A Dove's Tale

Chapter 41

Two thirty came, and with it, Prince Chevalier. I thought my face was back to its normal, unflushed color, but I ducked my head anyway when I left for the kitchens and his tea. Hopefully, he would assume any blush he saw was from the memory of him feeding me that piece of cake yesterday.

Oh, no. I’d forgotten about that.

I sighed as I poured his cup of tea. These frustrating princes. Why did they all have to be so handsome and so flirty?

“What’s that all about?”

I looked up into Theresa’s sparkling green eyes. She c****d her head to the side, the unruly red curls that escaped from her messy ponytail falling toward her shoulder.

“Do you have a leak, or are you just upset about something?” she asked, smiling knowingly. Although she had no way of knowing.

But she had to deal with these handsome, flirty princes, too. Maybe she did know.

“I’m not sure ‘upset’ is the right word,” I said carefully.

“The princes, right?” she guessed.

She did understand.

“They can be such a pain,” she continued. “Prince Leon has been so busy lately that he hasn’t let me into his office, and it’s always a mess, even when I get to clean up there regularly. I’d go mad if I let myself think about what it must look like right now. There’s a very good chance I’ll faint when I finally see it.”

I laughed. “Well, I still owe you for your help with those boxes, so maybe I can help you.”

She giggled. “What, you can’t get enough of the princes or something?”

And cue the blush.

“I would love to see much less of them, actually,” I said, heading for the door with Prince Chevalier’s teacup. “When I first started working here, I thought I might see them in passing, but they’re everywhere, and they’re super…friendly.”

She laughed and held the door open for me. “‘Friendly.’ Yeah, that’s one word for it. They’re always flirting, but I will say this for them. They’re also always working, which is why you see them everywhere. A lot of the upper class doesn’t work at all. If you ever get the chance to talk to the servants that visiting royalty and nobility bring along, you’ll see what I mean. They do nothing except shout orders or complain.”

“Hm. That doesn’t sound so bad right now.”

“Anything specific on your mind?” she prompted.

“Not one thing in particular, no. More like a lot of things.”

She grinned impishly. “Like the party the princes threw for you yesterday?”

“You heard about that, huh?” I asked sheepishly.

She laughed. “It was all over the palace. The head maid was practically green with envy. Did Prince Yves really bake you a cake?”

“Yes,” I said reluctantly.

“I just don’t get it,” Theresa mused. “Don’t get me wrong. You’re drop-dead gorgeous. I’d give anything to have fine, silky hair like yours instead of this mop,” she said, pointing at her own beautiful hair. “But why are they so obsessed with you?”

“I love your hair!” I protested. “It always looks like you don’t have to put any thought or effort into it, but it turns out perfect, anyway.”

“I don’t put any thought or effort into it,” she replied, laughing. “But yours looks like you don’t even have to brush it for it to behave.”

“Half the time, I don’t,” I admitted.

“Lucky. If I don’t brush my hair, it turns into one giant knot that takes a rake to get through it. Shouldn’t you be going to the library now?”

We’d passed my usual turn-off, and I was still walking with her, heading toward the faction offices. I hadn’t intentionally missed the turn, but now that I thought about it, this might be an opportunity to get away from Prince Chevalier and any potential teasing for a little while.

“Well, are you going to Prince Leon’s office?” I asked.

“Yes, but doesn’t Prince Chevalier want his tea?”

“It’ll only take a few minutes to check, and if it’s a real mess, maybe Prince Chevalier will let me help you out.”

She shrugged. “If you’re such a glutton for punishment, who am I to turn you down?”

When we reached Prince Leon’s office, she knocked on the door, but there was no answer. She fished a key out of her pocket and unlocked the door.

I’m surprised she didn’t faint.

Prince Nokto’s room was nothing compared to this mess. Piles of books were everywhere - the desk, the windowsills, the coffee table, even the floor. Maps were open and stretched across the floor here or there, abandoned where they lay. A couple of fencing rapiers leaned up against a chair, and scattered about were several empty wine bottles.

“Oh, my…” she gasped. “This is worse than usual.”

“I’d better get this tea to Prince Chevalier. The sooner I do that, the sooner I can get back to help you.”

She nodded mutely, staring aghast at the room. I hurried back to the library to deliver the tea.

“Prince Chevalier, do you have anything else you need me to do right now?” I asked.

He looked up at me, his cool eyes considering. “Does this have something to do with what the Clown asked of you?” he asked, a smirk forming on his lips.

There really was no hiding anything from him. I swallowed hard and focused on controlling my expression as much as I could, but I knew my blush had already given me away.

“I owe a favor to another maid, and I finally have a chance to repay her, your highness,” I said carefully, keeping my voice even.

He chuckled. “You’re trying to avoid discussing it with me.”

I sighed irritably. “I’m trying to avoid you, and all the princes, at least for a little while longer, your highness. Prince Nokto was a handful. And if you knew he was here, why didn’t you come? You know what he’s like. No, nevermind,” I said quickly as Prince Chevalier’s lips pursed into a frown. “We can talk about it when I get back, if you’ll please let me go?”

“Where will you be?” he asked coolly.

Thank goodness. I didn’t want to have this conversation right now.

“Prince Leon’s office, your highness.”

“And you expect to avoid princes there?” he asked, amused.

“It’s currently empty, your highness,” I said.

And the only member of Prince Leon’s faction who really flustered me was Prince Jin, so if a prince walked in the door, I had at least a three out of four chance of not being verbally molested with a sickly sweet pickup line. Maybe even higher, since Prince Leon was the most likely prince to walk into his own office.

“Don’t take more than an hour,” Prince Chevalier instructed.

“Yes, your highness,” I replied, more than a little relieved.

An hour. An hour to put off a conversation I didn’t want to have, because what was I supposed to tell him? I certainly wasn’t telling him Prince Nokto said he wanted to mess me up. Maybe I could just say Prince Nokto had flirted heavily and asked me for a favor. That didn’t sound too bad. Except Prince Chevalier would want to know why Prince Nokto was asking me for a favor…

I was so determined to remain positive today. Well, I was positive that these princes were going to drive me crazy.

Theresa was already hard at work when I returned, and I jumped right in. Two large windows opposite the door and a crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling provided plenty of lighting for us. Once we removed all the assorted clutter from a series of bookshelves along one wall, there was room for all the scattered books to fit. A corner between the bookshelves and one window held the few still rolled up maps, so we added the others to that area. The rapiers belonged on a decorative shield on the wall, and with the tidying done, it was time to clean. The rich dark oak desk, coffee table, and shelves needed dusting, the plush maroon carpet needed sweeping, and the windows needed washing. I kept a close eye on the clock while we chatted and worked.

“So, Prince Leon trusts you with a key?” I asked.

“Well, only after I’d worked for him for a year,” Theresa replied. “You can’t trust anybody here. Everybody’s scheming and backstabbing, and then there are all the spies to worry about.”

“Spies?”

“Oh, yeah. From other countries, from secret groups, from jealous husbands - I’m sure Rhodolite has plenty of its own spies in our neighboring countries, too. The princes are always ferreting the worst ones out, but then, the princes have their own spies watching each other. For all I know, you could be a spy for Prince Chevalier,” she said, smirking at me mischievously.

I laughed. “He doesn’t even trust me with the key to his office.”

“Yet. From what I hear, he trusts you with just about everything else.”

“If by ‘everything else,’ you mean his laundry, then you would be correct,” I replied jokingly.

“But he also talks to you, doesn’t he? And he took you to the festival. And didn’t you go to the gardens and just read one afternoon? I mean, it’s palace gossip, so I’m sure some of it's exaggerated, but it sounds like he keeps you pretty close.” She nudged my shoulder. “I have to wonder, how close, exactly?”

“Theresa!” I protested, blushing yet again.

“What? Don’t tell me you haven’t thought about it? He’s really handsome. Once you get past the whole fear of him killing you just from looking at him wrong, anyway.”

“I’m here to work, Theresa, and that’s all. And a prince? Are you serious?”

She opened the door and set the full wastebasket out in the hallway. “Yeah, a prince. What’s the big deal? Get together, have a little fun, and that’s that. Unless you get lucky and end up being a cherished rose, of course. Then you’re set for life.”

“No, you’re not,” I scoffed. “You’re set until your looks fade, and you get dumped for another pretty face. And I really hate that phrase, ‘cherished rose.’ It makes it sound all pretty and flowery, when all you are is a secret mistress.”

“Well, I guess,” Theresa said glumly.

“Oh - sorry,” I said quickly, suddenly realizing I may have insulted her. “Have you…?”

She laughed. “No. No, I haven’t. Prince Leon is too much of a gentleman for that, and so is Prince Yves. Prince Licht wants nothing to do with anybody, and Prince Jin - well, he flirts a lot, but he’s not interested in anything long-term, so he really only hooks up with women he’ll never see again. I don’t see much of Prince Chevalier’s faction, and that’s where all the action is, isn’t it?”

“If you’re talking about Prince Nokto, then yes, that is definitely where the action is.”

“Well, and Prince Clavis and Prince Luke, but they’re not nearly as intense as Prince Nokto, are they? He’s got those eyes that just melt you to butter, and that voice - it’s so smooth.” She shivered, her eyes taking on a dreamy look. “I’d heard about him, but I didn’t believe it until I ran into him working on one of the other maids. Wow. That was…hoo.” She leaned against the wall, fanning herself.

I smiled wryly at her. “He can be really hard to resist.”

“Wait. He’s done that to you? And you held him off?” she asked incredulously. “I was ready to strip and throw myself at him, and he wasn’t even looking at me. How did you do it? No, better yet, why did you do it?”

I giggled. “I told you I’m not interested in that kind of thing. Anyway, it’s been almost an hour, and I really should-”

“Hold on. Can you just tell me what happened? So I can live vicariously through you?” she pleaded.

I cast a furtive glance at the open door. “Well…”

“Nobody’s coming at this time of the day. Come on,” she urged.

“I don’t…well, we’ve run into each other a few times…”

She squealed. “A few times? You have to tell me.”

“But I…I really…this is so uncomfortable…”

“Okay, how about you tell me about the most recent time, and then I’ll ask for more once I’ve sufficiently recovered?” she asked, smirking.

“But what if I haven’t sufficiently recovered? The most recent time was just a few hours ago…”

She squealed again. “Ivetta! Tell me already!”

“Well, I can’t tell you all of it, because there was some other stuff, and I don’t know what I can and can’t say…”

“Ivetta!”

“He said he wanted to take me back to his room and mess me up,” I finally blurted out.

She stuffed one fist into her mouth to stifle her squeal and grabbed my arm with her other hand.

“And then he said something to the effect that he could make me forget everything except him in a matter of minutes,” I continued reluctantly. “Theresa-”

“Don’t you dare stop if there’s more,” she said firmly.

I sighed, frustrated. “And he said he was free all afternoon, but if I went with him, I wouldn’t be in any state to bring Prince Chevalier his tea at two thirty. That’s it. Please don’t ask me to repeat any of it, because I feel dirty enough as it is.”

“How did you resist that?” she asked frantically. “Wait. Did he touch you at all? What about the head tilt? Did he do that? Ivetta, I need details!”

“And I need to go,” I said firmly, bolting out the door and running straight into a very solid chest. Strong hands caught my shoulders when I stumbled backwards, and I looked up into dark crimson eyes, so like Prince Nokto’s and so very different.

I wanted to vomit. Instead, I hid my face in my hands.

“Please tell me you didn’t hear any of that, Prince Licht?” I mumbled.

Strange sounds were escaping from Theresa behind me. They sounded suspiciously like barely contained laughter. Maybe I would turn and vomit on her. That would teach her.

“I heard,” he said flatly.

Forget vomiting. I wanted to die.

“Hey, what’s going on here?”

Of course. Prince Jin was here, too. Could I just disappear?

“Licht, if you want to hug her, you need to pull her in closer,” Prince Jin teased. “Hey, Theresa, let’s show him.”

Prince Licht set me off to the side, since I was mortified and incapable of movement. He dropped his voice lower and muttered, “He didn’t hear,” and then his hands left my shoulders.

“If I’d known you were coming, I would have brought my fly swatter, Prince Jin,” Theresa said sarcastically.

He laughed. “Come on, Theresa, tell me the truth. You’ve missed me.”

“Like a paper cut,” she said, grabbing my arm and pulling me along. “Come on, Ivetta. You don’t want to be late for Prince Chevalier,” she added in a sing-song voice.

I uncovered my face as she dragged me into the hallway, ready to face the other six princes who had to be waiting there, because that would complete my embarrassment. The hallway was empty. My knees felt weak with a sudden rush of relief.

“Don’t faint now,” she said, slapping my cheek lightly.

“What did you do to her?” Prince Jin called after us. “And can you do it to me next?”

Theresa rolled her eyes so hard I thought they would roll right out of her head, but a light dusting of pink colored her cheeks, and I saw my opportunity.

“What was that all about?” I asked, smirking.

“Oh, you know how he is,” she said dismissively, refusing to look at me.

“Uh huh. You’re blushing, Theresa.”

“I am not!” she said emphatically. “And I am definitely tracking you down later and making you tell me about every single encounter you’ve had with Prince Nokto.”

“Hm. Too bad. I quit,” I said, fighting a smile.

“Yeah, right,” she said, shoving me toward the library door. “Now go tell Prince Chevalier what you told me,” she added, smiling devilishly.

I rolled my eyes at her. “Lunch tomorrow?”

She flashed me a bright smile. “Absolutely.”