Following Hearts

A Not-So-Sweet Valentine

"AHHHHH!!" A voice bellowed from within the bedroom. "YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!"

Valentine and Dove sat by the door, giggling uncontrollably.

"I think she put it on." Dove let out a laugh and immediately covered her mouth.

"Ya think?" Valentine raised her dark, arched brow and smiled. Dove caught herself laughing yet again.

The two girls heard footsteps coming towards the door and scrambled to normal positions, silencing their giggles. Delphine emerged from her room, scratching her arms uncontrollably. She gritted her too-white teeth and looked around the palace hall wildly. When she caught sight of her sister, she flew into a fit of rage.

"DOVE!!" Dove whipped around from her pose to see a seething Delphine. "What. The. Hell." Delphine continued to itch her blue-sleeved arms. Dove remained calm, an almost-sincere expression of concern on her face.

"My dearest sister, are you alright? You seem a little, I don't know, itchy?" Dove felt a smirk spread across her face.

"You little twat! You know my skin is sensitive!" Her scratching moved from her arms to her torso, which was enveloped in a beautifully crafted sapphire corset. The stark contrast between Delphine's elegant blue dress and her tomato-red skin was enough to make Dove start to chuckle. Delphine opened her mouth to yell again but was interrupted by Valentine's approach.

"Am I interrupting something?" Valentine stood tall and stared into Delphine's eyes while maintaining a composed smile. While the statuesque Delphine towered over Valentine, Valentine's sharp eyes made quick work of intimidating the lady-in-waiting. Delphine seemed to shrink into herself and forgot all about her itching.

"Of course not," Delphine addressed the youngest princess standing before her, although she kept her eyes lowered to the ground. "Your Highness." She added through gritted teeth.

"Excellent, then if you don't mind Delphine, I need to have a word with Dove about tonight's dinner."

Without waiting for a response, Valentine whisked Dove away from her red-faced sister and they walked down the hall linked arm in arm. Although Valentine wished she could turn around to see Delphine's face, she persisted onwards, never once looking back. As soon as they got out of Delphine's line of sight, they burst into laughter.

"Did you see her face?" Valentine shouted. "She was gonna kill you!"

"Yeah, but did you see her when she saw you? Oh my god, she was so mad!"

"You're right, itching powder was the best idea."

"Told you!" Valentine and Dove turned their attention to the sound of footsteps approaching.

Nelson Noble strode down the hall. Tall and pot-bellied, Nelson had been the Lovelle head of staff for as long as Valentine could remember. He was a nervous, fidgety man, whose constant concern for order and tidiness was a source of entertainment to the entire palace. He was especially perturbed by Valentine's continual pranks on the two oldest ladies-in-waiting, Delphine and Joplin. However, he never suspected Dove Drishti, the youngest lady-in-waiting, of any of these tricks, despite her near ceaseless presence around Valentine. Valentine theorized his trust in Dove came from her kind, soft expression, whereas Valentine's sharp, hawk-like features made her out to be a villain.

"Princess Valentine! What is the cause for this commotion?" Nelson lectured. He set his hands upon his hips and jutted out his chest in an attempt to intimidate Valentine.

"Absolutely nothing. We're simply laughing for the sake of laughing." Valentine clasped her hands in front of her innocently.

"Nonsense, you're up to no good. I should send you to King Ramses I should." At this, Valentine rolled her eyes. As if her father would punish her with more than a stern glance and brief lecture.  

"I promise Mr. Noble, we weren't doing anything." Nelson turned his attention to the younger girl and his expression softened. Dove smiled and widened her deep chocolate eyes. She made a point of blinking her luscious eyelashes at the butler. Nelson darted his eyes between Valentine and Dove and sighed.

"Alright. But you," he pointed to Dove, "keep an eye on her." He looked back to Valentine.

With that, he walked back down the hall he came from and Dove and Valentine went back to their giggling fit.

◈ ◈ ◈

"Ok, you can look now." Ferdinand grinned.

Valentine opened her eyes and looked into the mirror to see the dress that Ferdinand picked out for her. The neckline came just low enough to expose her collarbones and the short, off-the-shoulder sleeves draped beautifully on the side of her arms. The top portion of the dress was constructed of fine silk, and perfectly hit her high waist. Intricate beading ran along the hemline, glittering in the light. Her skirt perfectly fell in elegant drapes at her feet, although Valentine knew she would have to wear heels with the dress, as the gown nearly hit the floor while she stood on her step stool. She looked elegant, regal, and refined in the silken gown. There was just one problem.

"Tell me Ferdinand, you've lived with me my entire life, right?"

"Yeah?" He perked up, confused.

"So, theoretically, you should know me pretty well by now, right?"

"Yes?" Ferdinand nodded hesitantly, unsure where Valentine was going with this.

"And as someone who has known me my entire life, please tell me-" she paused and looked her brother dead in the eye, "Why would you think I would EVER wear something pink?!"

She picked up her pale pink skirts and hopped off the stool she stood on to take a closer look in the mirror.

"It's a pretty color!" Ferdinand insisted.

"Yeah, on someone like Rose. Someone whose all sweet and soft and romantic and whatever." Ferdinand rolled his eyes. "I want something edgy and bold! Like...like deep burgandy or black, not the color of unicorn vomit!"

"You're impossible!" Ferdinand rolled his eyes and stepped away from the mirror, turning his back on his sister.

"I'm not wearing it."

"Pleaseeeeee?" He turned back to look at her, grasping his hands together in a pleading gesture.

"Nope."

"Valentine c'mon, it's not that bad."

"Yes, yes it is. And I'm not wearing it."

"Come on, Balthazar's coming tonight and we need to impress him." Valentine crossed her arms. Ferdinand continued to plead with his sister. "Look, Amelia's going to be too busy organizing her coronation and doing all that other Queen stuff to show him around, and knowing Rose, she'll probably be off at the stables when he arrives, so you and I have to be the image of perfection when he gets here."

"I'm pretty sure Amelia asked you to welcome him, not me."

"Well...I'm your older brother and I say you're helping me so tough." Valentine huffed and went back into her bathroom to get out of her dress.

"If I have to get to know him, shouldn't he get to know the real me? Not the me that's forced into wearing silly princess dresses by her brother?"

"First of all, you are a princess, so you kind of just insulted yourself."

"Whatever."

"And second of all, you're great...but I mean your personality and style is just a bit-" Valentine peeked her head out of the changing room and gave her brother a warning look. "Harsh. I mean, black is a great color...for you know, a funeral, but he's expecting a more traditional royal family and he needs to like what he sees here or he'll never agree to marry Rose."

Valentine emerged from the dressing room in black suede pants and a black buttoned blouse with red accents. Ferdinand looked her up and down with an expression that said, You see what I mean?

"Fine. I'll wear it." Valentine caved. Ferdinand smiled. "But, I need your help recruiting Henrietta for a prank on Joplin."

"Done. Henrietta hates her anyhow." Valentine extended her hand and Felix accepted. They shook hands and headed to the dining hall.