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I vaguely remembered Chevalier leaving the next morning. He kissed me and told me to go back to sleep, and I did, snuggling into the pillows and blankets that smelled like him. The comforting smell of roses was still there when I woke up later, yawning and rolling onto my back. Bright sunlight streamed through the uncovered windows above his bookcase. The drapes over the window next to his bed were closed.
“Oh, so you’re not naked.”
I sat bolt upright. “Theresa?”
She smirked at me from her perch on the sofa, her words and the sparkle in her bright green eyes reminding me I was wearing one of Chevalier’s shirts instead of my nightgown. I looked down at it and blushed. The bottom of the v-neck had shifted to the side of my chest while I slept, and the shirttails had ridden up to my hips.
“I - my nightgown was wet, and-”
Her laugh interrupted me before I got too far with my stammered explanation. “Look how red you’re getting! You’re so adorable. So, what do you want first, lunch or a bath? And keep in mind that you’ll be telling me everything, no matter what.”
“Lunch?” I asked, looking up at her again. “Is it that late?”
She got up and threw the drapes open. “Yeah, but I gather you had a late night, and Chevalier’s cleared your schedule, so you don’t have anywhere you need to be.”
“Um, then, a bath, I guess,” I said slowly.
“Okay. I brought clothes for you, too, so you’re not stuck wearing that. Not that Chevalier would mind.”
My cheeks flushed warmer as I stood up and tugged the shirttails down. “I hope he didn’t look…”
“I’m sure he didn’t,” she said, leading the way into the bathroom. “Now, Nokto? He would’ve looked. Which brings us back to-” She spun to face me and grabbed my shoulders. “What on earth happened last night? I woke up, you were gone, there were guards outside your door, they never opened the gates this morning-”
“Theresa, slow down-”
“People are getting arrested, Ivetta! The place is swarming with guards. Sariel is interrogating people. Chevalier and Clavis came back in the middle of that storm last night. And I heard Nokto got poisoned? I thought you said he didn’t?”
I stared at her wild green eyes, my mind spinning with all the information she was giving me. “That’s what he led me to believe. They didn’t open the gates?”
“Guards are bringing people in, but nobody’s leaving,” she said, removing her hands from my shoulders and dropping them to her sides. “You didn’t know about any of that, did you?”
I shook my head. “Other than Nokto getting poisoned, no.”
She sighed. “Let me get the bath water started, and then you can tell me whatever you know. I’ll get your lunch while you’re in the tub. And…probably a wardrobe change,” she said thoughtfully. “I don’t think the dress I brought is quite right for all this.”
I couldn’t care less about my wardrobe. They never opened the gates? I’d never even heard of that happening before. Arrests? Interrogations? This was a lot bigger than I thought. Although that would explain Chevalier getting up early in the morning to leave.
Chevalier got up early in the morning. On his own.
That never happened.
After Theresa left, I hugged my knees to my chest in the hot bathwater, inhaling the scent of roses drifting up with the steam. It made breathing a little easier. I’d told her about Nokto, leaving out his feverish words, and about Chevalier, leaving out my attempt to make him stay by seduction. I didn’t know what her reaction to that would be, and I didn’t want to deal with it right now. It was hard enough to breathe without reviewing that embarrassing incident. Chevalier, his brothers, Sariel, the entire palace guard - they were all protecting me, I reminded myself, and there was no reason I couldn’t breathe. Everything would be fine. They would handle everything.
Breathe in. Breathe out.
One step at a time.
I finally got out of the tub and reached for the towels. Theresa left my chemise and drawers next to the towel rack, something she’d done ever since the doctor released me from bedrest. She knew how much I hated anybody seeing my scars, even someone who’d seen them as many times as she had. I wished my undergarments covered more of them. But I couldn’t manage the corset without her, so I called for her to help me, and when she walked through the door, I forgot all about my scars.
“Red?” I exclaimed, staring in shock at the dress she held up. “A red dress?”
“Of course,” she said, smirking. The dress had a simple design, without frills, ruffles, or anything to make it stand out - beyond the bright red fabric. “This is perfect for the woman who laughs in the face of danger.”
“I am not laughing in the face of danger,” I protested.
“Well, you should be,” she said. “Because there’s no way anything’s actually going to happen to you, and that’s why this color is perfect. It screams ‘confidence.’”
“It also screams ‘target,’” I pointed out.
“Well, it’s the only dress I brought, so unless you’re staying in this room all day, you’re wearing it.”
I hesitated. “Am I allowed to leave?”
She stared at me for a moment, her mischievous smirk fading. “Good question,” she said slowly. Then she shrugged, and the smirk returned. “But if you’re not, there’s no reason not to wear it, is there?”
I couldn’t argue with that logic. “Fine,” I sighed.
“You know what would make it perfect?” she asked, handing me my least favorite article of clothing - the dreaded corset. “A red rose in your hair. A single French braid and a red rose woven through it.”
“That would look good, wouldn’t it?” I admitted, picturing it as I pulled the corset over my head. Red lipstick would really set the outfit off, too, but that was way too bold for me. Just wearing such a bright, conspicuous dress made me a little uncomfortable.
Or maybe it was the corset that made me uncomfortable.
“Ow. Not so tight, Theresa.”
“Sorry,” she said, loosening the laces.
“You know, if someone really wanted to hurt me, they could just take your place and lace up my corset too tight,” I joked.
She giggled. “Why do you think I’m under guard, too? The best way to get to you is through me. It’s really kind of flattering.”
Until you end up in a dungeon getting the life beaten out of you, I thought. A sickening feeling turned my stomach. That happened to me because I was Chevalier’s maid. I never considered that Theresa could be in danger just by being my maid. Did she even know? Had she thought about it?
“I’ll get a rose while you’re eating lunch,” she was saying, oblivious to the dark turn my thoughts had taken. “What are you going to do today? If you can leave, anyway?”
“Um…I don’t know. I should check on Nokto, and I’d like to talk to Sariel if I can, but you said he’s busy…interrogating people.”
I wished that meant he was just questioning them, but I had a feeling it didn’t.
“Not anymore,” she said. “I asked while I was getting your lunch, because I knew you’d want to get involved somehow. Sariel’s back in his office, and Nokto’s in Chevalier’s office. It sounded like both of them would stay put for a while. Everybody else is moving around too much for me to say where they’ll be when you’re done with lunch.”
“Chevalier won’t want me anywhere near his office today, even if I can go where I please,” I mused. “So, I guess I’ll talk to Sariel, and then I’ll probably spend the rest of the day in the library. Assuming that’s safe.”
“Guess that depends on what you’re reading,” she said suggestively.
She was so good at cheering me up. By the time I finished lunch and she finished weaving a red rose through my braid, I felt like I really could laugh in the face of danger. I twirled in front of the mirror, admiring the way the skirts flared from the top of my hips and the way the perfect red blossom positioned on the side of my head completed the outfit. I looked like nothing in the world could frighten me.
“Maybe you were right about the lipstick,” Theresa said, tapping a finger to her lips as she studied me. “You’re already at risk of Chevalier grabbing you and kissing you in front of everybody.”
“You’re exaggerating,” I said, blushing at the thought.
She shrugged. “Red does something to men. Trust me. Maybe I’ll tell you - when you’re old enough.”
I rolled my eyes at her and opened the door to the hallway, where Julius and Mark stood guard. Julius gave me a clear look of disapproval.
“Princess Ivetta, perhaps you should wear something less…eye-catching,” he said reproachfully.
“Does that mean I can leave?” I asked hopefully.
The corner of his lip twitched. “That depends on where you’re going, your highness.”
“Sariel’s office and the library,” Theresa volunteered from behind me. “Do I have to go with, or am I allowed to tidy up here and meet her later?”
“I’ll send guards up to escort you when you leave,” he said.
I headed down the hall to Sariel’s office, trying to hold on to the confidence I’d felt when I looked in the mirror, but the reminder that Theresa now needed an armed escort just because of me made the doubt and anxiety gnaw at my stomach again. Whatever she might say, I was in danger, and she might be, too. I couldn’t laugh about that. And there were a lot of guards around, at least double the normal amount. Maybe I should have just stayed in Chevalier’s room. Sariel probably wouldn’t tell me anything, anyway.
And then I was standing in front of his office door. I was already here, I reasoned with myself. The worst that could happen would be him telling me to go away. Him or Chevalier, judging by the voices I heard within. At least they weren’t shouting.
I took a deep breath and knocked on the door. No response. I swallowed hard, straightened my shoulders, and pushed the door open. Chevalier was standing over Sariel’s desk, a permeating chill rolling out from him in waves.
“What would you like me to do about the engagement ceremony?” Sariel was asking.
My heart froze in my chest. I hadn’t even thought about the engagement ceremony. It was in three days. Was that what this was about? Was somebody trying to stop it?
Chevalier wouldn’t let that happen. He couldn’t.
“Postpone it,” he said.
All the fear and anxiety within me merged with disbelief and shock, coalescing into burning anger.
“We are not postponing the ceremony,” I interrupted.
Chevalier’s piercing blue eyes locked on mine. It had been a long time since I’d seen that frigid, stony expression from him. No surprise, no warmth, nothing but a thick layer of ice blocking me out from whatever he was thinking.
“This is not up for debate,” he said coolly. He hadn’t used that tone with me since I was his maid, either. My heart was beating again, hammering against my ribcage, and the blood rushing to my head narrowed my focus, and my anger, on him.
“It’s in three days,” I said, storming up to him. “There isn’t time to get word to the foreign guests, but there is time for you to clean this mess up.”
“There is much more to this than you realize,” he replied with forced patience, as if he were having to explain something to a child. That only irritated me further.
“I can guess that at least part of this is an effort to prevent us from getting married. Postponing the ceremony, even for a day, means they win,” I shot back.
“Large events are notoriously difficult to secure. I will not risk your safety to make a point,” he said, an edge of frustration creeping into his voice.
“Then don’t. The ceremony is private. I’ll be safe as long as I’m with you, and as soon as it’s done, you can lock me in your room again. That is what you want, isn’t it?” I asked accusingly. “To lock me away, where nothing can happen to me?”
His eyes flashed angrily. That wasn’t fair, and I knew it, but it was too late to take it back now.
“What I want is for you to be safe. You could have died. Nokto could have died. Do you not understand that?” he snapped.
“But we didn’t,” I snapped back. “Double my guard. Call the rest of the army up if it makes you feel better. We’re not postponing.”
We glared at each other for a moment, neither of us giving way.
“If I may-” Sariel started, his deep voice breaking the tense silence. I’d forgotten he was even in the room.
“No, you may not,” I snapped, turning my anger on him.
“Ivetta,” Chevalier reprimanded me sharply.
“You have three days,” I said again, turning my fierce glare back on him. “Get back to work.”
I turned toward the door, needing to get away from him, from this bitter argument that wasn’t going anywhere, from this entire mess, from the stabbing pain in my chest, but he grabbed my arm and walked past me, dragging me after him.
“Chevalier-” I protested, trying to pull free, but his grip only tightened.
“You can walk, or I can carry you.”
I sighed in frustration, but there wasn’t any point in resisting. He didn’t even check his strides for my benefit, forcing me to keep a brisk pace the entire way to his room, which made my anger burn hotter. I hated this. I hated everything about this. This day, this anger, this suffocating fear, this stupid red dress that made me think I could open my mouth and argue with Chevalier about something I didn’t even understand. I just wanted to open my eyes and wake up from this nightmare.
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