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Prince Chevalier arrived at two thirty as usual, sweeping through the library with an overwhelmingly majestic aura - at least, to Belle. I was used to him by now, but he clearly intimidated her. She was kneeling on the floor next to me as I polished the brass adorning the feet of a coffee table, and I saw her tense and shrink when he appeared. I suppressed a smile and stood up, offering a hand for her. She looked like a frightened little rabbit.
“He’s really not that bad,” I said, helping her to her feet. “I’ll be right back with his tea, if you want to wait to talk to him until I get back, but it’ll impress him more if you go by yourself.”
“You’re sure he won’t kill me?” she asked nervously.
“I’m sure,” I replied, smiling encouragingly. “But you need to prove that you’re taking this role seriously if you want him to even talk to you, and that means you can’t let him scare you.”
She exhaled deeply. “So, how long did it take until he didn’t scare you anymore?”
“Just go,” I giggled, lightly shoving her shoulder toward the door.
“If I’m dead when you get back, I’ll never forgive you,” she warned me, her brown eyes brightening with a teasing smile.
I just laughed and turned away, heading to the hallway and the kitchens. Belle could handle Prince Chevalier with a little encouragement, but she probably wouldn’t get very far with him today. It took a little time to get used to him. I only hoped he wouldn’t test her resolve the way he tested mine.
How long did it take until he didn’t scare me anymore?
Less than two weeks, thanks to Jack. It was hard to be scared of Prince Chevalier when he was holding me while I cried. That was the first time I saw his eyes soften, the first time I heard gentleness in his voice, the first time I felt his fingers running through my hair.
There were nights when I sat outside, crying, my defenses and willpower exhausted for the day, and I thought of that.
Belle was here for a month, and I knew she’d never get to see that side of him. The side I didn’t want to see when I came back with his tea and broached the subject of the goodwill gala. Cold, hard logic was something I could deal with. Warmth and concern weren’t.
As I expected, she wasn’t in the main library when I returned. I stopped at the door to the back room, taking a deep breath to prepare myself. There weren’t any voices coming through the door. Belle was gone, and now it was my turn to talk to him.
“Prince Chevalier, you didn’t chase Belle away, did you?” I asked sternly when I entered, setting his tea on the end table as if nothing was wrong. He didn’t even look up from his book.
“Stay home tomorrow.”
Where did that come from? Had Prince Clavis told him already?
“I’m afraid I can’t do that, your highness. The goodwill gala starts tomorrow,” I replied, trying to keep the surprise out of my voice.
He looked up at me, his icy blue eyes piercing mine. “And your mother?”
Concern. Just what I didn’t want.
“I already asked my neighbors to help with her tomorrow, your highness, and I’m hoping my schedule will go back to normal for the rest of the week. But…the head maid gave me a new assignment for gala week, and I think we should discuss it,” I said hesitantly.
“There’s nothing to discuss,” he said coolly.
“Prince Clavis told you, your highness?”
“He did. And, if you recall, I outrank the head maid, and you’re following my orders, not hers. Stay home.”
Time for the argument I’d been rehearsing over the few minutes it took me to get his tea. I just hoped it would hold up against him.
“I thought I was safer at the palace, your highness, or has that changed?” I started.
His eyes flashed, but he didn’t interrupt me.
“People already know about me. They know I work for you, and they know I don’t live in the palace. Giving me any special treatment just proves that I mean something to you, and that puts me in more danger. If I’m assigned to the foreign princes, that shows that you don’t care about me, the rumors were mistaken, and I can’t be used against you. Then there’s no reason for anybody to threaten me outside of the palace when you’re not around to protect me. Right?”
His eyes didn’t leave me while I made my point, and I steeled myself for him to deconstruct my argument with a storm of logic.
“You’ve already been threatened,” he said coolly.
“At Prince Clavis’ party, yes, but-”
“The letter.”
I stopped and bit my lip, thinking about the envelope on Prince Chevalier’s breakfast tray, his distinct lack of a reaction when I asked him about it, Prince Clavis’ strained smile when I gave it to him. A chill ran down my spine.
“That was about me?”
“The contents were not, but Eyepatch sending it specifically through you was a message. He already knew how to get to you then, and if Noisy doesn’t do what he wants, he’ll kill you.”
I swallowed down the fear that made my chest tight, forcing my voice to remain steady. “Which only proves my point. Prince Gilbert probably knows where I live, too, and he thinks I’m important to you and to Prince Clavis. The only way to convince him otherwise is to treat me the same as all the other maids.”
Prince Chevalier sighed, frustration evident in the sound. “Your reasoning is sound, but you have failed to address one thing.”
“Which is?”
“You said your mother doesn’t have long. Shouldn’t you be home now?”
I winced and dropped my gaze to the floor, guilt gnawing at me. Because he was right. I didn’t like leaving Mother alone, and I hated the thought of her dying without me by her side, but I hated seeing her like this, too. She slept most of the time. When she was awake, there was no more laughter, only the faintest, pained smile, and very little talk. Staying home would mean sitting there, watching her fade away, with my only escape being the times I dumped that foul bucket in the outhouse and took it down to the river to scrub it clean from feces, urine, and vomit. And blood. There was blood now, too, just another reminder of her life draining away, little by little.
“I don’t want to be home right now, Prince Chevalier,” I confessed quietly.
“And I don’t want you anywhere near the foreign princes,” he replied, his voice quiet, too, and closer than it had been a moment ago. I looked up at him, standing in front of me, his pale blue eyes wavering between cool and warm, and I stepped back quickly. The last thing I needed was his comforting embrace to further addle my thoughts.
“So, neither of us gets what we want,” I said flatly. “If you really want to help me, you’ll tell me about the foreign princes so I can prepare myself.”
His eyes narrowed, and his jaw clenched.
“You may as well have a seat,” he finally said, turning his back on me as he returned to his chair. “This will take a while.”
I wasn’t expecting that. He was giving in, and he was going to tell me what I wanted. I picked a corner and sat on the floor, tucking my legs up beside me like I did when I used to read in the alcove. Sitting down wasn’t the best idea in my state of perpetual exhaustion, but the floor was uncomfortable, and the topic was important enough that I didn’t think there would be any danger of me nodding off.
“What do you already know?” he asked.
“About the foreign princes, very little, but I know a bit about their home countries,” I replied, thinking through everything I’d heard over the years about Rhodolite’s neighbors. “They’re all much larger than Rhodolite. Benitoite is to the east, along the ocean, and they do a lot of international trade. They’re our ally. Jade is to the south and is agricultural, and they’re neutral to everybody else. Obsidian is to the north and west and is constantly expanding as they conquer new countries. They’re hostile to us.”
“Correct. Eyepatch will be my primary concern over this week, for a number of reasons, not least of which is that Obsidian has shunned diplomatic relations with all other nations since the Showoff’s birth.”
“So, why is he coming to the gala?”
“The most likely explanation is that there have been rumors the king has died. Rhodolite is small and has only stood this long because of skillful leadership and diplomacy. Without a king, we are vulnerable. Four-Eyes is adequate as the king’s regent, and Black and I handle most governmental affairs without issue, but Rhodolite is still at a disadvantage as long as we are without a functional king. That has Benitoite sending the Jangler to reevaluate us as an ally, and Jade sending their prince to examine their relationship with us as well. Rhodolite has, thus far, been the obstacle preventing Obsidian from taking control of Benitoite’s lucrative trade routes and Jade’s agricultural assets, but if our neighbors determine they can’t rely on us anymore, they may seek allies elsewhere, effectively abandoning Rhodolite to invasion by Obsidian.”
This was why I was happy being just a maid. Politics was too complicated for me.
“The Jangler is Prince Silvio?” I guessed.
Prince Chevalier nodded. “He wears copious jewelry as a display of his wealth, which he has amassed from his shrewd business dealings. It is no exaggeration to say he is the richest man on the continent, and he judges everything, and everyone, by a monetary value he assigns. He is also exceptionally rude.”
“So, he’ll be obnoxious, but not really dangerous, then?”
“Not necessarily. I suspect he was at Noisy’s most recent party gathering information, and he and Eyepatch have had somewhat friendly dealings in the past. His methods are much preferable to Eyepatch’s, though, and significantly less deadly.”
I didn’t like the sound of that.
“Eyepatch appears to be a charming young man, but he will stop at nothing to achieve his goals. Manipulation, verbal threats, and physical torture are his tools of choice. I don’t want you alone with him - at all.”
Prince Chevalier’s voice was as cold and hard as steel, and his blue eyes flashed a warning. Another chill ran down my spine. I didn’t want to be alone with Prince Gilbert, either, and I really didn’t like the thought that he knew where I lived - where Mother lived.
“I’ll do my best to avoid him,” I said, more confidently than I felt.
Prince Chevalier’s piercing blue eyes saw right through my false confidence, I knew. I almost squirmed under his gaze. He was going to change his mind, tell me to stay home again, probably put guards outside my house to make me stay put. Maybe he should. I didn’t know what I was getting into, but he did. Maybe this was a bad idea. If the foreign princes saw through everything, if they wouldn’t believe that I really was just another maid at the palace, then I was just putting myself in more danger.
But if they believed it, then home was safe, and so was Mother. I could deal with extra stress at the palace, as long as it didn’t affect her.
Prince Chevalier gave an exasperated sigh. “You still want to go through with this.”
“Yes, I do,” I said firmly. “What about Prince Keith?”
“He won’t be a problem,” Prince Chevalier said simply. The ensuing silence said he was done unless I had questions.
“Why does Obsidian want to conquer everybody?”
Prince Chevalier actually chuckled. “That’s a simplistic question for a complex answer.”
“Just so long as I’m out of here on time,” I replied, smiling at his small smirk.
“The simplest and most immediate answer is to feed its people. There is no arable land left in Obsidian due to poor management practices, but its population continues to grow. The solution chosen by the king, who has styled himself an emperor, is the same as the source of his problem: to continue expanding his territory by invading and conquering other countries. He enslaves the newly conquered people and forces them to work the land, and themselves, to death, until it is necessary to expand further for more resources.”
“That seems shortsighted.”
And cruel.
“To say the least. But, until Obsidian destroys itself, it has a military force larger than the entire population of Rhodolite, and Eyepatch is the single greatest threat to our nation.”
“Well, I’ll let you handle him,” I said, forcing a light tone as I stood up, “and I’ll make sure he can’t complain about Rhodolite’s housekeeping. Is there anything else, or am I free to get back to work?”
“You’re done for the day,” Prince Chevalier said. “Go home.”
I double-checked the clock. “It’s not even four o'clock, your highness.”
“I’m aware. But you’re coming early tomorrow, correct?”
“Six o’clock. And I’m to stay until the head maid dismisses me. Also - no, I probably shouldn’t tell you that.”
“Say it anyway.”
There was amusement in the smile playing across his lips, and I realized I made a face when I mentioned Marge. I hadn’t meant to do that. She really frustrated me, though, and the atmosphere was suddenly lighter than it had been a few seconds ago, which I didn’t mind at all.
“The foreign princes are to be my primary concern until and unless she says otherwise. I believe her exact words were, ‘Prince Chevalier will have to do without his favorite maid tomorrow.’”
He smirked. “Oh, really?”
“Breakfast at nine o’clock, then?” I asked, smiling mischievously.
“Yes. I’ll let her have you for most of the day, but if I call you, I expect a prompt response.”
His blue eyes were sparkling, and my heart fluttered. This was straying into flirtatious banter. I needed to get out of here, and quickly.
“Of course. I would be derelict in my duties if I did otherwise. I guess I’d better get going, and I’ll see you tomorrow, Prince Chevalier.”
He didn’t stop me, and I told myself I didn’t see the flicker of disappointment in his eyes.
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