❝ when she looks into his eyes, she feels the gripping temptation to tell him all her darkest secrets; the names of the men she has killed, but she learned a long time ago that the only people who can keep secrets are resting in overgrown graveyards...
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX BEAUTY AND THE BEAST PART ONE ( ii. ) ( warning—this chapter contains explicit sexual content it's the moment you've all been waiting 46 chapters for... if you're not into smut scenes, then you can just skip the last scene in this chapter! )
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Calliope rests her arm on the table, holding a book in her other hand as her legs rest outstretched on the bench underneath. A comfortable silence drifts in the air, the scribbling of Gaius's quill as the only sound in his chambers. She keeps her thoughts at bay by focusing on the words before her, as if they are the only things that matter in the world. After last night...well, she hasn't exactly been in the best mental state, and sitting quietly with a book while Gaius works seemed like a safe option.
Her words to the Prince had been harsh, but that didn't change the truth within them. The best action is for him to move on and try to make things work with Victoria. After all, she is the woman he's going to marry, and what does he expect Calliope to do? Be the woman he sneaks away to when he's bored?
Besides, she's going through too much already. She's barely hanging on in the wake of her mother's death. Anything could make her snap, and the drinking and reading and tagging along with Gaius is all that stands between her and a rageful outburst.
She can feel Gaius's eyes flickering to her every so often. Finally, Calliope sighs and closes her book, "What is it?"
"I know you're struggling, Cal," Gaius says, "and I just want you to remember that I'm always here to talk."
"I know," she answers, looking to the floor. "I haven't really felt like talking—to anyone really."
He nods, "Everyone deals with grief in different ways," Calliope is completely aware that her methods aren't exactly the healthiest options, but they are much better than her alternatives. "I've noticed you haven't been to the training grounds in almost a month. I welcome your interest in my work, but your skills have improved Camelot's defenses, and you've become an important figure here, especially to Arthur and the knights. I just...I don't want you to lose sight of that."
"I'm tired, Gaius," Calliope finally admits, her throat burning—her chest caving. "I look at my sword, and the only thing I can think about is how I couldn't save my mother, and then everything else; my father, Sepharin, the blood wraiths, it just hits me, all at once," she shakes her head, trying to blink the tears away from her eyes. "I'm just so fucking tired, and I don't know how to keep going anymore."
The physician stands. Calliope swings her legs over the bench as he sits next to her, placing his hand on her shoulder, "We take it one day at a time, Cal. One day at a time, and we do the best we can with each day we're given. You'll have a lot of hard days, but eventually, I promise, it will get easier."
He embraces her in a quick hug, extending as much comfort as he can in the midst of her pain. Calliope lets out a shaky breath, and she pulls away, wiping a stray tear, as the door to the physician's chamber swings open.
