A Dove's Tale

Chapter 23

Mother’s birthday dawned bright and sunny, and for the first time since the incident with Jack, I actually felt happy as I made my way up to the palace. She was going to love the beignets, or at least the effort I put into making them. A little voice at the back of my head told me I was going to get in trouble if I let my excitement get the best of me. I told it that a sweet, innocent smile was part of my good little maid mask and I would be fine.

“Good morning, Prince Chevalier!” I called at nine o’clock as usual. This time, I didn’t have to fake a cheerful tone. It was very real, as was my smile.

He moved slightly but didn’t sit up. “There’s no such thing,” he grumbled.

“Of course there is, your highness. Come on, get up.”

It was kind of cute, the way he fought me like a sleepy child. Not that I’d ever tell him that. But then he sat up, and that impression fled from my mind as he emerged from the blankets. The top couple buttons of his shirt had come undone in his sleep, and there was nothing childish about his normally hidden muscles. I had to force my eyes away from his chest and up to his icy blue gaze.

“You’re going to be a nuisance today, aren’t you?” he asked coolly.

“I hope not, your highness,” I said, dropping his clothes on the sofa and leaving for his breakfast.

That was an image I needed to get out of my head as soon as possible.

Beignets. I was making beignets for Mother today, and Prince Yves cleared his afternoon to help me. I didn’t want to come unprepared. It had been a long time since I made them with her, and I’d never made them by myself. Running through the recipe in my mind wouldn’t leave room for other thoughts and wouldn’t affect my morning routine, because it was just that - a routine. I didn’t need to think about it anymore.

Except Prince Chevalier didn’t stick to the routine this morning. He was still sitting at his desk when I finished in the bathroom, his icy blue eyes immediately meeting mine as I reentered the bedroom. Normally, he was long gone to his office by this point, and I was alone.

“You’re in a good mood today,” he commented.

Small talk? From him?

“It’s my mother’s birthday, Prince Chevalier. I’m looking forward to surprising her,” I explained, crossing the room to his desk and piling the dirty dishes onto the tray. “It’s been a while since I’ve done any proper baking. I’m hoping the beignets make her feel a little better.”

“It doesn’t take much to make you happy,” he observed, a mocking smile on his lips.

When I first started working at the palace, I would have taken that as an insult, and he probably would have meant it as such. It didn’t come across that way today.

“I don’t know about that. It’s not always easy to make somebody else smile, and that’s what really makes me happy. Like you, Prince Chevalier. I haven’t figured out what makes you smile yet. Is there anything else you need from me?” I asked, pausing at the door with the full tray in my hands.

“Since you are wasting much of the afternoon on your trivialities, I expect you to work twice as hard this morning.”

His words were harsh, but his tone was not. I smiled back at him.

“That won’t be a problem, your highness. I work twice as fast when I’m this happy.”

The little voice told me I was too careless and too comfortable around him. I told it to shut up and headed toward the kitchens. Prince Clavis appeared when I rounded a corner, coming my way. The little voice told me to ignore him. I ignored it instead.

“Good morning, Prince Clavis!”

“Well, this is a change,” he said, smiling. “Should I take it I’m finally growing on you, then?”

I wouldn’t have gone that far, but he was at least partially responsible for my happiness on this particular day.

“Actually, I need to thank you, Prince Clavis. Prince Yves is helping me make beignets this afternoon.”

I wasn’t careless enough to stop walking while I talked to him, and he didn’t chase after me as I flashed him another smile just before I disappeared around the corner. Maybe Prince Chevalier’s ban on other princes bothering me was still in effect. If that kept Prince Clavis from harassing me, I was okay with it. A quick stop at the kitchens to drop the dishes off, and then I headed to the library, humming the whole way. I was working on the floors today. First step, sweeping. I propped open Prince Chevalier’s library door and was hard at work sweeping its dust into the main library when Prince Nokto interrupted my humming.

“My, aren’t you in a good mood? That smile becomes you.”

He stood beside me, close enough to brush a stray hair behind my ear when I looked up at him. I don’t know if he snuck up on me on purpose. I hadn’t exactly been paying a lot of attention to my surroundings - which was unusual for me lately and only testified to my carelessness.

“Thank you, Prince Nokto,” I said nervously. He didn’t seem angry with me, but I couldn’t forget the venom in his eyes when he trapped me in this very spot a few days ago.

“Clavis sent me to get a book. Perhaps you could help me locate it?” he asked, his sly grin telling me he was back in seduction mode. That didn’t make me feel any more comfortable. He was dangerous, no matter which form he took.

“Probably,” I replied hesitantly. “Did he tell you which one, your highness?”

“He wrote it down,” Prince Nokto said, handing me a small slip of paper.

I noticed the black nail polish again - thumb, middle finger, and ring finger of both hands. Why only those fingers? But I didn’t want to ask him, and I didn’t want to ask about the other day with Prince Licht, either. The sooner he was gone, the better. Fortunately, although Prince Clavis’ handwriting was atrocious, I could make out enough of the title to guess the rest.

“That should be in this section over here. I’ll just be a moment, your highness,” I said, setting my broom down and heading across the library.

Of course, he followed me. Silly of me to think he would do otherwise. And he leaned up against the shelves casually as I searched for the book, watching me with dark, sultry crimson eyes that left no doubt about what he was thinking.

Did Prince Chevalier know he was here?

“I understand you’ll be spending the afternoon with Evie. What would I have to do to get a little one-on-one time with you?” Prince Nokto asked suggestively.

“Prince Yves is helping me make beignets for my mother’s birthday, your highness. That’s all.”

“Such a tease. Perhaps you’d care to join me for lunch?”

“I appreciate the offer, your highness, but if you’re planning anything other than eating, I’m afraid I’ll have to decline,” I said kindly but firmly, locating the book and pulling it down. “Here you go.”

“And so stubborn,” he said, taking the book from me and sliding a finger under my chin to tilt my face up toward his. “I’m sure you’d enjoy what I have planned.”

The last time I saw him, he was so angry with me, I was afraid he might hurt me, and now this? Did he think I would just forget about that?

“Prince Nokto, unless your plan involves telling me why you were so upset with me the other day, my answer is still no,” I said firmly, pushing his hand away.

His crimson eyes widened in surprise, just for a moment, and then his expression fell back into the light, carefree smile and arrogant, seductive gaze that he usually displayed.

He was wearing a mask, too.

“You don’t want to hear about that,” he said lightly, following me back to the broom.

“Then I’m not sure that we have anything to talk about, your highness, and it would probably be best if you took that book to Prince Clavis,” I replied.

He chuckled. “You seem like you're back to normal.”

I felt my whole body stiffen, but I didn’t turn to look at him.

“Why shouldn’t I be, your highness?”

“Why, indeed?” He placed his hand on my shoulder and turned me back to face him. “Why wouldn’t a woman who is so unafraid to stand up for herself report a man like that to the appropriate authorities?”

“Perhaps she knew the authorities were regular customers at that man’s establishment, your highness,” I replied, meeting his intense crimson eyes directly and removing his hand from my shoulder.

He frowned. “I hoped you wouldn’t say that.”

“I didn’t enjoy saying it. Was there any more information you wanted from me, Prince Nokto, or may I go back to work?”

He smirked and took the broom from my hand, resting it against a bookcase. “How very perceptive of you. Care to see any of my other tricks?”

He tilted his head to the side and took a step closer, backing me into a bookcase with a look that made my cheeks burn and my heart flutter.

“Prince Nokto-”

“Hush,” he said, putting a finger over my lips, his sultry crimson eyes locked on mine. “Just listen.”

I flinched as his finger slid down my lips to my chin.

“I may just be the court jester, but I recognize easy prey when I see it, and you are deliciously appetizing.”

There was something strangely soothing and hypnotic about his tone, his eyes, his movements, and it was hard to focus on the individual words he was saying. My heart was racing, but the beat was changing. He tilted my chin up, stroking my flushed cheek with his thumb.

“If you don’t learn to defend yourself, it’s only a matter of time until you’re eaten up.”

His other hand found mine, and he brought it to his lips and kissed it without taking his eyes off of mine. Those crimson eyes held me captive and drew me into their depths. He leaned in closer, his breath hot on my lips.

“Gotcha.”

He stepped back, smirking triumphantly, and the spell was broken. I glared at him, hating how red my face was, how easily he’d entangled me in his web of seduction.

“Why did you do that?” I asked angrily.

“Predators come in all shapes and sizes, Ivetta,” he replied. “You are familiar with only one kind, but you’re in a new habitat, and King Highness won’t always be around to save you.”

“Clown.” Prince Chevalier’s sharp voice cut through the tension in the air, drawing my attention to him as he strode into the library.

“Right on time,” Prince Nokto said, flashing me an easy smile before he turned away. “I’m leaving, King Highness,” he said casually to Prince Chevalier, seemingly unaffected by the icy glare boring through him.

“After your work is done, you may play. Not before,” Prince Chevalier said coolly, his voice giving no evidence of any emotion other than irritation as he crossed the library past Prince Nokto toward me.

Prince Nokto waved lazily over his shoulder without looking back.

“Maid,” Prince Chevalier snapped, turning the full force of his icy blue eyes on me for just a second as he continued past me into his library.

I swallowed, reluctantly following him.

“You are a nuisance,” he said as soon as I shut the door behind us.

“I’m sorry, your highness,” I said quietly, dropping my gaze down to the floor.

He caught my chin and forced me to look up at him. My cheeks hadn’t cooled off from Prince Nokto yet, and they flared hotter at the intensity in Prince Chevalier’s cold blue eyes.

“What happened?”

“I…don’t really know, your highness,” I said truthfully. It was hard to think straight when he was looking at me like that. He stared at me for a moment, the wall of ice in his eyes hiding his thoughts, and then something changed. Suddenly, his teasing smirk appeared, and he pushed me back against the door. My heart took off at high speed, whether from fear, confusion, excitement, or something else entirely, I wasn’t really sure, but the pounding was too loud for me to hear the little voice anymore.

“Don’t you?” he asked, dropping his voice lower.

“Prince Chevalier-”

His thumb brushed across my lips. “Maybe you'd rather I let that Clown have at you.”

“N-no.”

He chuckled. “You’re going to fly right into a trap, little dove.”

I felt his breath on my lips as he said those last two words, giving them a meaning they hadn’t had before, and the pounding of my heart stuttered to a stop. He was going to kiss me, and I was going to melt into a puddle, and the little voice was screaming in the silence that I needed to stop this before I completely lost control.

For the first time that day, I listened.

“Stop it!” I exclaimed, slapping his hand away and shoving him back.

He didn’t look surprised. His eyes narrowed slightly, and that, with his mocking smirk, gave the distinct impression of satisfaction.

“Get back to work and try to stay out of trouble,” he said condescendingly, pushing me out of the way and opening the door. I stared in disbelief at his billowing cloak as he walked away. Me, stay out of trouble? I didn’t have any trouble until he and Prince Nokto arrived.

Until Prince Clavis sent Prince Nokto here.

I shook my head in an attempt to clear the jumbled mess of my thoughts. Sweeping. I needed to finish sweeping, and then I needed to mop, and I needed to keep my guard up at all times. My respite from the princes was apparently over. Prince Nokto’s game, Prince Chevalier’s teasing - both were teaching me the same lesson. Jack was only one type of predator. I couldn’t afford to be careless.

Prince Nokto said Prince Chevalier wouldn’t always be around to save me, but what if Prince Chevalier was the most dangerous predator of them all?