Leon burst in at some point later that morning, the anger in his flashing amber eyes and tense muscles a welcome interruption.

"What was the big idea about sending Ivetta to clean up that blood?" he asked angrily, storming across the room to my desk. He came to a stop in front of me and crossed his arms across his chest.

She hadn't told him. If she had, his sword would be at my throat. I would have preferred that to his yelling. But at least he was reacting appropriately, without any trace of uncalled for kindness or concern. And if I really wanted somebody to hit me, he'd be the one to do it.

"Chevalier?" he asked, confusion entering his voice as he looked me over. Understandably so. Under normal circumstances, I would be snapping at him right now, my own anger barely contained. Instead, I was sitting in silence, desperately clinging to some semblance of composure.

"Shut the door," I commanded, though my voice sounded tired even to me.

He frowned, but did so, and then he settled into the chair in front of my desk. "What's going on?"

What indeed. The kingdom was a mess; our relations with our neighbors were hanging in the balance; and I couldn't focus on any of that because of Ivetta. But Leon was almost as protective of her as I was, and although we usually clashed violently, we'd been able to work together regarding her previously. His leadership skills were second only to mine, and underneath his friendly, carefree attitude, he was as cunning and aware as Clavis.

"I don't know what to do with her," I admitted.

His eyes narrowed as he studied my face. "That's unusual for you."

"She knows she could be a target, but she won't leave."

He let out a long breath. "I get it. You were trying to scare her away." He chuckled. "So, that's what the fight was about."

"She can't afford to leave, but she's made it very clear that she doesn't want any help," I continued, frustration creeping into my voice. There was nothing funny about this situation.

He leaned back in his chair, his face pensive. "And she's desperate enough to risk her life rather than settle for a lower-paying job. That is a problem."

"There's something else that complicates matters further. This is strictly confidential and is not to leave this room. Do you understand?"

He nodded.

"There's an informant here in the palace. Clavis has been on his trail since the purge."

Leon scowled at me. "And when were you going to tell me that?"

"Whoever it is, he's good enough to evade discovery this long. I didn't want to risk him finding out that we were on to him."

"I can keep a secret, Chevalier," Leon said testily.

"It's one of the servants," I said quietly.

Leon's jaw clenched. "But you don't know who."

"No. But he has to know how closely Ivetta works with me. I failed to take that into consideration when I tried to make her leave."

"It's too late now," Leon confirmed quietly. "Even having her reassigned wouldn't do much good at this point."

"You see my predicament."

We were silent for a moment, both thoughtful, and then Leon started laughing. I looked over at him, annoyed.

"Sorry. I was just thinking, we've never even had a conversation before she came along. She's really something, isn't she?"

That brought a wry smile to my face. "Indeed."

He stood up to go. "Well, we'll just have to keep a close eye on her. Keep me posted about the informant. I've had a traitor from Obsidian among my knights for three years now, and although I pegged him from the start, he still has no idea that I'm on to him."

It was my turn to scowl at him. "Why haven't you disposed of him yet?"

He shrugged. "You know me. I'm hoping he'll come around. And I haven't given him a chance to report back, but that's not his main purpose, anyway. He's after my head."

"What's his name?"

"So you can kill him? Don't worry about it. I've got everything under control on my end. You just worry about your own informant, and I'll handle mine." He headed for the door, but I stopped him.

"I won't interfere, but if we're to work together on this, I need to know."

"Julius. And I've already been keeping him away from Ivetta. I'm a softy, but I'm not a fool."

"Good."

He left, and I leaned back in my chair and let out a long breath. There was a small measure of relief, sharing this burden with Leon, but the matter still weighed heavily on my mind. As much as I wanted to protect her, wanted her to have a safe space, her situation kept getting more and more precarious. The best way to help her was to focus on my work, and specifically, identifying the informant.

What was taking Clavis so long to find him?

Of course, there was always the possibility that Clavis was in collusion with the unknown enemy. Clavis was my right hand, but only so I could keep a close eye on him. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, as they say. He had made it his priority to study me back when we were children, and I wouldn't put it past him to join or even found a plot against me if it suited his needs.

But he was loyal to Rhodolite, and he was as taken with Ivetta as everybody else.

She really was turning this palace upside down.

Luke entered my office shortly before lunchtime, much to my surprise. He had potential, but he also had a tendency toward laziness. Clavis and Nokto had reeled him into our faction, though, so I knew he would eventually prove truly useful. Right now, he was just the strong man of our group. Not that any of us were weak. But Clavis and Nokto both preferred using their intellect to their swords.

"Hey, King Highness," he greeted me with his boyish grin.

"What do you want?" I asked coolly.

"Clavis is still poking around, but he sent me to tell you what he's found out." The smile faded from his face as his green eyes narrowed. "The guard was one of your knights. And Clavis is sure the informant let the assassin in, but he still has no evidence."

The strong man and the messenger boy. Luke's usefulness was already improving.

"The assassin was unskilled, but loyal. He wouldn't talk," I said quietly. "I found nothing on him to suggest who he was or who sent him."

"Clavis didn't have any luck, either. We're thinking someone from the anti-war faction was behind this, but there's no proof."

"When is the service for the knight?"

Luke shrugged. "I dunno, but I can find out."

The door opened and Clavis poked his head in, a sly grin on his face. "Hey, Luke, got a minute?"

"Yeah, sure. Just a sec, King Highness." Luke followed Clavis out into the hallway, leaving the door open behind him. "Hey there," he said to an unidentified third party.

"I thought you could help me cheer the lady up. What do you say?" Clavis' voice had a mischievous streak in it.

Ivetta. She probably wasn't in the best mood after the events of this morning. Clavis may be a schemer, but Luke wasn't. Either Clavis was setting something up, or he really did just want to do something to make Ivetta feel better.

"This really isn't-" she tried to protest, but Luke drowned her out.

"Sure, anything for Ivetta!" he said enthusiastically. "What's the plan?"

Their voices and footsteps faded away, but I caught enough to know that Clavis was taking her outside to the lawn between the palace and the church, right outside my office window. I sighed and stood up, waiting at the window. They weren't long in appearing down below. Clavis and Luke flanked Ivetta, talking animatedly over her head. The breeze caught her long black ponytail and ruffled it behind her back. She was unusually quiet, but as the minutes passed, she began to smile again.

I turned away and went back to my room.

My breakfast still sat on my desk, untouched. She'd forgotten to clean it up. That wasn't too surprising, given what had happened. I walked over to the window, looking down at the gardens. The blood was gone, the paving stones dark with moisture that hadn't evaporated yet.

That blood could be hers someday. The thought made me sick.

I lay on my back on top of the neatly made bed, my knees up, my hands interlaced behind my head, staring up at the ceiling. She'd captivated me, right from the start, with her unusual strength and refusal to back down, even in the face of my threats. I'd never given any servant a second thought, but from day one, I would never have been able to hurt her. She'd brought out a strange protective urge in me, and though I initially wrote it off as a natural response to a valuable employee with a delicate frame and a naïve innocence, it wasn't long until my constant worry for her exceeded the bounds of logic. And now…now I couldn't bear the thought of losing her.

It was going to be harder than ever to have her near me. And it was also all the more important that I keep her close.

The sky darkened as black clouds rolled in, a flash of lightning quickly followed by a roll of thunder. Rain pelted the windows, driven by strong winds into an almost sideways trajectory. I hoped Clavis and Luke had the sense to get Ivetta inside before they were all caught in the storm.

What was I going to do about her?

She trusted me. During her angry tirade, she said she trusted me. That she couldn't believe I would hurt her. That she couldn't fight me, even when she was helpless and vulnerable and terrified. I hadn't anticipated that. I'd expected her green eyes to flash angrily, for her to fight me like she'd fought Jack, for her to do everything she could to get away. But she'd just lain there, her eyes and her tears begging me to stop, otherwise unresisting. It turned my stomach all over again, thinking about it. Remembering her soft whimpering, her startled cry, her trembling refusal to admit that I was a monster.

How could I have ever done that to her?

And now, when I wanted to hold her, when I wanted to comfort her, tell her the truth, now, that could never happen. She would never allow me to touch her again, and rightfully so. A simple apology was not enough. I was the cause of her pain and terror this time, and this time, she was handling it on her own.

She should have told Leon. I would have welcomed a beating from him.