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“Well, good morning, Miss Ivetta.”
The doctor’s cheerful greeting when I woke came with a smile that crinkled the corners of his gray eyes. I couldn’t help but return that smile.
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
“Much better, thank you,” I said, and it was the truth. The ever-present pain was just a dull throbbing, and although my head still felt foggy, it wasn’t pounding anymore.
“Glad to hear it. Are you ready to try eating?”
I opened my mouth to reply, but my stomach beat me to it with a loud growl. “Sorry,” I said sheepishly.
“Nothing to be sorry about. Music to my ears! Prince Chevalier, would you mind having breakfast sent up while I finish?”
“Not at all.”
The butterflies woke up in a flurry of wings. From where I lay, flat on the bed with the doctor blocking most of my field of vision, I couldn’t see Prince Chevalier, but his cold, arrogant voice carried clearly in the otherwise quiet room. He sounded normal, as if there was nothing unusual about any of this. As if it was to be expected that he would be here, waiting for me to wake up.
I couldn’t stop smiling.
“There now, all done,” the doctor said, pulling me back to reality. “Let’s get you to the bathroom while he’s gone.”
That got rid of my smile. There is nothing more humiliating than needing help in the bathroom. I never had the energy, or the nerve, to look in the mirror the day before, but today, when the doctor carried me in, I looked. And I barely recognized myself. My face was a mass of swelling and bruising, my lips split and my eyes blackened. Soft bandages covered most of my body, thicker and heavier in some places to stabilize fractures, since I had too many stitches and cuts requiring frequent bandage changes to make casting practical for my broken bones. Whichever those were. The doctor didn’t go into detail about my injuries, and I didn’t ask. It was easy enough to guess, even if I didn’t remember every sickening crack. Which I did.
The doctor was still talking. I tried to focus on his words, not the image in the mirror or the painful memories. If he noticed my inattention, he didn’t comment about it. He carried me back out to the bedroom, where Prince Chevalier had taken up residence on the sofa with a book, and I averted my eyes to the breakfast tray waiting on the nightstand, its heavenly aromas making my stomach growl again. I knew I didn’t need to feel embarrassed, but I did. At least I didn’t make that pitiful whimpering noise when the doctor carefully set me on the bed, propping the pillows up behind me to help me stay upright while I peeked back at Prince Chevalier. His eyes were still on the pages of the book. The doctor set the tray over my lap, still talking to relieve the awkwardness of him feeding me, and when I’d eaten my fill and taken more pain medicine, he fixed my pillows and helped me lie down again.
“You have a good appetite,” he said, beaming. “That’s a good sign. I’ll just take this back to the kitchens.”
As soon as the door closed, Prince Chevalier set aside his book, removed his gloves, and came to my side.
“Good morning, Prince Chevalier,” I said shyly.
“You’re feeling better today,” he said, taking my hand in his and sending a jolt through the butterflies.
“The medicine is helping.”
“Good.”
His crystal blue eyes were so warm. How could he look at me like that when I looked like a human punching bag? Which I was until he found me. I wished I could just fall into those eyes, forget every blow, every cut, every insult I endured during that waking nightmare, but the reminders were all around me. And on me.
“How long was I…gone?”
“Almost two days,” he replied, his thumb gently rubbing back and forth across the back of my hand. I really liked when he did that. It was soothing, grounding me here in this moment while I added up the time I’d lost. Almost two days of torture, and then unconscious for three days afterwards. And out of commission the day before, too. Not quite a week total, but it had felt like an eternity.
Prince Chevalier had lost that time, too.
“Don’t you need to get back to the palace?”
He chuckled. “You’re worrying about me again.”
“Well, you have your work, and Belle only has a month to decide-”
He laid a finger gently across my lips, cutting me off. “Flandre’s barony is within my jurisdiction, meaning it is my duty to sort through his affairs and reassign his land, and it is a simple matter for anything requiring my attention to be forwarded here from the palace. I’ll commute as necessary until you’re ready to travel, but I’m not leaving you unless one of my brothers is here to ensure your safety. There is no rule that says Belle has to stay at the palace, or that I have to interact with her daily.”
He withdrew his finger, and I swallowed, trying to focus on his words and not the intensity in his eyes.
“Is…is Belle coming here, then?”
He nodded. “Tomorrow, with Clavis. Depending upon your condition, I may return to the palace for a few days after that, and they’ll stay here.”
“You just said his name,” I said in disbelief.
A smile played across Prince Chevalier’s lips. “I believe he’s earned that privilege.”
“I’ve never been so happy to see one of those annoying glass vials,” I said, feeling a smile tugging at my lips, too.
“They have their uses.”
He stayed until I tired again, his hand holding mine and his eyes on me, answering whatever questions I asked him, although I opted to avoid ones I thought would lead into dark or difficult territory. Once he resolved my worry that he was wasting his time here with me, I really just wanted to talk about things that made me smile. And him smile. I’d never seen him smile so much. It made my heart twist in a way that was both uncomfortable and pleasurable.
“I’ll be back later this afternoon,” he said, giving my hand a gentle squeeze and standing up. “Would you like me to bring you a book?”
“No, thank you. I couldn’t hold it, anyway,” I said, stifling a yawn.
“For me to read to you,” he clarified.
“Oh.”
One benefit of all the bruising was that my blush wasn’t visible anymore. The thought of Prince Chevalier reading to me would have had me beet red under normal circumstances.
“I-I’m not sure I could really concentrate on a book right now,” I stammered.
“This afternoon, then,” he said, giving me one last look at that beautiful smile before he left.
He came again in the afternoon. I’m not sure what time he arrived, but when I woke up, he was sitting on the sofa, a book in one hand while he held a teacup to his lips with the other. His blue eyes flicked up to me and he smiled, setting the teacup in its saucer on the end table and discarding the book and his gloves on the sofa before he came to my bedside.
The butterflies and warm fuzzies were awake and active before he took my hand.
“Are you done with your work for the day?”
“Yes, not that it’s any of your concern,” he replied.
“Would you rather talk about my day?” I asked teasingly. “Let’s see…I slept, I ate, and I took my medicine. That’s about it.”
He chuckled. “You’re eating well today.”
“The pain is much better. I couldn’t eat when it was bad.”
“So, what was your excuse before this happened?” he asked, his smile fading as his piercing blue eyes demanded an answer. If I could have squirmed, I would have.
“You won’t like it,” I said sheepishly.
“Tell me anyway.”
“I…sort of decided when I started working at the palace that I’d eat there so I could save money on food to put toward the doctor’s bill,” I said reluctantly. “But there were times I forgot to eat, and the worse Mother got, the more anxious I got, and then I couldn’t eat.”
“You should have told me,” he said sternly.
“I don’t like to ask for help, Prince Chevalier.”
“So I’ve noticed. Fortunately for you, you’re not in a position to refuse it anymore. But when you’ve recovered, I want you to come to me for assistance instead of trying to handle everything on your own.”
His voice and eyes had softened, and his thumb was caressing my hand again. I almost wanted to close my eyes, just to savor the feeling, but I didn’t want to go to sleep.
“It sounds like you expect me to stick around for a while.”
He smirked and moved his hand to tap the bandages around my wrist. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“Nowhere until I’m healed, but after that, I haven’t decided,” I said, trying - and failing - to hide my smile.
“We’ll see about that,” he said smugly. “As for my day, it may interest you to know that I replied to ten inquiries regarding you.”
“Ten?” I asked, thrown by the change in topic. “Your brothers, and…the foreign princes?” I guessed.
He nodded, a tease in his eyes. “You’ve always been good at attracting princes, little dove.”
“I - that can’t - th-they’re just worried,” I stammered.
“They are worried,” he confirmed. “If it were possible, they would all be here right now, but the foreign princes couldn’t delay their departure any longer, and you’re in no condition to handle all my brothers at once.”
We talked until I got tired again, and then he returned to the sofa and his book while I closed my eyes. I knew he’d come looking for me, and I hoped I’d live long enough for him to rescue me, but I never thought he’d be this attentive during my recovery. If he kept this up, I might get spoiled.
And I might like that.
Evening came, and he left while the doctor did his last examination and gave me more medicine. He drew the shades, blew out the candles, and left with a final click of the door locking behind him. The windows and the other door were probably locked, too, I guessed. There were three doors exiting my room: one to the bathroom, one to the doctor’s adjoining room, and one to the hallway. I was certain Prince Chevalier had guards posted in the hallway, and he was undoubtedly staying nearby. And the doctor had told me numerous times that if I needed anything, he could hear me shouting from next door.
I smiled and closed my eyes. Prince Clavis and Belle were coming tomorrow. The thought of anybody seeing me like this didn’t thrill me, but I knew they would worry until they saw me, and lying in bed all day was going to get boring quickly. Having visitors would help pass the time and give Prince Chevalier a break.
I still couldn’t quite believe this was real.
The touch of a hand on mine penetrated the thick layers of sleep sometime later, but it was a struggle to fully wake up. There was a heavy cloud over my mind.
“Prince Chevalier?” I mumbled.
“Afraid not.”
The voice was wrong, and the hand on mine was cold. I knew who it was before I forced my heavy eyelids open, but his presence didn’t bother me.
“Oh, Prince Gilbert.”
He was sitting on the bed next to me, where Prince Chevalier usually sat. The room was dark, but I could see his smile and his blood-red eye in the sliver of moonlight peeking through a crack in the curtains.
“You’ve taken a lot of medicine,” he observed.
“It feels like it,” I agreed. “Maybe the doctor gave me extra so I wouldn’t have nightmares. Prince Chevalier probably told him about that. Does he know you’re here?”
Prince Gilbert’s eye flicked away for a moment, like he was looking at something else, but it was back on me so quickly I thought I imagined it.
“Does my presence bother you?”
“No, but like you said, I’m on a lot of medicine. This almost seems like a dream. Maybe it is,” I giggled.
He chuckled. “Maybe it is. Has Chevalier told you?”
“Told me what?”
“Nothing,” he said, shaking his head. “You know, I probably won’t see you again until you’ve recovered and I’m visiting the palace for another state affair.”
“You’re coming back?”
“Then you don’t know about the treaty, either.”
“I don’t really know much of anything. Except - oh, I need to thank you.”
“Thank me?” he asked. “For what?”
“For stopping them. I wish I’d known so I could have told them earlier. It was so funny how panicked they got when I told them you didn’t want information from me, that you just wanted me.” I giggled again, remembering it. “They were so stupid.”
His smile faded. “Then this happened because of me.”
“No, Baron Flandre also had a grudge against Prince Chevalier,” I said lightly. The memories seemed far away, like they happened to someone else, and they didn’t bother me at all. “He wanted to burn me to death in front of Prince Chevalier. He was crazy, the cook was stupid…” I yawned, closing my eyes as sleep urged me to return to its embrace. “He hated it when I told him that,” I mumbled, struggling to continue. “But if I made him mad enough, he’d hit me hard enough to knock me out…” I yawned again. “I just wanted to die…”
“Satisfied?” Prince Chevalier’s voice asked somewhere in the distance.
“Satisfied that I shouldn’t have wasted my time playing games with you when I could have taken her right away and prevented this whole mess,” Prince Gilbert replied with an unusual chill in his voice. “Keep me updated.”
“Use the door this time and don’t come back.”
Prince Gilbert’s laugh was so far away I could barely hear it.
“You win this round."
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