Twelfth Night: A Amourshipping and Rocketshipping Story

Chapter 7

Jessie was befuddled the rest of the day. After Sonia told her to leave the room so she and Serena could speak privately, she decided to help Nando keep an eye on James and ensure Faba didn't try to gain an audience with Sonia. The next time Jessie saw Sonia, she, Nando, James, and Faba were shocked to see her walking through the courtyard and humming a cheerful tune while not wearing her veil. When Jessie asked if Sonia had fallen for the duke, Sonia said no, and her reason for being merry was a secret. The countess' lady-in-waiting, fool, and cousin were confused with her answer while Faba gazed upon Sonia in awe of her beauty and took her answer as a sign that he still had a chance.

A few minutes past midnight, Jessie slept in her bedchamber on the second floor. She was sound asleep until she heard banging and music coming from downstairs. Jessie tried to ignore it, but the noise kept her from falling asleep again. She huffed in irritation as she heard James, Faba, and Nando singing, and she got out of bed to put on her night robe.

Jessie went downstairs to the living room with her teeth clenched, ready to beat someone. She entered the room to find James sitting on a sofa with plates of cake, pudding, and bottles of wine on the coffee table in front of him. Nando sat on top of the piano several feet from the couch, playing a cheerful song with his guitar while Faba danced off-beat to Nando's song. The knight from Alola danced with his left arm spread apart and his right hand on his chest proudly as he sang loudly as though he were an opera singer, yet Jessie covered her ears for Faba was painfully off-key. James saw Jessie come in and laughed joyously before he took a swig of his wine and stood up to meet her.

"Ah, Jessie, how delightful that you can join us," James said.

"Join you? I ought to beat you with your bottle to knock some sense into you," Jessie said. "Are you trying to wake the entire city with your racket?"

"If we do wake up the city, then they can join us," James said. "Why, if Cousin Sonia were to come down here, she would be more than welcome to join us. We are throwing this party in her honor, after all."

"Throwing a party in her honor in the middle of the night? Whatever for?" Jessie asked.

"Why, the fact that she is smiling again, of course," James said, laughing as though the answer was obvious.

"Indeed. This house has been a place of mourning for far too long," Faba said. "We must eat and drink and be merry that the head of the house is showing her beautiful face again, full of life and joy. She refuses to say why she's happy, but may God deal with us, be it ever so severely if we do not express how pleasing it is to see the countess happy once again."

"That is right. From what I have heard, there has hardly been any song or laughter ever since dear Count Milo passed away to be with the Lord of All," Nando said. "We would honor the count and his father if we expressed our happiness for their dear sister and daughter."

"Too right you are, gentlemen. Too right you are," James said. "Come, Jessie. Join us in some cake and song."

"And make me as drunk as the three of you? I think not," Jessie said.

"If you won't drink with us, then at least eat and dance with us," Faba said. "Surely, your sweet tooth craves all the cakes and pudding we have taken from the kitchen."

"No, thank you. The sugar will keep me up the rest of the night," Jesse said.

"It's already past midnight, dear Jessie. You only have so much time left to sleep before leaving to get up to tend to your mistress in the morning," James said. "Admit it. Doesn't the cake sound rewarding after comforting my cousin to the best of your ability while she has been mourning for her dear brother? Enjoy yourself, Jessie. Whatever reason Sonia has to smile again is reason for all of us to be merry."