Keith sent me a letter about Ivetta. He wanted to buy her a gift, but he didn’t know what she would like. I smiled to myself, reading that letter. Word of her new status as a princess had reached our neighbors quickly. This would undoubtedly be the first of many inquiries on her behalf. I knew she would like anything given to her, regardless of the object in question. It was the gesture that mattered most. But horseback riding would become part of her curriculum, though it wasn’t a priority for her preparations for the coronation ceremony, and none of the horses in the palace stables seemed quite right for her. I wrote him back requesting a horse. His response was prompt, the delivery of a petite red roan mare, delicate in appearance, fierce and independent in nature. Not the best mount for a new rider, but perfect for Ivetta. I looked forward to the day we would both be able to get away and go for a ride together.
I missed her. Just waking up reminded me of that. My room was too quiet without her humming, her sweet voice, too empty without her moving about in it. Even when I wasn’t gone for one inspection tour or another, entire days would go by without seeing her. The prospect of another late-night visit was more and more tempting. But I knew I’d end up wanting more than just a kiss, and she’d thus far given no indication of a similar desire. I didn’t want to press the issue with her difficult past weighing heavily on my mind. So, I resigned myself to taking advantage of every moment I could get with her, knowing it was never enough.
“Good morning, Chevalier!”
The comforter was yanked off of me, and I rolled over to face her voice. It wasn’t even light outside. This had to be a dream, my subconscious determined to torture me.
“What are you doing here?” I mumbled.
“I’m stealing you for the day, but we have to leave early if we aren’t going to be caught. Meet me at the stables,” she said cheerfully, dropping the comforter on the floor.
The door had barely closed behind her before I was up and getting dressed. Dream or not, I was going along with this. A few minutes with her here or there wasn’t enough. A whole day? My heart was already pounding thinking about it.
The grooms started their morning work while it was still dark, so our horses were fed and ready for exercise when I arrived, only a few minutes behind Ivetta. Her guards were standing silently at the entrance to the stables. Their presence solidified the reality of what was happening. They didn’t usually feature in my dreams of her.
“You know I don’t like getting up early,” I grumbled, but the smile on her face was more than enough to make up for the inconvenience.
“We’ve got to hurry. Sariel will be looking for me soon,” she said, throwing the saddle over her mare’s back.
“You’ve spent too much time with Clavis,” I muttered as I saddled Blade.
“Insults will get you nowhere.” She mounted without assistance and looked proudly down at me. “Would you mind handing me that basket?”
We galloped out of the stable yard in the dark, just as the eastern horizon began to turn gray. The wind was an artist, whipping her silky black hair behind her, bringing color to her cheeks, swirling her green skirt around her knees. She was wearing my favorite dress, though she was riding side-saddle as a proper lady should. Not that a proper lady would invade a man’s room while it was still dark and yank the comforter off of him. Not that I cared when her sparkling green eyes met mine and she smiled.
No dream could be this good.
After the palace was out of sight, she slowed her mare down to a leisurely walk, and I pulled Blade in line beside her.
“What are you up to?” I asked, smiling at her mischievous expression.
“You stole me away one night, and now I’m repaying the favor. Where would you like to eat breakfast?”
“My little dove is looking for trouble, I see.” I looked around and pointed toward the edge of the forest up ahead. “That spot appears to be suitable.”
I settled the horses while she spread a blanket across the hillside. We sat down together, enjoying the breakfast she’d packed as the sun rose. I’d never seen a sunrise before, nor had I cared to, and the sky put on a dazzling display for me. The first shades of purple and pink appeared, followed by reds, oranges, and yellows. There were a few small clouds near the horizon, and they, too, were painted in brilliant color. But more beautiful still was the expression of wonder on Ivetta’s face as she watched the sky.
“What else did you have planned for today?” I asked, moving the basket aside and sliding over to her.
“Nothing.” She smiled as I put my arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer. “Today is your day.”
“And why is that?” I asked, brushing the hair away from her neck and kissing it. She didn’t realize how dangerous such a statement could be.
“You’re always doing things for me, and I just wanted to do something for you for a change.”
“Oh?” I lay back, pulling her down with me, testing the waters. She snuggled up to my side, laying her head on my chest with a contented sigh. Disappointing, but not surprising. Her innocence was increasingly enticing and simultaneously frustrating.
“You seem to have missed me,” I commented, stroking her hair and kissing her forehead.
“Very much,” she whispered and closed her eyes.
This may not have been the response I was hoping for, but I had nothing to complain about, lying there with her, the warmth of the early morning sun beating down on us.
“I’m going to fall asleep, Ivetta,” I mumbled drowsily, giving in to my increasingly heavy eyelids and closing them.
“I probably will, too,” she muttered.
Maybe mornings weren’t so bad. At least, not all of them. Not this one.
Especially when it was her light touch on my cheek that awakened me later. She was looking down at me, her silky black hair falling in curtains around her face, the strands cascading across my neck. I caught her hand and kissed her fingers, enraptured by her shy green eyes and the blush touching her cheeks. Irresistible. I pulled her back down for a kiss, wrapping my arms around her and pressing her soft form against me.
“Good morning,” she gasped, pulling away as her flush deepened.
“Indeed.” I pulled her in for another kiss, hungry for more of her.
“There you are,” interrupted a stern voice.
Sariel. I could have throttled him, were Ivetta not there to witness it. She sighed, and we both sat up.
“Good morning, Sariel,” she said, trying a sweet smile on him. Her cheeks were still bright red, and she couldn’t meet his eyes. My irritation wavered in the face of her shy embarrassment.
“Princess Ivetta, you simply cannot wander off like this. You had me worried,” Sariel said firmly, interrupting my thoughts.
“You’re dismissed, Sariel,” I snapped, turning the full force of my icy glare on him.
“And Prince Chevalier, I am disappointed in you. Have you forgotten the important meeting with foreign diplomats this morning?”
“Clavis, Nokto, and Luke know all the details. They can handle it.”
I hadn’t forgotten, and I wasn’t backing down, either. She was far more important than this glorified social affair.
“The diplomats were expecting the future king.”
“Chevalier, maybe we should go back,” she interjected. Her hand found mine and gave it a squeeze. “It was silly of me to think we could have a whole day together.”
“Ah, the princess is finally showing some sense,” Sariel commented.
“You have already been dismissed,” I said in a threatening growl. I stood, pulling her up with me. There was no reason she couldn’t attend the meeting with me, and then we could resume our impromptu day off.
Sariel met my gaze, not in the least intimidated by me, with Ivetta present as a buffer.
“Very well.” He turned and walked back to his horse, tied up beside ours.
“Chevalier-”
“You will spend the day with me,” I said with finality. “Let’s go.”
She looked over at me as we rode back, lagging behind Sariel. Her smile was gone, saddened by the loss of our day together - or so she thought. I would have her smiling again soon enough.
“I was going to ask Sariel for a favor, but maybe I’ll wait on that,” she said.
“What is it you want?” I asked. Regardless of Sariel’s mood, he was bound to obey my orders.
“Well, it’s been a while since I’ve seen Belle. I was going to ask him for a day off, or even a couple of hours, so I can go visit her.”
“You’re lonely,” I observed.
She paused, thinking. “Maybe I am. I don’t have time to see anybody, with all the lessons and studying.” She looked over at me and smiled. “And you already know how much I’ve been missing you.”
We left the horses in the hands of the stable boys and headed back to the palace.
“I named her Rose,” she said as we walked. “Licht said you had her imported from Jade.”
“She was a gift from Keith,” I explained, correcting her misperception. “He wrote me a letter to ask what would be a suitable present. I suggested a horse, trusting he knew enough about you to select an appropriate mount.”
“That was very sweet of him. I’ll have to write him a letter of thanks.”
Of course she would. Any kind gesture, perceived or otherwise, brought her happiness. I glanced down and noted the return of her smile. We were alone in the hallway, and I saw no need to hold back. I stopped us suddenly and pulled her into a deep kiss.
“Chevalier,” she protested weakly.
“You’re wearing the dress I gave you,” I said, still holding her tightly against me.
“I don’t get to wear it very often anymore. It’s not fancy enough.”
I kissed her again. “You can wear it for me whenever you like. But you will need to dress more formally for the meeting.”
“You want me to come with you?” she asked nervously.
“This is my day, remember?” I kissed her again and released her. “I’ll be at my office.”
Maybe I should escort her back to her room, but it wouldn’t take her more than a minute or two to get there, and her guards would be waiting. If she hadn’t already told them to take the day off.
“Hey, Chev,” Clavis greeted me as I entered my office. “I went to your room to wake you up, but oddly enough, you weren’t there.”
“Ivetta was gone, too,” Nokto commented, his crimson eyes glittering. “Sariel came looking for her at breakfast.”
“And then Licht came in from the stables and said you’d taken your horses and left,” Luke added, grinning widely.
“It was too bad. I had a nice song ready to hum to you when I woke you up. Maybe you’d like to hear it now?” Clavis asked with a sly grin.
“No,” I said coolly. “Are all the preparations in order?”
“Of course, King Highness. I hope your early morning ride hasn’t tired you out unnecessarily.”
I ignored Nokto’s thinly veiled innuendo and took my seat at my desk, collecting the documents we would be discussing at the meeting.
“A gentleman doesn’t kiss and tell, Nokto. Isn’t that what you said, Clavis?” Luke was enjoying the teasing as much as the other two. And it was about to get worse. Her characteristic knock wasn’t long in coming to the door, and Nokto opened it.
“King Highness, your lovely little dove is here to see you,” he said with a sly smile.
“Good morning, everybody,” she said with a smile of her own. She had chosen the pink dress, and her hair was neatly brushed and swept over one shoulder. Perhaps a bit too alluring for this meeting - or, at the very least, my ogling brothers. I rose from the desk and came to her side, slipping my arm around her waist possessively.
“Come,” I said to them, leading her out into the hallway, where her guards had posted themselves silently outside of my door. The faint blush on her cheeks told me she was embarrassed at my public display of affection, but she didn’t pull away, and I needed to make a point. She glanced back over her shoulder, probably ensuring the guards weren’t following us.
“Will Ivetta be joining us, then?” Clavis asked, coming alongside her with a gleam in his golden eyes.
“Do you have any objections?” I asked, my voice cold and hard.
“No, I just didn’t realize she was ready for this sort of thing,” Clavis replied smoothly.
“What is this meeting about?” she asked.
“King Highness didn’t tell you?” The hall was wide enough in this particular area for Nokto to walk next to Clavis, and his crimson eyes regarded her with surprise.
“No, this was sort of a last-minute thing.” Her blush deepened. She was much better at hiding her thoughts now than when she first arrived at the palace, but there was nothing she could do about how easily she blushed. Nor did I want her to.
“We will be meeting with a delegation from Obsidian, sent as a show of goodwill by Gilbert,” I stated.
She looked up at me nervously. “Are you sure it’s okay for me to come?”
“Yes,” I said firmly, glancing back down at her.
“Nothing really important will be discussed, but this needs to go well if friendly relations are to continue,” Nokto added. “But what could be friendlier than having a beautiful woman join us at the table? And Gilbert’s favorite, too.”
“Nokto,” I warned.
“Well, I’m glad she’s coming,” volunteered Luke from behind us. “These meetings are always so boring.”
“I don’t think I’ll be able to add anything, Luke,” she said shyly.
“Maybe not for the political discussions, but there’ll be a party after,” Clavis intoned, amusement evident in his voice.
“How long do these things normally last?” she asked. She was working hard to maintain her composure, in spite of their teasing.
“Once the wine starts flowing, it’s hard to say,” Nokto replied casually. “How well do you hold your alcohol, Ivetta?”
“We will be leaving early. I trust you three can manage on your own after the political discussions are complete,” I said firmly.
“Of course we can. It’s too bad Sariel had to interrupt your important conference. I’m sure you’re eager to resolve some unfinished business,” Clavis said, smiling widely.
“Clavis!” she protested, smiling in spite of her embarrassment.
“Aw, you’re red as a tomato,” Luke teased.
“The matter is closed,” I said sharply.
We’d arrived at the round table room. She would need a few minutes before the diplomats arrived to settle and lose her flush.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhd6EuQ0bOV
