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The bright sunlight filtering through Prince Chevalier’s bedroom windows seemed to mock the throbbing in my heart. I didn’t really know the guard who died, but I remembered his bright smile and his cheerful ‘Hello’ when he opened the gates for me every morning. The guards rotated throughout the day, and sometimes his post late in the afternoon was just outside the servants’ entrance, so I saw him on my way out, too.
He was there the day of the assassination attempt, wasn’t he? Smiling and waving his goodbye as I left for the afternoon. And he was gone the next morning, when I came to the palace happy and unprepared for what lay in store for me with Prince Chevalier.
How long after I left did the assassin kill that guard?
Was that why Prince Chevalier was so aggressive the next morning? Not just because of a perceived danger, but because I narrowly missed death at the hands of that assassin, and he wanted to ensure it wouldn’t happen again?
I felt sick. My heart hurt for that guard and his family, and my stomach twisted in knots with fear. If anything happened to me, what would happen to Mother? Would the Stotts take her in? That was a huge commitment and a heavy burden for them to take, and I wouldn’t blame them for not doing it.
But I couldn’t let myself think about it, the same way I couldn’t let myself think about her death. There was here and now, and that was all. I did my best for her with what I had. That had to be enough. And, although the princes kept trying to dissuade me, staying at the palace was still my best option. Consistent hours, steady pay, and relative safety, even considering all the hidden threats. There were always threats. Outside of the palace, I dealt with them on my own. Here, I didn’t.
Walking into the bright, sunny library was a breath of fresh air. For two days, I worked by candlelight, listening to raindrops on glass. Today, I didn’t need any candles, and the birds perched on the windowsills outside chirping happily reminded me that worrying wasn’t helping me. I propped open the door to Prince Chevalier’s back room and got to work, determined to hold on to the positivity I had when the day started.
And when I retreated to the alcove for my lunch break, I found The Romance of the Rose waiting there, the book in Prince Chevalier’s collection that I most wanted to read. A warmth blossomed in my chest. He must have noticed me looking at it so often. I settled onto the cushion and picked it up, my fingers brushing against Midnight Cinderella beneath it. My happiness faltered, just for a moment, until I forced my eyes back to The Romance of the Rose.
It was a warm, fuzzy, almost sickly-sweet book. Prince Chevalier must have hated it.
“You owe me.”
I looked up to see Prince Nokto leaning over me. His forearm rested against the bookcase behind my back, and his silver hair fell around his face, casting shadows on his crimson eyes. But he was smiling, that sly grin that I recognized all too well.
“I don’t owe you anything, Prince Nokto,” I replied, looking away from him to the clock. It was time for me to get back to work, anyway, so his interruption was timely, if nothing else. “I made a request, and you agreed to honor it. That’s all.”
He shook his head. “It isn’t easy keeping a secret from Chevalier. If you want me to do this, then I need something in return.”
I closed the book and set it down. “We didn’t make a deal, your highness. There are no terms to discuss.”
“We didn’t discuss terms because you pulled that sad little girl act,” he replied, catching my arm when I stood up and tried to walk past him. “You’re very good at that, by the way.”
There was none of the usual seductive allure in his eyes, just amusement. I lifted my chin and met his gaze head on.
“It wasn’t an act, your highness,” I said, pulling my arm free from him. “Although I’ll confess that, once you pointed out how it looked, I wasn’t above playing on that image to get what I wanted.”
He leaned in closer, his crimson eyes teasing. “And I’m not above using blackmail to get what I want.”
“You’re assuming Prince Chevalier doesn’t already know, your highness,” I said, taking a step back.
“If he knew, you wouldn’t be living in that dump anymore.”
“It’s not a dump!” I exclaimed. “You’ve lived here in the palace all your life, and you understand nothing else. But that’s where I’ve lived my whole life, and it’s not that bad. It’s not luxurious, and it’s not perfect, but it’s home, and it’s comfortable, and there’s nothing wrong with it.”
His eyes widened briefly at the start of my outburst, but they narrowed quickly again, and the corner of his lip turned up into a smirk.
“Hm. And yet, you’d rather be here, wouldn’t you?”
I shook my head and walked past him to my cleaning supplies. “No, I have to be here, your highness. If I had a choice, and money wasn’t an issue, I would be at home right now.”
He sighed. “Now you’re pulling the sweet, dedicated daughter act.”
“Again, it’s not an act, your highness.”
“I know.” He flopped down on a sofa, stretching his long legs across the length of it and interlacing his hands behind his head. “You’re a skilled negotiator, Ivetta.”
“You’re too suspicious, Prince Nokto.”
He laughed. “Probably. Now, back to my terms.”
“No,” I said firmly.
“Now who’s suspicious?” he asked, amused.
I sighed. “Fine. What do you want, Prince Nokto?”
“What I want is to take you back to my room and mess you up.”
I spun back to face him, my cheeks flaming hot. “Prince Nokto!”
His smug smirk made my temperature shoot up another few degrees.
“But I won’t make you do that. Although, if you’re interested, I’m free all afternoon.”
I scowled at him. “I’d rather give Prince Chevalier a personalized tour of my house,” I said bitingly.
“You say that now, but I could make you forget his name and where you live within a matter of minutes,” he said, crossing his legs at the ankles and waving his feet back and forth, radiating confidence.
My face was in serious danger of catching fire. I turned away, squeezing my eyes shut and clapping my hands over my cheeks. “Please stop,” I moaned.
He chuckled. “You’re not the only skilled negotiator in this room. If I keep going, you’ll say yes to anything to get me to stop, won’t you?”
“No, I won’t,” I said, collapsing into a chair and putting my face in my hands. “But I wish I’d thought to have the coachman drop me off further from my house, so I didn’t have to deal with this.”
“So you could get sick from walking in the rain?” he asked disapprovingly. “That wouldn’t do your mother much good, would it?”
“I don’t get sick easily. And I still had things to do outside, so I got wet again, anyway,” I muttered. I dropped my hands to my lap and looked over at him wearily. “What do you want, Prince Nokto?”
He frowned at me. “You really don’t take care of yourself.”
“That’s beside the point. And I may as well warn you that if you want something outside of my work hours, you can just go tell Prince Chevalier right now.”
He shrugged. “Whatever. If you want to kill yourself, that’s your business. This might be right up your alley, actually. I want you to get into Clavis’ room and tell me what you find.”
I frowned at him. “Why don’t you go look for yourself?”
“Because Clavis hasn’t let anybody except his right hand, Cyran, in there for years. It’s one of the so-called ‘Seven Wonders of Clavis.’ The door’s always locked and booby trapped. But if he’s going to let anybody in there, it would be you.”
“‘The Seven Wonders of Clavis?’” I asked curiously.
Prince Nokto waved his hand dismissively. “Weird, mysterious things about him. It’s said that anybody who sees what’s inside his room disappears or loses their memory, but that’s probably something Clavis made up to keep people away. I’m leaving on a business trip tomorrow, so you have until I get back in three or four days.”
I sighed heavily. “What do you expect me to find?”
“With Clavis? Who knows? But the annual goodwill gala is coming up, and I need to know if I can trust him. So.” Prince Nokto hopped up and walked around the coffee table to me, resting one elbow on the back of the chair over my head and catching my chin with his other hand. “A word of advice. Don’t try getting in by yourself. I wouldn’t want something to happen to this pretty little face.”
I shoved his hand away, my cheeks burning all over again. “What happened to you not wanting me to get involved in all the palace intrigue?”
He chuckled and straightened up. “You made the choice to stay here. Although, if you changed your mind about my other offer, we could forget about Clavis and just head back to my room. You won’t be in any state to bring Chevalier his tea at two thirty, though.”
I wouldn’t be in any state to bring Prince Chevalier his tea at this rate, either. A little over an hour might not be enough time for me to recover from this.
“I’ll take my chances with Prince Clavis,” I said coolly.
“You would,” Prince Nokto said, his grin unphased. “See you later, Ivetta. Don’t disappoint me, hm?”
I glared at his retreating back, his cocky stride, my chin tingling from his touch. He was so sure of himself, so annoyingly handsome, and this rebellious little part deep down inside me was curious to know how, exactly, he would go about messing me up. I mentally slapped that little part and got back to work, but it was hard to concentrate with my heart racing and my whole body feverishly hot.
That darn prince.
And he knew I wouldn’t tell Prince Chevalier, because doing so meant I’d have to tell him about my house, and although I knew he would understand that moving Mother or doing any major repairs with her in the house would be detrimental to her health, there was still this small chance that he’d do something to help, and he’d already done enough. I was already so indebted to him I could never hope to repay him, and that was just from the doctor’s bill. When considering the intangible things he’d done for me, the things I knew, and probably more that I didn’t, well, he basically owned me. Not that he ever said anything to that effect or treated me like that. But it was a thought I had in the back of my mind, and I didn’t like it.
I sighed and shook my head. The future was not something I liked to think about, but I was definitely leaving the palace as soon as possible. It would be better for all involved, especially me, if I just disappeared. Maybe I’d burn my house down before I left. Because I lied to Prince Nokto, and I was lying to myself, too. I hated it so much.
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