A Dove's Tale

Chapter 35

I finally finished Midnight Cinderella on my lunch break. It had a happy ending, of course. The protagonist, a commoner who became a princess overnight thanks to a variety of strange circumstances falling into place, chose her prince consort from the various stunningly handsome young men she met in the palace. The new couple was in love and on track to become the next king and queen. That was where the story ended, just like so many stories of that kind. It left the reader to imagine the perfect, joyful, passionate life the young couple would share forevermore in a world where age and tragedy never struck.

At least, that's what I imagined.

I closed the book and sighed, leaning back against the bookcase behind me and snuggling deeper into the decorative throw blanket I borrowed from a sofa. The gardens outside the alcove window seat were devoid of people, but the storm was losing its force. There wasn't any wind now, and the steady rain fell straight down, gentle and apologetic to the battered roses. Puddles of water collected fallen leaves and flowers, reds, pinks, greens, and whites swirling with gray. Mother would have liked to see this, I thought. She must have her new blanket by now, and I pictured her cuddled up underneath it, smiling as she listened to the rain. Maybe she was reading by candlelight, her slender fingers turning the worn pages of her Bible, her eyes tracing my father's elegant script in his journal. She had to have both books memorized by now - at least the journal, with how often she read it.

I wondered for the thousandth time what my father was like. Mother never talked about him. I didn't even know his name or my last name. He was an enigma, known to me only by the foreign script Mother wouldn't translate and the rare glimpse of unguarded emotions in her eyes. Did their story start like Midnight Cinderella, full of hope and the promise of a bright future where they would always be together and nothing would ever come between them?

Theirs wasn't a fairy tale ending, anyway.

But it was almost one o'clock, and I needed to stop daydreaming and start working. I'd finished the polishing, and Prince Luke's room was next. Hopefully, it wouldn't be as disastrous as Prince Nokto's room. I didn't know if Prince Chevalier was even coming to the library today, but he would probably worry if he did and I wasn't there.

"You look real comfortable."

Prince Luke's voice didn't surprise me, and I looked up at him, standing over me with his friendly grin. The little bear charm dangling from the sword belt strapped across his chest danced slowly, telling me he'd only just arrived. The charm seemed odd when I first met him, but now I thought it suited him. He was like a big teddy bear.

Maybe he was like an actual bear in battle, I thought, noting the massive sword hilt angled over his right shoulder.

"I am, thank you, your highness, but it's time for me to get back to work," I replied, pushing the blanket back and swinging my legs around to the floor to stand up. "I finished what I needed to do, so I can clean your room next, if you'll tell me where it is," I continued, folding the blanket and not looking at him.

"Nah, it'll be easier if I just show ya," he said, following me to the sofa where the blanket belonged.

Maybe he was just being thoughtful. I didn't have a reason to get nervous yet, I reminded myself, draping the blanket across the back of the sofa. This would be fine. He was twice my size, yes, but he was also very sweet, and unless he was an entirely different person in his bedroom, I had nothing to worry about.

"That probably would be easier, Prince Luke, thank you," I said politely. "I'll just need to stop at a storage closet to get some cleaning supplies. Does your bedding need to be changed?"

He shrugged, and the bear charm went into a little dance again.

"I dunno."

"Then I'd better bring a change of sheets along, too, just in case, your highness. Have you found Prince Chevalier yet?"