Read Online Beast Lord: (Beauty and the Beast) (Tangled Tales Book 3) by Elizabeth Rose - Free Book Online Page B

as Sibeal said.
    She heard a scratching noise from behind her and turned so quickly the flame of the tallow candle nearly went out. The smell of the burning animal fat soured her stomach and the thought of rats in the passageway made her skin crawl. She headed down the hall quickly and stopped when she got to the stairs that led to the east tower. She’d never been in the east tower before, because her father had forbidden it. She wondered why, and slowly climbed the stairs, holding onto the wall since there was no guide rope or railing.
    She got to the top and saw the trap door, and wondered where it led. She was about to push it open when she heard a loud growl from the other side of the door. There was a stream of light coming from a peephole in the hidden door. She raised up on her toes and pressed her eye to it to look into the room. Sir Stefan was pacing the floor, and had a rose in his hand. It was in the decanter that she’d used for the rose days ago when she’d sewed up his wounds.
    He paced the floor back and forth, his head down and his face turned away from her. She could tell by his stance and body actions that he was angry. His shoulders were up around his neck and his free hand was balled up in a tight fist. He was angry or very aggravated about something. Perhaps this wouldn’t be a good time to confront him after all.
    She saw a petal of the rose fall off to the floor and he stopped in his tracks and looked down as if it had frightened him. Then he put the rose down on a table and bent down to pick up the petal. His back had been toward her, but when he stood up, he turned around and she could see his face perfectly.
    She gasped when she saw the stitches running down one side of his face, and then more stitches over his other cheek. Scars from battle were never pretty, and his were still so fresh and new that his face was not easy to gaze upon. She held a hand over her mouth as his head snapped up and he looked right toward her. Her eyes opened wide in horror as she realized that he might know she was there. She almost felt bad for the man after all he’d been through. She’d fixed his sutures so his scars wouldn’t be as wide as they would have been after his squire sewed him up, but pushing a needle though one’s face had its side effects. He was bruised and his face was multi-colored. He’d also grown a short beard on his face and a mustache. Then her gaze traveled up to his head. In retaliation, she’d chopped off all of his shoulder-length, beautiful tawny brown hair. The scant amount of hair left on his head was chopped and hacked and sticking out crazily in all directions. It was a shame because she felt as if at one time he was a very handsome man. Now – things were different. Now she almost regretted doing it out of spite.
    “Who’s there?” asked Stefan, and his voice sounded lower and raspier than it had the other day. “Show yourself or I’ll sever your head from your body.” He dropped the rose petal and pulled the sword from his belt with the sound of scraping metal as he held it up in the air.
    She noticed her book laying open on a chair behind him, but she wouldn’t get it today. Not while he was in the room. If she dared open the secret passageway now, he might very well kill her. She didn’t have time to take in the view of what else was in the room since he started walking right toward the secret door. She wasn’t sure if he knew of the secret passageways or not, but didn’t want to stay there to find out.
    She turned and ran down the stairs. Tripping on her gown, she had to reach out and grab for the wall, dropping the candle in the process. When she went for the candle, the flame had gone out and she had no way to relight it. Her breathing labored as she heard what sounded like the shuffling of feet from somewhere down the corridor.
    “Hello?” she called out, hoping it was a servant. “Is someone there who can help me?”
    She heard more shuffling of shoes on the