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It didn’t take me long to realize Prince Chevalier was carrying me toward the hall of bedrooms reserved for honored guests - like the foreign princes. I didn’t need that kind of luxury, but arguing with him was as fruitless an endeavor as arguing with the doctor, so I held my tongue until he opened a door and I saw my new bedroom.
“Prince Chevalier,” I gasped.
The bright floral blanket from my old house lay folded across the foot of the four-poster bed, with matching curtains tied back from the floor to ceiling window looking out onto a balcony over the gardens. Pastel spring green wallpaper and sheets complimented the colorful draperies, and a matching green rug covered most of the hardwood floor. Assorted furniture, including a bureau, vanity, sofa, and bookcase, gave the room a cozy but not cluttered feeling, and it was all lit by a massive gold chandelier hanging from the center of the ceiling.
“Prince Chevalier, this is too much.”
He set me on the bed, and I had only a second to register his smile before his lips were on mine, his arms encircling me gently to hold me in an upright position as he kissed me with an intensity I hadn’t felt from him before. I closed my eyes and leaned into him, savoring the feel of his lips against mine, the smell of his cologne wrapping around me, wishing I could wrap my arms around his neck, settling for curling my fingers into his jacket instead. He pulled back and glanced down at my hands.
“Are you supposed to be doing that?” he asked with amusement, his warm blue eyes coming back up to my face as he removed one arm from around me to take one of my hands in his.
I shook my head, smiling so widely my cheeks hurt. “But I’m supposed to be lying down right now, too.”
“You can do that after your surprise,” he said, setting my hand on the sheets and reaching around me to prop up the pillows.
“Another one?”
He chuckled and put both hands on my waist, picking me up and shifting me back against the pillows. “This is just your bedroom. The surprise is still coming.”
“You’re spoiling me.”
“I enjoy spoiling you,” he replied, leaning forward to place a quick peck on my lips. “This suits you,” he added, fingering the green fabric of my skirt.
“I told you he’d like the green skirt,” Theresa said triumphantly from the doorway.
“Theresa! Can’t you knock?” I exclaimed, my cheeks warming even more at her mischievous smirk. Prince Chevalier chuckled and stood up, turning to take my shoes off without a hint of flush in his cheeks.
“I didn’t know I had to,” she replied.
“W-well, you do!”
She giggled. “Where do you want the trunk?”
“Pick a spot fast,” Prince Jin huffed, his face red with exertion as he led the trunk, with an equally red-faced Prince Luke at the other end, into the room. Theresa’s bright green eyes immediately left me to stare at Prince Jin’s bare forearms, flexed muscles exposed by his rolled-back sleeves, and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.
“Why don’t you choose, Theresa?” I suggested.
“Oh, um, uh,” she stammered, a faint blush coloring her cheeks as she tore her eyes from Prince Jin’s muscles to scan the room for a location. “How about over here?”
I giggled, and she shot me a glare. Prince Jin and Prince Luke set the trunk down with a unanimous groan and straightened up. Her eyes wandered back to Prince Jin, stretching his neck to the side and rolling his shoulder.
I would have so much fun teasing her about this later.
“How many books did ya read to her?” Prince Luke complained.
“All those that are in the trunk,” Prince Chevalier replied coolly, leaning back against the wall next to my bed with his arms crossed over his chest.
“In here, everybody,” Belle called out, skipping into the room.
“No, no, no. Everybody out!” the doctor protested, hurrying in after her. “How are you feeling, young lady?” he asked me, coming to my side and putting a hand on my forehead.
“I’m fine. Really,” I reassured him.
“Do you have the King’s Proclamation?” Prince Chevalier asked.
“Right here,” Belle said brightly, holding a scroll up.
“And I brought a quill and ink,” Rio crowed, setting both on the end table on the far side of the bed from me.
“Prince Chevalier, I really think-”
“It will only take a few minutes,” Prince Chevalier said, cutting the doctor’s grumbling off. “There is no reason to delay.”
“Come on, come on, squeeze in,” Belle directed as the rest of the princes, followed by Sariel, shuffled into the suddenly crowded room.
“Okay, we’re all here. Make your announcement so we can hit the booze,” Prince Jin said.
“It’s not even noon,” Prince Yves reprimanded him.
Prince Jin shrugged. “So?”
“This has been a tough decision,” Belle interrupted. “Each of the princes has his good points - and his bad points - and I think each would be capable of becoming an excellent king.”
Prince Luke groaned. “There’s a speech?”
“Hey, I only get to choose the next king once in my life. I’m entitled to a speech,” she retorted. “Anyway, I think it’s pretty clear to everybody that the faction leaders, Prince Chevalier and Prince Leon, are the best candidates.”
“No surprise there,” Prince Clavis muttered.
“Would you all just shut up?” Belle exclaimed. “It’s not even a long speech, if you’ll just let me talk.“
Dead silence ensued, although the smirking princes didn’t look too intimidated.
“That’s better,” Belle muttered. She took a deep breath and said, “Choosing between the two of them has been extremely hard, but recent events have led to one becoming the clear leader in times of crisis. So, I am naming Prince Chevalier the next king of Rhodolite.”
She unfurled the scroll and bent over to sign it. Prince Leon held his hand out to Prince Chevalier with a rueful smile.
“Guess you won.”
“Naturally,” Prince Chevalier replied, shaking Prince Leon’s hand.
“Thank you for your service, Belle. I am sure Rhodolite has a brighter future because of it,” Sariel said with his thin smile.
“So, can we drink now?” Prince Jin asked.
Belle rolled her eyes at him. “Not yet. There’s one more thing, but don’t you think the rest of you should congratulate Prince Chevalier?”
“King Chevalier,” Prince Leon corrected her. “It’s official as soon as you write it down.”
King Chevalier. Not Prince Chevalier. It would take some time to get used to that.
I couldn’t stop smiling.
“We all knew it was coming,” Prince Clavis said. “What we don’t know is why this had to wait until Ivetta was back. So?”
“That was my suggestion,” Sariel said smoothly, producing a book with a worn leather binding - a book I knew like the back of my hand. It was my father’s journal. I’d thought of it occasionally over the past few weeks, but Prince - King - Chevalier was evasive whenever I asked him about it.
“Your suggestion?” Prince Nokto asked. “I thought this was King Highness’ doing.”
“He provided input, yes,” Sariel replied. “Ivetta, you recognize this book.”
I nodded. “It’s my father’s journal. I gave it to Pr-King Chevalier,” I said, stumbling over the title change.
“Why’d ya do that?” Prince Luke asked.
“My mother made me promise to give it to him,” I said falteringly. “I don’t know why, and it’s in another language, so I don’t know what it says.”
Sariel’s smile had a genuine quality to it I hadn’t seen before. “And he translated it and brought it to me. It’s an interesting read.”
Belle’s brown eyes were bright and shining. She looked like she was about to explode.
“Well? Don’t keep us in suspense,” Prince Yves said.
“She’s a princess!” Belle burst out.
“What?” I asked, stunned.
“That is correct,” Sariel said. “This journal is the last written by King Arvon Romanov of Garnet, and it details the escape plan for his wife, Queen Evelyn, should relations with Obsidian decline to the point of invasion.”
I stared at him in shock. Prince Leon laughed, the booming sound echoing through the room and catching with his brothers.
“So she was hiding out here in Rhodolite all along. When did you figure it out, Chevalier?”
“I had my suspicions early on, but events during the gala confirmed them,” he replied. “The journal simply provided proof. Now would be a good time for you to leave and have your drink, Jin.”
I felt like the room was spinning around me. No, the world. Everything I knew, or thought I knew, was topsy-turvy, and I didn’t know what to think about anything anymore.
“She might need one, too. She looks like she’s about to faint,” Prince Jin said. “Alright, everybody, let’s go. Yves, get baking. This calls for a celebration.”
“And you’re making a honey cake, right?” Prince Luke asked excitedly as they all headed for the door.
“I already said I would,” Prince Yves replied, exasperated.
The hubbub of excited voices faded away until all that remained was the chaos within my mind. I didn’t know whether to be happy, sad, angry, or what. The doctor’s smiling face swam into view in front of me.
“I should have put my foot down and made them wait,” he said. “Let’s get you changed so you can get some rest.”
I nodded. At least somebody knew what to do right now. I maintained a state of numb silence while he carried me into the bathroom and helped me change into a nightgown, and when we returned to the bedroom, Prince - King - Chevalier sat on the sofa with my father’s journal in hand. The doctor laid me on the bed and tucked me in.
“I’m sure you have a lot to talk about,” he said briskly, “but please keep in mind that she’s in a fragile state. There was an incident during the carriage ride that she hasn’t yet recovered from. If you need me, Princess Ivetta, I’m in the room next door.”
I nodded again. He left, and King Chevalier left the sofa to come to my side. He lay down beside me and slid an arm underneath me, wrapping me in his embrace.
“What incident?”
I shook my head, unable to meet his eyes. “Crossing the bridge just brought some unpleasant memories, that’s all.”
He sighed and pressed a kiss to my temple. “If it bothers you, it bothers me. This could have waited.”
“Why didn’t she tell me?” I asked, looking at him imploringly. “Why did we have to live like that?”
His crystal blue eyes searched my face. “Do you really want to know right now?”
“I…I don’t know. I don’t know what to think anymore,” I said miserably. All I really knew was that I wanted to roll over and snuggle into his warmth, but the twisting that required was something my body couldn’t handle yet - another reminder of what I’d gone through, another question I couldn’t answer.
“She wrote a letter to me at the end of the journal,” he said quietly. “Explaining her actions. She did what she thought was best for you.”
“But why?” I pleaded.
His fingers brushed across my cheek, wiping away a tear I hadn’t known was there. “Garnet was trying to save itself from destruction by allying with Obsidian. That was why your parents married. Your mother came from a prominent Obsidianite family, and her marriage to the king of Garnet was meant to create a bond between the two countries. Unfortunately, relations grew worse, so in a last desperate attempt to save his country, your father promised in writing to give his first-born daughter in marriage to Gilbert. But the king of Obsidian was too impatient to wait for that eventuality, and he invaded Garnet. Your father sent your mother to Rhodolite for aid, neither of them knowing she was pregnant. When she realized, she chose to remain in hiding until she gave birth, because she knew a daughter would become a political pawn between Rhodolite and Obsidian. And, after you were born, she thought it best to continue living as a commoner to spare you from that, while staying close enough to the palace to send you here should circumstances change and this become the better option.”
Silent tears slid down my cheeks while I listened. My heart was throbbing - for me and for Mother, for the decisions she had to make and the difficulties I had to grow up with because of those decisions. I couldn’t blame her. I wanted to, but I couldn’t. There was no right choice.
“She asked me to take care of you, little dove,” King Chevalier said softly.
He’d taken his gloves off at some point. His fingers were warm against my cheek, brushing the tears away. I looked into his beautiful blue eyes, eyes that only saw me, and I knew he wasn’t doing any of this out of a sense of obligation.
“I miss her,” I whispered.
He kissed my forehead and moved in closer so I could nuzzle into his neck. “I know.”
“You’re missing the party,” I mumbled, although I didn’t want him to leave.
“There will be another when you’re back on your feet."
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