DUALITY /#Wattys 2021

Part Three: "Evil" Queen

Chapter 44

Chi arrived promptly at seven and ordered them Italian—spaghetti with meatballs and a side of roasted vegetables, and the most heavenly garlic bread Ridley had ever eaten in her life. On voice command, the coffee table in the middle of his sitting room rose and expanded into a dinner table the perfect height for the two soft chairs, which moved automatically into place across the table from each other. Chi put more logs on and restarted the fire. Under other circumstances, this would have been Ridley's dream.

The table setting was for one person, but the portions were generous enough for two people. Chi used the dinner plate and fork and gave Ridley the dessert plate. They shared the knife. Chi took the opportunity to tell her about a state visit to Italy, the things he'd seen and the food they'd had. Rory had hired away one of the chefs from the Italian presidential mansion immediately, so they were enjoying the real thing.

Ridley's spirits sunk into a black mud that pulled at her soul. Clearly Chi—the King, rather—had changed his mind about her, or she had misread his letter entirely, and now he was trying to pretend the entire thing had never happened. She listened to his stories with half her mind, wondering how, how  he could have turned around the way he did. After she had said with her heart, I love you, and he'd given her that lovely intimate greeting with his eyes, meant for her alone.

He must have thought better of it, she thought. It's bad enough what he has to do now. The Queen would never forgive him for kidnapping her only granddaughter, no matter how things eventually ended up between them or why he did it. He had to think that would be hard enough to deal with, let alone falling for someone else he'd never see again. Maybe he had shut down to protect himself. That had to be it, because there was no mistaking the moment they'd shared when he'd left the cabin in Mannaz.

Now and then she caught a look in Chi's eyes, intent and a little sad. But if she met his eyes too long, his gaze flickered to his plate, he'd start another fantastic travel story, and he'd be away again. That genuine focus on her disappeared, and a breezy impartial distance settled back over the table.

Ridley accepted it. She understood. But, oh, how hard it was! What was I thinking the past two days? What a moron I am.

Chi's gaze rose above her head, where a lovely old-fashioned clock rested on the stone mantelpiece. "Well, it's time for me to go. I have an early day tomorrow."

"Okay," said Ridley. She heard the sadness in her voice; she had no way of changing that, try though she might.

Dinner had arrived with a sturdy plastic box for the dishes and table linens. She helped Chi stack everything inside, carefully avoiding bumping hands with him the way she had over dishes at the cabin.

"I'm just going to take these out with me," Chi said, his attention directed somewhere over her head. "Kitchen will send a bot up for them after a while."

"Okay. I didn't know that."

Chi walked away, carrying the box of dirty dishes. He turned at the door. "That's a very comfortable mattress. It's also adjustable—that's what the buttons on the bedside tables are for."

"Oh—thanks." Ridley didn't know what else to say. She had anticipated spending two nights in Chi's bed without him—just not quite like this.

Chi stood at the door another uncomfortable moment, then he said, "Door." The door opened for him, and he disappeared.

Ridley stood in the middle of the room in the dying firelight. She was able to contain her tears this time—but that didn't make her any less sad.

She didn't know how to get the dinner table to go back to coffee table size again. She wandered over to it. "Dinner table?" she said. Chi's refurbished half-deer, half-man statue stared at her.

"Table," said Ridley. Nothing happened. Maybe it was keyed to Chi's voice, like the comm with the kitchen.

She walked to the glass doors, wondering if she dared to pull the curtain aside and peer out. Would anyone notice? Probably not. As long as she wasn't standing in full view, they might think it was the King. She reached for the draperies.

A knock sounded on the door.