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I’d thought my wedding party was large, with all seven of Chevalier’s brothers as groomsmen and a matching set of seven bridesmaids, but Arianna’s was larger. She had nine of each. Nine groomsmen; nine bridesmaids. All seven of Luke’s brothers plus Silvio and Rio. I was the maid of honor; Theresa, Belle, and Elise were bridesmaids; and five Benitoitian noblewomen I didn’t know filled the rest of the quota.
I walked down the aisle on Chevalier’s arm, and then I turned to the left and took my place at the altar to watch the rest of the wedding procession. Theresa and Jin came next, and then Clavis and Belle, and Leon and Elise, and on through the rest of the Rhodolitian princes, ending with Silvio and Rio.
Arianna’s choice of pink and lavender created a soft spring feeling out of season that suited her fair skin and curly blonde hair well. I liked the color combination and the dresses she chose much better than those of Belle’s wedding, although I’d never say that to Belle.
The bodice of each dress was pastel pink embroidered with lavender roses and ocean waves, and the lacy pink sleeves and floor-length, fluffy pink skirts ensured I didn’t have to worry about coverage. My dress also had the occasional lavender tulle peeking out from the pink layers of the skirt, while the other bridesmaids' dresses had pink tulle.
The seamstresses had finished my dress only a few days ago, thanks to my growing belly altering my measurements.
I glanced across the altar at Chevalier. He narrowed his crystal blue eyes, flicking them to the chair behind me and returning his pointed gaze to me. I ignored both him and the chair, turning my eyes back to the procession. He’d insisted upon placing the chair there, but I didn’t have to use it.
“Ivetta, sit down!” Theresa hissed in my ear.
“I feel fine,” I hissed back.
“Sit down, or I’ll push you into that chair. And nobody will stop me.”
I sighed and shot a glare at Chevalier. The corner of his lip turned up in a hint of a smirk. I should have known he’d conspire with Theresa.
“After Arianna arrives,” I whispered.
“You’d better,” Theresa warned me.
It felt awkward, sitting through the service while the rest of the wedding party stood. Chevalier and I had argued about it earlier this morning, and I decided we would argue about it again when the ceremony ended. Jin and Theresa’s wedding was fast approaching, and I wouldn’t sit through another wedding. Not when I’d had no dizzy spells since Belle’s wedding.
Luke finally kissed Arianna, and we began the wedding party’s lengthy exit into the crisp autumn air, with Chevalier and I following the newlyweds. I waited until our feet touched the browning grass to open my mouth.
“Chevalier—”
“You would have felt worse if you had fainted,” he said without breaking his stride.
I pursed my lips and fell into a sullen silence. I hated when he was right.
He led me into the palace, and Luke and Arianna split away from us to freshen up before their grand entrance to the ballroom. Myriad guests they hadn’t invited to the ceremony but had invited to the reception were already there, milling about, talking, laughing, and drinking champagne, and Chevalier steered me past it all toward the chair he'd reserved for my use.
I knew I was supposed to sit and stay while he left to fetch me refreshments that I didn’t want, and I wanted so badly to fight him on this, too, but a single piercing look from him was enough to make me stifle a sigh and comply. I didn’t have to look to know my guards had moved to stand behind me.
“Something bothering you?”
I looked up at the familiar but unexpected voice. “Oh, Gilbert! I didn’t think you’d make it.”
He shrugged. “I found the time.”
He didn’t want to talk about the political situation in Obsidian, then. I knew he must be busier than ever as the emperor, but he shared that trait with Chevalier. They didn’t like to talk about their work with me. Gilbert hadn’t even offered any details when I’d given him my sympathies for his father’s death. He had shrugged that off, too.
Another similarity with Chevalier. Neither of them cared much for their fathers.
“I’m just ready for the baby to be born,” I said, rubbing my stomach. “Chevalier has been a bit overbearing lately.”
“His concern is justified.”
I looked in the direction Chevalier had gone to avoid Gilbert’s blood red eye. Their shared affection for me was a similarity I could do without. The tight curve of my belly was a constant and obvious reminder I was carrying Chevalier’s child, and if that wasn't enough of a deterrent for Gilbert, what was?
Chevalier was making his way toward us again, bearing refreshments for me. He spared Gilbert little more than a glance, and I raised my token protest: “Chevalier, I’m not hungry.”
He handed me a glass of water and a plate with a chocolate-drizzled croissant anyway. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and took them.
Gilbert chuckled. “This is what you consider overbearing?”
“If you stay until Jin and Theresa’s wedding, you’ll see what I mean.”
Chevalier smoothed my hair back, a small smile on his lips. “I could be much more severe.”
“Don’t get any ideas. Why don’t you get some champagne and try to relax?”
“You’re trying to get rid of me.”
Teasing and making light of the situation was often my only recourse. I gave him an innocent smile. “Yes, I am. I promise Gilbert and I won’t do any wild dancing while you’re gone.”
His smile tipped up into a smirk. “The orchestra isn’t playing yet.”
“Who needs music?”
This kind of taunting would have brought on a bout of jealousy in the past. Now, he just looked at Gilbert and my guards with amusement, leaving them with these instructions: “You have my permission to restrain her if necessary.”
Then his fingers brushed against my cheek before he left, cutting off my retort and making me blush. I dropped my gaze to my plate, too shy to meet anybody’s eye.
The croissant looked delicious. I just wasn’t hungry.
“I don’t suppose you want this, Gilbert?” I asked, chancing a glance up at him. That was a mistake. I didn’t want to see that fondness for me in anybody’s eyes except Chevalier’s.
“No, it’s yours, and you should eat it. When are you due?”
“Not soon enough.” I sighed again. “Early spring, if—”
“Ivetta!”
Two women shouted my name in unison, providing a welcome distraction. I looked across the ballroom as Belle and Elise hurried toward me, moving as fast as they could without running. They were focused on me, and I wasn’t sure either of them even saw Gilbert.
“I heard the baby’s kicking!” Belle exclaimed, breathless. “May I…?”
Mrs. Stotts had warned me this would happen. I remembered people coming up to her when she was pregnant, touching her stomach without even asking, and I was grateful they at least asked me first. Fear of angering Chevalier kept many at bay. But I was getting the question with increasing frequency, and it always made me uncomfortable. I’d never liked strangers touching me.
But Belle and Elise weren’t strangers.
“He isn’t kicking right now. Or she. But I’ll let you know when—oh!” I looked down at my stomach, startled. “Stop that.”
Belle squealed. “May I?” she repeated, bouncing in place.
Somehow, the news spread through the ballroom like wildfire, and when Chevalier returned with his glass of champagne, I had a small crowd gathered around me and far too many people asking to be the next to feel the baby kicking. My guards had stepped in to make everybody keep a respectable distance, but I was beginning to feel as though I was suffocating when Chevalier's frigid voice cut through the air.
“Enough.”
The crowd parted for him, creating a clear path for him to come to my side and several more feet of distance between them and me. I smiled up at him in appreciation, rubbing my stomach as the baby kicked again.
“I guess he likes weddings.”
“Or she. Do you want to go?”
I shook my head. “We should stay until Luke and Arianna arrive.”
This was happening more and more often. I didn’t have to worry about appearing rude for leaving early in this case, because most of the guests were staying for Jin and Theresa's wedding, which was only eight days away. But as much as I enjoyed socializing, I didn’t enjoy people swarming me.
It was with the greatest of reluctance I apologized to Chevalier that night, and I promised to sit during Jin and Theresa’s wedding. It wasn’t worth fighting about.
Gilbert, Silvio, and Keith were back at the raucous dining room table that week, along with Theresa, Belle, and Rio. Everybody packed into my office daily for Yves’ pre-dinner desserts, too, and for a nice change, nobody asked me to bake anything.
I’d been writing letters to keep in contact with those outside of the palace, but it wasn’t the same as seeing their faces in person and hearing their voices.
Then Luke and Arianna returned from their honeymoon in time for Jin and Theresa’s wedding, and when the newest set of newlyweds left for their honeymoon, all the guests went home.
Life returned to my new normal: seated and waited upon in a calm, sedate atmosphere.
I hadn’t taken so much joy in Clavis’ pranks since my six weeks of bedrest. I was so desperate for a little excitement, I even allowed him to handle the arrangements for Chevalier’s birthday party: book-themed, with a surprise hidden between every page.
Chevalier and I slipped away during the screaming chaos for a quiet dinner and our private celebration in the library. Theresa had bought a little black dress for me when we were in Benitoite for Belle’s wedding, and that was my gift to Chevalier, along with a note promising it would see use as soon as I could fit into it again.
And then he gave me what I suppose he meant as a gift. He told me he would hire a midwife at the start of my third trimester.
I couldn’t argue the point. It was his birthday, and he was getting what he wanted, even if that was a midwife three months earlier than necessary.
And he had been right about everything so far.
The first snow of winter came, blanketing the gardens in white. Rhodolite’s special year-round roses peeked out from under their covers with flashes of red and pink while the brown and black branches of the seasonal varieties slept, tucked into their cozy beds.
I was cozy, too, sitting in the alcove window of the library with an afghan made by Melanie’s mother tucked over my legs. The book in my hands was a poetry collection from Garnet. I wondered if it had been Mother’s. There was no inscription inside the front cover to let me know.
“You look comfortable.”
I tore my gaze from the window to see Nokto walking toward me, followed by a young woman I guessed was in her mid-twenties. Her long, wavy, chestnut brown hair hung loose over her shoulders, and her deep blue eyes were as bright as her smile.
I closed my book. “Hello.”
“This is Lydia, your new midwife,” Nokto introduced her, reaching back for her to pull her forward.
She sidestepped him. “I already told you to watch your hands.”
Her voice was firm, but there was a twinkle in her eyes, and I could almost see the electricity sparking between them.
“Nice to meet you, Lydia. Aren’t you a bit young to be a midwife?”
“Not at all. My mother is a midwife, and I’ve been assisting her since I was little. King Chevalier has my list of references, although just the list of family members I’ve delivered was probably more than enough.”
“You come from a big family?”
She nodded. “Oh, yeah. Twins run in my family, and then my sister had to go and marry a twin, so now she has three sets and is pregnant again. The first set wasn’t too much of a surprise, given our family history, but the second set caused quite a stir, and the third set had everybody in stitches. My dad is placing bets at the tavern that she’s got another set on the way. She’s going to make us rich at this rate—or help cover the grocery bill, anyway.”
I watched the interest in Nokto's crimson eyes grow with every lighthearted word she spoke. There were still those among the nobility who viewed twins as a curse, and though they wouldn’t speak against him or Licht in their brothers’ presence, I knew he still heard comments. He was nothing more than a good time for certain noblewomen, never an option for a serious relationship. That had always been a large part of his flippant treatment of women.
But Lydia was different. And he was looking at her differently.
I was a little concerned he would grab her and start kissing her at any moment.
“Well, it sounds like you have plenty of experience,” I said, continuing the conversation with her and watching him over her shoulder. “I hope I don’t disappoint you if I don’t have twins.”
She laughed. “Twins are the best, but any baby is precious. You never know, though. Yours still has plenty of time to cook.”
“I'm sorry to have to inconvenience you this early. Chevalier is overly cautious about all of this.”
“It’s no inconvenience. I get to live in luxury here at the palace until the baby’s born, and I can still come and go as I please to work in town. But I’ll warn you the same as I did King Chevalier: the first baby is always late. The second one is usually early, and the third one and all following are on time.”
I couldn’t help it. Nokto’s unusual silence and the look in his eyes made me want to push things even further, just to see what would happen. “What about twins?”
“Twins come whenever they feel like it, although you want them to come early so that delivery is easier. Aren’t you a twin?” she asked, turning to Nokto.
I half-expected him to drop to one knee and propose, but all he did was nod.
“Identical or fraternal?”
“Identical.” There was an odd hesitation in his voice I hadn’t heard before.
She smirked and looked him over. “Are you the good one, or the bad one?”
His eyes widened a little. “Uh…”
The silver-tongued fox was scrambling for words. I’d never seen him like this. She threw him off balance, and I loved it. But this was the perfect opportunity for him to deliver one of his pickup lines, and he was missing it. I almost shouted at him.
And then his sly grin assumed its place on his lips. “How about I take you out to dinner, and you can decide for yourself?”
I knew I could count on him.
“I think I’ll take you up on that offer.” She gave him a coy smile. “You’d better get back to work, though. I don’t want to stay out too late.”
He smirked and turned to go, plenty of confident swagger in his step, and then she called out to him and stopped him in his tracks.
“Don’t forget your brother.”
He spun back to look at her, wide-eyed. “What?”
Her smile was so sweet and innocent. “Well, how am I supposed to know who’s the good one and who’s the bad one if I don’t see you together?”
I had a feeling winter would be very fun this year.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfhFfXfcm5J
