The Beastkeeper's Redemption

Seventeen

Seventeen
-ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ-

If he had had more time, Kaede would have spent minutes longer committing the remarkably cute, dumbfounded expression on Izzy's face to memory. Her lips parted, her brows scrunched, and her cheeks flushed endearingly. Not to mention the feel of her fingers splayed against the flesh of his chest was rather pleasing.

However, the sensations were short lived and soon she composed herself in favour of a noise occurring from the service entrance they had previously occupied- the jangle of a key in a lock, the quiet turning of the brass knob and the hesitant creak of unoiled hinges.

Suddenly, they were no longer alone and Izzy propelled herself away from him as if he had turned into a blazing piece of coal.

"A servant?" he enquired and was met with a desperate, almost wild look.

"Please."

Her whispered appeal pricked his curiosity. It would go against every natural instinct in his body- the impetuous, hotheadedness that favoured action rather than speculation- but Kaede resolved to sit in silence and await whatever to unfold that was compelling her to resemble an entrapped hare.

With his arms bound with rope behind his back. A ludicrous position- one that he could sever in a second, but he didn't let her know that.

Yet.

Soft footsteps preceded a tall, dark-haired woman who squinted into the gloom of the chamber before coming to an abrupt halt on the threshold. Her wide gaze absorbed the scene before her and a thick, tense beat of silence hung heavily on the currents of air surrounding all three occupants.

"Well," the stranger declared and propped her hands on her hips, "perhaps I judged you too harshly for leaving behind the stage if this is what replaced your talents. So much for those rules, hmm?"

"Lou!" Izzy cast him an apologetic glance before hurrying towards the other woman. "What are you doing here?"

"I should ask the same of you," the female named Lou returned slyly as she encased Izzy in a quick yet firm embrace. Her hard, shrewdish gaze never once left him, however, and switched swiftly across his form as if she were mentally taking stock of his physical qualities and weighing them up against... something. "I have been visiting at this hour for a few days now (to avoid notice, of course- God knows what would happen to my reputation being seen around a semi-reputable area) to ascertain your sister's wellbeing- ever since I saw a suspicious-seeming figure loitering around on the street outside. Now, tell me. Is this the boy you have been kissing?"

Intentions to hold his tongue fled as promptly as he had resolved to curb any words that jumped upon it. "Boy?" But there was something more pressing invoking his concern, which in hindsight should have taken precedence over his indignity. "Suspicious figure?"

"Kaede." Izzy shot him a sharp look.

"Ho! It speaks." Lou gave him a seductive smile. It was clear she was a beautiful woman- and well she knew it too if her comportment was anything to go by- but he found little appeal to her. He had found little appeal in any other female since the day he had encountered Izzy flipping that pistol around her fingers all those weeks ago.

Even when she wore nondescript, drab grey gowns and those spectacles that made her eyes seem too large and inquisitive, he had been overwhelmed by her. Simply, deep-down within him, there was something that trumpeted recognition of her soul, her being and person. He was surprised there was no visible tether that joined them together, but he would not deny himself the rightness of his choice despite the secrets he had excavated and hurdles they both navigated to reach this point.