Clavis wasn’t in my office when I arrived the next day, which was fine with me. I had decided on a course of action, but it would require me to wait until dinnertime that night. Without Clavis, or anybody else, I worked undisturbed for several hours - until Clavis arrived later in the afternoon. At that point, I left for the library. I wasn’t ready to deal with him yet.
Ivetta was in my library, seated in her chair with the journal, documents, and book of poetry stacked on her lap. She looked up at me when I entered the room, flashing me a bright smile before she looked back down at her study materials.
“Have you learned the language yet?” I asked, taking my seat next to her and picking up my own book.
“Not yet, but I’m making progress. I know there’s nothing particularly personal or emotional in any of this, but I’d still like to read my father’s words for myself.” She sighed and looked back up at me. “I suppose you weren’t close to your father?”
“No.”
“Was he afraid of you, like your mother?”
“Yes.”
It didn’t bother me. That was just my reality, and I’d never known any different. But it bothered her. The green eyes that met mine clearly expressed the pain I didn’t feel.
“I’m really sorry, Chevalier.”
I put my book down so I could give her my full attention. There was no point in trying to read, anyway. Not with her so near.
“Why should you be sorry?” I asked, echoing my words the last time we had a similar conversation. Unlike that time, I had no desire to threaten or intimidate her.
“You never got to be a child, did you?”
“Neither did you,” I pointed out.
“At least I grew up loved. Did you ever feel loved at all, before us?”
“No.”
There was something more to her questions, beyond her attempt to understand my past. She was leading up to something. The way she was carefully wording her thoughts, drawing short responses from me even as she piqued my interest, put me in mind of the conversations we had in this room when she was my maid.
“How…how long have you had feelings for me?” she asked hesitantly.
So, that was it. I rested my elbow on the arm of my chair, setting my chin in my hand as I smirked at her. “How long do you think?”
She tilted her head to the side, studying me thoughtfully. “I was trying very hard not to notice, so I really can’t say.”
The echoes of our first days and weeks together resounded loudly in my head. I took the books from her lap and set them on the table with mine, removing my gloves and adding them to the pile. She watched me curiously.
“What are you doing?”
Back then, she would have been nervous, not curious, and I would have been justifying my actions with meaningless excuses that all denied the truth of what was actually going on. This time, I knew exactly what I was doing. I stood up and pulled her to her feet, pushing her back against a bookcase, hands on her shoulders, face inches from hers.
“Chevalier-” she protested weakly as I slid one hand up to her neck. A shiver ran through her. Not nervous, excited.
I wasn’t expecting that.
“Do you want me to answer your question?” I asked quietly.
She nodded wordlessly, her cheeks already turning bright red.
“The first time I did this was the first day we met,” I said quietly, smirking as I traced a finger up and down her flushed neck. “I wanted to test your limits. You were terrified of me, but you wouldn’t back down.” I slid my fingers up to her chin, and then her cheek, her skin burning hotter wherever I touched.
“I found myself watching you, intrigued by you. And I realized how frustratingly attractive you were.” My fingers slid back down her neck to trace her collarbone, and she shivered again. “I didn’t like anybody else touching you.”
She visibly swallowed, her green eyes full of unmistakable, irresistible desire. This was not the response I expected. I brought my face even closer to hers, brushing her nose with mine.
“You kept getting into trouble, and I wanted - needed - to protect you.”
Her cheeks were a deep red, her breath coming short and fast. I needed to stop this. She was looking the way I felt most of the time we were together.
“When I killed the assassin, I thought of you and the danger I was putting you in by keeping you near me. I hated the thought of hurting you, but I hated the thought of losing you more. I didn’t sleep at all that night, knowing what I had to do.”
My lips brushed against hers, and she trembled with anticipation, but I pulled back. This was an interesting new side to her, and I was curious to see how desperate she could get.
“But you wouldn’t leave. My plans had never failed before. I wanted to drive you away, and I realized I’d fallen in love with you instead.” My fingers slid up to her chin, tilting it up as my thumb ran across her soft, flushed lips.
“Chevalier…” she gasped, her eyes pleading with me.
“Do you want something, little dove?” I asked teasingly, only able to restrain myself because I knew it was only a very temporary delay.
She nodded, unable to even speak, and I finally kissed her. Even her mouth was hot, her sweet flavor enhanced by her soft moans that enhanced my desire. Her heart was pounding against mine, her soft curves pressed into me, and I was drowning in her, dangerously close to losing control.
“I’ve never seen you beg before,” I murmured, sliding my hand around to cradle the back of her head. She wrapped her arms around my waist as I kissed her again, knowing this wasn’t enough. I wanted more. And she wasn’t going to stop me.
It was a shocking realization.
I pulled away and turned my back on her. This wasn’t the right place, or the right time, and even though she was weak enough to give in to me, this wasn’t what she wanted, either.
“It’s getting harder to wait, Ivetta,” I sighed, frustrated at the heat gnawing at my stomach, burning my cheeks and the back of my neck, telling me to forget about her feelings and satisfy my own passions instead.
Protecting her from me was exhausting.
“Not much longer,” she said, her voice trembling. “But I think our fifteen minutes are up. I’d better go.”
My eyes inexorably drifted to her retreating form, and I forced them to the stack of books in her hands.
“I can read the journal to you,” I volunteered without thinking. “Word for word, if you like.”
She stopped with her hand on the doorknob. “I would like that, but maybe another time.”
I should let her go. Our time was up, whether it had been fifteen minutes or not.
“The maid was cleaning in the library when I arrived,” I heard myself say.
She looked back at me, a smile spreading across her face. “If she’s still there, we wouldn’t be alone.”
I was unlikely to make passionate love to her in front of anybody else, even in my current state.
“Come,” I said, taking her arm and leading her out to a sofa. Fortunately, the maid was still there, meaning I did not push Ivetta down and kiss her again. Instead, I took the journal from her and opened it.
“Wait, could you hold it here?” she asked, moving it closer to her. “So I can follow along?”
The maid’s presence helped to cool me down. Ivetta and I spent the rest of the afternoon reading through the journal, stopping whenever she had a question for me to explain the words she didn’t know and the grammatical rules that differed from our language. She had already done a lot of work, and she could read most of it by herself by dinnertime. The way her eyes lit up as she read the words made it clear how much this meant to her. But when she tried to turn the page past the point I had marked, I put my hand on hers to stop her.
“It’s time for dinner,” I said simply.
“But, you said-”
“It’s your mother’s letter.”
“Oh, you’re right.” She sat back with a sigh, letting me take the journal from her. I set it on the coffee table with the rest of her study supplies.
“I’m going to be a mess after I read that,” she said softly, her fingers fidgeting with her skirt.
She was going to be a mess right now if I didn’t distract her from her own thoughts. I leaned in and kissed her lightly. Her green eyes came back to my face, along with her smile. I stood up and offered her my hand.
“You still need to tell me your side.”
“My side?” Her cheeks flushed right red all over again. “Oh, well, I…”
“After dinner.” I pulled her to her feet and led her to the door, smiling at her sudden embarrassment. This could prove to be interesting.
“When did the maid leave?” she asked, looking around the library.
A long time ago.
“We didn’t break the rule, Ivetta.”
“Well, technically, we did,” she said, smiling shyly. “But I guess we were too engrossed in our studies to get into any trouble.” She followed me out into the hallway, silent for a moment, and then she asked, “If Mother had come to the palace for help, what would have happened?”
Her mother’s letter would partially address that question.
“She was a queen and a refugee. The court’s response would have depended upon the political climate at the time. Taking your mother in would have been seen as an affront to Obsidian. But my father would have at least secretly taken care of her. You know his reputation.”
“Yes, you have seven half-brothers as proof. Perhaps I’m making a mistake, marrying into a family with such a history,” she teased. “Perhaps Mother was right, and it was best for me to remain a commoner. I could be marrying a blacksmith, or a cobbler, or a butcher-”
I stopped us suddenly and pulled her into a kiss. “Perhaps she was right, and you should obtain employment at the palace as a maid.”
She usually protested whenever I kissed her in the middle of the hallway, but she kissed me back with no reservations this time. “Maybe I’d get lucky and fall in love with a prince.”
“Get a room!”
She pushed me away, blushing, as Clavis, Nokto, and Luke appeared around the corner. I pulled her back toward me, slipping my arm around her waist, and started walking again.
“Chevalier,” she whispered, embarrassed.
“You left the office early today, Chev,” Clavis said slyly as our paths converged toward the round table room.
He was lucky she was pinning my sword to my side.
“Sariel finished his lessons with Ivetta early, too, come to think of it,” Nokto volunteered.
“Wonder what they’ve been up to all afternoon?” Luke added.
She was blushing furiously, unable to meet their eyes. “If you must know, we were in the library studying,” she said.
“Oh, is that what we’re calling it now? Studying?” Nokto teased.
“I’ve seen them ‘studying’ before,” Luke said, his broad grin was not as innocent as usual. “Just about every time they’re together.”
“Are you finished?” I asked coolly.
“That depends,” said Clavis. “Are you?” He came up beside her. “Ivetta? Any comments?”
“I think Chevalier isn’t working you hard enough,” she said, matching my frosty tone.
“You may be right,” I agreed. “I’ll have to remedy that tomorrow.”
“Aw, man,” Luke complained.
“Don’t worry about it, Luke,” Nokto interjected. “If he’s too rough on us, I know just who to talk to so he’ll lay off.”
Leon’s faction was already seated around the table when we arrived. I pulled her chair out for her and took my seat to her left. Jin grinned at us and joined right in on the teasing.
“Well, look here. The lovebirds left the nest to join the rest of us.”
This was already old. I was only putting up with it because I planned to humiliate Clavis, and I wanted to spend more time with her. Fortunately, the only talk was about the food for the next few minutes as everybody filled their plates.
“Are you ready for the big day?” Yves asked her.
“Yes, and no,” she answered.
“Oh? Do I still have a chance here?” Nokto asked hopefully.
“Knock it off,” Yves snapped at him.
“I haven’t changed my mind, Nokto. There’s just a lot to do, and it gets a bit overwhelming at times, that’s all,” she explained.
“How about you, Chev?” Clavis asked, his eyes meeting hers and making her blush again. “Are you ready?”
He’d set himself up perfectly.
“I’ll make a deal with you,” I said coolly.
Everybody paused at my icy tone.
“Really?” he asked, his grin unphased by my glare. “This should be interesting.”
Interesting or deadly, depending on his response.
“You won’t visit Ivetta late at night again, and I’ll let you live.”
Ivetta’s sharp intake of breath, Jin’s low whistle - the only people apparently unconcerned by the situation was Clavis, an unmistakable defiance in his golden eyes, and Leon, whose shoulders shook as he tried not to laugh.
“You idiot,” Licht muttered under his breath.
“It was nice knowing you, Clavis,” Nokto added.
“I was just testing her for you, Chev,” Clavis said, shrugging it off. “You’ll be glad to know she passed with flying colors.”
Ivetta didn’t say a word, nor did she have to. Nobody in their right mind would believe she did anything wrong. I, too, kept silent. Clavis would back down, or he would regret it. Those were his choices. And he had only a few more seconds before I made the decision for him.
He sighed and broke eye contact. “Fine, it won’t happen again,” he said, sounding bored.
“See that it doesn’t.”
Leon couldn’t hold it in anymore. His laughter broke the heavy tension in the room, and everybody went back to talking and eating as if nothing had happened.
“How did you know?” Ivetta asked me quietly, so nobody else would hear.
I smirked. “Julius,” I replied, just as quietly.
“But why would he-”
“Hey now, no whispering at the table,” Jin said, grinning at us.
“Yeah, fill us in. What were you two talking about?” Luke asked.
Ivetta’s eyes met Luke’s, and the corner of her lip turned up mischievously.
“Nothing. How are things going with you and Arianna?” she asked innocently.
His green eyes immediately widened. “Oh, she, uh…”
“Our cuddly teddy bear is planning another visit to his sunny honey bee later this week,” Nokto interjected with a sly grin.
“What? How did you - you read my letters!” Luke spluttered, turning bright red.
Ivetta put her hand over her mouth, trying not to laugh, but Luke jumped out of his seat and lunged for Nokto. Nokto leaped away, and the two started running laps around the table.
Children. My brothers were nothing but children. I would have left, if I wasn’t enjoying Ivetta’s laughter and the gloomy look on Clavis’ face so much.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDkGUOyGpZO
