Before Beauty Read Online Free

edge of the streets to wave to their rulers. They always
bowed low before his father, and Ever couldn’t help but notice that
their smiles nearly disappeared when he turned to glance in their
directions. Fear, he decided, was the overarching emotion they
wore. To Ever they remained bowed, but he noticed many of them
dared a peek at their prince. A number of them, particularly the
girls, gambled a smile. He would nod and turn back to the street,
hoping his actions were as his father expected.
    As his horse rounded a corner, a
movement in the crowd caught his eye. A few boys were pushing to
get to a better spot in line. One of them shoved too hard, and a
girl who was standing at the edge of the crowd was knocked right
into the street. Without thinking, Ever hopped off his horse and
bent down to help her up. She was lanky with auburn hair and large
midnight eyes. Her dress was simple, but neat and tidy, which meant
her family probably belonged to the skilled worker
class.
    As soon as his hand touched hers,
he felt his face redden with shame, and he could feel his father’s
icy glare on his back. So much for staying removed from the crowd.
Helping the girl stand, he nodded quickly at her and turned to get
back on his horse. His father would have some choice words for him
later. He didn’t dare look at the king. The procession had come to
a halt as the people watched the actions of their young prince with
a sudden pride, but none of their opinions mattered. He had failed
his father.
    Eager to be on his way and ready
to forget the whole ordeal, Ever was nearly on his horse when he
felt a tug on his sleeve and a gasp from the crowd. Turning, he saw
the girl had lost her bewildered expression of shock, and had
followed him to his horse, and even dared to do what his servants
did not.
    “ Thank you, Your Highness,” she
looked up at him with eager eyes. Anger pulsed through him. Why
couldn’t she just let him alone? Impatient to be rid of her, he
roughly pushed her hand off his arm. As he often did, however, Ever
forgot the amount of strength that ebbed through him. What he’d
meant as a simple brush shot blue fire from his arm to hers. She
fell backward, right in front of a cart horse. The horse startled
and reared, and with two sickening cracks, landed on the girl’s
wrist and ankle. Ever watched in horror. She screamed as the
villagers rushed to her side.
    “ Everard!” His father’s voice was
sharper than he’d ever heard it. Slowly, he tore his gaze away from
the mess he’d made to look at the king. “On your horse!” The fury
in his words was unmistakable, and Ever miserably nodded and did
his best to finish the procession. But as he rode, he could hold
his head high no longer, and every time he closed his eyes, the
look of pain on the child’s face was there before him. To make
things even worse, Ever’s father was not kind that evening after
the celebration was over.
    “ Not only did you deliberately
disobey me, but you made the situation worse with that wretched
temper of yours! Now we have one more cripple to live on the
streets and beg, one more unproductive citizen to waste precious
resources on!” Ever doubted she would live on the streets, judging
by the clothes she was wearing, not that his father would ever
notice that kind of thing. But his father was right. He’d added one
more helpless, unproductive citizen to his kingdom, one more thread
of weakness for the enemy to target. His mother said little about
the incident, except to complain that the pause in the procession
had been bad for her hair. Garin and Gigi were the only ones who
seemed to understand how he felt.
    “ And is the young prince wanting
some hot cider tonight?” Garin had slipped in that evening, as he
often did when his duties were done. Despite the enormous load of
work that King Rodrigue placed on the steward, he always seemed to
have time for Ever. That night, however, not even Garin could cheer
him up. The boy had shaken his