A Dove's Tale

Chapter 46

Three o’clock was usually when the exhaustion hit after a sleepless night, and today was no exception, even with my anxiety about what was going on between Prince Chevalier and Prince Clavis in the back room. My eyes were tired, and it took more effort than it should for me to keep dusting as if nothing was wrong. In the back room, or with me. Maybe tonight would be better. Maybe I wouldn’t see Jack’s bloodshot brown eyes every time I closed mine.

I’d been having nightmares for as long as I could remember. They were usually minor inconveniences, a few minutes of terror in the night to disrupt my otherwise peaceful sleep. I didn’t wake up, and I didn’t notice any fatigue the next day, maybe because it was every night, affecting every day, and I just accepted it. But certain incidents triggered an increase in the frequency and intensity of the nightmares, preventing me from getting any sleep for days on end, and then there were nights when the nightmares came for no apparent reason at all. Like last night. And, when they were at their worst, I sometimes acted them out. So, I’d spent the night sitting on the grassy hillside, not wanting to disturb Mother, staring up at the stars and wishing I could sleep.

“Hey, Ivetta.”

I looked over my shoulder to see Prince Luke sauntering into the library, his boyish grin out in full force. It was impossible not to return that smile.

“Hello, Prince Luke. Done with your lessons for the day?”

“I didn’t have any,” he said, flopping down on a sofa and stretching across the length of it. “Sariel’s worked up ‘bout something, so I didn’t even have to hide from him today.”

He looked so comfortable. I turned back to my dusting rather than allow myself to gaze longingly at the sofa.

“So, what did you do today, your highness?”

“Nothin’.”

I shook my head. “I don’t know how you can just do nothing, your highness. That would drive me crazy.”

“I dunno how ya work all the time,” he replied. “Just watching ya makes me tired.”

He really seemed like a big kid, especially when I wasn’t looking at him. I knew his feet were dangling over the edge of the sofa, and his muscular frame covered more of it than Prince Nokto’s lean body had yesterday. Prince Luke didn’t act like it, but he had to be older than me.

“How old are you, Prince Luke?”

“Me?” he asked, surprised.

“Is there another Prince Luke in the room?” I asked teasingly, glancing back at him. “I was just thinking you seem so young compared to the other princes.”

“Yeah, I guess so. I’m twenty.”

I giggled as a thought struck me.

“What?” he asked curiously.

“You’re twenty years old, and you grew up as a commoner, but you don’t work, your highness?” I asked, looking over at him as I moved on to another shelf.

He shrugged sheepishly. “Well…”

The library door flew open, and Sariel stormed in, his narrow lavender eyes flashing behind his thin glasses, his frightening smile more terrifying than I’d ever seen it. I stopped in my tracks. Prince Luke craned his neck to look back at the door.

“Uh oh,” he muttered under his breath.

“Where is that hellcat?” Sariel asked, his voice smooth and venomous.

“Hellcat?” I asked, looking at Prince Luke for clarification.

“Clavis,” Prince Luke explained.

“Oh, he’s in Prince Chevalier’s private library right now,” I said. “But I wouldn’t go in there,” I added quickly as Sariel headed in that direction. “He and Prince Chevalier are…talking.”

Sariel stopped and fixed his dangerous eyes on me. “Talking,” he repeated.

I nodded. “More or less.”

“It’s awful quiet in there. Ya sure Chevie didn’t kill Clavis?” Prince Luke asked.

“I asked them not to draw their swords,” I said hesitantly.

“And they listened?” Prince Luke asked incredulously.

“Hm.” Sariel’s gaze became less harsh and more thoughtful as he studied me. “Well, in that case, I think I’ll take the opportunity to see what he’s hiding in his room,” he said, turning back to the door.

“Why?” I asked before I could stop myself.

“I don’t have to explain myself to you,” he replied coolly.

“But - there’s nothing to worry about in there,” I said hurriedly.

He stopped again and turned back to face me, his lavender eyes wide with surprise. Prince Luke was staring at me, too, and I suddenly wished I hadn’t spoken.

“You’ve been in his room?” Sariel asked, his eyes narrowing again and his voice dropping dangerously low.

I nodded, glancing over at Prince Luke and wondering if I could trust him to help me if Sariel got too aggressive. “This…this morning.”

“And?” Sariel asked, walking toward me.

I swallowed hard and took a step back. “And…there’s nothing to worry about in there,” I repeated.

“Perhaps you’d better come to my office for a little talk.”

“Hey, Sariel, knock it off. You’re scaring her,” Prince Luke said firmly, sitting up on the couch in my peripheral vision.

“I can’t tell you anything else,” I said, taking another step back.

“Not questioning my new accomplice, are you?” Prince Clavis asked brightly, throwing his arm around my shoulders. I looked up at him in surprise. His glittering golden eyes were on Sariel, and his wide smile hid whatever he was thinking.

When did he come out of the back room?

“Accomplice?” I asked.

“I’ve sworn her to secrecy,” Prince Clavis continued, ignoring my question. “If she talks, I have to kill her, and then Chev will be grumpy about losing his favorite toy. It could all get rather messy, don’t you think?”

Anger surged in my chest. This wasn’t a joke, and I didn’t want any part of it.

Prince Luke rose from the sofa with an exasperated groan. “Clavis-”

“I don’t want to get involved in whatever’s going on between you and Prince Chevalier,” I said angrily, shoving Prince Clavis away, “and I don’t want to get involved in whatever this is with Sariel, either, so leave me out of it.”

“It’s a little late for that, since you broke into my room this morning,” Prince Clavis replied, unperturbed.

I stared up at him in disbelief. “Broke into - I knocked on your door. Your trap went off. And you were the one who pulled me inside!”

He laughed, his eyes flicking to Sariel momentarily before returning to me. “You remember it your way, and I’ll remember it my way. The result is the same. You are now my accomplice, complicit in whatever crime Sariel thinks I’ve perpetrated.”

I didn’t even think about it. I just slapped him. The sound echoed through the suddenly still library, and though I could only see his golden eyes, wide with shock, I felt Prince Luke and Sariel staring at me, too.

“Whatever lies he may say, I made a promise, and I won’t tell you what I saw in his room,” I said bitingly, tearing my glare from Prince Clavis and the bright red mark on his cheek to meet Sariel’s stunned expression. “If you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.”

Nobody said a word as I pushed past Prince Clavis and headed toward the far corner of the library, behind some freestanding bookshelves that blocked me from view. I glimpsed Prince Chevalier leaning in his open doorway as I walked past him, his arms crossed over his chest, and I could guess he was wearing an amused smirk. I didn’t see the humor in this situation. It had been a mistake to go to Prince Clavis’ room, and I blamed Prince Chevalier for that, at least partially. Maybe Prince Clavis was right, and I was just a plaything and a toy for Prince Chevalier.

The blood rushing to my head muted their voices across the library. I’d already dusted this section earlier today. That annoyed me, too. I came to the palace to work, and these princes were making that impossible. But I wouldn’t have to put up with them much longer. As soon as Mother-

My stomach twisted, and I cut that thought off before it could go any further. I glanced around for a clock, needing it to be time for me to go home, but my eyes landed on Prince Chevalier instead. He had just rounded the corner to enter the little nook where I was hiding. I turned away, returning to the useless dusting of an already clean shelf.

“They’re gone,” he said simply, his voice as cold as ever.

“Good, because I’ve already done this area,” I replied, just as coolly. I turned back to him, avoiding his piercing blue eyes.

“Come.”

He spun on his heel and strode away, expecting me to follow. I didn’t want to. The last thing I wanted was to go back into his private library and resume our discussion like nothing ever happened. It had all the promise of a nice, interesting conversation until Prince Clavis interrupted. Maybe Prince Chevalier could just pick up where we left off, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t refuse an order, either, so I followed reluctantly, and I shut the door behind me with just as much reluctance. Prince Chevalier wasn’t sitting in his chair. I didn’t look up at him.

“Prince Chevalier, I really don’t feel like talking right now.”

“I didn’t know that would happen.”

My eyes snapped up to his. “How could you not know?” I asked accusingly. “You know everything.”

“I make guesses and draw conclusions based on the information available to me. I know my brothers well and can easily predict their behavior. You are still an unknown quantity.”

“Then you should leave me out of the equation,” I said, even more irritated by the intensity in his eyes. “I’m just a maid, and I’m just here to work. I shouldn’t factor into anything at all. It would be a lot easier if everybody would just remember that and stop pretending I matter.”

I turned to go, but his hand landed on the door in front of me, and his other hand grabbed my shoulder and spun me back around to face him. His blue eyes flashed inches from my face.

“I told you not to touch me,” I warned him, my heart suddenly pounding in my ears.

“And I told you there would be consequences the next time you talked about yourself like that,” he replied, his voice low and dangerous. He dropped his hand from the wood beside my head and out of my peripheral vision, and I heard the lock click.

“Prince Chevalier-”

His hand landed on my mouth, cutting off my protest.

“Stop,” he said firmly. The hand on my shoulder slid lightly and deliberately down my arm. “Just - stop,” he repeated, his voice softening.

The ice had melted from his pale blue eyes. They were smoldering, stopping my heart in my chest and my breath in my lungs. A trail of sparks burned along my skin in the wake of his fingers, and then they left my arm and touched my waist, gliding across my back until his arm had me pressed flush against him and his hand came to rest on the other side of my waist. I suddenly realized the hand over my mouth was to keep him from kissing me, not to keep me from talking. A shiver ran down my spine as I stared up at him. His eyes narrowed in frustration.

“What am I doing?” he muttered.

My heart was beating again, pounding frantically. He sighed and leaned in, nuzzling into my neck, his hand leaving my mouth and pressing my head into his chest. His heart was pounding as hard as mine.

“You were right not to let me touch you,” he breathed.

I clenched my trembling fists into my skirt to keep from clutching at him, closing my eyes so I couldn’t see the fabric of his shirt, but in the darkness, there was only him, the light scent of roses wrapping around me, the hardness of his chest against my cheek, the strength of his arms holding me close, the heat of his breath moving from my neck to my ear.

“You’re in danger, little dove,” he murmured, his lips brushing against my ear. “I need you to stay close to me and do exactly as I say, without question. Is that clear?”

I swallowed hard, my tongue thick in my mouth. “Yes,” I whispered.

“My brothers are safe. Do not trust anybody else in the palace.”

“Not even Theresa?” I asked breathlessly, trying to follow his words in the fog he had cast on my mind.

“No. Not until I tell you otherwise. For now, you will maintain your usual routine with no deviations from the norm. Here and at home.”

He sighed again, sending another burst of warm air across my skin and another shiver down my spine. His arms tightened around me.

“When I let you go, you will go back to work, and this never happened. It will not happen again.”

I nodded. Suddenly, he was gone - his warmth, his embrace, his smell. I turned quickly to the door, opening my eyes and keeping them on the lock my trembling fingers struggled to turn, and then I was in the main library, closing the door behind me and gulping in the cool air that didn’t smell and feel and sound of him. My face was burning; my heart was racing. I found my abandoned dust rag and got back to work, grateful for the menial task that required no thought, because my brain was mush.