Before Beauty Read Online Free Page A

head as he stared sullenly into the
fire.
    “ Come now, Your Highness,” Gigi,
the Fortress’s head kitchen matron slipped in from behind Garin.
Despite his protests, she set a cup of steaming cider down beside
his bed, and proceeded to adjust the pillows around the boy.
“Tomorrow will be a better day.” She smiled gently at him from
underneath her mop of silver curls. She patted his cheek
affectionately with a soft hand before wishing him goodnight,
leaving him alone with Garin. Garin walked around the room
straightening chairs as Ever sipped his drink. The only sounds were
the crackle of the fire and the scrape of furniture against the
floor.
    “ I did something bad today,” Ever
finally spoke, his voice cracking twice. Instead of denying it, as
all of the courtiers had done, however, Garin spoke with painful
honesty.
    “ I heard about that. How badly do
you think she was injured?”
    “ It looked pretty bad,” Ever
admitted. Garin just nodded. He waited a few moments before
speaking, and Ever found himself strangely anxious to hear what the
older man would say. Disappointing his father had been bad enough.
He didn’t know if he could bear to have the steward disappointed in
him as well.
    “ We all make mistakes, Sire. Some,
unfortunately, cannot be mended as easily as others. I have found,
in my humble experience, that when we hold positions of power, our
mistakes often hurt more than just ourselves. They hurt others. It
is something we must live with.” He was quiet for a moment before
adding, “But the important thing is that we learn from our
mistakes. What you did today was indeed unkind. But you will be no
better off if you simply regret it. You must learn from it so that
you never hurt another like that again. Everyone makes mistakes,
Ever, but a true leader takes the knowledge he gains with him, and
he applies it towards his future.
    “ Now,” Garin gave Ever a smile,
his eyes crinkling kindly in an expression very different from the
one the king had worn when they’d parted. “It’s time for you to
sleep. Like Gigi says, tomorrow will be a new day.” Ever had hoped
their kind words would make sleep easier, but the moment he shut
his eyes, he saw the look of hurt and betrayal in those dark eyes
again.
    The incident took longer to forget
than he’d hoped, but eventually, with the help of his father, he
learned to shut it out, along with any other distractions that
bothered him or might steal his attention from defense of the
kingdom. For that was his duty, his father said.
    “ Other kings live in soulless
buildings, cold and austere, castles that provide little motivation
for defense other than their own personal comforts. But this place,
our Fortress,” he ran his hand lovingly over the marble walls as
they walked. “This Fortress is the source of our strength. It is
what sets us apart from others of our rank. It must be protected at
all costs, and its kingdom as well. There is no other like it, and
there never will be again. And it knows,” he had turned a sharp eye
to his son, “when we lose our focus. Keep your eyes on the horizon,
Everard. You never know who might be coming to steal that focus and
this Fortress from you.”
    It hadn’t been an easy road.
Ever’s father, always able to focus on the horizon, was like a
statue with eyes that never wavered, or even closed for that
matter. Ever didn’t have that kind of vision, the ability to block
out all but the goal. Instead, he was inclined to notice the slight
changes in seasons, or when a servant was acting differently
because of an illness or suffering.
    From a young age, he’d loved
exploring the Fortress grounds. He found a peace, a quiet communion
of the soul with the colossal citadel when he was deep in its
sheltering greenery or underneath its stone arches. It took great
effort for him to throw off the childhood desire to pause sometimes
and simply exist in the secret places of his beloved home. It was
somewhat painful to