A Dove's Tale

Chapter 121

Chevalier and I walked in silence through the dark, empty halls until we reached his room. My guards followed, the clanking of their armor drowned out by frequent rolls of thunder and surges of torrential rain pounding the windows. I hoped Clavis wasn't still out in that mess. If he left with Chevalier when they got Nokto's message, he should have been in the palace, probably at his bedroom door, deactivating traps. But when we rounded the last corner to the hall of the royal family's bedrooms, he wasn't there. I bit my lip nervously. Maybe he was still at the stables, tending to the horses? He couldn't have had enough time to get into his room and reset all the traps. Even if he somehow deactivated everything in record time, there wasn't any light peeking through the crack under his door. Was he exhausted enough to drop his paranoia and just go to sleep? Or did Chevalier leave him behind?

I was tired of rescuing people from the rain. But thinking about Clavis took my mind off of the guards following us and the unknowns swirling around me.

"Chevalier," I started when he led me into his room. "Did-"

He shut the door and enfolded me in a crushing embrace. The words died in my throat, and I hugged him back, relieved to feel the security of his arms around me, even if he was getting me wet. Icy droplets of rainwater trickled down my neck from his pale blonde hair, raising goosebumps in their path. Only his breath was warm. The rest of him was cold. His face nuzzling into my neck, his lips pressing against my skin, his body flush with mine. So cold.

"I'm really okay, Chevalier," I reassured him, reaching up to brush back the hair plastered to his face. "You're cold. Why don't we talk after you get warmed up? I can draw you a hot bath while you get undressed."

He silenced me with a kiss on the lips this time, short and chaste but full of passion. The cool, damp black leather of his glove cupped my cheek, and his crystal blue eyes met mine in an intense gaze.

"Tell me what happened."

"I will, after you get out of these wet clothes. Please. I don't want you getting sick."

He sighed, his thumb brushing across my cheek. "Ivetta. I need to address this situation as soon as possible."

My heart sank. I knew it. He had to be chilled to the bone from the rain, but he was also burning with rage because someone threatened my life. He probably had a plan of action already, and maybe it was the best, most logical thing for him to leave me and execute it immediately. I didn't care. If he left, if I was alone, I'd have nothing to keep me from thinking about what little I knew, conjuring frightening thoughts to fill in the many blanks I didn't, spiraling into darkness and terror and worry for him and everybody else who wasn't sleeping tonight because of this.

I didn't want to be alone.

"No," I said, shaking my head. "Nokto said he already has everybody working on it, and it's under control. He only sent you a message because he knew you'd want to be here, not because he needed you to handle this. And you just rode all night through that storm-"

"I will be fine, Ivetta," he interrupted me. "Your safety is my priority, and until I know-"

"I don't need you to keep me safe," I burst out in frustration. "I just need - you."

His eyes widened in surprise. My heart was pounding out of my chest.

"Nokto told me you were coming because he saw how scared I was. He was trying to help me, to calm me down - but you already knew that, or you would have gotten angry when you found us together. If - if you're just going to leave me alone, then I may as well go back to his room, because - because I can't be alone right now."

I took a deep, shaky breath. He just stared at me. This was hard for me to admit, but I had to make him understand. And if words weren't enough to make him stay, I was desperate enough to try something I knew he couldn't resist.