A Dove's Tale

Chapter 91

There were downsides to my new life as a princess, and the biggest was that I didn't get to see as much of Chevalier as I did when I was his maid. Now that the doctor had released me from bedrest, Sariel's lessons didn't stop at two thirty. The book work continued, but now I had to practice my posture, my walk, my curtsy, how to hold my silverware - there was a rule for everything. Never blow on your food if it's hot; wait until it's cool. Cut one dainty bite, eat it, and then cut the next. Cutting everything at once was improper. Head up, shoulders back, graceful steps.

It was grueling.

From sunrise to sunset, I was in Sariel's office, or putting what I'd learned to the test with practical applications: a tea party in the gardens with Yves and Licht one day, lunch with Leon's faction the next, a mock social gathering with Clavis and Nokto one afternoon. I learned a lot just by watching the princes. They'd grown up with the rules and expectations of the upper class, and they met them all without thinking about it. Yves, daintily cutting a bite from his cookie, never using his fingers. Licht, using the correct spoon to add sugar to his tea and holding it at the exactly perfect angle. Even Jin and Leon had impeccable table manners, and their corrections were much less sharp than Sariel's.

Clavis and Nokto's lesson gave me the most anxiety, but that anxiety vanished as soon as Clavis escorted me into a parlor full of assorted junk dressed in fancy hats and ball gowns.

"Lesson one: it's rude to laugh at the other guests, even if they look ridiculous," Clavis said, smiling down at me as I tried, and failed, to stifle a giggle.

"But that's a broom with a hair bow."

"Ah, Lady Nora, you're as stunning as always," Clavis said to the broom, a bright pink hair bow adorning its bristles. "I love what you've done with your hair."

"Clavis, is this really going to help me at the coronation ceremony?"

"Lesson two: greet everybody with a smile and a compliment," he said, ignoring my protests as usual. I sighed and gave the broom my best smile.

"Thank you for inviting us, Lady Nora," I said, dropping into a curtsy. "That color suits you." I burst out laughing again and covered my mouth with my hand. "Clavis, I really can't do this."

"Lesson three: don't ask for a drink in the middle of a conversation, no matter how dull it is," he continued. "Servants will come around with a drink tray. Ah, there's one now."

"This is ridiculous," Nokto muttered, bearing a silver tray with several glasses of wine. "We should have done it my way."

"Thank you," Clavis said brightly, taking a glass and handing it to me. "Lesson four: your escort does everything for you. If you want a drink, or something to eat, or to throw up because you just saw Nokto pawing a young lady in the corner, tell me, and I'll see to your needs."

"You won't see me pawing a young lady in the corner," Nokto assured me with a sly grin. "I save such activities for a more private venue."

"Lesson five: the hand-off. There's a gentleman over there who I have to speak with about a sensitive business matter. You wouldn't mind waiting here with Nokto, would you?"

"Not at all," I said, slipping my arm from Clavis' and smiling up at Nokto. "Isn't that something a servant should do?" I asked, nodding at the drink tray

"Now you've got her doing it, too," Nokto complained, setting the drink tray on a barrel in a waistcoat.

"I'm terribly sorry, Lord Simmons," Clavis apologized to the barrel. "He's had one too many."

Nokto rolled his eyes and offered me his arm. I took it, and Clavis crossed the room to have an animated conversation with a lamp in a top hat.

"I worry about him sometimes," I said, shaking my head at his antics.