“Back to work already, huh? I thought even you would take a day off to enjoy being engaged,” Leon teased, settling into the chair across from my desk.
“I am specifically interested in the matter of a jeweler,” I said coolly. There was no point in taking a day off if Ivetta wasn’t doing likewise, and I needed to work to get my mind off the mistake I’d made earlier with her.
Leon chuckled. “Now it makes sense. You’re not actually working; you’re already planning the wedding. Well, you’re in luck. Not only is there a fantastic jeweler among the ex-slaves, there’s a mine nearby that’s rich in garnets. I assume you’ll be wanting them in the wedding rings, since you incorporated them into the engagement ring. Nice touch, by the way.”
“When will you be visiting the settlement again?” I asked, ignoring the compliment. I was still too irritated with myself to accept it.
“Next week, I think. They’re currently living in tents while they clear all the rocks and plan the town, but everything’s moving really quickly. I think they’d appreciate a visit from their new king.”
“Then I’ll come with you.” It would be best for me to see the jeweler’s work for myself and, if I determined his skills were adequate, go over the design I’d sketched out.
“Sounds good. Oh, and they’ve got a name for the town now. They’re calling it Freedom.”
“That’s rather optimistic,” I commented.
“But it's true. So, are we still keeping this a secret?”
“For the time being, yes. You are dismissed.”
He stood up, grinning broadly. “You know, since Ivetta came along, you’ve changed a lot, and not at all. See you later.” He opened the door and paused, and then he looked back at me. “Did you want to talk to Gilbert?” he asked, his expression darkening.
“Send him in.”
Leon frowned as Gilbert passed him, wearing his usual charming smile, but left without another word. Gilbert took the seat across from me.
“We need to talk,” he said simply.
“Indeed.” I sat back in my chair, crossing my arms and legs as I studied him. Everything about him was the same as it had been at the beginning of the goodwill gala - the charming smile, the air of carefree relaxation, the inscrutable glint in his blood red eye.
“You wouldn’t have wanted the emperor here,” he continued. “He’s a bit unhinged.”
“Then it was your decision to come in his place,” I concluded.
“Of course. And mine to invite Yves to Obsidian for a tour, although I’m afraid he’ll be in for a much colder welcome than I receive here.”
“He can handle it.”
“I’m sure.” Gilbert's smile vanished in an instant, and his eye narrowed as he leaned forward. “When I say unhinged, I mean it, in every sense of the word. He’s angry, and he’s dangerous.”
“In general, or just where Ivetta is concerned?” I asked coolly.
“Unfortunately, the latter. He was already upset about the treaty, so I didn’t risk telling him until you received the signed copy. When I did…” Gilbert winced. “It wasn’t pretty.”
“If he tries to hurt her, treaty or no treaty, I will not hesitate to kill him,” I said firmly.
“If he keeps this up, I’ll kill him first,” Gilbert muttered.
“And throw your country into chaos?”
He chuckled, but the glint in his eye hardened. “I sometimes forget how nice and polite things are here in Rhodolite. In Obsidian, it’s more common for an assassination to mark a change in rulership than it is for a natural death and inheritance to occur.”
I was aware of that, and I’d ensured the treaty had been carefully worded, so the death of a signatory did not nullify the terms.
“Then you can ill afford to be absent for long, and I may need to reconsider allowing Yves to accompany you upon your return,” I mused.
Gilbert shrugged and sat back in his chair again. “I have those who are loyal to me, and, as I said, Ivetta is the emperor’s target. The risk to Yves is no greater than it would be at any other time. I saw you took my advice about Julius.”
“Yes. He has proven to be quite loyal to her.”
“Good,” Gilbert said, letting out a sigh of distinct relief. “I’ll need to talk to him.”
“About?” I asked sharply.
“About cutting his ties with Obsidian. There are a select few whom I can trust, and I’d rather he regard everybody except me as a danger to Ivetta.”
I sighed, too, and uncrossed my arms to strum my fingers on the desk. “Exactly how serious do you consider the threat to be?”
“For the time being, minimal and easily contained. But we’re allies now, so I felt it was my duty to warn you,” he replied, his charming smile back in place. “And as much as it pains me to say it, congratulations,” he added as he stood to go.
I smirked. “Thank you. And as much as it pains me to say it, you have become a valuable ally.”
“Well, we no longer want to kill each other on sight, anyway,” he agreed. “I look forward to indulging in the princess’ desserts later this evening.”
He may be a valuable ally, but he was still irritatingly obnoxious.
Especially since he came to dinner that evening with Ivetta on his arm. My brothers didn’t notice because they were all too busy teasing Luke, who was literally squirming in his seat as they questioned him about Arianna. Ivetta looked completely relaxed and wore a bright smile, and she immediately left Gilbert to sit next to me, as usual. And he took the seat on her other side. I decided to hold my tongue for the time being. Nothing about Ivetta’s demeanor suggested anything more than a friendly escort to dinner had occurred, and Gilbert seemed far more interested in listening in to Luke’s inquisition than giving her more attention. I was admittedly relieved to not have to endure teasing about the engagement. Luke was getting the same line of questioning each of my brothers had to endure when a new relationship appeared to be more than a dalliance.
“You know you're the fourth one of us she’s gone after, right?” Nokto asked at one point.
“Fourth?” Jin asked. “I thought he was the third, after Chevalier and me.”
“Ah, but I met her on a business trip to Benitoite and got her interested in the possibilities Rhodolite had to offer,” Nokto replied, his sly grin leaving little room for misinterpretation.
“Oh my gosh, you slept with her,” Silvio moaned, putting his face in his hands.
“Actually, no,” Nokto said smugly. “Once she found out I was a twin, she crossed me off the list and decided to try for King Highness.”
“A twin?” Ivetta asked. “What does that have to do with anything?”
Nothing. It shouldn’t matter at all. But it did, to royalty and nobility, and suddenly, everybody was looking at her as if she’d grown another head.
“What?” she asked again. “Is there some special meaning among royalty for being a twin?”
“Well, how about you tell us the meaning among commoners, and then we’ll tell you the meaning among royalty,” Leon said, grinning as he glanced meaningfully at Licht.
Maybe the simple commoner’s perspective would get through to Nokto and Licht, where the rest of us hadn’t succeeded.
“Okay,” she said hesitantly. “Among commoners, having twins means having an extra mouth to feed, but also having extra hands to help.” She shrugged. “And that’s really all there is to it.”
“Hm, how simple,” Nokto commented. “Among royalty, twins are nothing but troublemakers, interchangeable replacements for each other, each equating to half an heir instead of a whole.”
Leon and I exchanged a glance, and he grimaced.
“Is that what you all believe?” Ivetta asked, her green eyes wide with shock.
“Of course not,” Leon said firmly. “Do you know how badly Nokto would mess up Licht’s well-trained troops? And Licht would be hopeless in all those business dealings Nokto is so good at.”
“The country would come crashing down around us if they switched places for a day,” Jin confirmed.
Licht and Nokto were both staring resolutely at their plates, once again refusing to accept the truth. Ivetta heard it, though, and she visibly relaxed.
“Well, I guess twins can be troublemakers, especially identical twins,” she admitted. “I used to babysit for a pair who would try to switch places on me. They thought if I couldn’t figure out which one of them got in trouble, I couldn’t do anything to either of them.” She smiled and shrugged. “I gave up trying to sort them out and just punished them both.”
“Sounds like Sariel,” Licht muttered as a general chuckle went around the table.
She was going to have more questions about this later. I’d have to determine how much to tell her myself, and what I should refer her to Nokto and Licht about. Not that either of them would talk about it.
“This isn’t exactly the best outfit for baking, so I’ll change and meet everybody in the kitchen in a few minutes,” she announced as she stood up.
“Time for dessert!” Luke exclaimed, jumping to his feet as she left, his chair clattering to the floor.
“We still have to make it,” Yves reminded him
“What are you making?” Leon asked as Luke righted his chair.
Yves shrugged. “I didn’t have anything in particular planned.”
“Ooh, I want a honey cake!”
Luke looked for all the world like an overgrown child, his green eyes wide and shining, his boyish grin nearly splitting his face in two.
Jin laughed. “Go get whatever special honey you want them to use, and try not to run anybody over. I’ll get the booze.”
“Is this what they’re normally like when Ivetta does any baking?” Gilbert asked as we waited for the rowdy bunch to exit.
“This is what they’re normally like when anybody does any baking,” I replied.
“I’d like an apple pie,” Licht volunteered.
“Okay, okay, I’m not taking requests yet!” Yves shouted over the hubbub.
Nobody listened to him. We followed him to the little side kitchen he usually used for baking, laughter echoing down the hallways until we were all packed into the room, waiting for Ivetta to arrive. I had to do a double-take when she did. She was wearing the simple green dress, and she had tied her hair back in a ponytail, just like she used to when she was a maid.
“Hey, what happened to the princess?” Leon asked.
“She had a long day and went to bed,” Ivetta said with a bright smile.
“So, no more threats of beheading?” Jin asked hopefully.
“Nope. Any requests?”
A barrage of suggestions was suddenly flung at her from all directions. She laughed and rolled up her sleeves as she started pulling pots and pans down from the wire hooks above. I glanced around, unsurprised by the momentary frowns and looks of surprise at the sight of her scars, but she didn’t notice.
“Yves, I think we’re going to have to divide and conquer.”
“I’ll help!” Clavis volunteered, quickly recovering the usual mischievous gleam in his golden eyes.
“No!” cried all of my brothers in unison.
He was not only a terrible cook, but he had the bad habit of adding secret ingredients for varied and usually unpleasant reasons.
“Too many cooks in the kitchen spoils the broth,” Ivetta recited sagely. “How about you be in charge of entertainment, Clavis?”
“Oh, no,” Nokto groaned, pulling himself up onto the counter with a groan.
“Why, I’d be delighted to do so,” Clavis said smugly. “Now, let’s see. How about our new favorite topic, Luke and Arianna?”
“Not again,” Silvio complained.
“Don’t worry, I brought booze,” Jin said, setting several bottles up along the counter.
“She’s taking off the ring!” Luke announced.
“So you don’t eat it,” Ivetta replied, dropping it in a pocket. “And that won’t get you off the hook. Forgive me for saying so, but Arianna doesn’t seem like your type.”
“Oh, man, you’re getting in on this, too?” he moaned.
“Well, she did get insulted by your new girlfriend,” Nokto commented.
“What?” Luke exclaimed.
“Oh, you didn’t know about that?” Nokto asked, smirking.
I pulled myself onto the counter and sat back against the wall, crossing my arms over my chest as I braced myself. Ivetta was busy getting fires lit in the ovens and ingredients ready on the counters, and she didn’t say a word.
“She accused Ivetta of being a cheap whore who faked her background to get her claws in King Highness,” Nokto continued smoothly, lighting a fire of his own.
The kitchen erupted in chaos.
“She what?” Silvio shouted, his voice rising above the rest. “Why that little-”
“Okay, that’s enough,” Ivetta snapped, her green eyes flashing as she slammed a cast-iron skillet down hard on the marble countertop to get everybody’s attention. “We are here to have fun tonight. Clavis, come up with something else.”
“Oh, goodie,” he said gleefully. “Chev, how about you tell us exactly what you love about Ivetta?”
“Next topic,” she said firmly.
“Ah, don’t you want to know?” Clavis asked teasingly.
“I already do. Moving on.”
He sighed dramatically. “Fine. Jin, tell us about that lovely little dish you were eating up last night.”
“Gladly,” Jin said with a broad grin. “Two lovely little dishes, actually. Identical twins. They were-”
“Before you continue, I would like to remind you that a lady is present,” Ivetta interrupted with a meaningful look.
Jin shrugged. “Alright, but that means I’ll be leaving out the best parts.”
I smirked and settled in for the evening. It was going about how I expected, with the addition of Ivetta’s superb babysitting skills keeping my brothers’ childish antics under control. She and Yves kept up a steady output of beignets, cakes, croissants, and pies, all of which were devoured within minutes of cooling as the drinks flowed and the laughter echoed around the room. Even Keith and Licht spoke up occasionally. It was around midnight, when she was washing dishes for the umpteenth time, that Jin literally collapsed in a heap on the floor.
“Jin!” she exclaimed, but Leon just laughed.
“Alright, up we go,” he said, pulling Jin’s arm around his shoulder and straining to lift him. “A little help here? He musta gained ten pounds from sweets.”
Licht went toward him, but Leon waved him away.
“Not you. You’ll get drunk just from his breath.”
“Here,” Luke volunteered, coming along Jin’s other side and tugging his arm around his shoulders.
“You drank as much as Jin did, Leon. How are you still standing?” Ivetta asked.
Leon grinned. “It never affects me, although I’m gonna have a killer hangover in the morning. Alright, off to bed for the old man.”
She giggled as she watched them leave. Leon stumbled in the doorway, and then figured out he had to turn sideways to fit.
“Not affected, huh?” she muttered under her breath.
“Are you going to do dishes all night?” I asked, leaning against the counter beside her with my arms crossed over my chest.
“I’m almost done with this load. Whatever is left can be cleaned up by the servants in the morning, although I hate to leave such a mess for them.”
“That’s their job,” Yves said, yawning as he collected more dishes scattered about the counters.
“You need to go to bed,” she said firmly. “You’ve got an early start in the morning.”
“I’m just riding in a carriage,” he protested, trying to hide another yawn.
“And-” She interrupted herself when she glanced across the room at the counter where Silvio had been sitting a few minutes earlier. Now, he was passed out, stretched across the marble.
“Somebody get Silvio to his room,” she said, sighing heavily.
“Yes, Mother,” Clavis teased. “C’mon, Keith, help me out.”
They hauled Silvio off the counter and roused him enough to help them somewhat as they half carried him into the hallway.
Yves yawned again, but he waved her words away as she opened her mouth. “Okay, okay, I’m going. She’ll be after you next, Gilbert.”
Gilbert hopped down from his seat on the counter and flashed his usual charming smile. “Goodnight, Ivetta.”
“Goodnight, Gilbert. Safe travels.”
“I see what’s happening here,” Nokto said, stretching luxuriously. “Licht, I think we’re not wanted here.”
I thought they’d never leave.
“Well?” I asked, sliding closer to her.
“Well, I’m done,” she said, drying her hands and reaching into her pocket for the ring. “And I’m officially engaged again,” she added as she slid the ring onto her finger, looking up at me with a shy smile.
“Now it’s your turn to go to bed,” I said, trying to resist her smile.
“But I wanted to spend a little time with you,” she pleaded, reaching up to wrap her arms around my neck. The simple touch lit a spark in me, even before she turned us so her back was to the counter and I was standing in front of her. I uncrossed my arms and dropped my hands by my sides, clenching them in fists beside me, not wanting to lose control like I had earlier today.
“Are you sure?” I asked, my heart pounding as she leaned back and pulled me down toward her.
“I’m sure.”
I was usually the one to initiate a kiss, but she took the lead this time, instantly igniting the spark into a blazing flame as her lips touched mine. Her hands slid up into my hair to push my head closer to hers, and suddenly my hands were tangling in her hair as her tongue parted my lips. The sweet and savory desserts of the night coated our mouths and enhanced her distinctive flavor. I was drowning in her kiss - and then it was over, leaving me gasping for breath and craving more.
“Congratulations, King Chevalier,” she gasped, looking up at me with heated green eyes.
“Ivetta…” I trailed my hands from her hair down her neck to her back, pulling her soft curves tightly against me, wanting desperately to kiss her again but still afraid I’d make another mistake.
“I’m not mad at you for earlier,” she reassured me, resting her chin on my chest and staring up at me longingly. “It’s okay for you to kiss me.”
That was all the encouragement I needed, and I was drowning again, swallowing her gasps as she dug her fingers into my scalp. She was the sweetest dessert I’d tasted all night, and I wanted more, but the memory of her frightened eyes made me pull back after just one kiss.
“You really do need to go to bed,” I said, resting my forehead against hers. “Your lessons start in the morning.”
“Yeah,” she sighed. “Sariel is focusing on social engagements, but he’s going to hold off on scheduling anything until next week.”
“Good. I have to leave again next week, but I’m not going anywhere until then,” I replied, the prospect of seeing her every day sending a thrill through me.
“Then would you care to join me in your library after dinner tomorrow?” she asked formally.
“I’d love to.” I gave her one last kiss, softer but no less intimate, before I led her out the door.
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