Sariel didn’t have time to say more than he would talk to me later, and Nokto was busy, too, so I spent the rest of that day in my room, talking to Theresa or reading. It was a nice, relaxing change from the tension of the past two days, even with Theresa’s embarrassing questions about what went on between Chevalier and me while we were alone. Evening came, and I fell asleep in my own bed, listening to the sound of Theresa’s slow breathing from the other side of the mattress. Quiet, calm, tranquil. Just what I needed.
And then I leaped out of bed before daybreak, excited to spend the day with Chevalier in a non-life-threatening, non-stressful situation.
“Why are you up so early?” Theresa mumbled into her pillow.
“I’m going out with Chevalier,” I reminded her, feeling for the dress I’d left hanging over the dressing screen the night before. It was Chevalier’s favorite, of course.
“Oh, that’s right!” She clambered out of bed and lit a candle, the flame illuminating me already halfway into the dress. “What do you need me to do?”
“Fix this,” I said, struggling with the laces at the back.
She laughed. “You really are in a hurry. What if he won’t get up now?”
“He will,” I said, fidgeting impatiently with the green skirt while Theresa laced and buttoned my dress. “Could you - no, I’ll do it. I know what he likes. I guess there’s nothing else I need - except my hairbrush.”
“Jin was right,” Theresa said, giggling. “You two are adorable.”
“When were you talking to Jin?” I asked, snatching the hairbrush from my vanity and pulling it through my hair fast enough that every tangle stung and pulled.
“Oh, y-you know,” she stammered. “It was just - we - we ran into each other…”
“Uh huh. Well, you’ll have to tell me about it later, because - I guess you can help me. Get dressed.”
I could almost hear her rolling her eyes. “Make up your mind.”
“Get dressed,” I insisted.
She and two confused guards followed me to the kitchens, where I put her to work, helping me make a quick breakfast to go. I left her to pack it in a picnic basket with instructions to take it to the stables, and I went to Chevalier’s room. The sky was still a blanket of black speckled with white when I yanked his comforter off of him the same way I had the first morning I’d been in his room.
“Good morning, Chevalier!”
Unlike that first morning, he did not jump out of bed and grab me, which was a bit of a shame. I wouldn’t have minded this time.
“What are you doing here?” he mumbled, his sheets rustling as he rolled over to face me. I couldn’t make out his expression in the dark.
“You said we could do what I planned today, so get up and meet me at the stables.”
“Now?” he grumbled.
I left without answering, smiling as I pictured the bewildered, sleepy look he was probably wearing. The rest of the palace was dark and slumbering, the halls quiet and empty, but when I exited the door closest to the stables, warm lantern-light glanced through windows and open doorways from the long, low building at the foot of the hill. The dull clopping of hooves on packed dirt and soft snorting muffled by the stable walls told me the grooms were already hard at work inside. Shadowy stable hands led larger shadows of horses from the golden light out into the soft, silvery glimmer of the stars on their way to pasture or exercise. I squinted in the darkness as I approached, trying to make out if Rose or Blade were among the horses on leads. Blade’s white coat would have glowed in the dark, so I knew at a glance he was still inside.
“Ivetta!”
I turned at the sound of Theresa’s shout. She was jogging down the hill, picnic basket in hand.
“How did you beat me here?” she panted, coming to a stop in front of me. “Here. I packed a blanket for you to sit on, or - you know, whatever else you wanna do with it,” she said suggestively. I rolled my eyes and took the basket from her.
“Thanks. You can go back to bed.”
“I want all the details tonight,” she called over her shoulder, already heading back up the hill. “All of them. Don’t even think of leaving anything out.”
I smiled and turned back to the stables as a stable hand led a familiar petite mare into the cool early morning air. “Oh, I’ll take her,” I said, hurrying to intercept her before the boy got too far. “And you don’t have to worry about Chevalier’s horse, either.”
“Uh…okay,” the surprised boy said. He was the same boy who’d been so startled by my presence at the stables after the coronation ceremony, and he had that same reaction nearly every time I saw him, as if he couldn’t believe a princess would come anywhere near him or horses. Seeing me dressed in commoners’ clothing had thrown him for a loop yet again. His wide eyes went up and down me twice before they went over my shoulder to my guards and back to me - twice.
“Do you need any help…Princess?” he asked hesitantly, still seemingly unsure of my identity.
“No, but thanks,” I said, offering him an encouraging smile that never relaxed him. He stepped stiffly aside, staring at me as I led Rose away. Blade, however, had no doubts about my identity, and he greeted me with an excited whinny as I neared his stall. I shifted the basket over my arm so I could pat his nose as we passed him.
“Don’t kick the door,” I said. “Chevalier’s coming.”
The thud behind me said he kicked his stall door, anyway. That would have to be replaced soon. I tied Rose outside her stall and set the basket down while I fetched her tack.
“You’re dismissed,” a cool, grumpy voice said behind me. I smiled and turned to face Chevalier as the echoes of, “Yes, your highness,” came from my guards.
“You know I don’t like to get up early,” he muttered, reaching for the saddle in my arms. The sparkle in his sleepy blue eyes told me he wasn’t as upset as he wanted everyone to believe. I turned my body to evade him.
“I can do this myself. You’d better get Blade before he breaks his door down.”
I threw the saddle over Rose’s back and squeaked in surprise as Chevalier grabbed me by the waist and spun me toward him, pressing a quick kiss to my lips. He released me as quickly as he grabbed me, walking away with his usual confident stride to Blade’s stall while I stood frozen in shock. It took me a moment to realize everybody in the stables was looking at me - human and equine. I spun back to Rose, my face blazing hot, and shifted the saddle into place.
“What was that for?” I complained, wishing I could will the redness out of my cheeks. I probably matched Rose.
“Why did you wake me before dawn?” he countered.
I pursed my lips and cinched the saddle. There were two reasons. One, clearing our schedules for the day didn’t mean somebody wouldn’t come looking for us, and leaving early meant we could get away before that happened. And two - well, I just wanted to surprise him, really. Of course, that meant I had little room for argument, since that’s what he just did to me. And he knew that, being a genius who could read my mind most of the time. Darn him.
I sent him a few choice thoughts as I finished bridling Rose.
“If you don’t hurry, you’ll get left behind,” I taunted, walking past him with Rose’s reins in one hand and the picnic basket in the other. He glanced over his shoulder at me, his smirk clear even through the curtain of pale blonde hair falling in front of his face.
This would be a fun day.
I handed the picnic basket to the boy who was clearly loitering at the entrance, pretending to be busy, stealing glances all the while into the stables. He held Rose steady for me to mount her and passed the basket up to me, and I looked back to see Chevalier untying Blade. I winked at the boy and kicked Rose into a gallop. The cool morning air whipped my hair back under the graying sky as I left the stables behind, feeling the ground pounding under Rose’s hoofbeats and up through my body, listening for the extra set of hoofbeats that said Chevalier was catching up. Rose was fast, but Blade’s longer, more muscular legs wouldn’t have any trouble overtaking her. Fortunately, Rose could stop quickly, too. I heard the thundering hooves and saw white out of the corner of my eye, pulling her up just as Chevalier and Blade cut us off.
“What are you up to?” Chevalier asked, a smile playing on his lips. The wind had tossed his hair in every direction and brought a light pink flush to his cheeks. Rose snorted and sidestepped away as he circled Blade around to advance on us.
“You stole me away one night, and now I’m repaying the favor,” I said, patting Rose’s neck to calm her. She continued stepping back and to the side as Blade approached.
“Your horse has more sense than you do, little dove,” Chevalier teased.
“That’s not a very nice thing to say to someone you’re proposing to tomorrow,” I teased back. “Just because I’ve accepted twice doesn’t mean I’ll accept a third time. Especially if you keep scaring my horse. Stop that!”
“Having trouble?” he asked, his eyes narrowing in amusement as Rose tossed her head in alarm.
I scowled petulantly at him. “No.” Then I kicked Rose and turned her to the right. She bolted immediately, and Chevalier cut us off with Blade almost as quickly.
“If she throws me, it’s your fault,” I told him. “It’s hard to hold on when I’m riding side-saddle.”
“Then you should have better control,” he retorted.
Rose was dancing away, her ears flicking back to me and forward to Blade as if she didn’t know who to listen to. Blade kept one ear flicked back to catch Chevalier’s voice, and the other flicked forward, toward me.
He probably wouldn’t listen to my commands. But if he did…
“Blade, stop,” I commanded.
Both of his ears flicked toward me, and he froze. I smirked triumphantly at Chevalier as Rose also stopped beneath me. “Maybe you should have better control.”
He chuckled, not at all upset about his horse’s betrayal. “Is this what we’re doing all morning?”
“Well, I thought we could eat breakfast and watch the sunrise, but if you’d rather we continue confusing our horses, I guess we can keep doing that. This day is about doing what you want to do, after all.”
“Aside from waking me at an ungodly hour.”
I shrugged. “I can’t let you have everything your way.”
He shook his head and urged Blade into a walk, turning him to come alongside Rose and me. “That spot appears to be suitable,” he said, nodding toward an east-facing slope at the edge of the forest up ahead.
“It does,” I agreed, signaling Rose into a leisurely walk with slight pressure from my leg. “Have you ever seen a sunrise before?”
“Not by choice, but yes.”
The palace was far behind us already, and the stars were disappearing above us, one by one. Whatever complaints Chevalier made about the time, he was smiling as much as I was. We dismounted when we reached the treeline, and he settled the horses while I spread the blanket across the hillside. I was unpacking the picnic basket when I heard the click of metal and a soft thud on the grass. He’d dropped his sword belt off to the side of the blanket, still within his reach, as he sat down. Something about that made my heart flutter. I sat next to him, and he leaned in and kissed me on the cheek.
“The food’s cold now, but it should still be good,” I said, blushing shyly.
“I’m sure it will be.”
The first shades of purple and pink appeared on the eastern horizon as we ate in comfortable silence. It had been a long time since I’d been up early enough to see a sunrise, and the sky put on a dazzling display for us. Reds, oranges, and yellows spread across the sky, painting a few small clouds in brilliant color edged with gold. It was so beautiful that I forgot my momentary embarrassment until Chevalier moved the basket aside and slid closer to me.
“What else did you have planned for today?” he asked, putting an arm around my shoulder.
“Nothing,” I said, blushing again as he brushed my hair away from my neck and kissed it. “I thought I’d leave the rest up to you.”
The warmth of his breath against my skin sent a shiver up my spine. I closed my eyes and tilted my head to the side, shivering again as his hand slid across my stomach to cup the far side of my waist and his lips trailed kisses down my neck.
“You are a foolish little dove,” he murmured.
“Maybe, but you’re always doing things for me, so I just wanted to do something for you for a change.”
His kisses paused. I opened my eyes to meet his, crystal blue and wavering. His hand left my waist to stroke my cheek. I wrapped my arms around his neck and lay back, pulling him down with me.
“Kiss me, Chevalier,” I said softly.
His lips met mine in a kiss much less fiery than I expected. He took his time, cupping my cheek and teasing me with a series of slow, chaste kisses that left me wanting more. I followed him when he withdrew, a little disappointed, but snuggling into his chest as he lay down beside me wasn’t something to complain about.
“Right now, I want to fall asleep with you,” he said, holding me close and stroking my hair.
“Okay.” I sighed contentedly, closing my eyes and inhaling his scent of roses amidst the sweetness of grass with my next breath. “It is early, even for me.”
He kissed my forehead. “And then I want to wake up with you.”
I smiled, reaching across his chest for a half-hug. “That sounds nice.”
The early morning sunshine was warm and comfortable. So was Chevalier. I sighed again as drowsiness set in.
“We don’t have to get married three times before it’s official, do we?” I mumbled drowsily.
“No.”
“Good.” I sighed again. “Because when I’m ready, I don’t want to wait."48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK0ssd8j1xM
