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Yesterday didn’t happen, I reminded myself as I stood outside Prince Chevalier’s door. He was a prince and my employer. Nothing more.
I took a deep breath and let myself into his room.
And he was also a motionless lump under the blankets. Warm, inviting sunlight bathed the room, and the clothes in the laundry hamper didn’t have a trace of blood on them. Everything was normal. Everything was fine. I got to work, doing my best to avoid looking at the bed. It was more of a distraction than he was right now. It looked so comfortable.
I really needed to get a good night’s sleep tonight.
“Good morning, Prince Chevalier!” I called at nine o’clock, throwing the drapes open to let more sunlight into the room.
His unintelligible grumbling was also normal.
“Is Sariel going to let Prince Clavis out of the dungeons long enough to help you with your work today, your highness?” I asked, turning away from the window to pull clothes from the bureau.
Blankets rustled behind me, and Prince Chevalier yawned loudly. I thought, once again, how harmless he often seemed the first thing in the morning like this.
“Noisy escaped the gallows again,” he mumbled.
“I’m glad,” I said, setting the clothes on the sofa. “He’s a pain, but I still like him.”
It was so automatic for me to look at the bed at this point, to see if I needed to keep talking to keep Prince Chevalier from falling back asleep. I didn’t even think about it. Not until my eyes met his, pale blue and intense, watching me from a sea of blankets. Two temptations rolled into one, electricity crackling in the air between us. I blushed and turned quickly away, heading for the door.
“I’ll be back with your breakfast, your highness.”
Yesterday didn’t happen, I reminded myself, stepping into the hallway. I didn’t see that look in his eyes. The look that made me feel like he wasn’t harmless at all.
“Hey, Ivetta!” Prince Leon’s big, booming voice called.
“Good morning, Prince Leon,” I said, smiling back at him as he exited his room with a genial smile. His long strides brought him next to me before I got too far, and it was a testament to how tired I was that when he threw his arm around my shoulder, I didn’t brush him off. He was pretty solid, I noted. Not just in his steady and true personality, but he was physically, literally, solid. All the princes were - at least, all the ones I’d felt. Which was…all of them, come to think of it. Except Prince Yves. He looked delicate compared to the others, but he was probably as muscular as the rest of them. They all had their own troops of knights, and they all trained with them regularly. The swords weren’t just for show.
It was a lot easier to feel safe when a wall of muscle surrounded me.
“You look tired,” Prince Leon noted.
An observant wall of muscle. That bit was annoying.
“You don’t usually sleep in,” I countered.
He shrugged. “Jin and I were up drinking last night. So, what’s your excuse? Not wandering around again, were you?”
I shook my head. “No, just up late.”
That answer didn’t satisfy the eyes I felt boring into me, but I wasn’t about to elaborate. After a moment of silence, Prince Leon finally said, “Well, if it helps at all, Theresa is safe.”
I looked up at his warm amber eyes. “You talked to Prince Chevalier?”
He laughed. “Kinda weird, huh? Turns out we can carry a conversation without wanting to kill each other.”
I giggled, glad for the subject change. “You’re grown men. It was bound to happen.”
“Are you calling us immature? That hurts, coming from a kid like you,” he teased.
“A kid?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “Do you recall the time I made beignets? Or the time Prince Yves made that chocolate cake?”
He laughed again. “Point taken. We’re immature, and you’re not a kid.”
“Thank you. Now,” I continued, slipping out from under his arm, “I need to get Prince Chevalier’s breakfast, and I’m assuming you need to get to work.”
He sighed reluctantly. “Yeah, work. If you need anything, just let me know, okay?”
“Of course,” I said brightly. “See you later.”
Theresa was safe. That was a relief. I hummed happily the rest of the way to the kitchens, looking forward to telling her about Jason and Rachel this morning. That was so cute. All the Stotts kids got along well, but Jason and Rachel had something special. Probably because she was his little baby sister, the youngest child and only girl in a family of boys. I felt sorry for anybody who took an interest in her when she was older. Mr. Stotts, five older brothers, and Mrs. Stotts with her frying pan - none of that boded well for Rachel’s future love interests.
Speaking of frying pans, I narrowly dodged one myself while I was navigating the chaotic kitchen to reach Prince Chevalier’s breakfast. Everybody was laughing and talking, the savory smells of breakfast filled the air, food sizzled in skillets, and the eggs I ate earlier felt lonely in my stomach. I snagged a biscuit off a passing platter and added it to Prince Chevalier’s tray until I was safely back in the hallway, able to balance the tray on one hand while I took a bite of the biscuit. It was hot and fresh from the oven, with a generous coating of butter on top. The eggs appreciated its company.
Prince Chevalier was in the bathroom when I returned. I set his writing desk with breakfast, and, under his plate, I found an envelope addressed to Prince Clavis. The handwriting wasn’t familiar to me. I bit my lip, flipping the envelope over, and unmarked wax sealed it shut.
What was this doing on Prince Chevalier’s breakfast tray?
For me to find.
I stuffed it in my apron pocket and moved on to making Prince Chevalier’s bed, resisting the urge to climb into it and fall asleep. The envelope wouldn’t disappear if I did that. It was addressed to Prince Clavis, but I was here in Prince Chevalier’s room, and everything about it seemed suspicious. So, did I give it to him, or wait to give it to Prince Clavis?
Then again, the last thing I needed was to give Prince Chevalier another reason to be concerned about me. Especially in his bedroom. Concern in his private library was already dangerous enough.
But he was also much more aware of everything that happened here in the palace, and he would know exactly what to do with the envelope.
“Prince Chevalier?” I asked tentatively when he emerged from the bathroom, removing the envelope from my apron pocket and looking at it instead of him. He had stopped in front of me, his black boots down below the envelope in my field of vision, the smell of roses that permeated his room even stronger with him standing near me. I swallowed hard and held out the envelope. “I found this on your breakfast tray.”
Black-gloved fingers took it, and I chanced a look at his face as he studied the envelope. Icy blue eyes, inscrutable expression - nothing of the undisguised desire I saw earlier. His eyes flicked to mine, and my heart stuttered in my chest.
“He’ll be in the library when you finish here,” he said coolly.
I nodded and took the envelope. He turned away and went to his writing desk, and I went into the bathroom, tucking the envelope back in my pocket. If it worried him at all, he didn’t let it show.
And he didn’t pull me into a passionate embrace. That was a good thing. It was, I insisted to myself, telling my heart to calm down.
He was gone when I finished in the bathroom, and I collected his dishes and headed back to the kitchens, just like any other day. Unlike any other day, I now had a warning that Prince Clavis would be waiting for me in the library. I didn’t know what to expect from him. An apology would be appropriate, but I doubted he would offer that. I knew why he kept calling me Prince Chevalier’s plaything. He believed that’s how Prince Chevalier saw me, and he was determined to make me believe that, too. It wasn’t so much a contest between them as it was Prince Clavis just liking me and not wanting to see me come to harm. I didn’t know how to make him see the truth, and I didn’t know why he lied to Sariel about my involvement with his so-called crimes. Maybe just to isolate me further from everybody? He’d almost taken me to his private villa once to keep me safe, and now I was in even more danger…
I didn’t get enough sleep last night for this.
The library was empty when I arrived. I set my cleaning supplies down and looked around, checking the sofas whose backs were to me, peeking behind the nooks created by freestanding bookshelves, and my eyes landed on Midnight Cinderella in the alcove, still lying next to The Romance of the Rose, lonely and forgotten. I really needed to take that home tonight. Maybe I’d never read it to Mother, but I wasn’t coming back for it after she…
I swallowed down the lump in my throat and headed toward the back room. Either Prince Chevalier was wrong, or Prince Clavis was waiting in there. And Prince Chevalier was rarely wrong.
“Ah, there you are,” Prince Claivs said, looking up from the book Prince Chevalier had been reading. He was sitting in Prince Chevalier’s chair, his golden eyes gleaming and his sly grin in place. “You missed my speech to the servants this morning,” he continued, closing the book and setting it on the end table as he stood up. “It was even more rousing than usual. I had Marge in tears.”
I knew he wouldn’t apologize, but I was still disappointed.
“Good morning to you, too, Prince Clavis,” I replied coolly, removing the envelope from my apron pocket and holding it out to him. “I believe this is yours.”
He took it, brown-gloved fingers deliberately brushing against mine, and his smile took on that slightly strained appearance.
“Where did you get this?” he asked, his tone still bright and cheerful.
“It was on Prince Chevalier’s breakfast tray, your highness,” I said, turning away to get my cleaning supplies. His hand caught mine and pulled me back.
“Prince Clavis-”
“Probably just another love letter from Marge,” he said lightly, releasing my hand and stuffing the envelope into an inner pocket of his jacket. “That woman is crazy about me. I just have that effect on people. But you know that better than anyone, don’t you?’
I sighed and took a step back from him. “What do you want, your highness?”
“Your undying love and affection,” he teased, smirking. “But I’ll settle for your smile.”
“Then you should leave me to my work, Prince Clavis. I’m sure Prince Chevalier has plenty of work for you to do, too, so you’re not pining away for me while I ignore you completely.”
He laughed. “Is that what you do when we’re apart? Pine for me?”
There was no winning with him.
“I can see you’re not ready to admit the depth of your emotion to me, so I’ll leave that for another day,” he continued. “Maybe our next date. I have it all planned out.”
“If it involves taking me away from here for my safety, forget it, your highness,” I said flatly. “I know you hate Prince Chevalier, and you probably think he won’t lift a finger to help me if I’m in trouble, but none of that really matters. I’m not leaving Mother.”
“Oh, I know he won’t lift a finger to help you,” Prince Clavis replied, his tone and his eyes darkening. “And he may just kill you himself if he deems that the best option for the kingdom. You see, Chev has a very strict philosophy. The kingdom takes priority above all else, including human lives. If something, or someone, threatens the kingdom, he won’t hesitate to eliminate the threat. And, if something, or someone, needs help, but is not an asset to the kingdom, he won’t lift a finger to intervene.”
“But you will help, is that right?”
“Of course,” he said lightly. “I’ve been picking up the people Chev abandoned since Bloodstained Rose Day.”
I really needed some sleep.
“Prince Leon told me about the thousand hostages who died, and I really don’t want to hear it again, your highness.”
“He probably told you Chev didn’t have a choice, right? Because Leon’s philosophy is to prioritize human lives, but if the situation demands it, he’ll make sacrifices for the sake of the kingdom. My philosophy is to save lives and hang the kingdom. It’s really a wonder Chev hasn’t killed me yet,” Prince Clavis added, laughing.
“Prince Clavis-”
“Obsidian specifically targeted Chev. He’s always been a tactical genius, confounding them every time we go to battle, and though he was well and truly a heartless beast at that point, they seemed to think taking one thousand civilians hostage would hobble him. It didn’t, of course. He didn’t even think about it. He just abandoned those people to die. Which is where I stepped in, as the gallant, handsome prince that I am, to infiltrate the Obsidianite camp and find the prisoners.”
I sat down in Prince Chevalier’s chair and put my head in my hands. “Prince Clavis, telling me this changes nothing.”
“And, of course, one man alone didn’t stand much chance against an army. They captured me, tortured me, and Chev left me to die with the rest.”
His light, airy tone only contributed to my headache. This hurt just listening to it, and he had to live it.
“Fortunately, Sariel had taught me how to pick locks, and I used that skill, along with my impressive powers of persuasion, to escape and sway one Obsidianite soldier to my side. Between the two of us, we saved a handful of civilians from being burned alive. Oh, I didn’t mention that yet. Obsidian had them locked in buildings, and they set them all on fire. Men, women, and children.”
My heart throbbed painfully. His hand landed on the arm of the chair beside me, and his fingers caught my chin to force me to look up at his golden eyes, hard and serious, inches from mine.
“Chev didn’t care then, and he won’t care now,” he said, his smile gone, his voice low and angry. “He’d rather see you burned alive than help. He may even light the match. Are you willing to stay here and face that? Is that really going to help your mother?”
I shoved his hand away. “She’s dying. What happens to me doesn’t matter, and whether you want to believe it or not, Prince Chevalier has already helped me when doing so provided him no benefit. Have you ever considered that he keeps you around because you can do the things he can’t? Save lives so he can focus on protecting the kingdom?”
His golden eyes widened, and I put both hands on his chest to shove him back so I could stand up.
“I’m sorry that happened to you. It shouldn’t have. But, as I already told you, it changes nothing. So, if you’re worried about me, do something about it that doesn’t involve taking me away from my mother, because I would rather be burned alive than leave her now. Excuse me.”
He grabbed my hand again as I tried to push past him, pulling me into an embrace. My heart started racing, and I was afraid to look up at him, thinking I should push him away, unable to actually do it. His arms held me tightly against his chest, his heart was pounding my ear, and I had to think it was this room. Maybe the romance novels were leaking into the air.
“Prince Clavis-”
“You shouldn’t be here,” he muttered.
In his arms? In the palace? Both were probably correct.
“I-I need to get to work,” I stammered.
“And I need to tell Chev he’s an idiot,” he said brightly, releasing me and walking away without even glancing back at me.
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