A Dove's Tale

Chapter 145

It wasn't bad. It wasn't good, but it wasn't bad.

The starlit sky faded to gray and then to blue while Clavis and I ate and talked, sharing stories from my weeks of strict bedrest at the border. I never thought I'd look back on that time fondly, but Clavis' escapades had often been the highlight of my day. I had as much fun talking about it now as I had experiencing it then. A simple banana peel trap waiting in my doorway for Yves; a full orchestra playing music in the garden below my window; fireworks at night, pranks by day—I'd always wondered if he spent all his time at the palace just planning new ways to keep me entertained.

Before I knew it, we'd cleaned our plates, and I was just thinking I needed to get up and get ready for the day when my door suddenly flew open with such force it hit the wall.

"Spring?" Silvio demanded, his sharp sea-blue eyes narrowed to a point as he stormed into the room. Keith was right behind him, wearing an apologetic smile. I stared at them in shock.

"What are you—"

"Spring?" Silvio repeated, interrupting me before I could finish my question. "The wedding isn't until spring?" He paused and trained his eyes on Clavis. "What are you doing here?"

"Having breakfast," Clavis said, a smirk in his voice. "What does it look like?"

"I'm really sorry, Ivetta," Keith interjected. "I tried to—"

"Shut it," Silvio snapped at him. "Chevalier rushed everything else, but now the wedding ain't happening until spring?"

"What are you doing in my room?" I asked, still stuck on that important detail, uncomfortably aware that I was still in bed, still wearing a dressing gown, and suddenly in a room full of men with my door wide open to the hallway for whoever else wanted to wander in and further humiliate me. Modesty wasn't the issue. Privacy was the issue. And I had none.

"Well, to be fair, you have been rather evasive when asked about the wedding, Ivetta," Clavis pointed out. "Is that the reason you've started drinking?"

That got my attention off of the intruders. I turned to frown at him, and yes, he was smirking. "You really need to stop saying that. Somebody might believe you."

"You were all over Chevalier after the engagement ceremony," Silvio continued. "What happened? He do something stupid?"

"N-no," I stammered, whipping my head around to look at Silvio again. The headache I'd forgotten about made its presence known with a throbbing complaint.

"If I need to straighten him out—"

"No! It's not—"

"Actually, they were all over each other this morning, too," Clavis volunteered. "When I found her in his room."

I hadn't thought it could get any more embarrassing than Clavis bursting in on Chevalier and me, but I was wrong. This was it, though, right? It couldn't possibly get worse than this.

"You spent the night with him?" Keith asked, his golden eyes widening in disbelief.

Silvio smirked. "Told ya. Pay up."

Keith pulled a coin purse from his jacket and dropped it reluctantly into Silvio's waiting hand, proving it could get worse.

"You're betting on...on Chevalier and me..."

"It's what everybody's talking about," Clavis explained. "Will they? Won't they? Have they? Are they? These are the important, gripping questions everyone wants answered."

I wanted to die.

"Well, if they're sleeping together, there's probably nothing wrong between them," Keith reasoned.