The round table was emptier the next day at lunch, my first meal of the day after sleeping through the morning again. Not that it was any quieter.
“Glad that’s over,” Jin said, grinning as he filled his plate.
“You’re telling me. I didn’t get to take a nap once the entire time they were here!” Luke complained.
“I’m sorry you had such a rough time, Luke. Chevalier and I had it easy by comparison, managing the kingdom, you lot, three foreign princes, spy rings, an emergency rescue, and finalizing a treaty, that’s all,” Leon said with an uncharacteristic irritable sarcasm.
“It’s not like the rest of us were sitting around twiddling our thumbs,” Yves protested. “What’s eating you, anyway?”
Leon sighed. “Sorry, just on edge. And they’re not all gone yet. Gilbert isn’t leaving until the morning.”
That was cause for irritation.
“Where is he?” Belle asked.
Leon scowled. “I don’t know. Having lunch in his room, I guess.”
“So, how did the foreign princes’ visit with Ivetta go?” Clavis asked cautiously.
“No, it went well enough,” Leon said with a shrug. “She was happy to see them, and Silvio and Keith behaved themselves.”
“You left out Gilbert,” Licht commented.
I’d noticed that omission, too, and it concerned me.
“Yeah, about him. He didn’t say a word until Ivetta asked to talk to him alone,” Leon said.
“Which you didn’t allow, right?” Nokto interjected.
“It’s kind of hard to say no to her on a regular day, and now that she looks like a human punching bag, it’s pretty well impossible,” Leon admitted sheepishly.
I shot him a disdainful glare.
“I’d like to see you turn her down, Chevalier,” he shot back at me. “Anyway, it seemed like everything went okay. Gilbert was in a good mood when he left, and the doctor wouldn’t let me see her again, but he said she was fine.”
“What about the rest of the visit? Before the foreign princes?” Luke asked.
Leon’s face relaxed into a grin. “She was in a really good mood. And she hasn’t changed, not one bit. She was worried about Chevalier going overboard with the rescue, and she was relieved to hear that he didn’t purge the entire anti-war faction.”
Clavis laughed. “Good thing she didn’t see him go berserk, then.”
“Berserk?” Belle asked.
“It’s a thing King Highness does on the battlefield when he’s really ticked off,” Nokto explained. “He turns into a one-man army, and his knights just clean up behind him.”
“I know you’re the best swordsman around, Chevalier, but I forget how much you normally hold back,” Leon commented.
I shrugged. “There is no need to waste energy unnecessarily.”
Jin laughed. “Typical response from Chevalier. Belle, when he gets mad enough, he’s basically an undisciplined little brat with a sword.”
“I don’t know about that, Jin,” Leon countered. “Seems to me that he’s pretty darn disciplined, just faster and stronger than everybody else. And he’s as good with his left hand as he is with his right.”
“It’s probably good Ivetta didn’t see him like that,” Yves said.
“She did,” I said quietly.
All eyes turned to me.
“Maybe she didn’t see him cutting people down left and right, but he was about as bloody as she was when he got to her, and he was in full beast mode until she was safe,” Leon confirmed.
“Didn’t that scare her more?” Luke asked.
“No,” I said.
“How do you know?”
“I know.” The memory flashed back, her terrified green eyes contrasting so violently with the red blood covering her face, the immediate relief when she saw me.
“Okay, well, anyway, that can’t have been all you talked about, Prince Leon,” Belle said, interrupting and redirecting to a lighter topic.
“No, it’s not. I helped her unpack the bag she’d left at her house, too. Speaking of which, she’s got an old journal that needs your expertise, Chevalier.” Leon’s tone was cheerful again as he took Belle’s hint and turned the conversation around.
“Oh?”
“She says it’s her father’s. It’s in another language, and her mother never told her what it says.”
“That’s right up Chev’s alley,” Clavis said.
“What language is it?” Belle asked.
“Ivetta doesn’t know,” Leon said.
“So, how do you know Prince Chevalier can read it?”
“Our Chev is a multi-talented genius, the likes of which can only be seen once every thousand years,” Clavis began happily.
I stood up to go.
“Don’t you want to hear what I’m going to say about you?” Clavis asked, feigning injury.
“No.”
I’d heard it all before. The recounting of my childhood, how I was different from birth, how I stumped my tutors, bested my swordsmanship instructor, and formulated complex battle strategies by age eight. It was all true. Everything came easily to me; I had only to read it in a book, and I could do it. And I memorized every book I’d ever read without trying. Until Ivetta came along, I was an object of admiration and fear, too skilled and too dangerous to risk remaining in my presence any longer than was absolutely necessary. As far back as I could remember, it had been this way. Nobody, not even my parents, wanted to come near me - until her. Nobody treated me like a normal person - until her. It was easier to further isolate myself and turn into an emotionless beast than grapple with the reality of how lonely I was - until her.
And I hadn’t realized any of that - until her.
Leon came to my office a little later, his amber eyes serious as he sat across from me.
“So, Gilbert,” he said simply.
“He and I have an agreement,” I replied. “But I will discuss the matter with Ivetta later. I did want to talk to you about Julius.”
Leon frowned. “I’ve kept a close eye on him, and I haven’t given him any opportunity to talk to Gilbert.”
“Even when we were in battle?”
“Oh, I brought him along for that. He’s my right hand, after all. Can’t let him think I’m on to him,” Leon said, winking.
We had been close enough to the border for him to slip away to Obsidian, or at the very least, try to cause chaos on the battlefield. He’d done neither. And, as Leon’s right hand, he would have known the true reason for our actions. Stamping out a rebellion and securing the border had all been secondary to Ivetta’s rescue.
“Gilbert recommended Julius be added to Ivetta’s security detail,” I said.
Leon thought for a moment. “That’s actually not a bad idea. Julius would have to be crazy or stupid to let anything happen to her, with the three of us breathing down his neck. And he’s neither.” Leon chuckled. “You know, after three years, he’s still completely loyal to Obsidian. He plays his part well, but he doesn’t care a lick about Rhodolite. If anybody could win him over, it would be Ivetta.”
“Then I’ll talk to him later,” I decided.
Leon stood up, grinning. “Does she even know she’s under such a heavy guard?”
“No.”
He chuckled. “Wonder how she’s gonna take it when she finds out. See you later.”
I didn’t finish work until very late in the afternoon, shortly before dinnertime. The doctor was finishing his examination when I entered Ivetta’s room.
“Out,” I commanded coldly. He left in a hurry.
She smiled as I came to her bedside. “Be nice, Prince Chevalier. He’s already had one ornery prince barking orders at him.”
“Gilbert,” I said, frowning as I took her hand.
She nodded. “Prince Leon brought all the foreign princes by to see me. They were all very nice to me, and I got a chance to thank Prince Gilbert personally.”
“You sent everybody out of the room.”
“Yes, I thought it would be better to talk in private. You’re not still worried about him, are you?” she asked innocently.
“You know I don’t like him.”
“Prince Chevalier. After everything he did to help?” she chided.
I smirked. “I didn’t say I hated him. My opinion of him has improved.”
She shook her head in exasperation, but she couldn’t help but smile. “I think you’re going to have to get used to him.”
“And what does that mean?” I asked, my teasing tone disguising my concern.
“Well, if Obsidian is on good terms with Rhodolite, he’ll probably be invited for friendly visits, right? And you’ll have the opportunity to go to Obsidian, too. He’s already invited me.”
“Oh, he has, has he?”
Not that I could blame him. If our situations were reversed, I would still pursue Ivetta, regardless of his opinion.
“He was just being nice. Don’t look at me like that,” she said, squirming uncomfortably.
“I’ll have to accompany you, of course,” I said, smirking teasingly. She hadn’t taken him seriously. That was all I needed to know.
“More like I’ll be accompanying you. You’re the prince, I’m the maid, remember?”
I sighed. “This again,” I muttered, squeezing her hand. The thorn in my side, the barrier she couldn’t see past. Was that it? Was that all that was stopping her? Maybe I should just tell her flat-out that I didn’t care, that it didn’t matter to me. But if that wasn’t it, if there was something else…
“Are you going to tell me about that book?” I asked, changing the subject again as I nodded toward the journal on her nightstand.
She followed my gaze. “Oh, yes. I…well, Mother made me promise to show it to you, actually. After she…”
I squeezed her hand as she trailed off. We hadn’t talked about her mother at all since the abduction. I’d been waiting for her to bring it up, as I certainly had no idea how to handle that topic. But judging by her sudden silence, she wasn’t ready to broach that subject yet. Best to stick to the journal. I reached over and took it from the nightstand.
“Why?” I asked, studying the cover. Its leather binding was so worn and faded that its original color was indistinguishable. Gold lettering in a foreign script across the front was the only external ornamentation. I knew this language. It was the same used in the book of poetry from Garnet.
Evelyn was a fairly common name in Garnet. She really had come from there. That would be helpful for Sariel’s fabricated background story.
“She wouldn’t say, but she was very insistent,” Ivetta said, clearly embarrassed and nervous. “It was my father’s journal, but it’s in another language, and Mother would never tell me what it says. Maybe she just wanted me to know.”
“This language belongs to a country that no longer exists.” The only word on the cover said ‘Journal.’ I looked back at her thoughtfully. “Did Gilbert see this?”
“Yes, he did. He…”
I opened it up and immediately recognized the neat, elegant script.
This wasn’t possible.
“It seemed to bother him, but he wouldn’t say why,” Ivetta finally said after a long pause.
I’d been flipping through the pages, hiding my shock as page after page of the same familiar hand leaped out at me, but her words made me look back at her.
“How so?”
“It’s hard to say,” she replied. “He knows the language, and he seemed relieved when he found out that I didn’t. But he admitted that he met my parents when he was a child, and he didn’t seem to mind my looking into it more. It was all very confusing.”
“Interesting.” I looked back at the journal, thoughts racing through my mind. “I have a passing knowledge of this language, but I’ll have to study it further. May I borrow this for a while?”
“Yes, of course. It’s not like I can read it or anything.” She smiled up at me knowingly. “You’re not telling me everything you know, are you?”
I closed the journal and set it back on the nightstand. “Sorry to keep you waiting,” I said, taking her hand.
“And you’re avoiding the question.” She sighed. “But I trust you. And it’s alright. I’m sure you have a lot of work to catch up on with everything that’s happened.”
“I only have suspicions. When I know something, and it’s safe for you to know, I’ll tell you.” My thumb rubbed back and forth over her hand, and I smiled down at her. “You know I don’t like mornings.”
“I’m aware of that. You aren’t always the easiest person to wake up. Who gets to do that job now?”
“Nobody.”
She looked up at me curiously. “So you’ve gone back to sleeping in and skipping breakfast?”
“When did you find out?” I asked, amused that she already knew.
“Prince Leon told me that night I met him in the town, before the festival. Does that mean you’ll be coming to visit me later now?”
I nodded. “If that is agreeable to you.”
“I don’t mind.” She practically bit her tongue after she said it, still trying to put distance between us. I smiled down at her, watching her green eyes shyly look away. There was another question on the tip of her tongue, but she didn’t want to ask it. Probably about why I’d changed my entire schedule for her.
“The first day, I had an early meeting,” I said.
“How can you still read me so well when my face is so messed up?” she asked, surprised.
“After that, I knew my brothers would be after you, and I didn’t want you alone any longer than necessary. And I just liked having you around. If I slept all morning and worked all afternoon, I wouldn’t get to see you very often, would I?” I reached out and traced a finger lightly down her cheek, a little less swollen than the day before. “It’s a bit harder, but your eyes are the same,” I said quietly.
And they were wide with confusion right now, but she didn’t look away from me. If I was correct about the journal, then I would have to determine an appropriate time to tell her. It was incredibly frustrating that now, when I didn’t want to keep her in the dark anymore, she was so easily overwhelmed. She was still fragile, still recovering, and, as she’d pointed out two days ago, she was very much trapped.
“Would you like me to read to you again?” I asked, my finger leaving her face, but my eyes lingering.
“Sure, but the doctor will be back with dinner soon. Have you eaten yet?” she asked.
I squeezed her hand and stood, heading back to the sofa. “Yes, I’ve eaten. I’ll wait until after you’re finished.”
“When I’m feeling better, I’ll have to read to you sometime,” she said.
The doctor returned before I could respond verbally, but I could see in her eyes that my smile was sufficient. I’d always loved her voice, even when she was nothing more to me than an intriguing maid, and any opportunity to hear more of it was welcome.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDi0d9HJje0
