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“You look awful.”
The matter-of-fact words, delivered with a teasing smirk and mischievous green eyes, triggered an involuntary squeal of delight from me. Theresa was waiting in my room. The doctor, who was carrying me out of the bathroom, winced at the high-pitched sound in his ear.
“Sorry,” I apologized quickly. “Theresa!” I exclaimed, trying to keep my voice in an octave that wouldn’t pierce the doctor’s eardrum.
“I’ve changed your sheets, milady,” she said, dipping into a dramatic curtsy. “Will there be anything else before I go?”
“Don’t you dare leave,” I threatened her as the doctor laid me down on the bed.
She laughed. “Me? Leave? There are too many good-looking men here that I haven’t dated yet. Sorry, Ivetta, but you’re stuck with me until you go back to the palace. And maybe I’ll go back with you. We’ll see,” she said, winking.
The doctor cleared his throat. I suddenly realized he was going to tell her the rules, tell her she could only be in here for fifteen minutes, and it wasn’t nearly enough time.
“Since she’s my maid, the rules are different for her, right?” I pleaded. “It’s her job to be in here. She won’t be any trouble. Please?”
Theresa snorted and covered her mouth. The doctor’s mustache was twitching.
“I was just going to ask that you keep the discussion about men to a minimum when I’m in the room,” the doctor said.
“Then leave,” Theresa blurted out.
He fixed her with a stern look. “After I have attended to my patient.”
“Well, how much more do you have to do? She already ate supper, you had her in the bathroom forever, and it looks to me like you’re just tucking her in,” Theresa retorted.
“Young lady-”
“Just a few more minutes,” I intervened. “Maybe you could tidy up in the bathroom?”
She rolled her eyes and sighed heavily. “Fine. But don’t take too long. It’s getting dark outside.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.
She turned back to me with a sly grin, and it clicked.
“Prince Clavis told you about the surprise?”
“Maybe,” she teased, spinning away and disappearing into the bathroom without further explanation. I stared after her, letting out a frustrated sigh. The doctor’s chuckle drew my attention back to him. He really was just tucking me in, busily arranging my blankets with his head ducked down so his bushy eyebrows hid his expression from me.
“You know, too?” I guessed.
He straightened up and smiled down at me, his gray eyes twinkling. “I’ll be back later. Enjoy the show.”
I watched him leave, wondering what the surprise could be, and then Theresa poked her head out of the bathroom.
“Oh, good, he’s gone.”
Her grin as she came to my side reminded me of a cat who’d caught a mouse. If I could have squirmed, I would have. This would be embarrassing.
“So, if we’re going to talk about men, we have to start with yours,” she said, sitting on the bed next to me.
I knew it.
“Isn’t Prince Clavis’ surprise happening soon?” I tried, knowing that wouldn’t be enough to deter her.
“It’s not dark enough yet,” she said dismissively, waving that question aside. “This is a nice, big room with a nice, big bed. Plenty of room for two people,” she said suggestively.
“Theresa!” I exclaimed, mortified.
She laughed. “It’s not like you can do anything. But he’s been here alone with you for almost a week, and you can’t tell me that nothing has been going on. So, spill!”
“I was unconscious for three days,” I protested, plucking at the blankets with my fingers.
“That leaves, what? Three days unaccounted for? So? How much kissing has been going on here?” she asked, leaning in with an impish grin.
“Do you see what I look like?”
She frowned. “You mean your lips? Mine look like that after a good date.”
“Well, these aren’t from a date, good or bad. I’ve never even been on a date,” I muttered. “Unless you count the times Prince Clavis forced me to go along with him on some harebrained adventure.”
She sighed and laid back on the bed beside me, staring up at the ceiling. “I’ll count those because otherwise, it’s just too darn depressing to think about your love life compared to mine.”
“What do you mean?”
Her red curls rustled on the pillow as she turned to scowl at me. “I’ve dated nearly every man between the ages of twenty and fifty at the palace, and I haven’t met one person willing to start a war over me. You wander into the palace, and a man who everybody thought was a heartless beast immediately falls in love with you.”
“That’s not how it happened, and - wait. Fifty?”
A faint dusting of pink colored her cheeks, and she looked back up at the ceiling. “The mature silver look works for some guys,” she muttered.
We lay in silence for a moment as the brilliant sunset outside my west-facing window faded to deepening shades of purple.
“I wish I had some of your experience,” I admitted.
“No, you don’t.”
“Well, if I did, maybe I wouldn’t get so embarrassed just talking about this stuff. I practically pass out when it actually happens.”
“So, you’re a little shy. I used to be shy, too, before I got all my worldly experience,” she said, turning to face me with a teasing smirk as she overemphasized ‘worldly.’ “You’re still in that cute, innocent phase, where every little thing gives you butterflies.”
“It really does,” I admitted shyly. “There’s this one thing, and it’s really not that big of a deal, but it’s just…it makes it hard for me to even think.”
“What is it?” she prompted.
I averted my gaze away from her to my fingers, fidgeting with the blanket again. “When he comes to see me, he takes his gloves off.”
“So he can touch you?” she asked.
I nodded hesitantly. “He sits right there,” I said, pointing at the spot, “and he holds my hand. Sometimes he’ll touch my face or run his fingers through my hair. He really likes to play with my hair. It seems like everybody does, but…it feels different when he does it.”
“Well, yeah. You’re not in love with everybody,” Theresa pointed out. “What else does he do?”
“He has his own room, but he’s here when I wake up in the morning. Except for this morning. I guess you came in late last night?” I asked, turning to look at her again. Her smile was nearly splitting her face.
“Yeah, we did. But he came to see you before he left, didn’t he?”
I nodded again. “He did. And…he kissed me.”
She squealed, and I hurried to amend, “Really gently. He’s only kissed me twice since I woke up, and he’s always really gentle because he’s afraid of hurting me.”
“I can’t picture him being gentle. It’s easier to picture him literally breaking you in two by accident.”
“I think that’s what he’s worried about. Even before this happened to me, it seemed like he was holding himself back.”
“Now, we’re getting somewhere,” she said triumphantly. “So, before this happened. How long before this happened? What was he holding himself back from? I want all the details, Ivetta”
A loud pop outside, followed by a high-pitched squeal, interrupted us at exactly the right time. I looked out the window to see an explosion of spherical glittering red sparkles light up the night sky.
“Fireworks?” I asked, delighted.
There was another pop, followed in quick succession by two more. Gray smoke snaked up through the sky, throwing occasional sparks until one, two, three explosions of blue, green, and gold spheres burst in the sky, perfectly framed in the center of my window from my perspective, lying in the bed.
“That’s what he was doing,” I muttered, thinking of the strangeness of Prince Clavis wandering back and forth from the bed to the window and then briefly lying down next to me. It almost seemed like he was taking measurements. And he was. He was planning out his fireworks display, ensuring I could see it.
“It’s a little scary riding in a carriage with Prince Clavis and a bunch of explosives,” Theresa commented.
“He was planning this before he even saw me?” I asked, watching as the colorful, glittering explosions continued outside my window.
“He’s been planning this since he got Prince Chevalier’s letter that you were awake and would need something to keep you entertained while you’re bed bound.”
“Prince Chevalier said that?” I asked softly.
“He also told Prince Clavis to bring Belle when he came to visit, and he asked Prince Leon to send me, too.”
I smiled. “That’s another thing that gives me butterflies. The way he’s always doing little things to make me happy.”
Theresa sighed again and rested her head on my shoulder. “You have rotten luck in everything else, but in this one specific area, you’re the luckiest girl I know.”
The fireworks continued until the doctor returned to give me my medicine and perform his last examination of the night, but Prince Clavis’ entertainment didn’t stop there. An orchestra played outside my window the next day, and the day after that, Prince Clavis brought a stack of letters from my neighbors, people at church, and other servants at the palace to read to me. And, of course, Belle came to visit every day, with Rio tagging along after I explained to the doctor that Rio was really just there for Belle, and he wouldn’t cause me any trouble. His puppy-like devotion to Belle was a popular topic of discussion when evenings came, and Theresa’s work ended. Although she was in and out of my room all day, providing passing commentary and the occasional eye roll behind somebody’s back to make me giggle, we didn’t really have time to talk until after supper. Then she told me all about the handsome butler she’d been flirting with, or Rio’s fantastic flour-covered failure in the kitchen when he tried to make Belle’s favorite pastry, or Prince Clavis installing a pit trap in the gardens when he was ostensibly helping the gardeners clean up. I heard it all, and when her tales of the day were done, she pestered me about Prince Chevalier.
“He’s coming back tomorrow,” she said on her third night with me.
“Yes, I know,” I replied, smiling. “Belle was on the verge of tears when she came to see me because she’s leaving tomorrow morning. Rio rolled a huge cart of tea and assorted pastries in here trying to comfort her.”
Theresa shook her head. “I can’t believe she doesn’t realize he’s in love with her. Poor guy.”
“But I’m making progress on convincing her. She actually blushed today when he did that. And then he blushed, and then they were both stammering and trying not to look at each other, and it was so cute. You should have seen it.”
Theresa laughed. “I can picture it. Did Rio almost drop something?”
“A dariole. He juggled it for quite a while before Belle finally took it from him,” I said, laughing, too.
“If she wakes up to him, they’re going to make an adorable couple. Almost as adorable as you and Prince Chevalier.”
“I don’t think we’re adorable,” I protested weakly, plucking at the blanket with my fingers.
“From everything you’ve told me, you’re adorable,” Theresa replied teasingly. “Although now that your lips have healed, I wonder how gentle his ‘I’m back’ kiss will be.”
“Well, the rest of me is still a mess,” I said with a heavy sigh. “The doctor took my stitches out today, and he had me try doing some small movements, like lifting my arms, but that really hurt.”
“I thought you had a few less bandages,” Theresa said encouragingly. “And movement is good, right?”
“I guess so. He said I only dislocated my shoulders instead of breaking them, but it can still take as long for that kind of injury to heal as it does for a broken bone.”
“How long is that?” Theresa asked hesitantly.
I scowled. “Six to eight weeks, if everything goes well.”
She frowned. “Are you going to be stuck in bed that whole time?”
“No, I have to move, or my muscles will atrophy,” I said, shaking my head. “But it’s still going to be a few weeks before I’ve healed enough to get out of bed.”
“What about going back to the palace?”
“I don’t know,” I said wearily. “The doctor didn’t mention that.”
Theresa sighed and laid down beside me. “The carriage ride takes a full day, and the roads can get pretty bumpy.”
“Then I doubt I’ll be going anywhere for a while.”
We lay in silence for a while, and then she said, “It’s just as well. That butler was a jerk, but there’s this gardener who’s been making eyes at me.”
I snorted. “Not the one who helped Prince Clavis make that pit trap, I hope?”
“Hey, I can take a joke. And I wasn’t the one who fell into it, anyway.”
I looked over at her bright green eyes, her mischievous smile, and I decided the next five to seven weeks might not be so bad.
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