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 cocked 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 that '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 in 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?"