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A surprised shriek penetrated the thick layers of my deep, dreamless sleep to wake me up the next morning. Theresa, my foggy brain registered. I was too warm and comfortable to even contemplate why she shrieked like that.
“Five more minutes,” I mumbled.
“No wonder you were trying so hard to make me leave last night!” she said triumphantly.
Her words prompted a nagging at the back of my mind, a feeling that there was something important I’d forgotten, but I dismissed it and nuzzled into my pillow.
“Go away.”
“Okay, I’ll go. But don’t forget about your test,” she said in a singsong voice.
“Get out.”
My eyes shot wide open as Chevalier’s frigid command rumbled through my pillow beneath my cheek. Except there was no pillow. He was my pillow. And he had his arm around me, cuddled up to him, and that’s why Theresa had shrieked when she walked in, and the split second it took me to realize all of that was enough to make my face burn. I sat bolt upright with a surprised gasp, but Chevalier yanked me back down to this side.
“Not you.”
“Chevalier, please-” I begged, my cheeks so hot I had to be at risk of bursting into flames.
“Don’t make me repeat myself,” he said, his icy voice directed at Theresa.
“I-I’ll come back later,” she stammered, all the confidence gone from her suddenly meek voice.
The door latched closed, and the room was silent again, save for the pounding of my heart in my ears and the rustling of the sheets as Chevalier rolled onto his side and pulled me into his chest. He was apparently unconcerned about Theresa catching us in bed together. I, however, was beyond concerned, teetering on the edge between embarrassment and pure mortification.
“Chevalier, I have to get up. I have a test-”
“It can wait,” he said, nuzzling into my hair.
The sensation stilled my racing mind. His breath on my scalp, his warm embrace, the steady beating of his heart in my ear, all washed over me the same soothing way they had last night when he found me cowering behind the bathtub in a state of sheer panic. That was a new low for me. But he stayed, and he calmed me down, and he told me he loved me, and he was still here, holding me as if I weren’t a complete mess who couldn’t function without him anymore.
A few more minutes wouldn’t hurt anything.
“Okay,” I relented, relaxing into his embrace.
He kissed the top of my head and squeezed me a little tighter. “Are you feeling better?”
“Yes, much better,” I confirmed, smiling shyly up at him. The warmth in his sleepy blue eyes wrapped around my heart and woke the butterflies in my stomach. “Thank you, Chevalier.”
He removed one hand from my back to tuck my hair behind my ear, trailing his finger along my jaw to my chin. I buried my face in the pillow. The actual pillow.
“You don’t want to kiss me right now. I haven’t washed my face yet, and my mouth still tastes nasty-”
His lips pressed against my temple and brought my nervous excuses to a halt. “Look at me, Ivetta.”
There was a sweetness to his voice that I’d never heard before. It tugged at my heart, and his fingers combed through my hair, and I couldn’t resist turning my head just enough to peek at him. He smiled and settled his cheek on the pillow next to me. It felt like the butterflies were doing cartwheels inside my stomach. I finally gave in and turned to face him, closing my eyes and smiling against his lips as they pressed into mine. It wasn’t a long, passionate kiss, but it was soft and sweet, and it made my heart sing. He pulled back and stroked my cheek with his finger, his smile wider than I’d ever seen it.
“Good morning, Ivetta.”
“Good morning, Chevalier,” I said shyly, unable to look away from his captivating crystal blue eyes. He cupped my cheek in his hand and moved in closer, brushing his nose against mine.
“I don’t want you to leave.”
There was that sweet tone again. It made my breath catch in my throat, and then he kissed me, just as gently as before, shifting his body closer to mine and tilting his head slightly for his next kiss. I closed my eyes and accepted kiss after kiss, the world fading away as I lost myself in his whispered words and his warm kisses, both asking me to stay. He tugged lightly on my lower lip, moving his hand from my cheek to cup my waist, breathing my name and tugging a little harder with his next kiss. His hand slid around to my back and up my spine, following the shiver that ran through me as his kisses deepened. I curled my fingers into his shirt in one breath, uncurled them in the next, my hands moving of their own accord across his chest and around his neck as he pressed me into him. Each kiss was longer and more intense than the last, leaving me gasping for breath.
“Chevalier, I have to get up…”
“Not yet,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to the corner of my mouth. “I’m not done.” He kissed my cheek, my temple, the side of my eye, my nose, anywhere his lips could reach. I giggled and squirmed in his arms as he scattered feather-light kisses across my face, holding my hands in front of me to fend him off.
“That tickles.”
“Oh?” he asked, the single syllable enough for me to hear the tease in his voice. “What about this?”
His teeth closed over my earlobe, sending a violent shiver through me and making me gasp involuntarily. I pushed his face away with my hand.
“You know that doesn’t tickle,” I chided him. He grabbed my wrist and licked between my fingers, making me writhe again. “But that does,” I gasped. “Chevalier-”
He chuckled and continued his tickle torture, kissing and licking my fingers while I twisted and wriggled between weak protests broken by spurts of giggling.
“Okay, okay, I give up! Whatever this is, you win! Just - stop!” I cried, laughter jumbling my words.
He released my wrist and flopped back against the pillow beside me, reaching over to comb his fingers through my hair from my forehead to the back of my neck, bringing me closer as he leaned in for a kiss. Little bursts of giggles escaped my smiling lips as they pressed into his.
“Now, I’m done,” he said, settling his cheek on the pillow beside me.
I took a deep breath to still the giggles still erupting from me. “What was that all about?”
He smirked and poked me in the forehead. “You’re forgetting your test.”
“Oh!” I rolled away from him and climbed out of bed, but I froze when my feet hit the floor. “If you want to stay and sleep longer, I don’t mind,” I said, turning back to the bed and his amused smirk. “Theresa can help me get ready in the bathroom.”
“You aren’t concerned about me being seen leaving your room later today?”
I bit my lip nervously. That was something I hadn’t thought about.
“Well, it doesn’t matter if you leave now or later, so you may as well stay,” I said slowly.
A timid knock at the door interrupted us. Chevalier rolled away from me and pulled the blanket up over his head. I went to the door and opened it a crack to see Theresa’s unusually nervous expression.
“Sorry to interrupt, but if you don’t get moving now, you’ll be late for your test.”
“You can come in,” I said softly, opening the door wider. “But be quiet. We’ll get ready in the bathroom.”
She tiptoed to the bureau, and I went into the bathroom, where the smell of vomit assaulted my senses. I covered my mouth and flushed the toilet. Theresa crept in with my clothes over her arm and a hairbrush in her hand. She closed the door and whirled to face me, her bright green eyes sparkling with excitement.
“Tell me everything,” she commanded, pointing the hairbrush at me. Then her nose wrinkled, and she said, “Ew. What is that smell?”
“Vomit that I just flushed down the toilet,” I replied.
She raised a red eyebrow in question.
“I had a nightmare last night. A really, really bad nightmare. Chevalier knows about them, and Luke must have told him how tired I was, so he came to check on me. Then he stayed so I could sleep. That’s all that happened.”
She sighed heavily and set the hairbrush on the sink. “If it were anybody else, I wouldn’t buy that, but I believe you. Unfortunately.” She sighed again, and then she asked, “Did you at least get any kissing or cuddling out of it?”
“Theresa,” I moaned, covering my face with my hands as it flared with heat again.
“Which was it? Kissing, cuddling, or both?” she teased.
“I’m going to be late,” I protested, turning away from her to pull my nightgown over my head.
She giggled, and the soft thud on the floor told me she dropped her armful of clothes. “Alright, alright. You can tell me later,” she said, handing me my drawers and chemise. “Oh, I didn’t grab the hairpins.”
“Well, we’ll just leave my hair down,” I said, grateful she was moving on from her previous line of questioning.
“Not with this dress,” she said, holding out the dreaded corset. I took it from her and pulled it over my head. “But it’ll have to be something simple,” she continued, shifting the corset into place and pulling at the laces. “Hm…a French braid?”
“Whatever you say,” I gasped.
She laughed and loosened the corset slightly. “What would you do without me?”
“I never had to worry about what matches this and which hairstyle would compliment that before,” I defended myself.
“And I grew up with a houseful of sisters, so I couldn’t avoid fashion and hair,” she said, holding out the dress for me to step into it. “Where are you eating breakfast?”
“Oh. I…didn’t think about that,” I said, pulling my arms through the sleeves. Usually, Theresa brought my breakfast to my room, but that wasn’t an option with Chevalier asleep in my bed. Not without waking him up. I wasn’t sure how much sleep he got last night, and I didn’t want to disturb him.
“Leon’s faction is probably eating breakfast in the round table room right now,” Theresa said, her fingers flying through the fastenings at the back of my dress with practiced ease. “I’m sure they wouldn’t mind you joining them.”
I bit my lip, considering. “Or I could eat in the library. That way, I can get a little more studying in before that test.”
“No. No more studying,” she said firmly, picking up the hairbrush and working it through my tangles. There were more this morning than usual, thanks to Chevalier. “That’s all you do anymore.”
“Well, the coronation ceremony is coming up-”
“You’re not the one getting crowned, Ivetta.”
“But Chevalier is, and this is my introduction to the upper class, too, so I need to learn as much as possible,” I insisted.
“Okay, then you need to eat with Leon’s faction,” she replied, setting the hairbrush down and starting on the braid. “Practical experience is more important than bookwork.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Noblewomen are supposed to look good and follow the rules,” she said, parting and weaving my hair without missing a beat in the conversation. “Nobody will care how much you know if you can’t eat with the right fork.”
“But - that’s really…shallow.”
“Of course it is. But that’s how it works. I’ve heard the visiting noblewomen talking about it at their tea parties. They’ll even pretend to be ditzy to get a man’s attention, because noblemen want someone pretty and obedient to show off, and noblewomen want someone rich and important to take care of them. Once the wedding’s over, a woman can use her husband’s money to pursue her interests. You see it all the time. As long as she gives him children and stays on his arm at social events, she can do whatever she wants.”
“Well, I don’t need to win a rich man over,” I reminded her. “I already have Chevalier. What I need is to make a good impression on the people he has to work with.”
“And the people he has to work with are looking for a beautiful, well-mannered princess,” she said. “That’s not to say you shouldn’t study. If that was all Chevalier wanted, he would’ve picked someone a lot easier to handle than you. I’m just saying your focus should be on etiquette and all the rest of that stuff so you portray the right image. Now, your hair’s done, so let’s go.”
She opened the door, and we crept across the bedroom in silence. I glanced back at the unmoving lump under the blankets before we left. Chevalier had said all he wanted was for me to be by his side and hold my head up, and Theresa was saying more or less the same thing, but that wasn’t enough. Not after everything he’d done for me.
Maybe the nobility would just have to get used to a different sort of princess.
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