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“Your handsome and gallant savior has arrived,” Prince Clavis announced, strolling into my room later that afternoon with a wide grin and mischievous golden eyes.
“Prince Clavis,” the doctor started, drawing himself up to his full height of five and a half feet and putting his hands on his hips.
“I know, I know,” Prince Clavis interrupted, waving the doctor off. “She’s in a very fragile state, be careful, don’t stress her out, if anything goes wrong, I lose my head, blah, blah blah. I’ve already heard it all from Chev, so you can go now.”
The doctor relaxed and shook his head, his mustache twitching as he left. I didn’t see any reason to hide my smile as Prince Clavis sat on the chair next to my bed.
“Hello, Prince Clavis.”
“Oh, good. You remember my name,” he said lightly. “I’m not sure my heart can handle another rejection like the one you gave me a few days ago.”
“I didn’t reject you, Prince Clavis,” I chided him.
“Of course you didn’t. How could you reject someone as charming as me?” He scooted the chair closer and leaned in conspiratorially. “I know you were too weak from blood loss to think clearly when I swooped in to save the day. But just between you and me, that really damaged Chev’s ego, so I think we should hide our love from him a little longer. He’s in a delicate state right now, and another blow might send him into an emotional meltdown. Or a bloodbath. Or both.”
I giggled and rolled my eyes. “You never change, do you?”
He sat back in the chair and shrugged. “Why mess with perfection? So, aside from Chev’s obviously overbearing behavior, any complaints? Bad food, stinky soap, loud neighbors? Chev’s gone now, which means I’m in charge, so you can tell me the truth.”
“No, there’s nothing to complain about. The food is delicious, the soap smells like lilacs, and the doctor is a quiet neighbor.”
He laughed. “You never change either, Ivetta. This is clearly a dump, but you’re too sweet to say so,” he said, gesturing broadly at the room that was larger than my old house, tastefully decorated with pale pink furnishings, and well-lit by a massive window and a glittering golden chandelier. “But I guess I can make a few changes, so your stay is at least tolerable until you’re well enough to make the journey to my private villa. Then you’ll learn the true meaning of luxury.”
This was already at a level of luxury on par with the palace. I couldn’t imagine anything more luxurious, and Prince Clavis’ smirk filled me with misgivings.
“What changes?” I asked suspiciously.
“That is best left as a surprise, but I’m open to requests,” he teased.
“But there’s nothing I need,” I said quickly. “The doctor takes good care of me, and all I really want is company, so I don’t get bored. That’s all.”
“That’s all?” he asked, raising a quizzical violet eyebrow.
“That’s all,” I repeated.
His grin widened. “Then you’ll love what I have in mind. It’ll take a little time-”
I opened my mouth to protest, but he raised a hand to silence me.
“Now, I know you’re dying of curiosity, but you’ll just have to be patient. We’d better talk about something else to get your mind off of it. Hm, let’s see…” He put a finger to his chin and tapped it thoughtfully while I tried not to imagine what he might be planning. “Did Chev tell you about the treaty?”
“I heard something about that,” I said evasively. Prince Clavis didn’t need to know that I heard it from Prince Gilbert, not Prince Chevalier.
“Chev probably didn’t want to overload you with boring facts and details. Luckily for you, I am never boring, so who better to tell you what the rest of Rhodolite already knows? While Chev and I were out rescuing you from a psychopath, the rest of our brothers cooked up a four-way alliance with Benitoite, Jade, and Obsidian. It’ll be official as soon as all the kings sign the treaty.”
“Obsidian is our ally?” I asked in disbelief.
He nodded. “I’ll admit, that was Chev’s doing, but it was fun watching Gil squirm. It’ll make more sense if I start from the beginning, though. You heard about the purge earlier this year, right?”
“Yes, I heard about that.”
“That happened just north of here,” he said, leaning back in the chair and propping his feet up on the bed. “A baron involved in the anti-war faction - not Flandre - made a deal with Obsidian for protection and good standing among the Obsidianite nobility, in exchange for assisting Obsidian’s invasion of Rhodolite. Chev and I found out, of course, but Obsidianite troops were already en route to the border when we arrived to crush the rebellion, hence the purge. We needed a show of force to secure the border and dissuade other prospective traitors.”
As he talked, he leaned further back in the chair until it rested precariously on just two legs. I could easily picture him tumbling backwards.
“Would you be more comfortable on the sofa?” I ventured nervously.
He laughed. “Were you listening to a word I said?”
“Yes. The purge was necessary to stop a rebellion and prevent invasion from Obsidian. But why didn’t you just explain that to the public?”
“Because Nokto found proof that Obsidian was supplying arms to the anti-war faction here in Rhodolite, as well as rebel factions in Benitoite and Jade, to weaken all three countries ahead of Obsidian’s invasion, and Obsidian was developing new firearms in a secret factory, more advanced than anything we’d seen before. Such news would have caused mass hysteria, and it’s easier to hunt your prey down when it doesn’t know you’re hunting it. Allowing small players like Flandre and that cook to continue to operate within Rhodolite allowed us to use them to find larger players, like Obsidianite spies and arms dealers, so we could quietly take them out one by one while gathering the evidence we needed to convince Leon’s faction, Benitoite, and Jade to support us when Chev presented them with his plan to invade Obsidian, destroy that factory, and conquer them before they conquered us.”
I stared at Prince Clavis, my head spinning as I tried to take it all in.
He laughed. “You thought we were a bunch of carefree, entitled princes with nothing but spare time on our hands, didn’t you?”
I bit my lip and averted my gaze, embarrassed to admit that’s exactly what I thought. Most of the time, anyway.
“Well…”
“To be fair, that’s what we were around you, because you gave us a much-needed break from it all so we could portray a confident, relaxed front to the rest of Rhodolite. There wasn’t any reason for the public to worry until the war started. And now, they don’t need to worry at all, because there won’t be a war, thanks to you.”
All the princes’ random visits to the library, all the apparently coincidental run-ins in the palace hallways or on my commute home, suddenly made sense. I was their distraction from the stresses of their lives, as much as they were distractions from mine.
“I’m glad I could help, but I don’t think that means I deserve any credit for the treaty.”
He shook his head. “You don’t understand. That treaty only happened because of you. Chev and Leon were going to confront Gil privately about everything, and then they were going to present the facts to Sil and Keith so we could make a joint decision about how we would handle Obsidian. But when you meant missing, Chev went ballistic on Gil in front of everybody, and it all came out. Gil’s options were to deny everything and become our hostage to use as leverage against Obsidian or admit to everything and accept the terms of a treaty as decided by the rest of us. That was when I came in with the news that Flandre’s plant, the cook, had gone missing, and Gil realized Flandre was probably behind your abduction. He admitted on the spot and told us exactly where to find you.”
“But…how did he know? He wasn’t involved in…what happened to me,” I said, struggling to wrap my head around it all.
“Flandre took you to an old, abandoned fort on the border where he’d asked Gil to meet him so they could finalize their deal. The same deal that other baron made a few months ago just north of here. Flandre never had any imagination.”
Prince Clavis’ voice had taken on an ominous tone as he explained the intricate plot woven through the background of my time at the palace, but he suddenly tilted his chair forward, its front legs hitting the ground with a thud.
“The sad irony of it all is that Chev granted Flandre’s title and land after Bloodstained Rose Day for setting himself apart on the battlefield and his many years of loyal service before that,” he said cheerfully, jumping to his feet with a vibrant energy that contrasted with the heavy topic. “He was a stable, boring man until a year ago, when he went off the deep end.”
“What happened?” I asked, watching curiously as Prince Clavis walked to the window and looked back at my bed. I could practically see the gears turning behind his golden eyes.
“Who knows?” Prince Clavis replied dismissively, walking to the bed and looking back at the window. “But it’s always a pain to reassign land when the nobility can’t behave. I wonder if Chev will just absorb this barony back into Michel territory and be done with it.”
He shrugged and sat on the bed next to me, where Prince Chevalier normally sat, and then he laid down beside me as if it were the most natural thing to do.
“U-um, Prince Clavis?” I asked, my heart pounding frantically as his head settled on the pillow next to me, but he was still looking at the window. He interlaced his fingers behind his head and turned to look at me, his mischievous smirk making me even more uncomfortable.
“The bed’s comfortable enough,” he said casually. “But the view is awful. Who wants to look at the sky all day? You can’t even see the gardens. Although that might be a good thing, since Flandre hasn’t been keeping them up.”
“Wh-what are you doing here?” I demanded.
“You’re looking much better than the last time I saw you,” he continued, as if he hadn’t heard me.
“Thank you, but I still look horrible, and you haven’t answered my question.”
He laughed and sat up, turning to swing his legs off the edge of the bed. “Taking advantage of Chev’s absence and pestering you - two of my favorite hobbies. But you’ll forgive me later tonight.”
“What does that mean?” I asked, watching warily as he stood up and moved the chair back into its original position.
“Nope. I already told you it’s a surprise,” he said, turning back to me with his usual incorrigible smile. “Now, before the doctor comes to shoo me away, do you have any requests? Anything you want to ask me?”
I looked at him, running back through everything he’d told me, but it was hard to pick just one, and most of them would take a lot of time to answer and lead to even more questions.
“We’re on the border?”
“Yes, we are, but don’t worry. Obsidian is our ally, or will be soon, and Chev’s security is so tight a mouse couldn’t get in without approval. There are even guards outside your window.”
They weren’t there last night. Prince Chevalier not only knew Prince Gilbert would sneak into my room that way, he made it easier for him to do so. Almost as if he wanted Prince Gilbert to see me.
Was Prince Gilbert really just here to check on me?
He told Prince Chevalier where to find me. If he hadn’t, if it had taken Prince Chevalier even a day longer to track me down, I might have died before he reached me.
“Time’s up.”
The doctor’s gruff voice interrupted my confused thoughts. Prince Clavis had his back to me, already on his way to the door.
“I followed all the rules. Aren’t you proud of me?” he asked the doctor.
“I’ll only believe that if it comes from Miss Ivetta,” the doctor said matter-of-factly. “Now, please leave so the lady can get her rest. I’m sure your presence has exhausted her.”
“Thank you for coming, Prince Clavis,” I called, smiling at both of them.
“What’s your bedtime? Oh, wait. It doesn’t matter, since I’m in charge.” Prince Clavis laughed and headed out the door. “Keep the curtains open until the surprise,” he called over his shoulder.
“She is not-”
The door shut in the doctor’s face. He scowled at it and turned back to me.
“How do we know what the surprise is?” I asked.
“If Prince Clavis is behind it, we’ll know,” the doctor said brusquely. “Now, let’s see how your bandages are looking.”
I let him fuss over me while I looked out the window. Prince Clavis was right. The blue sky was nice to look at after two days in a dungeon, but it would probably get boring long before I got out of this bed. A change might be nice. Depending on what Prince Clavis had in mind.
I was already looking forward to nightfall.
ns 15.158.61.54da2
