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The warmth of the blanket was the first thing I noticed when I woke up. It was a decorative throw blanket, one of several scattered around the library, and the plush pillows beneath my head were decorative, too. But they were all soft, as was the sofa beneath me, and it was tempting to keep my eyes closed and listen to the storm raging against the windows a while longer. Prince Clavis said he would wake me up in time for me to go home, after all, so if I just stayed here…
Prince Clavis. The library. I was supposed to be working, not sleeping.
I sat up quickly, anxiously looking at the other end of the sofa, half expecting Prince Clavis to be sitting there grinning at me. He wasn’t, thank goodness. He must have taken the tea tray from the coffee table, because that wasn’t there, and Prince Chevalier was sitting in a lounge chair across from me-
Oh, no.
His icy blue eyes flicked from the book in his hand to me, just for a second, long enough for my heart to plummet to my feet. Or the floor. Probably the floor, since my feet were still up on the sofa.
“Sorry, Prince Chevalier,” I said, jumping to my feet and straightening the pillows and blanket. He didn’t reply, so I continued hurriedly, “Prince Clavis drugged my tea and gave me the choice to keep listening to him or drink the tea, and I didn’t like what he had to say, so I drank the tea.”
It sounded so stupid. There were many things I could have done in that situation, like throw the tea in Prince Clavis’ face, refuse to drink it and get back to work, tell Prince Chevalier. The last option probably would have been the best one. He’d sent Prince Clavis packing before, and he wouldn’t hesitate to do it again. But I chose to drink the tea, knowing it would do something to me, but not knowing what, and that resulted in my sleeping for - what time was it?
“Four thirty.”
I turned around to look at Prince Chevalier. He was sitting the same way he did when he read in his library, legs crossed, book in hand, somehow managing to appear both relaxed and imperious at the same time. It was easy to imagine the lounge chair as his throne. His face was impassive, and his eyes were on his book, but he must have been looking at me if he read my mind like that. Although how he did it without me even facing him, I didn’t know.
Why had he moved out here?
Not that it mattered.
“I’d better get back to work, your highness.”
I turned away, scanning the room for my long-discarded cleaning supplies. Four thirty. Prince Clavis had wasted too much of my time this afternoon. I headed across the library to resume polishing the various metal fixtures scattered across the room. If it weren’t for Prince Clavis, I would have finished by five o’clock. Now, I’d have to leave the job incomplete and pick it up again tomorrow morning. The floors would need cleaning, too, thanks to the storm.
The storm. I hoped my roof at home was holding up from my last patch job. The floor would be an impossible mess for the next few days, but at least I wouldn’t have to go to the well for water. Laundry wasn’t happening tomorrow morning unless the rain let up. And I’d have to make sure Mother was warm enough - make her wear extra layers, or use the dirty laundry as extra bedding, maybe. Hot soup for dinner would be easy on her stomach and help to dispel any chill she got during the day.
Or the chill I got walking home.
“Take a carriage,” Prince Chevalier said.
I turned back to look at him again. He hadn’t moved from the lounge chair, and he still looked like he was reading the book, but I knew he was reading me instead. It suddenly hit me that he’d been watching me while I slept, and I felt intensely uncomfortable. Did he figure out how to read my mind without looking at me? Was he that good?
My mind was wandering a lot right now. I needed to get back on track and back to work. A carriage ride home would alleviate some of my worry.
“Thank you, Prince Chevalier.”
His cold blue eyes flicked to mine without him lifting his head. “You keep looking out the windows.”
And there he went, answering my unspoken question again. It was possible he read me better than Mother at this point.
“Would you mind answering a question I actually ask aloud, Prince Chevalier?”
He closed the book and set it on his lap, propping his elbow up on the arm of the chair and resting his chin in his hand. I suddenly wished I hadn’t asked. The way his eyes seemed to pierce right through me made me feel very exposed.
“Why did Prince Clavis drug my tea, your highness?” I asked, turning back to my polishing so I didn’t have to meet his eyes any longer.
“That was my fool of a brother’s attempt at scaring you away, since his words weren’t enough.”
“Aw, talking about me again, Chev?”
I looked at the doorway in surprise, and Prince Clavis was strolling in from the hallway, his ever-present smile in place. Prince Chevalier sighed and picked up his book again.
“See? I told you she’d be fine,” Prince Clavis continued, walking up to me and picking up my ponytail. “Her hair’s dry now, too.”
“Prince Clavis,” I chided him, pulling my hair free from his fingers. “I wish you wouldn’t have put me to sleep. Now I’m behind on my work.”
He laughed. “You’re so dedicated, Ivetta. Don’t you ever take a break? And your lunch break doesn’t count.”
“Then no, I don’t, your highness,” I replied.
“Hm. That’s a pity. I’ll just have to steal you away from Chev more often. There’s a party at my private retreat-”
“No.”
Prince Chevalier’s cold, hard voice cut Prince Clavis off and drew my attention back to him. His frigid glare sent shivers down my spine. Prince Clavis was still smiling, though.
“Getting a bit territorial, aren’t we, Chev?” he asked calmly. “But I suppose you’re right. My friends are a bit wicked for an innocent little thing like her, what with all the assassination plotting and such.”
I looked up at him in surprise. His smile hadn’t changed, but his golden eyes had that hard glint in them again. Prince Chevalier hadn’t even looked up from his book.
“Don’t worry. He already knows,” Prince Clavis said calmly. “He just doesn’t see me as a threat,” he added, a tinge of bitterness in his cheerful voice.
I suddenly felt like I did that day I first met Prince Leon, when I was physically between him and Prince Chevalier, caught up in their argument. There was no physical threat this time, but the metaphor was the same. Prince Clavis was trying to use me against Prince Chevalier. I managed to redirect Princes Chevalier and Leon that day, and I needed to do the same thing here.
It was a good thing I got that extra sleep to rejuvenate my mind.
“Prince Clavis,” I started slowly, turning back to my polishing as I organized my thoughts, “you said before that Prince Chevalier was the first prince before you found out about Prince Jin. What did you mean by that?”
“Ah, you want me to regale you with another story,” Prince Clavis said smugly. “I’ll warn you that this one is a romantic tragedy. You see, Jin’s mother was a commoner and the last Belle, the one who chose our dear old dad as king. They had the misfortune of falling in love, so he kept her here at the palace, and when she ended up pregnant, he decided to marry her and make her the queen. Now, the court ministers and the nobility had no objections to the king keeping her around as a mistress, but a commoner as queen? That was unthinkable. A sect among the nobility devised a plan to take her away from the palace and replace her with a lovely young princess who would make the perfect queen. The king gave in to the court’s demands to protect Belle from the antagonism of the nobility, and he married Chev’s mother, followed by two more political marriages with Leon and Yves’ mothers. After Yves was born, Jin showed up at the palace and announced that Belle was his mother and she had died. So, Jin became the first prince, the rest of us were all bumped down the line, and the king lost it.”
“Lost it, your highness?” I asked, looking up at Prince Clavis’ eerily steady grin.
“He was a decent king until that point, but news of Belle’s death crushed him, and he became a fallen beast, disregarding his duties in favor of chasing skirts in a misguided attempt at finding the love he’d lost. That’s where Licht, Nokto, and Luke come in.”
I glanced at the clock and packed my supplies away in the bucket I used to carry them around. “And what about you, Prince Clavis?” I asked, noticing his glaring omission.
“Ah, yes. My mother was a maid in the service of Chev’s mother. The Lelouch family comes from nobility, but we’ve served the Michel family for generations, so she came to the palace with the queen. They were very close, like sisters, even after I came along by surprise. So close, in fact, that a few days after Chev drove his own mother to the grave, mine jumped off a cliff.”
I stopped halfway to the door and turned to look up at Prince Clavis, who was, of course, following me. His tone and his smile hadn’t changed, but his golden eyes had that hard glint in them again.
“I’m very sorry, Prince Clavis,” I said softly.
He brushed a stray strand of hair back behind my ear, his light touch surprising and too familiar for my liking. “And that is why you don’t belong here. Chev has no patience for any sign of weakness, such as emotions.”
I stepped back from him and glanced over at Prince Chevalier. He was sitting motionless in the chair, as if he were reading and hadn’t even been listening, but I knew he heard every word.
“I appreciate your concern, but I need this job right now, Prince Clavis,” I said politely. “Is there anything else you need from me, Prince Chevalier?”
“No,” he said flatly, not even looking at me.
“Then I’ll take my leave. Goodbye, Prince Chevalier, Prince Clavis.”
Prince Clavis didn’t follow me, which was a relief. I had more than enough to think about without him chattering away in the carriage. Heavy winds rocked it back and forth on its wheels so much that I worried about it tipping over, and I felt horrible for making the driver and the horses go out in this weather. Rain battered the roof and all four walls, changing directions multiple times throughout the unusually long trip. There was little to nothing I could see through the darkened windows, and I wondered how the driver was even following the road. I wouldn’t have dared make the trip if it weren’t for Mother.
What a day.
The assassination attempt. Whatever that was in Prince Chevalier’s room, and the ensuing verbal thrashing I gave him. Prince Leon telling me about Bloodstained Rose Day. The lighthearted romp with Prince Clavis and Prince Luke, followed by Prince Clavis’ dark tales from the princes’ childhood.
He really hated Prince Chevalier. He grew up feeling inferior to Prince Chevalier in every way, and he blamed Prince Chevalier for his mother’s death. His talk of killing Prince Chevalier was completely serious. And, at the same time, he came from a family that served Prince Chevalier’s family, so he was brother, prince, and…servant?
Royalty was confusing.
The carriage’s forward motion ended, though its side-to-side motion from the buffeting winds continued. I shouted a thank you to the driver, unsure if he could hear it over the howling wind and pounding rain, and threw my shoulder against the door to force it open when the storm insisted on keeping it closed. Muddy water coated my feet and splattered across my skirt as I ran for my house. The rain soaked me through in just those few steps before I arrived safely inside. Lightning flashed, illuminating the little room briefly just before I closed the door, followed quickly by rumbling thunder that shook the walls. Mother was in bed. I fumbled for the candles, shivering from the wet clothes plastered to my skin. A weak flame sputtered into life, catching a wick and strengthening as it took hold. The flickering light was enough for me to do a cursory inspection of the room. No leaks. The roof was holding together. I breathed a sigh of relief and changed into dry clothes. Hot soup sounded really good right about now.
ns 15.158.61.8da2
