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I just wanted to get to the library. That was all. I’d changed into a clean dress, I’d eaten lunch, and I’d decided the best way to have a private conversation with Gilbert was to isolate myself from everybody else and let him find me. He never had trouble doing that. And if he didn’t show up, I could at least get some reading in before the tea party at two thirty.
Of course, my plan hinged on me being alone, and after three random stops in the hallway from assorted nobility, that didn’t seem likely to happen.
“I’d love to,” I said, smiling at my most recent interruption, a heavyset countess and her three plump daughters. “Why don’t you send the details to Sariel, and he’ll work it out with my schedule?”
Lady Simmons gave me a syrupy smile. Her husband, Lord Simmons, looked very much like the barrel in a waistcoat Luke fashioned for Clavis’ mock social gathering. He was also on bad terms with the Michels, and his daughters’ constant giggling behind their mother grated on my nerves. I couldn’t tell if they were laughing at me or at their mother’s poor sense of humor. Either way, I wasn’t looking forward to a salon at their estate an hour’s carriage ride away from the palace, but it could be a step toward better relations if all went well.
And, judging by the size of the family, I could at least count on the food being good.
“I’ll do that,” the countess said. “Come along, girls. We mustn’t keep your father waiting.”
The youngest of the ‘girls’ was at least ten years older than me, but all three followed their mother like chicks following a hen. Plump fluffy yellow chicks following a plump red-feathered hen, I thought, noting their garish yellow dresses and their mother’s voluminous red gown. I tucked that image away and bade them a polite farewell. Maybe I would laugh about it later when I made it to the library.
“Hey, Ivetta!”
If I made it to the library.
I heaved a sigh and turned to acknowledge Clavis’ arrival to the section of hallway where I’d spent the last thirty minutes, and my heart stopped for a split second. Silvio and Gilbert were with him. I only held Gilbert’s blood-red gaze for a moment, but that was a moment too long.
“I heard you’re baking today,” Clavis said.
That got my attention back on him. His golden eyes and wide smile told me he was up to something, which put me on edge even more than his choice of companions. “Where did you hear that?”
“What will it be this time?” he continued, ignoring my question. “Beignets again? Or something different? A tart? A pie? Darioles?”
Licht or Keith must have told him I wanted to talk to Yves, I realized. I’d only intended to ask Yves if he knew how to make échaudés, and if he did, schedule a baking session for another day, but baking tonight could be fun. It was something I hadn’t done since Mother’s birthday two and a half months ago, and, after an afternoon of socializing with the upper class, spending a few hours in the familiarity of a kitchen with Chevalier and his brothers could be a nice, relaxing diversion. That would give me an excuse to change out of my corset and into one of the comfortable commoners’ dresses Chevalier bought me, too.
“Okay,” I said, interrupting Clavis and his increasingly lengthy list of desserts.
His golden eyes widened in momentary surprise. “Really?”
I smiled and nodded. “But it won’t be until after dinner, and it won’t be anything fancy, at least not from me. I’m not staying up late tonight. If Yves wants to make something extravagant, that’s up to him.”
“I should warn you, I have a voracious appetite,” Gilbert said. His words sent a chill down my spine, even though his tone and his expression were pleasant. He would be there, too?
“He really does,” Silvio said. “However much you think is enough, double it. He can eat as much as a dozen people, easy.”
And Silvio, too. The promise of a fun, relaxing evening was dwindling before my eyes.
“Ivetta!”
Two interruptions at once. How wonderful. I stifled another sigh and turned around to see Theresa hurtling down the hall toward me, her face flushed and her green eyes bright and sparkling.
“Theresa, what’s gotten into you?” I scolded her. She skidded to a stop in front of me and seized my hands.
“I have a date,” she gushed. “With this gorgeous butler who’s leaving tomorrow, so I need tonight off. Please?”
I stared at her for a moment. She’d done this sort of thing in front of my guards before, but never anybody else, not even Chevalier, and she was terrified of Gilbert. Did she even know he, Silvio, and Clavis were watching us right now, or was she off in her own little world?
“You have no shame,” I finally said.
She groaned in frustration and shook my hands urgently. “Come on, Ivetta. He’s leaving tomorrow. I don’t have time to be shy and cute like you always are about Chevalier.”
I blushed and pulled my hands from hers. Clavis was snickering. “Embarrass yourself all you want, but could you at least try not to embarrass me?”
She rolled her eyes. “You think that’s embarrassing? What if I say-”
“Another word, and you’re not only not going on that date tonight, but you’re also waiting on the Simmons every minute that I don’t need you for the rest of the day,” I said coolly.
“What happened to you being the magnanimous princess?” she asked, frowning.
“What happened to you being the model maid?” I countered.
She sighed and straightened up. “Fine. I will be on my best behavior from now on, your highness,” she said, overemphasizing the last two words.
“Don’t do that,” I sighed. “Just go on your date and have fun. Clavis roped me into baking tonight, anyway, so you’d have the evening to yourself, regardless.”
Her face split into a wide smile. “You’re the best!” she squealed, crushing me in a tight hug. “I promise I’ll tell you everything when I get back. Tomorrow morning, if all goes well.”
“Please don’t,” I said, smiling despite the awkwardness of having this conversation in public.
“Oh, the tea party’s gonna be in that little area north of the fountain,” she said, releasing me. “You know, the table that’s just off the main path but hidden by rose bushes. I’d better go check on the scones. Can I use your bath salts later? Thanks, bye!”
I shook my head as I watched her go. Nothing excited her as much as a date - hers, mine, it didn’t matter. I hoped that butler knew what he was getting himself into.
“‘Roped you into baking?’” Clavis repeated. “That makes it sound as though I forced you into something you didn’t want to do.”
He bore a distinctly crestfallen expression, and I didn’t believe it was real for even a second.
“You that friendly with all your maids?” Silvio asked, his sharp sea-blue eyes disapproving.
“We used to work together,” I replied, ignoring Clavis’ comment. “Well, she used to work for Leon, but we bumped into each other fairly often, and we always got along really well. Chevalier had her reassigned to keep me company when I was recovering, and she’s been my maid ever since. It’s hard to treat her like my servant when she’s really my best friend, though, and I don’t see why I should, especially since none of you ever treated me like a normal servant.”
“Not even Chev?” Clavis asked, smirking.
“I don’t know how he treated the maids that preceded me, and he wasn’t particularly friendly at first, but I don’t think his treatment of me was ever ‘normal’ by anybody’s standard.”
“You would be correct.”
A hand came to rest on the small of my back at the same time Chevalier’s voice spoke behind me. I jumped, startled by his sudden arrival.
“Chevalier! You need to stop scaring me like that,” I chided him, although I couldn’t help but smile. He was back in his normal white and black attire, and, judging by the stronger than usual scent of roses, he’d recently bathed, too.
“Then you need to be more observant,” he replied, a smile playing across his lips as he applied light pressure to my back. “Come.”
“Stealing her already, Chev?” Clavis complained. “But we haven’t heard what your unfriendly, abnormal treatment of her was yet.”
“I wouldn’t tell you, anyway,” I called back to him.
It was much easier traversing the halls with Chevalier by my side. He didn’t invite simple greetings, much less full conversations, the way I did, and he didn’t demand conversation from me, either. I enjoyed the comfortable silence as we approached his office. The locked door told me Nokto and Luke weren’t inside, and when Chevalier’s hand left my back to remove the key from his pocket, I wondered if I could surprise him with the big kiss I’d been saving since Sariel told me when he ordered my ring. Surprising him wasn’t easy.
“Nobody’s been here yet?” I asked, stepping into the dark room with its drawn curtains.
“No,” he said.
The lock clicked in the door behind us. He was about to kiss me, I realized. If I wanted to beat him to it, I had to stop thinking about it and just do it. I summoned my courage and threw my arms around his neck, standing on tiptoe to press my lips to his. It took a moment for his arms to come around me, which told me I had surprised him. I smiled against his lips, encouraged by that small victory to try deepening the kiss the way he often did. He responded to the light prodding of my tongue against his lips by opening them up, and I pulled his neck closer, feeling a mixture of nervousness and shy excitement as I tried to mimic the passionate kisses he always instigated. His hand slid up my back to cradle my head, and the fingers of his other hand dug into my waist, so I knew he was enjoying the effort, even if I wasn’t as confident as he was.
“What was that for?” he asked, smiling when I pulled back.
“You mean you don’t know?” I teased. “Sariel told me you ordered the ring while I was still at Flandre’s estate.”
“My estate,” he corrected me, sliding his hand down to my upper back. “I reclaimed it as Michel territory. And I ordered the ring the first time I left you there.”
He was so good at rousing the butterflies and filling my heart to bursting.
“I love you,” I said, smiling shyly.
“The feeling is mutual,” he said, leaning in to give me a kiss that put mine to shame. It was hard to take notes for my next attempt when he flooded my senses and fogged up my mind so completely. I clung to his neck, gasping at the heat of his lips on mine, breathing in his breath and his cologne, feeling his heart pounding in his chest as his fingers dug into my waist again and his other hand rubbed up and down my spine. The dizzying depths of his crystal blue eyes drew me in and held me captive even when his lips released me from the kiss.
“I think I wanted to talk to you about something,” I said breathlessly.
“You think?” he asked, smirking.
I closed my eyes and rested my forehead on his chest. “You make it hard to think sometimes.”
He chuckled, stroking my back with long, slow movements, the way he stroked my hair when I left it down. I let my hands fall from his neck to wrap around his waist, turning my face to rest my cheek against his chest. His heartbeat was slowing and steadying out. Mine probably was, too.
“Gilbert,” he prompted me.
I nodded. “He isn’t the only thing I wanted to talk to you about, but he’s the least fun, so we can start there.”
“What happened?”
“He asked me to dance,” I said. Chevalier’s heart sped up a little. “And he told me about your agreement. I’m guessing he forced you into that?”
“It was his condition for convincing his father to sign the treaty,” Chevalier replied.
“That makes sense. I’m meeting him again later today.”
“No.”
I opened my eyes and looked up at him, resting my chin on his chest. “That’s not your decision, Chevalier. We both know he won’t hurt me, and if I’m going to see him at official functions regularly, I need to get more comfortable around him. I don’t like to feel scared every time I see him.”
Chevalier sighed and scooped me up. I squeaked in surprise, throwing my arms around his neck again as he carried me across the room.
“What are you doing?”
“Getting more comfortable,” he said, sitting in the chair behind his desk and settling me on his lap.
“You’d better not do this tonight in front of your brothers,” I warned him.
He smirked. “Meeting Gilbert alone isn’t enough. Now, you’re telling me we’ll have an audience tonight. I’ve given you too much freedom, little dove.”
“It’s the other way around, if you think you can pick me up and carry me around whenever you want. Maybe I shouldn’t invite you to the kitchens for dessert tonight,” I teased.
“You’re baking again?” he asked, sliding his hand from the outside of my thigh up to my hip. I swatted it away.
“Behave yourself. I have a tea party at two thirty, and you need to work.”
“And then?”
“And then, you and I need to visit the stables, because Blade wanted attention when I was there this morning, but my guards wouldn’t let me near him,” I replied, letting my hands slide around from the back of his neck to play with the fastening of his cloak.
“At least they have sense,” he muttered. “Is that all you wanted to tell me?”
I shook my head. “Two more things. First, Sariel told me about the engagement ceremony, and he seemed stressed about it, so I told him he doesn’t have to plan it right away.”
Chevalier frowned. “You should have consulted me first.”
“You’re forgetting that I’m not used to any of this. I need a little time, too.”
“How much time?”
I shrugged. “At least a week between every major life change would be nice.”
“Fine. What else?”
I glanced up at his pale blue eyes, watching me intently. “Theresa has a date tonight, and I’m not staying up late baking,” I said casually, dropping my eyes to my fingers again. His hand cupped my cheek and urged me to look at him.
“You are a foolish little dove,” he murmured, brushing his thumb across my cheek.
“Maybe, but I’m your foolish little dove,” I said, biting my lip.
It wasn’t a good idea to tease him like that. I knew that, and I knew a hostess should be early to her own tea party, but I also knew he could keep track of the time for both of us while we indulged in a little kissing and cuddling. It was only our first day together as an engaged couple. I figured we could be a little irresponsible and giddy.
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