Ivetta was the maid of honor for both upcoming weddings, and I was worried again. She was pushing back on me now, questioning my restrictions, pushing her limits. We argued about her sitting down during the ceremonies and never reached a resolution. I told her the chair would be there, whether she liked it or not, and she needed to use it. She said she wasn’t sitting down when the rest of the wedding party was standing up. I threatened to throw her over my shoulder and carry her out of the church if she didn’t use the chair. She laughed and said I wouldn’t dare.
She was right.
We had to stop the argument to make it to Luke’s wedding on time. I was the best man, so we arrived at the church foyer together. She slipped into the side room to help Arianna, leaving me with the huge wedding party and wondering why Luke didn’t cut some of our brothers out of it. They were all groomsmen, along with Silvio and Rio. I found Theresa and Belle, crowded in a corner with six additional women Sariel found to pair with the groomsmen, and made my way toward them.
“Chevalier, is Ivetta okay?” Belle asked immediately, looking over my shoulder as if she expected Ivetta to materialize behind me.
“She’s with Arianna.”
Theresa let out a sigh of relief. “Good. I keep thinking of what happened at Belle’s wedding. She’s sitting down this time, right?”
“I have arranged for a chair to be available, but she insists she won’t use it,” I replied dryly.
Belle scowled. “That girl is too stubborn for her own good. We’ll make sure she uses it.”
“Good.”
“What the he-”
I turned around as the shouted expletive was cut short and saw Silvio, standing in the open doorway, the chill wind whipping his hair around as he swatted Luke’s hand away from his mouth. His sea-blue eyes were narrowed angrily at Rio.
“What are you doing here, you rotten mutt?” he spat.
Rio furrowed his brow in confusion. “Excuse me?”
“After the wedding,” Luke intervened, clapping them both on the shoulder. “Which is about to start.”
Silvio glared at Luke and stepped away from his hand. “Fine.”
I moved to take my place at the head of the procession behind the closed doors to the church proper, reviewing that scene in my mind. Belle found Rio four years ago, and he had no memory before the day they met. Silvio’s younger brother, Valerio, went missing four years ago.
With that reaction from Silvio, there was only one conclusion.
The processional music began, and I opened the doors and fell in place behind Arianna’s parents. They took their seats in the front row to the left with Silvio’s parents while I continued to the altar. Silvio came after my brothers, and Rio was the last groomsman behind him. Silvio’s mother’s blue eyes went wide with shock when she saw Rio. Her eyes were a deeper shade of blue than Silvio’s and a perfect match for Rio’s. That was all the confirmation I needed. Rio Ortiz was Valerio Ricci.
But that could wait until after the wedding. Now, I turned my attention to my current problem. Ivetta. Ivetta was behind Rio, and she came to a stop in front of her chair. Her eyes flicked to Silvio’s mother and back to me. She needed to stop worrying about everything else and pay attention to her own needs. I looked pointedly at the chair behind her. She pursed her lips and looked away from me, back at the processional.
Stubborn little thing.
Theresa was next to Ivetta, and she leaned over and whispered something in Ivetta’s ear. Ivetta whispered back to her, and then Theresa grabbed Ivetta’s wrist and said something else, her green eyes flashing with irritation. Ivetta visibly sighed and glared at me. I smirked and read her lips: “After Arianna arrives.”
I won.
There was no further issue until after the wedding. Ivetta took my arm as Luke and Arianna made their way down the aisle, and I steeled myself for a tongue-lashing when we exited the church. It never came. Luke and Arianna stopped on the lawn outside the church, and Silvio grabbed Rio by the arm and yanked him over to them. Belle hurried to follow, and then Silvio’s parents and Arianna’s parents joined the crowd, and it all distracted Ivetta too much for her to even spare me a glance until Theresa came to her side.
“What’s that all about?” Theresa asked.
Ivetta smiled secretively and looked up at me. “It’s not my place to say. Let’s go inside. It’s cold out here.”
How did she know about Valerio? I never told her, and Silvio never talked about him. Arianna must have told her. I glanced back at the Ricci crowd and turned toward the palace, leading Ivetta back inside.
“Ivetta! You know something, and you’re not telling me?” Theresa exclaimed.
“You’ll find out soon,” Ivetta called back over her shoulder.
“Are you going to tell me?” I asked teasingly.
“As if you don’t already know,” she replied. “And why should I tell you anything? You made me sit down for the entire wedding ceremony. I already felt awkward enough being up on the altar when I’m so obviously pregnant.”
“You would have felt more awkward if you fainted.”
Her pursed lips and sullen silence told me she couldn’t argue with that.
“How do you know about Valerio?” I asked when the silence became unbearable.
“Arianna told me when she apologized,” Ivetta replied immediately. Either she wasn’t that upset about the chair, or she was too excited about what was going on with Rio to continue her silent treatment. “She, Silvio, and Valerio were always really close, and when Valerio disappeared, Silvio wanted nothing to do with her anymore. That’s why she was trying so hard to get out of Benitoite. She went after Nokto before you. Did you know that?”
“Nokto turned her down,” I replied.
Ivetta laughed. “He would say that to save face. She turned him down when she caught him with a maid, and then she moved on to you, since you were less likely to humiliate her with another woman. And then you turned her down for a maid. Honestly, I can understand why she was so bitter when we first met.”
So could I, though it still didn’t excuse what she said to Ivetta.
“But it all worked out in the end,” Ivetta continued. “She ended up with Luke, and she found Valerio.” Ivetta sighed and leaned against my arm. “Which means Belle will be leaving soon,” she added sadly.
I led Ivetta into the ballroom, contemplating that thought as I navigated through the myriad guests who weren’t invited to the ceremony, milling about with champagne glasses in their hands. Ivetta would miss Belle, but she would still have Theresa, and now Arianna would be here, too. Silvio came for frequent visits. There was no reason Belle couldn’t do the same. I left Ivetta in a chair with a warning look to stay put while I got her a glass of water. She was in a playful mood today, and I wouldn’t put it past her to get up and sneak away to another part of the ballroom just to irritate me. Not that she would be hard to find. A pregnant woman in a bridesmaid’s dress stuck out in a crowd. The seamstresses waited until only a few days ago to measure her and make her dress, and they did an excellent job. The pastel pink fabric fitted her perfectly, and the lavender embroidery of roses and ocean waves wrapping around the bodice artfully framed her growing stomach. She couldn’t complain about being the only one with long sleeves and a long skirt, either, as the cooler weather dictated that all the bridesmaids wore lacy pink sleeves and floor-length, fluffy pink skirts. Hers had bits of lavender tulle peeking out from the pink layers, and she was picking at one of these instead of looking up at Gilbert when I made my way back to her. He was standing over her with a glass of champagne in his hand, and a single glance at the way he was gazing down at her was enough to see that his feelings had not diminished.
“Are you staying until then?” she was asking him.
“I am,” he replied.
“Here,” I interrupted, handing her the glass of water and resisting the urge to glare at him. “Are you hungry?”
“It’s not dinnertime yet, Chevalier,” she said exasperatedly. “Why don’t you get some champagne and try to relax?”
I chuckled. “You’re trying to get rid of me.”
“Yes, I am. I promise Gilbert and I won’t do any wild dancing while you’re gone,” she said teasingly, her green eyes sparkling with mischief.
“The orchestra isn’t playing yet.”
“Who needs music?” she asked suggestively, glancing back at Gilbert, whose lips curved up into a smirk. “Go. I’ll be fine.”
She really was in a mood. If she kept this up, we might have a late night ahead of us, and not because of staying too long at the ball. I left her with Gilbert, just long enough to flag a waiter down for a glass of champagne. She was looking down at her stomach when I came back.
“Stop that,” she said, as if the baby was listening. The baby’s tendency to act up at the most inopportune times made me think the child was already taking after his stubborn mother.
“Kicking?” I asked.
“I guess he likes weddings. Or she,” Ivetta said, rubbing her stomach and smiling up at me. “Now would probably be a good time to discuss our trip to Obsidian.”
I sighed and glanced at Gilbert. “No, it’s not.”
“Chevalier. If the baby’s healthy, and I’m healthy, why can’t we go next year?” Ivetta persisted.
I clenched my jaw. She was determined to push me today, and I couldn’t even tell her the truth of why I didn’t want to think that far ahead right now. She had to make it through labor first.
“If you’re not-”
“Then we’ll cancel again,” she interrupted. “How about next summer?” she asked Gilbert, turning to look up at him.
He shrugged and sipped his champagne smugly. “If you’re feeling up to it.”
There was a generalized murmur throughout the ballroom as Luke and Arianna arrived. They were beaming from ear to ear, and the first strains of music rose from the orchestra. Luke led Arianna onto the dance floor, and behind them, the entire Ricci family, along with Belle and Rio, filtered into the room. Belle scanned the room, stopping when her eyes landed on Ivetta. She bolted over at full speed without any regard to propriety.
“Ivetta!” she gasped, her brown eyes wide and shining.
“Princess Belle,” Ivetta greeted her with a wide smile.
Belle skidded to a stop, staring in shock at Ivetta. “How did you know?”
Ivetta handed me her glass and stood up to give Belle a hug. “Congratulations on your secret prince!”
The two started laughing and crying. Gilbert and I looked at each other and took an awkward step back. This was something we could agree on. We didn’t know how to react to this situation. Theresa came over to see what was wrong, and then she was sobbing, too, an arm wrapped around each of the other women.
“Come,” I said to Gilbert, leaving for a refill of champagne.
“Does that happen a lot?” he asked, glancing back at the three blubbering women.
“No,” I replied, switching my empty glass for a full one from a passing waiter’s tray. “Belle’s husband Rio is Valerio Ricci.”
“And he and Belle will be moving to Benitoite,” Gilbert said as realization set in. “But that isn’t why you want to talk to me.”
“I’m not scheduling anything,” I said firmly.
His expression soured. “Trouble?”
We came to a stop in a relatively quiet section of the ballroom, turning back to look at the women. They had finally parted and were wiping their faces with handkerchiefs as they headed toward the parlor.
“There is a good chance she will have a difficult labor,” I replied, hating the feel of those words on my tongue. “Her pelvis was fractured last year.”
There was a short pause, and then Gilbert said, “She doesn’t know.”
“No.” I downed my glass in a single gulp. The bubbly sensation wasn’t doing much for the bile rising at the back of my throat. I hadn’t told any of my brothers this, and I wasn’t entirely sure why I was telling Gilbert, except maybe I knew he would understand. “The doctor is checking on her weekly. He was worried about the first trimester, but he’s happy with her progress. There’s nothing more he can do until it’s time.”
“Do you have anything stronger?” Gilbert muttered, glaring at the empty glass in his hand as though it caused the sudden tension in the air.
Ivetta would be busy for a while with Belle and Theresa. I nodded and caught Jin’s eye as he scanned the crowd.
“Hey, where’d Theresa go?” he asked, sauntering up to us. “And what’s with the long faces?”
“Liquor,” I replied simply.
Jin, Gilbert, and I ended up drinking in Jin’s room until Theresa arrived in a rather tipsy state. She slurred about Ivetta going to bed a long time ago and collapsed on top of Jin and a very startled Gilbert. I left them to it and headed back to my room.
Ivetta was fast asleep in our bed, the silvery moonlight shining through the windows to cast an eerie glow on her features. I changed into my pajamas and got into bed beside her. Six months. Six months of her cuddling up to my side like this without waking up. Six months of opening my eyes in the morning to see her smiling face. I wrapped my arms around her and nuzzled into her hair. In another three or four months, she could be gone, taking my heart with her, and that thought petrified me.
The bright morning sunshine chased the evening shadows back to the corners of my mind. She was still here, and she was still smiling, and worrying wouldn't help anything.
Jin and Theresa’s wedding was eight days away, and there was no point in any of the guests leaving before then. The dining room was livelier than usual, with the addition of Gilbert, Silvio, Keith, Theresa, Belle, and Rio, and everybody packed into Ivetta’s office on a daily basis for Yves’ pre-dinner desserts, too. Luke and Arianna returned from their honeymoon just in time for Jin and Theresa’s wedding, and then all the women were crying again, Theresa hugging Belle and saying her goodbyes before she and Jin left for their honeymoon, followed by Ivetta, and then Arianna. Belle and Rio left with Silvio the next day.
Fall was drawing to a close. Ivetta and I had a quiet dinner in our library for my birthday, and she presented me with a little black dress, along with a note promising it would see use as soon as she could fit into it again. I was less aroused than terrified at the thought that day would never come, but I didn’t let her see that. I simply told her I was hiring a midwife at the start of her third trimester. She pursed her lips and held silent.
“What was wrong with that one?” Clavis asked after ushering another midwife out of my office.
“Too inexperienced,” I replied, crossing the name off my list and setting my quill down with a sigh. The first winter snow came the night before, blanketing the lawn outside my window in a clean white sheet, and I would much rather be taking Ivetta for a walk in the snowy gardens than dealing with this parade of midwives.
“Next one is…oh, you’re going to reject this one because she’s too young,” Nokto said, scanning the list over my shoulder. “Lydia. Twenty-five. Born and raised in town, learned midwifery from her mother.”
“Well, we have some time to kill before she’s due to arrive,” Clavis sighed, dropping into a chair and kicking his feet onto my desk. “There are worse ways to spend an afternoon.”
Nokto snorted. “If you don’t mind wasting time with frumpy old women.”
I shoved Clavis’ feet off my desk. “This one isn’t old.”
“If she’s not married, there’s a reason,” Clavis replied sagely.
The knock at my door was five minutes early. Clavis raised an eyebrow as Nokto went to the door.
“Don’t get up. I’ll get this one,” he said resignedly.
She wasn’t old or frumpy. Nokto’s crimson eyes narrowed slightly as a sly grin played across his lips. Her deep blue eyes smiled up at him, and her long, wavy chestnut brown hair hung loosely down her shoulders.
“Hello,” she said cheerfully.
“You’re early, Lydia,” he said smoothly.
“In my business, it pays to be early,” she replied just as smoothly. “Prince Nokto, correct? Are you going to let me in?”
Clavis glanced at me, his golden eyes glittering with amusement as he hopped out of his chair. “Have a seat, Lydia.”
“Thank you,” she said sweetly, brushing past Nokto. “And you must be Prince Clavis.”
“You’ve done your homework,” he said as she took the seat in front of me.
“Of course,” she said, smiling up at him before turning her bright blue eyes to mine. “Good afternoon, King Chevalier. I understand the first baby is always the most nerve-wracking, but I have plenty of experience, and I brought a list of references and successful deliveries.”
Clavis tried to exchange glances with Nokto, but Nokto was too busy staring at Lydia. She handed me a small stack of parchment.
“My mother is a midwife, and I’ve been assisting her as long as I can remember, but I only included the babies I personally delivered on that list,” she continued.
Her references were many and varied, and the list was impressive. I flipped to the third page and asked, “Any complications?”
“Unfortunately, yes,” she said, her smile slipping. “Every delivery can’t be perfect. I like to work closely with a doctor, as that lessens the risk should something go wrong, but not everybody will agree to that.” She took a deep breath. “The last page lists the ones that didn’t go so well.”
That list was much shorter, and she included details next to each name listing what she thought went wrong.
“Well, I’m sold. What about you, Chev?” Clavis asked, sitting on the desk and leaning over to scan the pages for himself.
I handed them to him and met Lydia’s gaze directly. “The queen isn’t due until early spring, but there is a high risk of complications. She is currently under a doctor’s care and receiving weekly examinations.”
Lydia nodded. “I’d like to talk to the doctor, if you don’t mind, and I can recommend a few doctors in the area who are particularly skilled with labor and delivery if additional help is needed. My mother still practices, too, and I can make sure she’s available during the expected timeframe.”
Looking for reputable doctors to have on standby was my next step. This was exactly what I was looking for.
“That can be arranged. I will also require you to stay at the palace until the time comes.”
“Will I still be able to practice in town?” she asked immediately.
“If it doesn’t interfere with the queen, yes.”
She smiled brightly. “When can I meet her?”
“I’ll take you to see her,” Nokto volunteered quickly. “If you don’t mind, King Highness,” he added, tearing his gaze away from her to look at me.
“Fine.”
“Right this way,” Nokto said, placing a hand on Lydia’s arm to help her to her feet. She slapped his hand away.
“I’ve done my homework, remember?” she said, standing up and walking past him to the door. “So watch your hands.”
Nokto smirked and followed her. “You are prepared.”
Clavis started laughing as soon as the door closed behind them. “Guess we know what he’s doing tonight. No, make that tomorrow night. He’s got that party tonight.”
“So long as it doesn’t interfere with her work,” I replied coolly.
“Her work?” Clavis asked. “C’mon, Chev, she’s going to be sitting around waiting with the rest of us until spring.” He flopped down in the chair across from me again. “How long do you think it’ll take Nokto to get back?”
The answer was a half hour. I was about to send Clavis looking for him when the door opened and Nokto floated in. A sappy smile had replaced his sly grin, and Clavis was laughing all over again at the sight of him.
“I’m going to marry that woman,” Nokto said, grabbing a stack of papers from my desk and settling into a chair.
“It really is a disease,” Clavis chortled. “Are you in a fit state to work?”
“The sooner I get this done, the sooner I’m taking her out to dinner,” Nokto replied, his quill already scribbling hastily across a page.
“You’re forgetting that party tonight,” I reminded him, trying not to smile at his expense and wondering if I ever looked that ridiculous when I first developed feelings for Ivetta.
His quill froze, and he jerked his head up, panic filling his crimson eyes. “But - Clavis, can you go in my place?” he asked quickly.
“No way,” Clavis said, waving his hands in front of himself defensively.
“You have to,” Nokto insisted. “It’s just boozing and dancing. No business deals at all.”
Clavis smirked. “Alright, but under one condition. You tell me why this sudden craze for Lydia.”
Nokto ducked his head down to the paperwork, but not before Clavis and I both saw the pink coming to his cheeks. “She…really likes twins,” he muttered.
Clavis laughed until he cried. I bit my tongue and got back to work. This was going to make for an interesting conversation with Ivetta later.
ns 15.158.61.55da2
