A Dove's Tale

Chapter 43

I needed the entire hour of my walk home to unwind. And I was halfway into that walk before I realized I'd forgotten Midnight Cinderella again. I sighed for what felt like the hundredth time and lifted my face up to the brilliant blue sky. It was such a nice day, especially after the two-day long rainstorm. The perfect day for a picnic. But I would settle for an empty bucket when I got home. I dropped my gaze again to the ground, watching the cobblestone give way to packed dirt beneath my feet. If nothing else, it was a relief to not have to worry about the palace anymore. Prince Chevalier would handle that, leaving me free to focus all my attention on Mother.

He really was a genius.

I knew he was smart, and I believed Prince Clavis when he said Prince Chevalier was a genius, but I didn't really know what that meant until I saw it for myself. It was no wonder Prince Clavis felt inferior. That display of intuition and logic was impressive and intimidating, and that was just the tip of the iceberg, a glimpse into the inner workings of Prince Chevalier's mind. He was always observing, always calculating, always deducing and inferring.

That had to be exhausting.

"Hey, Ivetta."

I looked up to see Jason standing in the road outside of his house, his hands stuffed into his pockets as he kicked at the dirt. He was taller than me now, thanks to a recent growth spurt, but he was skinny as a rail, even with his voracious appetite. Mrs. Stotts said that's what her husband was like as a teenager. If Jason developed like his father, he might end up as muscular as Prince Luke.

"Hello, Jason. I never had a chance to thank you for the blanket. It's very pretty."

He shrugged dismissively, but his dark chocolate eyes flicked briefly to mine before dropping back to the ground, and the tips of his ears turned pink. I suppressed a smile. He'd had a crush on me since I started babysitting for him and his siblings when he was eight and I was thirteen. His innocent, childish declarations of love were long gone now, and I wasn't his only crush anymore. I just happened to be the one who lived next door to him.

"I like your haircut," I added, noting his short and tidy brown locks, just waves instead of unruly ringlets.

"You do?" he asked, looking up at me.

"It makes you look older," I replied.

His eyes darted away again as the pink spread to his cheeks, but his shoulders straightened proudly. I managed to hide my smile until I was safely inside my house. The giggling spilled out as soon as I shut the door and met Mother's bright green eyes. She was sitting up at the table, the window open and filling the house with fresh spring air, and the bucket was empty. My heart was suddenly light as a feather.

"What are you giggling about?" she asked.

I shook my head and gave her a hug. "You're feeling better today."

"Well, I think I'm due for a good day, don't you?"

"I sure do." I pulled back and bit my lip, looking from her to the open window. "How would you feel about a picnic dinner? Since I have to bring the laundry in, anyway."

"I think that would be a wonderful idea. And Maria brought dinner over earlier, so you don't even have to cook, unless you feel like heating it up."

"Ooh, what did I do to deserve this?" I giggled, helping her to her feet.

"What didn't you do, Ivetta?"

"Nothing you didn't do. Oh, maybe I should get a blanket laid out for you first," I said thoughtfully, leading her out of our house with a supportive arm around her waist. The grassy hillside behind our house was perfect for a picnic, the slope gentle enough for Mother to traverse easily here at the top of it, the winding river at the bottom of the hill sparkling in the late afternoon sunlight.