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Every good day for Mother came at a greater cost than the last one, and she was significantly worse the day after our picnic. I made her as comfortable as I could before I left for the palace, stopping briefly at the Stotts’ house to drop off my grocery list with Rachel, their youngest, a five-year-old bundle of sunshine.
If only I had her energy. I’d gotten no sleep thanks to nightmares.
But I was no stranger to faking normality after a sleepless night, and I made my journey to the palace and Prince Chevalier’s room, where he was a motionless lump under the blankets, and sunlight flooded the room with a soft, golden light.
“Good morning, Prince Chevalier!” I called at nine o’clock, opening the drapes and adding even more brightness to the room.
He didn’t move or even grumble.
“Is Prince Clavis back from his party, your highness?” I asked, turning away from the window to pull his clothes out of the bureau.
An irritated sigh emanated from the blankets.
Maybe that wasn’t the best thing to say. The next thing that came to mind was Prince Licht’s surprise visit to my house last night, but that probably wasn’t a surprise to Prince Chevalier, and I didn’t want to bring that up. Mostly because I didn’t know what to think about it.
“Nevermind,” I said, setting his clothes on the sofa. “I’ll be back in a few minutes with your breakfast, your highness.”
He didn’t reply. I left for the kitchens, trying not to think too hard about what that reaction might mean. The palace and the princes were his affair, not mine. But if Prince Clavis wasn’t back yet, and Prince Nokto was gone on his business trip, I might finally get a nice, quiet day for once.
And Prince Chevalier wouldn’t have anybody to help with his workload. That might be what the sigh was about.
The kitchens were in their usual state of controlled chaos. I sidestepped a butler carrying a loaded tray into the hallway, and then I stepped into the kitchen where Prince Chevalier’s breakfast would be ready and waiting, ducking past a cook who was flipping a pancake onto a steaming stack, weaving through the crowd to find Prince Chevalier’s breakfast tray waiting on a counter. Three loud claps broke through the noise, and everybody stopped to look in the direction they came from.
“Good morning, everybody!” Prince Clavis said cheerfully, his bright golden eyes matching his usual smile as he walked into the kitchen.
Or maybe Prince Chevalier’s irritated sigh was because he knew Prince Clavis was back.
“Oh, no, it’s Prince Clavis,” a cook muttered, though he was still wearing a smile.
“I know you’re all overjoyed to see me, and you’re just dying for me to give you all individual and complicated assignments, but I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint you,” Prince Clavis continued.
“Thank goodness!” the head maid said, chuckling. I stared in surprise at the gray-haired, usually severe woman, now smiling and relaxed in Prince Clavis’ presence.
“I will be unavailable today, which means you can all carry on as usual. Oh, except Nokto is away, so now would be a good time for a few adventurous maids to clean his room. Please leave your names and contact information for him so he can thank you all personally when he returns. Especially you, Marge,” Prince Clavis added, looking pointedly at the head maid with a teasing smirk.
A ripple of laughter traveled through the servants, and more than one maid blushed. Marge was giggling like a schoolgirl.
“That is all. Back to work, everybody!” Prince Clavis said happily, clapping his hands again.
And, just like that, the controlled chaos was back, but everybody was smiling now. I left with Prince Chevalier’s breakfast tray in hand, dodging and weaving through the crowd until I made it safely to the hallway. It wasn’t long before I felt a tug on my ponytail while I was mid step, upsetting my equilibrium.
“Prince Clavis!” I chided, my eyes on the tray wobbling in my hands as I stumbled, and then his hands were on my waist, steadying me.
“Whoops. Don’t want to make a mess,” he said brightly, his warm breath drifting past my ear.
I blushed and pulled free from him. “You’re a menace, Prince Clavis.”
He laughed and fell into step beside me. “Thank you. How’s Chev this morning?”
I shrugged. “He wasn’t out of bed yet when I left, so I can’t say for sure, your highness. The servants really seem to like you.”
“They love me,” he corrected me. “And so do you,” he added, leaning in closer so his breath gusted across my ear again. I blushed deeper and took a step to the side to put more distance between us.
“I do not, your highness,” I replied tersely.
“Not even as a friend?” he asked, feigning injury.
“I don’t know you that well yet, your highness.”
“All the more reason for me to take you on another date! Let’s see, where to next?” he mused.
“I’m not going on a date with you, your highness,” I said wearily, and then an idea hit me, and I looked up at him. “But if you really want me to get to know you, I could clean your room sometime.”
His golden eyes widened briefly, and then his teasing smirk was back. “I didn’t realize I had that great of an effect on you.”
I pursed my lips and faced forward again. “Don’t flatter yourself, your highness. I was just thinking you can learn a lot about a person by seeing them in a place that’s personal to them.”
“Ah, then what you really want to see is my private villa. As a general rule, I like to kiss a girl before taking her there, but I suppose I can make an exception for you.”
“You’re impossible, your highness.”
He laughed. “I just love how you try to hide your true feelings for me. Say hi to Chev for me, but let’s keep this between us, okay? He’s the jealous type.”
We had arrived at Prince Chevalier’s door. Prince Clavis winked and walked away, and I shook my head and let myself into Prince Chevalier’s room. His bed was empty. I set his writing desk with his breakfast and got to work stripping his sheets.
Settling into a routine like this made my life so much easier.
“Prince Clavis is back, your highness,” I told Prince Chevalier when he emerged from the bathroom. “But you probably knew that already.”
“I didn’t,” he replied coolly. “Sometimes he spends the night at his private retreat, although in this instance, it seemed most plausible that he wouldn’t. He has difficulty staying awake after midnight, however, so he’ll be in his room most of the day, resting.”
“Really? He didn’t seem tired, your highness.”
“He hides it as well as you do.”
Nobody had ever noticed before, not even Mother. But Prince Chevalier noticed everything.
“The Mime?” he asked, his question stopping me in the bathroom door.
Of course, he knew about that, too.
“No, your highness. Prince Licht’s visit surprised me, but I just couldn’t sleep, that’s all.”
He didn’t reply, and I went into the bathroom to tidy up while he ate breakfast. If Prince Clavis was going to be in his room, this might be the best day to visit him and hopefully get to see what he was hiding. Not that I needed to. I didn’t owe Prince Nokto anything, and Prince Chevalier said there wasn’t anything worrisome in Prince Clavis’ room. But he also said what was there might interest me.
If I went to Prince Clavis’ room, any hope of a peaceful, quiet day was gone. But if I didn’t go, something would probably occur that would ruin it, anyway. Why not make the first move for once?
“He deactivates most of the traps at the door when he’s there,” Prince Chevalier said as I exited the bathroom. He was at the door, about to leave, his hand on the doorknob and his icy blue eyes on mine. “But I would recommend holding your breath until you’re inside.”
“Which room is his, your highness?”
“The last door at the end of the hall.”
Prince Chevalier left without another word. I collected his dirty dishes and argued with myself the whole way down to the kitchens. Prince Clavis was nothing but trouble, and I didn’t need more of that in my life. Then again, he was always the one catching me off guard. It could be fun to turn the tables, just this once.
And so, I ended up standing outside the last door at the end of the hallway of princes’ bedrooms, arguing with myself one last time. My mischievous side won. I raised my hand and knocked, just once, and a sudden explosion nearly knocked me off my feet. A cloud of smoke surrounded me before I thought to cover my mouth and nose. My eyes were stinging, my nose and throat were burning, and I squeezed my eyes shut, coughing uncontrollably. A hand grabbed my wrist and yanked me forward, and the door slammed shut behind me.
“Ivetta, what are you doing here?” Prince Clavis asked, his voice soft and frustrated.
I couldn’t reply, although I was asking myself the same question. The coughing wouldn’t stop. Prince Clavis led me to what felt like a sofa and left me there, inwardly berating myself for ever thinking this was a good idea, outwardly coughing non stop. The sofa shifted as he sat beside me, and a cool, damp cloth wiped my eyes and the tears streaming down my cheeks.
“Drink this,” he said. “It’s just water.”
It could be another sleeping potion, for all I cared, as long as it stopped this horrible coughing. I opened my lips to the cool glass pressed against them, seizing the cup from Prince Clavis as soon as I felt the soothing, refreshing liquid touch my tongue. It poured down my throat and relieved the burning sensation, and I gulped it down greedily. Prince Clavis took the empty cup from me, and I slumped back against the sofa, finally opening my eyes as I panted for breath.
“Feel better?” Prince Clavis asked, leaning his elbow against the back of the sofa beside me and resting his cheek against his hand. He still wore a smile, but it was strained, and he’d pulled his eyebrows together in concern.
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak just yet. He was in his pajamas, a white shirt and white pants, and the sofa beneath us was white, too. A purple leopard print pillow lay on the end of the sofa on his other side and crumpled up beside me was a purple blanket. There was no bed in the room.
Why didn’t he have a bed?
His finger brushed a stray tear from my cheek, drawing my attention back to him.
“What are you doing here, Ivetta?” he repeated.
“It’s complicated, your highness,” I said hesitantly.
“Well, you’re not going anywhere until you tell me,” he said, reaching across me to tuck my hair behind my ear. “Maybe not even then,” he added with a wicked grin.
I blushed and swatted his hand away. “Prince Nokto wanted me to get in here and tell him what I found so he could know whether you were trustworthy. Prince Chevalier told me I didn’t have to, but it might interest me to see what you’re hiding. I didn’t realize when he said to hold my breath until I was inside, that literally meant to hold my breath.”
“Hm. Meaning you are a spy. How unfortunate,” Prince Clavis said, toying with the end of my ponytail dangling over my shoulder.
I sighed, pulling my ponytail from his fingers and sitting up straight to fix my hair. “No, I’m not. I’m too curious for my own good.”
He laughed. “I’ve heard of curiosity killing the cat, but I didn’t know it was deadly to little doves, too. Now, what am I going to do with you?”
I flipped my ponytail over my opposite shoulder and looked around the room. The wooden coffee table in front of us held the empty glass and the damp cloth he’d used to wipe my eyes, along with a stack of books and documents. Across the room was an overfull bookcase, and a writing desk piled with more books and papers occupied the wall across from the door. Between it and the sofa was a cabinet covered in vials, bottles, and beakers. Notes pinned to the walls covered most of the purple wallpaper, and a ring of assorted keys hung from a hook next to the window above the writing desk. Purple draperies covered that window, and the one above the sofa. The golden chandelier hanging from the ceiling was unlit. Only the lamp on the writing desk provided the soft golden glow that allowed me to see.
“Why don’t you want people to see this?” I asked.
He laughed. “It’s a bit mediocre, isn’t it?”
I shook my head. “It looks to me like you work too hard. You don’t even have a bed.”
He shrugged. “If I’m ever going to best Chev, I have to work hard.” He put his hand on my shoulder and pulled me back against the sofa, smirking. “Of course, now that you’ve seen this, I can’t let you just leave.”
I frowned at him and pushed his hand away. “What was that explosion?” I asked accusingly. “And all that smoke?”
“Just one of my traps to ensure my privacy,” he said casually.
“All I did was knock!”
“How very honest of you. If you’d tried to pick the lock, you’d be unconscious right now.”
“Is it that awful for people to know you have a serious side?”
His golden eyes glittered in the flickering candlelight. “What I want people to know about me is my business, not yours. I should think you’d understand that.”
I sighed. “Fine. If you don’t want anybody to know about this,” I said, gesturing broadly at the room, “I won’t say a word.”
“And I’m supposed to take your word for that?” he asked, amused.
“You’re the one who said I’m honest to a fault,” I pointed out.
He chuckled. “I did, didn’t I?”
“So, am I free to go?”
He shrugged. “You might want to wait until the smoke dissipates.”
“And how long until that happens?”
His grin widened. “Five hours.”
I fixed him with a stern glare.
He laughed and shrugged. “Five minutes. But what’s the hurry? You just got here.”
“Well, I have to work,” I said, standing up. “And you were obviously trying to sleep, and I shouldn’t have come here at all, anyway. So, get some rest, Prince Clavis. I saw nothing."
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