards his house.
His friends all stared after him. Crispin shrugged. “Maybe Prince Ahsan is his type too afterall.”