The Proper Form of Address

Chapter 7

Given how little any of them could do, and how devoted Trix was, Bennet felt awkward within his own bedchamber, so he went back to his advisors, even though he could barely focus. He kept thinking of the dazzling fury of the only Prince of Jadenvale, and then the way he had collapsed, and then how burning hot he had been, and, fuck, Bennet may have made the biggest mistake in a lifetime of a mistakes here.

Bennet returned to the bedchamber after dinner, to find Trix still sitting by the bed, watching Archer anxiously.

"Have you eaten?" Bennet asked.

She jumped, startled, then nodded vaguely. "Yes. Someone brought me...something. Did you say her name was Andie? She was nice. Is this your bed? She seemed to imply this was your bed. You needn't have...but I'll not have him moved now."

"I wouldn't dream of it," Bennet said, stoking the fire and frowning at the state of it. He recognized that he normally let it die down directly before bedtime but the room had to be kept warm for Archer's sake. He would have to command the servants.

"He's shaking," Trix said. "Is he cold? Should there be more blankets?"

Bennet came over to the bed and looked down at Archer, who was trembling, his teeth chattering. Bennet felt his forehead again. Still hot. "It's the fever," Bennet said. "Has he regained consciousness?"

Trix shook his head. "Should he have?"

"It's fine," Bennet said, as casually as he could manage, and sat on the other side of the bed.

"You don't have to stay," Trix said.

"Would you rather I didn't?" asked Bennet.

Trix hesitated. Then she said, "No. Please stay. You know things I can't...For instance, is he in pain? We would give sick people protection against pain, in Jadenvale. Do you have such things?"

"He isn't in pain," Bennet said.

"Have you ever had such a fever?"

"Once. When I was a boy." Bennet smiled at the memory. He had been nine, and his mother had spoon-fed him ice cream once he'd been well enough to sit up again. Bennet would have to make sure there was ice cream in the palace. "And you see me here before you today, hale and hearty."

Trix nodded and looked back down at Archer.

Bennet hoped she wasn't thinking about the fact that it was well-known Euphonians were heartier in general, better at fighting off illness due to their frequent exposure to it, than the soft-skinned Jadenvalians were. So he said, hoping to distract her, "Is he ordinarily very headstrong?"

She looked at him suspiciously. "He's brilliant," she said, staunchly loyal.

Which made Bennet smile again. He didn't know what to make of a man who had embarked alone on strange terrain in some sort of fit of pique, but it spoke well that he had a servant who so clearly adored him. He looked back down at Archer, his flushed face and sweat-dark hair, and said, "That's what I've heard."

"You're very lucky to have him," Trix said. "I hope your sister realizes. I hope you realize."

It was a challenge, Bennet realized. He looked over at her and said honestly, "Your Queen told me the same thing."

"Yes," Trix said. "I assumed she would. He wouldn't, but I did."

"He wouldn't what?"

Trix shook her head. "Never mind."

Bennet looked back down at Archer, then remembered in surprise. "Where's his diadem?"

"His what?"

"His diadem." Bennet gestured to his head.

"Oh, his crown," said Trix and looked back at Archer's head and then blinked. "Oh, no! I don't know! It must have fallen off of him when—"

"We'll find it," Bennet assured her, and stood and walked over to his bedroom doorway. Andie, who had been knitting by the fire, stood and curtseyed. "The Prince had a diadem. Braided silver and gold. It must have fallen off of him at some point. Make sure someone finds it."

"Begging your pardon, Excellence," said Andie, "but we could just give him a better one—"

"It's from his homeland," Bennet snapped, "it doubtless has personal value to him." Then he sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you. Forgive me."

"Begging your pardon, Excellence," said Andie, and bowed low.

Bennet said, "This room needs to be kept warm. Make sure the servants know, throughout the night."

"Yes, Excellence," said Andie, bowing her head to him. "Should I have a bed made for you elsewhere?"

"No." Bennet shook his head. "I'm going to sit up with him until his fever breaks." Bennet couldn't bear the thought of going to bed thinking he might have killed the only Prince of Jadenvale.

If Andie was surprised by this pronouncement, she said nothing.

Bennet turned and walked back into the bedchamber, surprised to see that Trix was now sound asleep in her chair. He fetched a blanket to cover her with and then resumed his seat on the other side of Archer and watched him shiver through the fever chills.